Chapter 6

As soon as Duke Auston’s words were spoken, before they even had a chance to reach anyone else’s ears, the Empress was already greatly frightened.

The Crown Prince she had painstakingly cultivated was gone, and she herself had lost her fertility. Now her only hope was that Auston would produce an heir.

Auston’s reputation was already bad enough; the Empress absolutely could not sit back and watch him actually kill his own partner, adding scandal and shame to her faction and her future grandchild.

To this end, on the eve of Ruan Tang and Auston’s wedding, the Empress specifically summoned Ruan Tang to the palace for a talk.

She also gifted Ruan Tang an expensive watch, instructing him to carry it close to him and, after the wedding, never to take it off day or night.

This so-called watch was actually a self-defense device for the nobility, developed with the latest technology. It contained a special electric current mechanism that, upon detecting its owner’s life in danger, could knock out not just an Alpha, but even nine oxen.

Ruan Tang glanced at the watch the Empress had given him, immediately understood her meaning, and gave her a knowing smile as he accepted the gift. “Thank you, Your Majesty the Empress. I like this gift very much, and I will certainly keep it with me at all times, close to my body...”

Although he was about to marry Duke Auston, whose fearsome reputation had spread throughout the empire, Ruan Tang himself was not at all flustered—

because he understood clearly that this marriage represented an alliance between the Ruan Family and the Empress Faction, and he was about to become Auston’s legitimate, lawful partner... Unless he himself sought death, no matter how brutal and erratic Auston was, the Empress and the forces behind Auston would not let him die.

Therefore, he could safely be a salted fish.

The Empress hadn’t expected Ruan Tang to be so composed. Warmly taking his hand, she smiled. “Good child, why call me ‘Your Majesty’? In the future, once you are married to Auston, we will be family. You will be no different from my own child. You should call me Mother Empress...”

The beautiful and elegant Omega appeared gentle and kind, with not a trace of someone who stirred up storms amidst power and political intrigue.

“Yes, Mother Empress.” Hearing this, Ruan Tang immediately complied with the Empress’s order and changed his address respectfully.

The Empress patted Ruan Tang’s hand, smiling even more kindly. “That’s right. Once you and Auston are married, you must find a way to have a child as soon as possible. When you have a child, if you want to move out and live independently, I won’t stop you... I know this marriage has been unfair to you.”

“Mother Empress won’t force you to like him. He has a bad temper. Before you have a child, just tolerate him, treat him like a child, and don’t argue with him...”

“Although Auston—but as long as you give birth to a child, that child will be the future Crown Prince of the empire. Then you will possess supreme power, and Mother Empress and the forces behind me will stand on your side...” The Empress patted his hand gently, constantly painting him a rosy picture, unashamedly showing her closeness. “Then, you, me, and my future grandson will be the most honored beings in the entire empire...”

“Then, whatever you want to do, Mother Empress will not stop you.” The Empress’s words and tone were all urging Ruan Tang to quickly have a child after marriage, without even a shred of concern for her own eldest son. She even tacitly allowed Ruan Tang to have an affair after giving birth to her grandson.

She was the Empress, but also an Omega, knowing well that her eldest son was such that even she found him repulsive. No Omega would ever take a liking to him.

Ruan Tang had agreed to marry Auston and even seemed very willing, probably only for the power it represented.

Therefore, she spared no effort in painting this rosy picture for Ruan Tang.

She had never cared about Auston as a son; all she wanted was a grandson that combined her family bloodline with the imperial bloodline.

As long as Ruan Tang could give her that grandson, she didn’t care at all about whether her own son lived or died. Even if Ruan Tang wanted Auston to disappear later, she wouldn’t care.

Listening to the numerous empty promises the Empress made, Ruan Tang put on a look of expectation and compliance, repeatedly agreeing with her. He appeared to be an obedient puppet, seeming to very much look forward to the rosy picture the Empress was painting.

Only when the Empress was satisfied with what she had said did she allow Ruan Tang to leave.

As Ruan Tang left the palace, he looked back at the towering walls, recalling the Empress’s seemingly gentle and kind appearance. His heart felt cold, and he did not believe a single word that noble figure had said.

A strange sympathy rose in his heart for his future husband, Duke Auston: a trace of sadness.

But after that moment of sadness, there was nothing else.

He couldn’t even handle his own situation; how could he concern himself with others?

...

Ruan Tang and Auston’s wedding day arrived in the blink of an eye. Although Auston was the eldest son of the Emperor and Empress, because of his fearsome reputation and rumors of insanity,

the imperial family chose not to hold a grand ceremony for this marriage.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to, but they feared Auston would lose his mind in public, bringing shame to the entire imperial family.

Ruan Tang had no objection to this, so after publishing the news of Ruan Tang and Duke Auston’s marriage in the newspapers, the imperial family directly had the Marriage Bureau officials have the two sign the marriage agreement separately and notarize it.

Thus Ruan Tang was married to Auston, officially becoming Duke Auston’s partner.

The imperial family was still the imperial family. Although they had canceled the wedding ceremony and simplified all formalities to avoid Duke Auston going mad on the spot, to save face for Marshal Ruan Ming and to announce Ruan Tang’s new status to the entire imperial star’s nobility, the Empress still chose to hold a grand wedding banquet.

They invited all the imperial relatives and the foremost aristocratic families of the imperial star to attend the feast.

The entire banquet lasted from four in the afternoon until ten in the evening.

Duke Auston, as Ruan Tang’s partner and the other protagonist of this banquet, never appeared. Instead, the esteemed Emperor of the empire made a brief appearance, expressing his blessings for Ruan Tang and Auston’s marriage. After putting on a show of deep conjugal affection with the Empress before the crowd, he left the banquet venue.

The Empress stayed by Ruan Tang’s side the whole time, leading him to become reacquainted with the nobles he already knew, now under his new identity.

The splendidly dressed men and women smiled on their faces, congratulating him on his new marriage and greeting him, but Ruan Tang could see that in their hearts, they were all mocking him.

But Ruan Tang himself didn’t care at all; he adapted well to this situation—

quietly staying by the Empress’s side, socializing with her as her son-in-law.

He had not entered this marriage for love, nor was he marrying a normal person, so he felt neither disappointment nor embarrassment about the current situation. He was very calm and collected.

Only after the wedding banquet ended was Ruan Tang sent by the Empress’s people to the Auston Ducal Palace.

People dispersed to their homes, and only then did they remove the fake smiles from their faces and start talking about Ruan Tang’s marriage.

Ruan Tang didn’t care, but none of those who attended the banquet where he was alone thought he didn’t care. They all thought he was putting on a brave face, pretending to be happy. As soon as they left the palace, they privately discussed the absurd and shameful marriage between Ruan Tang and Duke Auston.

Some thought he deserved it for selling his marriage for power and status; some felt that a beauty like him, albeit a bit troublesome and malicious, was such a pity to marry an inconstant, disabled madman.

“How terrifying. This Ruan Tang really is risking his life for power and status. What kind of person is Duke Auston? Omegas have died at his hands, if not hundreds, then at least dozens, even if they were criminals... And that’s with the imperial family deliberately suppressing the news. In reality, who knows if he’s killed ordinary people? He’s a completely brutal and merciless character... How dare he marry such an Alpha...”

“Tsk, that Duke Auston may be mad, but it’s obvious he doesn’t like him. Otherwise, how could he just leave him alone at the wedding banquet to perform his one-man show?”

“I’ve never seen such a shabby wedding. How embarrassing...”

“Don’t laugh at the wedding’s shabbiness. Now that he’s fallen into that one’s hands, who knows if he’ll live another month?”

“He deserves it.”

Listening to the whispered gossip around him, Shen Mozhi couldn’t help but frown. Recalling that Ruan Tang was an Omega who had once been engaged to him, and his just-now calm and collected demeanor, his heart inexplicably felt a pang of bitterness and tightness.

He didn’t like Ruan Tang; he even loathed him for pretending to be his savior, capitalizing on the mistake to get engaged to him, trying to pass off something fake as genuine.

But he didn’t want him to die—

Yet Ruan Tang had voluntarily chosen to marry Duke Auston, the Bluebeard. Although Shen Mozhi couldn’t understand what mindset led Ruan Tang to make such a choice, he felt that marrying such an Alpha, Ruan Tang’s fate would not be good.

“Mo Zhi, is that Duke Auston really so terrifying? It’s all my fault. If only I had tried harder to dissuade my brother, worked to resolve the conflict between him and Brother Zhou...” Amid Shen Mozhi’s absent-mindedness, a pitiful voice sounded in his ear, filled with worry for Ruan Tang. “Then he wouldn’t have married that duke like this. If I had tried just a bit harder...”

It was his beloved, his first love—Ruan Xi.

Ruan Xi’s voice instantly pulled Shen Mozhi back to reality, making him recall Ruan Tang’s past misdeeds and his repeated schemes and frames against Ruan Xi.

Looking at the pure and innocent Ruan Xi, who was still so kind even after being hurt by Ruan Tang again and again, Shen Mozhi immediately sobered up.

“Xixi, this has nothing to do with you. You’re too kind.” Shen Mozhi forcibly ignored the strange bitterness deep in his heart, pulled his beloved into an embrace, and comforted him. “Marrying Duke Auston was Ruan Tang’s own choice. Even if the ending is bad, he brought it upon himself. It has nothing to do with you!”

Ruan Xi was the one truly worth his care and regard.

A black-hearted lotus like Ruan Tang wasn’t even worthy to be mentioned in the same breath as him. Even if he died, it would be his own fault and not worthy of sympathy.

Shen Mozhi kept telling himself this, but for some reason, a feeling of emptiness and loss rose in his heart.

His intuition seemed to be telling him that he had lost something extremely precious and important to him forever.