The Soulkeeper's Pavilion: Where the Phoenix Roosts - Chapter 2

I did not go. I sent Hongyu with a message that I was unwell and could not leave the house.

Cui You was all tenderness and concern. Nothing showed on his face. He even told Hongyu to take good care of me.

Had I not already died once, I would never have seen the vicious ambition beneath that mask.

I hauled Cuiliu to Father’s study.

The more she confessed, the darker his expression became.

He had her taken away and put under close guard. Her parents and elder brother were locked up too.

After a long silence, Father sighed.

“You were so frail when you were born. Your mother and I worried day and night that you wouldn’t live to grow up.”

“You’re my only daughter. I searched so carefully, and this is the husband I chose for you.”

“I’ve failed you.”

I shook my head. “Cui You is a beast in a man’s skin. How is that your fault?”

Cuiliu knew only that he intended to kill me. He had left a letter for her to produce after my death, to make it appear I had eloped.

She did not know there was a princess backing him.

The thought made me sneer.

In my last life, Cuiliu’s betrayal had not won her a marriage to Cui You either.

The princess had her thrown into a lake. By the time they found her body, it had turned pale in the water.

When Cui You heard, he did not even ask about her.

Women were nothing but stepping-stones on his climb to power. Me, the princess—he had never cared for any of us.

He wanted power, wealth, and fame. In this life, I would leave him with nothing, despised by all.

“Father, Cui You didn’t do this for Cuiliu.”

“He attached himself to the princess long ago.”

Three days after Cuiliu vanished, Cui You finally realized something was wrong.

But he had always been shameless. As soon as he suspected their affair had been exposed, he came to beg forgiveness.

Before Father and me, he wept bitterly.

He said he had lost his head for a moment, but had certainly never betrayed me.

He made no mention of trying to kill me. He spoke only of getting too close to Cuiliu.

“I only wanted to know Roujia better. How could I have known Cuiliu would develop feelings for me?”

“I’ve thought it over and over. I must explain everything to Roujia. If Cuiliu’s love turns to resentment and she hurts her, I could never forgive myself.”

Unlike other men caught in an affair, he did not try to shirk responsibility. Instead, he eagerly admitted his mistake and laid his heart bare.

Father was too angry to speak. I, however, gently helped Cui You to his feet.

“As long as I’m the one you care for, Thirteenth Young Master. Cuiliu was to accompany me when I married.”

“But since you’ve developed feelings for each other before the wedding, I can’t trust her now.”

“I’ve sent her to the country estate. You mustn’t go and see her.”

His eyes were slightly red. His face was handsome.

What a face it was. Without it, he could never have deceived so many women.

“Whatever you say, Roujia.”

He looked at me with such devotion. A pity he had never taken to the stage.

After seeing him off, I sent someone to follow him discreetly and find out where he went.

He had only just entered official service. He was not as wary as he would become in my last life.

My man returned to report that Cui You had gone to Pinyang Tower.

To meet the princess, apparently.

He certainly had energy to spare.

By my reckoning, Ning’an should already be pregnant.

A woman could not hide a pregnancy forever.

Even if Cui You was in no hurry, the princess soon would be.

I was looking forward to hearing how the precious Princess Ning’an explained the child in her belly.