A two-story pavilion was built in the peach forest, higher than all the other ones. It was decorated with light pink veils, purfled with golden threads, looking elegant in the sea of pink flowers. Moreover, the stunning people sitting inside looked even more beautiful than the view around them.

A man sat in a big chair, wearing a light purple brocade robe. His face was covered by the veil and couldn’t be seen clearly. However, when the veil was blown up by the breeze, his god-like face was revealed, looking even more enchanting surrounded by the flowers.

The other man sitting in the pavilion was Lord Jing. Lord Jing was considered a handsome young man among all the pretty royal members. Still, his appearance was not even comparable to the man beside him.

Qu Qiuyan stopped suddenly and pulled a long face, “Who… who is that woman?”

Qu Qiuyan had never seen such a beautiful person before, so she believed a stunning person like that could only be a woman disguised as a man.

Thinking about Lord Jing said he had no time to meet her while accompanying another woman disguised as a man, Qu Qiuyan couldn’t hold back her hatred. She glared at the stunning figure on the second floor of the pavilion.

“This… this is…” Qu Xuexin’s expression changed immediately. At her grandmother’s birthday banquet, she sat in the female area, far away from the male guests. However, she still tried to glance at Lord Yun, and what she saw stunned her. She didn’t expect Lord Yun, who was said to be a monster eating human flesh at the border, to be such a beautiful man.

No one would forget a face like that after only one glance. Now Qu Xuexin saw him again, feeling frightened.

“Who is that?” Qu Qiuyan was busy meeting Lord Jing that day, so she didn’t see Lord Yun. Now she could only vaguely see those people’s faces from a distance and had no idea who Qu Xuexin was talking about.

Qu Xuexin grabbed Qu Qiuyan’s hand hard. She almost lost control of herself due to fear and hurriedly whispered to Qu Qiuyan, “Qiuyan, let’s leave. We can’t go there.”

“Why? Lord Jing is there. Qiuyan, look! He saw us.” Qu Caiyue didn’t recognize Lord Yun either.

She was also at the area for female guests that day after Lord Yun arrived. But frightened by his name, she only dared to peek at him from the corner of her eye. All she knew was Lord Yun was a good-looking man but nothing else.

It was nothing unusual for her since many of the royal members had good appearances.

At this moment, the young eunuch beside Lord Jing whispered something in his ear. Then Lord Jing nodded at him and looked in the four ladies’ direction again.

“Third Lady Qu?” Pei Yuanjun asked lazily as he glanced at his nephew’s awkward face. “I heard you came to the Qu’s Mansion that day because of her. Why not invite them over?”

Then he waved his hand, and Ji Hai walked down the pavilion with a smile.

Pei Yusheng didn’t want Qu Qiuyan to come at all, but he had already missed the chance to stop Ji Hai. He had no choice but to say reluctantly, “Uncle, it’s not a big deal. She is the second wife candidate my mother picks for me.”

As the emperor’s son, he still cared a lot about his name. He couldn’t directly tell Lord Yun that he had been secretly dating Qu Qiuyan.

If they weren’t talking in person, he wouldn’t care about these formalities. After all, he was a man, the emperor’s son. It was nothing strange that he would marry multiple women, let alone the one he was interested in.

“The candidate of your second wife or your concubine? Although Vice Minister Qu doesn’t have a high rank, I can tell you are quite fond of her,” Pei Yuanjun sounded indifferent. He picked up the teacup in front of him, took a sip, and looked into the distance. From their position, he could see the pavilion where County Lady Jingyu sat, feeling the gaze from her. “Will the Liu Family say something about it?”

Lord Yun looked a bit amused.

“What can they say about it? After I marry their daughter as my first wife, I will marry another woman as my second wife. Nothing’s wrong about it,” Pei Yusheng said carelessly. He didn’t mind marrying Liu Jingyu as his first wife. After Qu Qiuyan complained about her last time, he even asked around and was told by everyone that it was just an accident, and Qu Qiuyan overreacted.

So, he didn’t look into it afterward.

Pei Yusheng did care about Qu Qiuyan but not so much to offend Liu Jingyu for her. At that time, it was pretty much confirmed that Liu Jingyu would be his first wife, and he couldn’t make her lose her face.

Of course, if the position of his first wife could be given to the Guardian General’s daughter, that would be even better!

“That would be the best. I’m worried that your lover doesn’t have a clear idea of her identity. Even though her mother became Qu Zhizhen’s wife later, she is still a concubine’s daughter. Your father didn’t say anything about it?” Watching the ladies coming closer, the smile on Pei Yuanjun’s face looked even more alluring.

“Third Lady Qu’s mother is Second Madam Qu now, the official wife of Vice Minister Qu,” Pei Yusheng defended for himself.

“Yeah. The title can be changed, but her mother’s fault of disobeying the etiquette can’t be erased. When her mother was still a noble lady, she secretly dated a married man and was forced to marry him as his concubine. I heard her mother was already pregnant when she got married. Third Lady Qu should be the baby in her womb at that time, right?”

Pei Yuanjun’s smile looked more and more sophisticated as if he was enjoying a funny joke.

Meanwhile, the look on Pei Yusheng’s face became more and more embarrassed. Every woman he married need to be approved by his father, the emperor, including his second wife and his concubines. In terms of identity and family background, Qu Qiuyan should be qualified enough. However, it wouldn’t sound good if someone emphasized her mother’s past misbehavior to his father.

“I guess the Crown Prince would love to dig into this kind of detail!” Pei Yuanjun added.

His words punched Pei Yusheng right on his heart. He was most aware of his own situation. Even though the Crown Prince was the entitled heir, he still had a chance. In the Congress, Lord Jing still got praised by his father from time to time. He believed the one who gained the throne later would be the real winner.

He hadn’t lost yet.

The Crown Prince and he seemingly had a good relationship like typical brothers, but they actually had held a deep grudge against each other. They always tried to cause trouble to the other, and the competition between them just kept going. The thing about Qu Qiuyan was not a big deal, but it was still his miscalculation.

Pei Yusheng’s eyes darkened. He had to take a second thought not only about Qu Qiuyan but also about Liu Jingyu. He was satisfied with Liu Jingyu before, but now he had a better option – Lady Liu.

If Liu Lanxin could marry him, he would have military power, which would give him a significant advantage over the Crown Prince. Although Liu Jingyu’s grandfather, Duke Qi, was thought highly of by the emperor, Pei Yusheng still preferred military power over political status. Even the Crown Prince chose military power, let alone him.

Before the Crown Prince got married, the Crown Prince also considered Liu Jingyu as his wife candidate for two reasons – her father, Minister of Works, climbed up to his current position at a young age and had power in the political world. On the other hand, Duke Qi’s son only had one daughter, who was given birth by a concubine and couldn’t be a wife, so the duke cared more about his daughter’s daughter, Liu Jingyu.

If the Crown Prince married Liu Jingyu, he would get support from both Duke Qi and Minister Liu.

However, at last, the Crown Prince still chose Ji Hanyue mainly because her father Ji Yongming was Earl Ling’an, the Level-One Suppressor General.

As the Crown Princess was dying, the Crown Prince immediately married another wife’s daughter from the Earl Ling’an’s family to keep the connection with the Suppressor General. However, the hand of fate still reached out to the Crown Prince. Not only the Crown Princess was about to die, so did her father for being too sad. People all said the Suppressor General, who had always been robust, was really going to collapse this time.

Now, it was the best chance for Lord Jing. If he could make Liu Lanxin marry him as his first wife, he would gain much more power.

A complacent smile showed up on Pei Yusheng’s face when he thought about the possibility of defeating the Crown Prince in the future, whose power was on the edge of collapse…

Qu Qiuyan walked toward the pavilion with a flame of rage burning in her chest. Lord Jing belonged to her, and she couldn’t allow another woman to hook up with him so shamelessly. The more furious she felt, the faster she walked. Following Ji Hai, she was the first one who stepped up to the second story of the pavilion. Ignoring Pei Yuanjun, she curtsied to Pei Yusheng, “It’s an honor to meet you, Your Royal Highness.”

Pei Yusheng calmed himself down as his cold gaze fell on Qu Qiuyan. He used to think highly of Qu Qiuyan, but now his mind changed a bit. He still wanted to marry her, but he needed to take a second thought about her position. Then he lifted his hand slightly, “Good to see you, Third Lady Qu.”

His tone sounded a bit cold, totally different than how he acted when they met in private.

Qu Xuexin walked up at this moment. Seeing Pei Yuanjun, she lost all the strength in her legs and knelt down immediately. “Lord Yun… It’s an honor to meet you, my lord.”

Lord Yun? Qu Caiyue, who was standing beside Qu Xuexin, was startled as well and knelt down immediately. She said while shivering, “I-It’s my pleasure to see you, my lord.”

Lord Yun was notorious for his ruthlessness while killing people without a blink. Qu Caiyue always thought of herself nobler than Qu Moying, but right now, she would rather be some mud on the ground than catch this cruel killer’s attention.

Qu Moying stepped closer calmly and curtsied to Pei Yuanjun and Pei Yusheng, “It’s my pleasure to see you, my lord, Your Royal Highness!”

Hearing the words her sisters uttered, Qu Qiuyan raised her head in shock, and her gaze fell on an extremely beautiful but frightening face. Her face turned pale immediately. Before, she thought he was a woman because she could only see his gorgeous face from a distance. However, she had a clear look at those sharp and cold eyes that clearly didn’t belong to a woman.

Even though he just raised his eyebrow slightly, a cold shiver was sent down her spine.

There was no trace of a woman but a heartless monster who didn’t hold any pity for women. People said the emperor sent ten beauties to the border as a gift to Lord Yun, but they were almost beaten to death and given to other men.

“I-It’s my… my… honor… to meet you, my… my lord.” With a dull sound, Qu Qiuyan fell on her knees next to Qu Xuexin as she almost cried out. She bent her whole body on the floor while shivering uncontrollably.

How much anger she felt before was how much fear she had right now. Lord Yun was a totally different person than Lord Jing. Moreover, he was deeply trusted by the emperor. If he did the same things to her as to those ten beauties sent by the emperor, even her father couldn’t say anything about it.

How could she be so blind before? A woman disguised as a man? It was actually a scary monster coming from hell. Right now, Qu Qiuyan couldn’t even remember what he looked like because of fear…