Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Ever since I began arranging concubines for Fu Huai, he had been going out of his way to curry favor with me.

Every time he returned to the estate, he brought me a roasted duck from Chunxiang Tower.

He even stood in line to buy freshly baked peach blossom pastries.

And he spent a fortune at Jadeite Pavilion to bid on a rare piece of flawless jade.

Cui Niang asked, “Madam, could the Lord Duke have fallen for you?”

I laughed. “Not at all. His competitive streak is simply acting up. He enjoys the feeling of being sincerely adored by women far too much. He wants me to become the same sort of woman as Shen Ru. Every kindness he shows me comes with a purpose. He thinks he can move me, tame me.”

“Once I become as infatuated with him as Shen Ru is, he won’t be nearly this attentive anymore.”

I did not reject Fu Huai outright, but neither did I offer him any certain sincerity. I simply kept him dangling like this.

Like hanging a carrot in front of a donkey, stirring up his urge to conquer my heart while absolutely refusing to give it to him.

Cui Niang only half understood.

Then her expression suddenly shifted, and she leaned close to whisper in my ear. “Madam, you told me to keep an eye on Concubine Shen. Sure enough, she has not been behaving herself. She has been secretly investigating your past, and she has even plotted to kill you.”

According to the Fu Family’s rules, in a few days, I would accompany Fu Huai to Fahua Temple to pay respects.

And Shen Ru had already bribed deathsworn assassins. When the time came, they would strike halfway there.

I narrowed my eyes.

As I had expected, Shen Ru was definitely not merely an orphan girl from the borderlands.

Cui Niang looked rather worried. “Madam, it seems Concubine Shen is not someone to be trifled with. You must be extremely careful.”

I only smiled. “Since she wants to play, then I’ll play along.”

A few days later, Fu Huai and I set out together for Fahua Temple.

My appearance had grown even more vivid and radiant, like a delicate peony just beginning to bloom.

Fu Huai’s gaze kept drifting toward me from time to time.

The flutter he felt from me was entirely different from what he felt with Shen Ru or Linglong.

People were always prone to becoming addicted to something that felt different from everything else.

When a sudden commotion came from outside the carriage, Fu Huai shielded me at once. “My lady, don’t be afraid.”

A servant hurriedly said, “Lord Duke, there are assassins!”

The fight broke out in an instant.

Yet I was extraordinarily calm.

This sort of scene truly could not frighten me.

A moment later, the carriage compartment came under attack. Fu Huai took me and leapt down from the carriage. Just as Fu Huai was locked in a desperate struggle with a man in black, I pulled the hairpin from my coiffure and drove it straight into the assassin’s neck, killing him on the spot.

Blood spattered across Fu Huai’s face. His pupils widened, clearly startled. “My lady, you…”

I pulled the hairpin back out, threw myself into Fu Huai’s arms, and sobbed, “Husband, as long as you’re all right. Thank goodness for the hairpin you gave me. It is so very sharp.”

Fu Huai said, “…”

Some of the assassins died. The rest were captured alive.

Fu Huai ordered his men to stop the survivors from killing themselves.

He seemed shaken, his eyes sweeping over me from head to toe. I patted my chest and said, “Husband, why are you so surprised? I am no weak woman. When I was three, I gouged out the eye of the young gentleman next door…”

I seized the opportunity to tell Fu Huai all about my past exploits.

Before Shen Ru could lodge a complaint, I confessed first.

Absolute honesty, too, was a sharp blade.

After hearing me out, Fu Huai looked at me with a little more delight and curiosity in his eyes.

The desire to explore was the key to one person’s heart stirring for another.

He was a military man to begin with, long used to bloodshed and killing. How could he truly like some fragile little white flower?

At that moment, the way Fu Huai looked at me was even more excited than when he was undressing me in bed.