The morning sun rose over the Azure Cloud Empire, casting a golden glow over the Princess's Manor. It was a beautiful day for everyone—except Princess Jiang Linyue.
She was marching across the courtyards, her silk robes flowing behind her like a storm cloud. Her personal maid, Xiao Cui, scurried behind her, looking terrified.
"That idiot! That utter humiliation!" Jiang Linyue hissed, crushing a flower in her path. "It wasn't enough to be trash? He had to become a public spectacle?"
The rumors had spread overnight. The Princess's husband went to the Ghost Alley. The Princess's husband bought a rotting corpse. The Princess's husband is a necrophiliac.
The tea houses were buzzing. The Ministers were laughing. Her father, the Emperor, had already sent a messenger asking if she needed the marriage annulled for "mental instability reasons."
"Princess, please calm down," Xiao Cui whispered. "Maybe... maybe he just wanted to save the girl?"
"Save her?" Jiang Linyue scoffed. "He spent his last 5 Spirit Stones on a slave when he can't even cultivate! He's trying to embarrass me to force me to give him money. Well, it won't work. I'm going to throw him and his 'corpse' out onto the street!"
She reached the entrance of the West Courtyard—Li Ye's designated "trash bin."
She expected to smell rot. She expected to hear flies. She expected to see Li Ye crying over a dead body.
Instead, she felt... cold.
A crisp, refreshing chill drifted from the courtyard, smelling of winter frost and pure ozone. It was the scent of high-density spiritual energy.
"What is this?" Jiang Linyue frowned.
She didn't knock. She kicked the wooden gate open.
BANG.
"Li Ye! Get out here and explain yourse—"
The words died in her throat.
Jiang Linyue froze. Her eyes went wide. Her brain simply stopped processing information.
The courtyard was not a mess. The weeds were covered in a beautiful layer of glistening frost. The air was crisp and pure.
And standing in the center of the yard, sweeping the frost-covered leaves with a broom, was a woman.
She was wearing one of Li Ye's oversized grey robes, which hung loosely off her shoulder, revealing a collarbone carved from ice and skin as white as moonlight. Her hair, the color of spun silver, cascaded down her back like a waterfall.
She turned to look at the intruder.
Her eyes were blue. Not the pale blue of the sky, but the deep, terrifying blue of a glacier that had stood for ten thousand years.
Jiang Linyue, the "Jewel of the Empire," known as the most beautiful woman in the capital, felt a sudden, violent lurch in her gut.
It was an instinct every woman possessed: Threat Assessment.
'Taller than me. Whiter skin than me. Bigger... chest than me. Stronger aura than me.'
The woman holding the broom wasn't a servant. She looked like a Goddess who had descended to do chores for a mortal.
"Who..." Jiang Linyue's voice trembled. "Who are you?"
The silver-haired woman didn't answer immediately. She simply swept another pile of leaves, her movements fluid and elegant.
"I asked you a question!" Jiang Linyue shouted, her insecurity flaring into anger. "Where is Li Ye? And where is the corpse he bought?"
The woman stopped sweeping. She looked at Jiang Linyue with utter indifference.
"The Young Master is resting," she said. Her voice was cool and melodic, like wind chimes in winter. "He exhausted himself last night helping me... recover."
Exhausted himself. Last night. Recover.
Jiang Linyue's mind went to the darkest, most scandalous place possible. She looked at the woman's glowing skin, her disheveled hair, the man's robe she was wearing.
"You... you shameless vixen!" Jiang Linyue screamed, her face flushing red. "In my house?! You dare defile my house?!"
She stormed forward, raising her hand. "I don't care who you are! I am the Princess! I will teach you some manners!"
She swung her hand, aiming a slap filled with Qi at the woman's face. Jiang Linyue was a Qi Condensation 8th Stage cultivator. This slap could crack a stone.
PA!
The sound echoed through the yard.
But it wasn't the sound of flesh hitting flesh. It was the sound of a hand hitting an iron wall.
Jiang Linyue gasped. Her wrist was caught.
The silver-haired woman hadn't even dropped the broom. She held Jiang Linyue's wrist with two fingers, her expression bored.
"Let go!" Jiang Linyue pulled, but she couldn't move. Her Qi felt like it was being frozen inside her veins. "You... how dare you touch me!"
"You are noisy," the woman said calmly. "The Young Master dislikes noise."
"I am his wife!" Jiang Linyue shrieked, her pride shattering.
"On paper," the woman corrected. "But you do not serve him. You do not warm his bed. You do not aid his cultivation. You are... redundant."
Redundant.
That word hit harder than the slap.
"I'll kill you!" Jiang Linyue flared her aura. "Guards! GUARDS!"
"That's enough."
The voice was quiet, but it cut through the tension like a blade.
The door to the main room opened. Li Ye stepped out.
He looked... different.
Yesterday, he had been a pale, sickly cripple who hunched when he walked. Today, he stood tall. His skin had a healthy glow. His eyes were sharp and clear. He wore a fresh set of robes, and though he had no visible aura, the way he held himself screamed authority.
He walked over to them, holding a cup of tea.
"Su Qinghan, release her," Li Ye ordered.
"Yes, Master." Su Qinghan released the wrist instantly, stepping back and bowing her head. The transition from "Arrogant Ice Queen" to "Obedient Maid" was seamless.
Jiang Linyue stumbled back, rubbing her red wrist. She stared at Li Ye, then at Su Qinghan.
"Li Ye!" She pointed a trembling finger at him. "Explain this! Who is she? Where did she come from? Why is she wearing your clothes?!"
Li Ye took a sip of tea. "This is Su Qinghan. I bought her yesterday."
"Bought...?" Jiang Linyue blinked. "The corpse? The dying slave?"
"She was merely dusty," Li Ye said dryly. "I cleaned her up."
"Impossible!" Jiang Linyue yelled. "That thing was a rotting mess! This woman is... is..." She couldn't say it. She couldn't admit this woman was a peerless beauty. "She is a demoness! You used forbidden arts!"
"I used soap and Qi," Li Ye replied. "Now, why are you shouting in my courtyard? Is the house on fire? Or is the Empire under attack?"
"You..." Jiang Linyue choked on her rage. "You broke the contract! You brought a mistress into the manor! You are humiliating me!"
Li Ye sighed. He put the teacup down on a stone table.
"Let us review the terms, Princess."
He held up a finger.
"Clause 1: I am a shield for your political marriage. I have fulfilled this."
He held up a second finger.
"Clause 4: Our private lives are separate. You explicitly stated, 'Do whatever you want, just don't embarrass me.'"
"This IS embarrassing me!" Jiang Linyue screamed. "Sleeping with a slave is embarrassing!"
"Correction," Li Ye said coolly. "Su Qinghan is not a slave. I have already restored her citizenship papers. She is my personal aide. And regarding 'sleeping'..."
He looked at Su Qinghan. "Did we sleep?"
Su Qinghan looked up, her blue eyes innocent. "No, Master. We did not sleep. We cultivated all night. You said sleeping was inefficient."
Li Ye nodded. "See? Purely professional."
Jiang Linyue looked between them. She didn't believe it. But she couldn't prove otherwise.
"Furthermore," Li Ye took a step toward the Princess. For the first time, she felt intimidated by him. "You refused to consummate the marriage. You refused to dual cultivate. My body has a blockage that requires Yin energy to survive. If I did not find a partner, I would have died."
He leaned in, his face inches from hers.
"Did you want me to die, Princess? Because murdering your husband would be embarrassing for the Imperial Family."
Jiang Linyue opened her mouth, but no words came out. She was trapped.
She looked at Li Ye—handsome, articulate, dangerous. She looked at Su Qinghan—beautiful, powerful, loyal.
They looked like a perfect couple. A match made in heaven.
And she, the Princess, looked like the angry, third-wheel neighbor.
A strange, burning sensation filled her chest. It wasn't just anger anymore. It was... loss. She felt like she had thrown away a rock, only for someone else to pick it up and reveal it was a diamond.
"Fine," Jiang Linyue hissed, tears of frustration pricking her eyes. "Fine! Keep your... harlot! But don't expect a single copper coin from the treasury! You can feed her yourself!"
She spun around and ran out of the courtyard, knocking over the bucket of water Su Qinghan had been using.
Crash.
The courtyard fell silent again.
Su Qinghan watched the Princess leave, then turned to Li Ye.
"Master," she said softly. "She is weak. Her foundation is shaky. She relies too much on pills."
"I know," Li Ye said, picking up his tea again. "She is a typical 'blue-chip' stock. High value in name, low value in substance."
"Should I kill her next time?" Su Qinghan asked, her tone serious.
"No." Li Ye waved his hand. "She is still useful. She is my legal shield. Besides..."
He looked at the gate where the Princess had fled.
"The seed of regret has been planted. Now, we wait for it to grow."
[System Notification] [Quest Update: Stabilize Foundation.] [Current Cultivation: Body Refining 5th Stage.] [Next Step: Resource Acquisition.]
"Su Qinghan," Li Ye said.
"Yes, Master?"
"We have no money. The Princess cut our funding. And you..." He looked her up and down. "You eat a lot of Qi. We need revenue."
"I can kill people for money," Su Qinghan suggested helpfully.
"No. We are not bandits. We are legitimate businessmen." Li Ye smiled, a predatory glint in his eyes. "I saw a pill shop in the city that was selling garbage 'Beauty Pills' for 50 stones a bottle. With your blood and my knowledge, we can bankrupt them in a week."
"My... blood?" Su Qinghan tilted her head.
"Metaphorically," Li Ye said. "Pack your things. We're going to introduce the market to the concept of 'Product Superiority'."