Chapter 5

Chapter 5: She Is the Mistress, You Are a Concubine—What's Wrong with Pleasing Her? Seeing that she remained silent, Pei Wuliang knew she was afraid. "Since you're afraid, that's fine. Prepare yourself well—I won't harm you." With those words, Pei Wuliang strode away. After he left, Chunyan beside her felt deeply wronged. She had never seen Pei Wuliang treat her young lady like this. Half a month ago, he had still invited her to Yumenguan to admire the moon. To amuse her, he had even specially prepared a dazzling fireworks display, all for the sake of winning her a smile. But how could a man who treated her young lady so well suddenly take a liking to the cousin? And now he was even forcing her young lady to give her shop to that cousin? This was utterly outrageous! "Young lady, the Pei family truly bullies people. Are you really going to agree to give the shop your grandmother left you to the cousin?" Give it to Song Jiaojiao? How could that be! Jia Qingcheng had remained silent the whole time precisely because she wanted to see the true face of this man who, in her previous life, she had believed to be a good man. Now, she had seen him completely for what he was. In her previous life, she hadn't believed that true love existed in this world—until Pei Wuliang appeared. Her mother had said that all men in this world favored a pretty face. If a man still treated you well without that, then it must be true love. She had witnessed her father and mother's tragedy from a young age, and her heart had long since frozen over. It was Pei Wuliang who had thoroughly moved her with his sincerity and actions, making her believe he wasn't drawn to her because of her looks. Her frozen heart had been melted and conquered by him bit by bit. Just as she thought they would be a devoted couple to the end, heaven dealt her a heavy blow. She had been reborn, watching with her own eyes as this facade of true love was torn apart. The happiness she thought she'd had in her previous life was nothing but an elaborate deception carefully orchestrated by this man. In her previous life, she had wallowed in that deception, feeling quite pleased with herself. But now, she had awoken from the great dream... A cold wind blew gently, and she couldn't help but shiver. Jia Qingcheng, it's time for you to wake up. She gently raised her hand to touch her ugly face, the rough texture beneath her fingertips telling her just how unsightly it was. She was now to marry into Chu Wangfu. And Prince Chu, Xiao Zhiheng, had given her every last shred of dignity. So, she too would present Prince Chu with a grand wedding gift. "Chunyan." "Your servant is here." "Prepare the carriage. We're going to the black market." "Young lady, what business do we have at the black market?" At high noon, the blazing sun hung overhead. The black market, as its name suggested, was the darkest street in the capital. Naturally, the things sold here were not things ordinary households would ever lay eyes on. Jia Qingcheng's carriage came to a steady stop in front of a shop called "Week Seven." Week Seven—even the name sounded strange. And the shopkeeper was an even more witty and humorous man. "Boss, we have a customer." As the waiter called out, the owner Su Yu walked out. "Miss Jia, you've come?" Su Yu looked at Jia Qingcheng before him and couldn't help but feel that her appearance didn't match her status at all. She was a wealthy young lady, yet she always wore a plain gray dress, and she never bothered to conceal the black mole on her face larger than a bean. Still, he had long grown accustomed to her manner of dress. Otherwise, how else would she be called the Ugly Woman of the Capital? "Shopkeeper Su, the goods I asked you to prepare some days ago—have you gathered them all?" "Miss Jia, are you certain you want them?" "Are they ready?" Jia Qingcheng said as she walked toward the back. Last month, she had found a batch of top-grade Heavenly Silkworm Gu here. Unfortunately, raising them took time, so she had quietly waited until now. "The goods are here, but I'd like to offer you a word of advice, miss. Such a fine thing—are you truly planning to give it to Young Master Pei?" Regarding the sudden change of engagement in the Pei family, the entire capital now knew about it. Jia Qingcheng had loved Pei Wuliang for years, privately paving the road to his success. One could say that without Jia Qingcheng, Pei Wuliang would never have been able to report for duty at the Imperial Medical Academy. Who would have thought that in the end, her cousin would steal the march on her? And the ugly woman was to marry Prince Chu as his widow-to-be. This matter had long since spread throughout the capital, making Jia Qingcheng the biggest fool of all. To be honest, Su Yu held nothing but contempt for a scumbag like Pei Wuliang. In his era, such a scumbag would have had his manhood cut off. "Boss, where are the goods?" Jia Qingcheng didn't want to entertain Su Yu's remarks and went straight to the backyard to look at the jar. Inside was a top-grade Heavenly Silkworm Gu that had devoured many of its own kind and had grown quite haughty. "Hey! Let me out!" Swoosh, swoosh... The silkworm nearly flew out of the jar, but fortunately Jia Qingcheng covered the lid in time. "Don't be naughty." "Miss, what are you muttering about?" "Shopkeeper Su, I'll take it. How much silver?" This was a top-grade Golden Silkworm. If placed within a person, it could grant them Immunity to a Hundred Poisons. In her previous life at this time, she had given this Golden Silkworm to Pei Wuliang, ensuring his lifelong immunity to all poisons... But now, she wouldn't be so foolish. She would raise this Golden Silkworm to its peak and then give it to Prince Chu as a protective spirit companion. This would surely purge the deadly poison from Prince Chu's body and ensure him a long life. After settling on the price, she carried the Gu insect and prepared to leave. Just as she stepped out of the shop, she ran straight into a group of people... Seeing that it was Pei Wanwan, she paused but did not take the initiative to greet her. Pei Wanwan was Pei Wuliang's cousin, married to Lord Su of the Imperial Medical Academy. In her previous life, she had used her status to oppress her at every turn, despising her for being ugly, saying she couldn't be taken out in public and embarrassed her cousin. And because of her relationship with Pei Wuliang, she had endured it with tears and a forced smile. In this life, she had no intention of acknowledging her. Straightening her back, she walked right past Pei Wanwan. "Ugly thing, stop right there for this lady!" Pei Wanwan's words were full of provocation, but she didn't want to engage with her, pretending not to hear as she prepared to board the carriage. "Jia Qingcheng, your face is ugly enough, but what, you won't even greet me when you see me? Is this how Wuliang taught you manners?" "Miss, what should we do?" "Ignore her, let's go!" She didn't want to get entangled with these irrelevant people. The urgent matter at hand was to save the Prince's life. As for other riffraff, she couldn't be bothered to care. "Madam, this ugly thing has quite the nerve! She actually dared to ignore you and just got on the carriage and left?" The maid hadn't expected Jia Qingcheng to be so disrespectful today. One should know that before this, Jia Qingcheng had been extremely attentive to them. In fact, whenever they ran into her while shopping, they would have her pay for everything they bought, and she would do so without complaint. What was wrong with her today? Had she grown bold enough to eat a bear's heart and leopard's gall? "She must still be angry at my cousin. Hmph, she should take a look at her own ugly face. What right does she have to put on airs? With that appearance of hers, even a female demon looks better than her. Tell me, what normal man in this world would be willing to marry her? She's only fit to be Prince Chu's widow, a living widow!" Another burst of laughter came from behind, and Jia Qingcheng heard all these words but paid them no mind. After she had walked far away, Pei Wanwan noticed that she was holding a jar in her hand. That thing Jia Qingcheng had suddenly gone to the black market to take away a jar—could it be that what was inside was... "Let's go, to the Pei residence!" ... The next day, Jia Qingcheng brought her maid Chunyan to a clothing shop, wanting to pick out a few well-fitting outfits to bring to Chu Wangfu. All these years, because she had deliberately made herself ugly, she had dressed very poorly. But from now on, she would slowly learn to change herself. She took a liking to a lake-blue long dress. The garment was made of Shu brocade, and the tailoring was also to her liking. She was drawn to it at first sight. "Shopkeeper, let me try this one on." The shopkeeper was just about to hand it to her when suddenly, a hand snatched the garment from the shopkeeper with quick reflexes, and a smiling face turned toward another direction. "Wuliang gege, I want to try this one."