It was only upon reaching the door of the study that he learned from the butler: Pei Jingzhi had gone out.
"When will he return?"
"I am afraid it will take some time." The butler smiled and said, "The master went out today to look for the madam. After all these years, this is the first time the master has gone to Liuyun Villa in the suburbs of the capital to find her."
"You do not know, but to see the madam this time, the master really dressed himself up. He wore a brightly colored long robe, tied a colorfully embroidered jade belt, and wore a jade pendant and a fragrant sachet. His hair was combed meticulously, and he even pinned a carved gold hairpin."
"The master simply dressed himself up like a young man."
"He went to see the madam with great joy."
"I am afraid it will be a few days before he returns!"
Chen Liang felt a wave of annoyance; if he had known, he would have come earlier.
The matter for which he sought Pei Jingzhi, though not exactly a burning emergency, was still quite pressing. Besides, there was also Hongxiu to deal with right now.
But Pei Jingzhi had gone out, and there was no telling how many days he would be gone.
He could only wait.
"I hope I will not miss the opportunity."
Thinking this, he went to see Hongxiu again, even planning to overstep his bounds and act as the head of Pei Jingzhi's household for a moment, dealing with Hongxiu on Pei Jingzhi's behalf first. At the very least, he could restrain her and throw her into the woodshed.
As a result...
"Where is Hongxiu?"
"M-my lord, Lady Hongxiu wanted to go out, and w-we did not dare stop her!"
Chen Liang could not help but sigh.
But soon after, he did not take it too much to heart.
First, the valuables of the Pei residence had not been taken away.
Second, even if the valuables of the Pei residence were taken, it would not matter.
Despite Lord Pei Jingzhi currently being squeezed out by Ren Tianye in the imperial court, no matter how much he was pressured, he was still a pillar of the court. As long as he returned and issued an order, unless Hongxiu grew wings and could travel a thousand miles a day, she could forget about escaping.
"Forget it, I will ignore Hongxiu for now!"
"I will just wait!"
...
On the road leading to the suburbs of the capital, Pei Jingzhi sat inside a horse-drawn carriage.
The carriage swayed, yet Pei Jingzhi still held a bronze mirror.
Looking at himself in the mirror, he saw that he had grown old. Over the years, having been dispatched by His Majesty to rush to various places, toiling day and night, wrinkles had spread across his face, and his health was increasingly failing.
He did not look like a man in his fifties or sixties, but rather like an elderly man in his seventies or eighties.
Right now, although he had changed into very bright clothes, even showing a conspicuous inner lining at the collar, and his actions mimicked the flamboyant arrogance of young scions from noble families, time spared no one. His gray hair could not even be held down by his hat.
"Alas, I wonder if dressing up like this will catch the madam's eye?"
Pei Jingzhi felt a bit anxious.
His wife, Madam Liu, loved seeing him look youthful the most. She was always willing to put effort into dressing him up, giving him a bit more of a romantic and handsome flair. Therefore, when Madam Liu was by his side, he would always be teased when he went out.
This displeased him, causing him to often dress sloppily when Madam Liu was not around.
But on this trip, he was going to beg Madam Liu to step forward and persuade the Liu family to provide assistance for his final gamble. Naturally, he had to tidy himself up properly according to his wife's preferences.
Dressing up made him blush a little.
"Master, your love for the madam is as deep as the sea. Having not seen you for so long, the madam will be overjoyed to see you."
The young servant driving the carriage heard this. Knowing that Pei Jingzhi was quite kind to his subordinates, he quickly offered some flattery.
This made Pei Jingzhi feel much better in his heart.
It did not take too long to arrive at Liuyun Villa in the suburbs of the capital.
This was the private property of the Hedong Liu family. Situated here, the scenery was beautiful and unparalleled. However, as Pei Jingzhi looked at Liuyun Villa, he could not help but feel a bit dazed.
"I have not been to this Liuyun Villa for over a decade, have I?"
"In the past, this was a place of romance for me and my wife, but now..."
"It actually brings back some memories of the youthful love between me and the madam."
Pei Jingzhi could not help but laugh softly.
Perhaps because he was wearing very bright clothes and deliberately hiding his old age, trying hard to stand tall and walk briskly, he managed to feign a bit of youthful spirit and also gained a bit of youthful sentimentality.
Walking up to the front, the main gate of Liuyun Villa was tightly shut.
He knocked directly.
A moment later, a voice sounded from behind the gate: "Who is it?"
The gate was opened, and a maid stepped out. It was Dongxiang, the personal maid of Pei Jingzhi's wife, Madam Liu.
"M-m-master, h-how come you are here?"
The maid Dongxiang's expression instantly changed, and her tone became stuttering: "D-do you, does the m-madam know you are here?"
Pei Jingzhi, however, did not notice the change in the maid Dongxiang's expression and said, "The madam does not know. I have come to see her."
"Where is the madam?"
"The m-madam went out, she will be back soon."
"Oh." Pei Jingzhi did not mind and said, "Then I will go inside the manor and wait for her..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he saw the maid Dongxiang spread her arms, blocking him outside the door.
This made Pei Jingzhi somewhat surprised: "Dongxiang, what are you doing?"
"M-master..." Dongxiang stuttered even more: "The m-madam will be back soon. Y-you should just wait for her outside the door. Do not come in."
"Nonsense!" Pei Jingzhi's face sank: "I am the master of the house, coming to see my wife. How can there be any reason for me to wait outside?"
"M-master..." Dongxiang was so anxious she was almost crying: "Y-you better not come in, lest the madam gets angry again. It is not like you do not know that once the madam gets angry with you, it is terrifying!"
"Y-you should not make the madam unhappy again."
"Furthermore, today, if you dare to enter this door without the madam's permission, the madam will not only get angry, but she might even be so furious as to divorce you!"
The word divorce startled Pei Jingzhi for a moment.
Wait, just entering a door would lead to a divorce?
Immediately after, he completely disbelieved it!
He and his wife, Madam Liu, were so deeply in love!
Back then, when Madam Liu's lover died in the military, Madam Liu's world seemed to plunge into darkness, falling into an inescapable slumber. It was he, Pei Jingzhi, who, because his appearance resembled Madam Liu's lover, walked to Madam Liu's side.
During that time, he took care of her day and night, using every possible method before finally helping Madam Liu step out of the darkness.
After that, his pampering and care for his wife did not diminish in the slightest.
He knew very well that he was able to get close to Madam Liu because he looked like her former lover, but he had always worked hard to make Madam Liu forget her past love. Over all these years, he had succeeded.
He took great care of Madam Liu. What is more, completely independent of the Hedong Liu family's influence, he relied on his talent and hard work to step by step reach the position of Superintendent of the Imperial Household, which could be considered as restoring the family's prestige for Madam Liu.
His relationship with Madam Liu was exceptionally affectionate and sweet.
Madam Liu even bore him a son and two daughters.
His feelings with his wife, Madam Liu, were so profound. Right now, it was just a matter of entering this Liuyun Villa; how could it possibly lead to a divorce?
Therefore, Pei Jingzhi pushed Dongxiang aside and strode inside.
Before he had walked very far, he saw a young man with a bare back lifting a stone block, training a strong and muscular physique.
He could not help but smile.
His wife, Madam Liu, loved to make him look young and flashy. For this reason, she had often forced him to exercise in previous years.
He did not expect that inside this Liuyun Villa, such rules also applied.
It was just... who was this young man, exposing himself like this? Was it not a bad influence?
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
