After the shock, Tu Li Yang first did not believe it!
Ever since Tu Ling Duo had been paralysed and married to him, she had become so gentle, their feelings so sweet, her manner and gaze so affectionate. Could all of this have been false?
Furthermore, how much regard had Lord Zhi Li shown toward him, Tu Li Yang?
During the dozen or so days he had been in the royal capital, it had been completely a small banquet every three days and a great banquet every five days, and in every setting he had been treated with such warmth. Could this also have been false?
Of course, Tu Li Yang also knew that Zhi Li was fond of women, and he did not consider this a flaw.
Even the incident where Zhi Li had molested Gui Qin Shao in the bridal chamber, and had instead been stabbed by Gui Qin Shao, was known to Tu Li Yang.
But in Tu Li Yang’s view, this was certainly Gui Qin Shao bringing it upon herself.
That woman Gui Qin Shao dressed herself up flirtatiously every day, constantly seducing men. Tu Li Yang felt certain that Gui Qin Shao must have actively provoked Lord Zhi Li, and that Ling Ao had offered up his own woman for the sake of power, which was why the scene of Zhi Li molesting Gui Qin Shao had occurred.
Lord Zhi Li was handsome in appearance and noble in status. What woman could he not have? Would he need to forcibly molest anyone?
Moreover, he, Tu Li Yang, would soon be a noble of the kingdom. He was so loyal and devoted to Zhi Li. Would the wise and martial Lord Zhi Li demean a future noble for the sake of mere female charms? And a noble so loyal and devoted to him?
Impossible, completely impossible!
Although he thought this in his heart, Tu Li Yang still felt as though grass were growing in his heart, unable to sit or stand at ease.
And he knew clearly in his heart that if his wife Tu Ling Duo and Zhi Li truly had an adulterous affair, then unless he caught them in the act on the spot, she would certainly deny it if he questioned her tomorrow.
So if he wanted to know the answer, he could only go to catch them in the act now, if there truly was an affair.
But how could he get to Zhi Li’s bridal chamber? With his status, he certainly could not go there.
Soon, Tu Li Yang thought of a way: to see whether Tu Ling Duo was at the back courtyard banquet.
His wife Tu Ling Duo, as the bride’s elder sister, had accompanied the bride into the young lord mansion today. After the wedding banquet began, she had been entertaining distinguished female guests in the back courtyard.
“Everyone, forgive me, I shall leave for a moment,” Tu Li Yang rose and saluted.
“Please do as you wish,” Marquis Fu E said.
Tu Li Yang pretended to be somewhat drunk and headed toward the back courtyard.
The back courtyard was entirely female guests, so the female guards stationed there briefly intercepted him. Upon hearing Tu Li Yang say he was looking for his wife on a matter, they let him pass.
After all, Tu Li Yang had recently been the red favourite of the young lord mansion.
Entering the back courtyard, Tu Li Yang discovered that the banquet had long since dispersed, for the female guests were not fond of drinking. And Tu Ling Tuo’s wife, as the most distinguished guest, had already returned to the Tu Ling ducal mansion early.
He asked the maids who were clearing the dishes where Tu Ling Duo was.
The maid said that Madam Tu Ling Duo had felt somewhat tired shortly after the banquet began, and had returned to her room to rest.
So Tu Li Yang hurriedly went to the room.
The result was that the room was completely empty!
Instantly, Tu Li Yang felt waves of coldness wash over his body. His wife had said she was tired and was returning to her room to rest, yet she was not in the room. Where could she be?
But at this moment, Tu Li Yang still did not believe that his wife would commit adultery with Zhi Li.
People usually refuse to believe bad things until the very last moment, unless the facts unfold before their eyes.
Tu Li Yang lay blankly on the bed, boundless pain flooding over him.
He wanted to go to the bridal chamber to catch them in the act, but he dared not.
Of course, the so-called daring not to go was not out of fear of Zhi Li’s power, but rather fear of what he should do if he truly caught them in the act. How should he face his wife?
Deep in his heart, he already somewhat believed that his wife was at that moment committing adultery with Zhi Li.
But as long as he did not catch them face to face, he could still deceive himself that nothing had happened. And if he truly caught them in the act, what should he do? Divorce his wife? The mere thought of this possibility caused him heart-rending pain.
Thinking and thinking, Tu Li Yang simply sat on the floor, leaning against the bed frame and weeping. All the satisfaction he had felt at the banquet earlier vanished completely.
Weeping as he thought, perhaps his wife Tu Ling Duo truly had genuine feelings for him. It was just that she truly could not endure his shortness and ugliness, so she had a huge shadow about being intimate with him.
Tu Li Yang changed his perspective and thought, if a woman less than 1.3 metres tall and unbearably ugly wanted to go to bed with him, even if he loved her he would not agree. Faced with such a body, there was simply no desire whatsoever.
So, even if his wife Tu Ling Duo had committed adultery with Zhi Li, perhaps… it might not be unforgivable.
After all, he was so ugly and so short, like a monster. And Tu Ling Duo was so tall and beautiful. For her to marry him was already a great grievance. When they walked together, people would point and whisper. What immense pressure she must have endured.
Now her legs were healed, she could walk normally, and had returned to being a proud and beautiful princess. Yet she still showed no intention of leaving him, and was instead even more intimate and gentle toward him, Tu Li Yang.
Thinking of this point, Tu Li Yang’s heart softened even further.
Perhaps… his wife’s adultery with Zhi Li was truly excusable, and it was his fault, Tu Li Yang’s fault, for being so ugly and terrifying, completely unworthy of Tu Ling Duo.
Tu Li Yang fell into a very complex emotional state. At one moment he felt self-abasing and self-pitying, filled with boundless rage, feeling that his male dignity had been trampled upon, that Tu Ling Duo was unforgivable.
At another moment, he felt that Tu Ling Duo was excusable, that in terms of feelings she truly loved him.
Even his thoughts wandered further!
His wife Tu Ling Duo had once been raped by Suo Lun, so she had a psychological shadow about matters between men and women. Yet Tu Li Yang was so ugly, and going to bed with him would only deepen this psychological shadow. So Tu Ling Duo had found Zhi Li to go to bed with her to break through this psychological shadow?
Zhi Li’s fondness for playing with other men’s wives was known to all. Perhaps he had forced Tu Ling Duo to offer herself up! And his wife, for the sake of her husband’s future, had had to swallow her humiliation and offer herself to Zhi Li.
It must be so, it must be so!
Tu Li Yang wept, telling himself this over and over.
He lay on the floor like this, weeping as he let his thoughts run wild, hating his own weakness.
But no matter what, he no longer had the courage to go catch them in the act.
In his heart, he still retained a thread of good fortune, hoping that perhaps his wife had simply returned to the Tu Ling ducal mansion with her mother-in-law.
Just as his thoughts were running wild, suddenly his neck went numb.
A needle pierced the back of his neck, and a toxin rapidly spread through his entire body, rendering him completely unable to move. Then his vision went black, and he completely lost consciousness.
Then, a woman’s figure appeared and stuffed the unconscious Tu Li Yang into a hidden cabinet in the wall.
“Ha, just wait and watch a good show, little dwarf,” the woman sneered coldly, then closed the cabinet door.
With a light flash, her delicate figure vanished without a trace.
…
In the bridal chamber of the young lord mansion!
At this moment, Zhi Li was indeed not committing adultery with Tu Ling Duo! Because there was completely no opportunity!
Originally according to the agreement, Tu Ling Duo would get her younger sister Tu Ling Mo drunk, and then the two sisters would serve Zhi Li together.
But Zhi Li’s wife Fang Qing Zhuo had come out and ruined everything.
Kind-hearted at heart, she had made a final effort to save Tu Li Yang and Tu Ling Duo.
Originally, after the bride Tu Ling Mo got drunk, Tu Ling Duo was to help her into the room. But Fang Qing Zhuo had appeared at the banquet, actively helping the drunk Tu Ling Mo into the bridal chamber herself, not giving Tu Ling Duo the opportunity.
In the bridal chamber, Fang Qing Zhuo was worried that Zhi Li would be too violent, and that the bride Tu Ling Mo was too young to endure, so she actively stayed to receive his pleasure.
Fang Qing Zhuo had truly made painstaking efforts. For Zhi Li to marry Tu Ling Mo was the greatest disrespect toward her. For the sake of her self-respect, she should not have appeared at tonight’s wedding banquet. Yet not only did she attend her husband and Tu Ling Mo’s wedding banquet, she actively stayed to help Tu Ling Mo receive his pleasure.
The reason she so wronged herself was to protect Tu Li Yang and Tu Ling Duo, to prevent her husband from committing an irreparable mistake.
Without doubt, Zhi Li would certainly not be grateful to her, but rather hated Fang Qing Zhuo for ruining his good affair.
So, after roughly ravishing Tu Ling Mo, he once again madly abused his wife Fang Qing Zhuo.
Didn’t you actively come forward? Didn’t you ruin my good affair? Then taste my power.
So Fang Qing Zhuo once again endured it as though suffering torture, finally unable to endure Zhi Li’s frenzied lashing, and directly fainted, unconscious.
After venting himself upon his wife Fang Qing Zhuo, the flames in Zhi Li’s heart still had not diminished, for today he was supposed to consume Tu Ling Duo.
When a man completely sets his sights on a woman, it is like grass growing in his heart.
So he casually threw on a robe and left the bridal chamber, walking toward Tu Ling Duo’s room.
But just as he left his courtyard, he saw Tu Ling Duo in the garden, where she was gazing blankly at the moon in the sky.
“Why are you here alone admiring yourself?” Zhi Li laughed.
Tu Ling Duo’s delicate body trembled. She turned her incomparably beautiful face, momentarily speechless.
Zhi Li said, “Is our previous agreement still valid?”
Tu Ling Duo nodded and said, “Valid, but the lady wife will be unhappy.”
Zhi Li said, “Her unhappiness is useless, and she has already been punished. Today is your fertile day. Are you certain you want me to plant my seed in your belly?”
Tu Ling Duo’s breathing quickened. She extended her jade hand and took Zhi Li’s hand, saying, “Come, back to my room.”
Then she led Zhi Li by the hand to her own room.
The eunuch Li Zhu entered first, using his mental strength to search every corner, then said to Zhi Li, “There is no one inside.”
And at this moment, Tu Li Yang inside the wall’s hidden cabinet was unconscious, not even breathing. However, the effects of this strange poison were already rapidly dissipating.
Tu Ling Duo said, “What if Tu Li Yang bursts in later?”
Zhi Li said, “Rest assured. I put a strong sleeping drug in his second jug of wine. After drinking it, he will be completely unconscious.”
Then he said to Li Zhu, “Go guard outside. Do not allow anyone to approach within a hundred paces of this room.”
“Yes!” Li Zhu said, then he walked out of the courtyard and stood guard at the door.
…
The moment they entered the room, Zhi Li violently tore open his robe, revealing his muscular body, and pounced fiercely toward Tu Ling Duo.
Tu Ling Duo’s delicate body gently flashed aside, and she said in a delicate voice, “Crown Prince, do not be in such a hurry. Shall I perform a sword dance for you?”
Then she lightly pulled off her long skirt, leaving only her undergarment and narrow silk briefs.
Although her figure was not explosively voluptuous, she was tall and possessed a pair of straight, sexy long legs. Although her chest was not spectacular in size, its shape was perfect. Although her hips below her waist were not abundantly full, they were round and pert, utterly captivating.
Thus, Tu Ling Duo’s delicate body was coolly and daringly exposed, and she began to dance with the sword.
Moreover, she danced the “Nine Swords of Calamity”, completely positioning her delicate body into very bizarre postures, appearing especially sexy and fiery.
After watching for only a short while, Zhi Li was panting, his entire body seeming about to burn completely.
And at this moment, Tu Li Yang inside the wall’s hidden cabinet began to awaken. Although his four limbs were still paralysed, he could already open his eyes and recover his hearing.
As Tu Ling Duo danced with the sword, she said in a delicate voice, “Crown Prince, with the support of the two supreme beings of the Dragon Temple, and with the allegiance of all nobles and aristocrats of the Fury Wave Kingdom to you, this struggle for the throne, you have already won.”
Zhi Li’s eyes stared dead at Tu Ling Duo’s fiery figure, panting as he said, “Suo Lun is not yet destroyed. It is too early to speak of victory.”
Tu Ling Duo said, “Suo Lun is being blockaded and pursued by Yan Mo’s hundred thousand naval troops in front, and blockaded by the entire Fury Wave Kingdom behind. His monthly gold coin income is reduced to merely one tenth of what it was before. And previously he spread his enterprises so wide, suddenly expanding his army by over a hundred thousand troops, and extending his influence throughout the entire Southeast Province. When there was money it was fine, but once the money runs out, these hundred thousand plus troops will eat people. So Suo Lun’s collapse is imminent.”
These words were eighty percent correct.
If this great battle with Yan Mo were lost, then Suo Lun’s entire rear would be in danger. He had expanded too quickly before. Once the money could not keep up, the situation in Tianshui City would instantly fall into chaos.
And the reason Tu Ling Duo was working so hard was also because she had seen Zhi Li’s power greatly rise, and his destined ascension to the throne.
In her view, with a king as a lover, in Luan Yang City, even throughout the entire eastern part of the kingdom, she would be able to call the wind and summon the rain.
By then, her ambition would not be limited merely to Luan Yang City!
Tu Ling Duo was still dancing with the sword, her exposed delicate body assuming even more exaggerated and fiery postures, watching until Zhi Li’s blood completely boiled.
“Your figure is so good, filled with such strength and resilience. I truly cannot imagine how you feigned paralysis for the past half year,” Zhi Li said. “Why did you not stand up earlier? Why must you suffer for this half year?”
Tu Ling Duo said, “If I did not feign paralysis, then what if Tu Li Yang sought pleasure with me? How could my virgin body not be given to Your Highness?”
Zhi Li said, “I do not much care, as you know. Other men’s wives are what I enjoy most.”
Tu Ling Duo said, “But the moment I think of Tu Li Yang’s disgusting body pressing upon mine, I truly want to vomit. So by comparison, the pain of feigning paralysis counts for nothing.”
As she spoke, she assumed an incomparably fiery posture, her two long legs spreading wide into a straight line, then continuing to spread, exceeding 210 degrees.
This posture was too provocative. Any man would be driven completely mad.
Zhi Li panted, “Let me tell you, I am a beast. With you provoking me like this, in a moment I will ravish you until you cannot live and cannot die.”
Tu Ling Duo said seductively, “If you tear me to pieces, all the better.”
Zhi Li said, “When do you plan to kill Tu Li Yang?”
Tu Ling Duo’s beautiful eyes trembled slightly, and she said, “While we are in the royal capital, take me a few more times. After I confirm I am pregnant, you will publicly announce the death of Lord Tu Li Wen, and enfeoff Tu Li Yang as Lord of Luan Yang City. After his position as city lord is stable, and my belly can no longer be concealed, I will then kill Tu Li Yang and frame Suo Lun.”
Zhi Li said, “You plan to have Fen Mo kill Tu Li Yang? Then you would have to sacrifice even Fen Mo?”
“There is no choice. Fen Mo knows too much,” Tu Ling Duo said coldly. “Moreover, as the illegitimate son of the Tu Ling ducal mansion, he dared to show such arrogance toward me. I detest him greatly.”
Then Tu Ling Duo said, “Fen Mo is a high-ranking officer in Suo Lun’s army, and recently Tu Li Yang has been madly attacking Suo Lun. After his death, everyone’s first reaction will be that Suo Lun killed him. This framing will have no flaw whatsoever.”
“You vicious woman,” Zhi Li said. “Truly there is a saying that fits: the most poisonous is a woman’s heart. Tu Li Yang has been so good to you. Can you bring yourself to do it?”
Tu Ling Duo said, “From the moment I sent someone to kill his father Tu Li Wen, everything was already irreversible. If he does not die, I cannot scheme Luan Yang City for Your Majesty!”
“Good, a daughter of snakes and scorpions. I admire you,” Zhi Li said. “Now kneel down, kneel on the bed like a bitch, and receive your king’s favour.”
“Yes, my supreme king,” Tu Ling Duo said in a sultry voice. Then she assumed the most provocative posture, her upper body on the bed, her lower body kneeling on the carpet, forcefully thrusting up, and trembling as she said, “My king, come quickly, come possess me!”
And just at this moment!
Bang… suddenly, a loud noise.
The door of a hidden cabinet in the room wall exploded open, and a person stood inside.
Tu Li Yang’s eye sockets were about to split, the corners of his eyes bleeding, his teeth having bitten through his gums, his mouth full of blood.
Boundless hatred, boundless pain, boundless rage, as though they would completely tear his small body apart!
“Harlot, I will kill you, I will kill you!”
Tu Li Yang was like a mad demon, waving his arms as he madly pounced toward Tu Ling Duo.