After a brief discussion, we decided to wait and see. Like we had discussed, the enemy would most likely attack us, so we thought it best to set up a defensive formation and countermeasures, lure the enemy into a trap and ambush them.
"We'll stay in contact," Huang Hong Lin assured me. "But the most important thing is for you guys to stay safe. Also, since we just had a major battle against Hu Li Jing and Su Da Ji's group, we should get some rest, recover our qi so that we would be fresh when the next attack comes."
"Roger that."
"Oh, wait." Before Mu Rong Shu and I left, Huang Fei Hong quickly raised a hand and stopped us. "Before you go, there's something I need to tell you guys about. It's a rumor that I heard, but I'm not very sure about its authenticity. Just thought you might want to know."
"Know about what?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"There are rumors about the imperial family…while they broke off ties with your Zhao family…"
"They are not my Zhao family anymore," I interrupted. Huang Fei Hong coughed and nodded hastily, looking sheepish.
"Of course. Sorry. I forgot. Yeah, they broke off ties with the Zhao family after what your brother, Zhao Huan Wang, did. Even broke off the engagement between him and their second princess. But they have their eye on you now."
"Me?" I spluttered. "Why?!"
"Your recent exploits have impressed them," Huang Fei Hong explained. "Your successes with the tomb explorations and bringing out the treasures. Not to mention, your use of Lu Bu during that battle in the city square about a week ago."
"Has it already been a week?" Huang Hong Lin shook her head in disbelief. "Time really flies."
"Yeah, it does," Mu Rong Shu agreed. She was frowning. "So what do they want to do with my husband? They consider him a threat and wish to eliminate him?"
"Not exactly. Quite the contrary, actually." Huang Fei Hong scratched his head, looking apprehensive. Under the weight of Mu Rong Shu's sharp gaze, he sighed and finally relented. "They, uh, actually wish to recruit him."
"Nonsense!" Huang Hong Lin exclaimed skeptically. "You know as well as I do that the imperial family doesn't care about allies! They think they can win the Spirit War on their own! Why would they recruit other people? They don't need allies."
"They don't intend to recruit him as an ally."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mu Rong Shu asked sharply. Huang Fei Hong hung his head.
"They want to…marry him into their family."
"Huh? But I'm already married?" I reached out to hold Mu Rong Shu's hand. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Yeah, well…that's just a rumor. I don't know." Huang Fei Hong looked frustrated. "But you should know that the imperial family has a lot of tricks up their sleeves. So be careful. I wouldn't be surprised if they approach you in the future."
"Uh…okay. Thanks for the warning. I'll be cautious."
We then returned home, and by the time we reached our place, it was late at night. There weren't any real incidents, so we didn't have to worry much. It was a little nerve-wracking, admittedly. After what happened earlier that night, I half expected a bunch of people to show up and attack us.
Fortunately, none off that happened.
The "attack" occurred the next morning, and it wasn't sprung upon me but on my wife instead.
During the morning, I had gone to open my antique store as per usual, while Mu Rong Shu went about her daily chores. She would join me later in the morning, just before noon, but she usually went to take care of stuff, such as buying groceries or doing some housework. That morning, she was on her way back from the supermarket when she caught sight of a limousine pulling up beside her a few hundred meters away from our house.
She paused, immediately going into battle mode just in case it was an attack. There was no reason for anyone to approach her, at least not someone who was…friendly. Nobody in the Mu Rong family drove in limousines. As a family of assassins, they weren't stupid enough to create a high profile, call attention to them and paint a massive target on their backs. So she knew that this wasn't from the Mu Rong family.
And Mu Rong Shu was aware that the Zhao family didn't think highly of her, and her mother-in-law just visited her the other day, so it would be highly unusual for her to look for her again so soon. Or perhaps her mother-in-law was a lot more persistent than she thought.
However, she didn't recognize the limousine. This wasn't the car her mother-in-law arrived in the other day. It belonged to someone else.
Her sense of alertness heightened when the passenger disembarked from the limousine and she realized she did recognize the familiar figure. It was the lady from the imperial family who attacked her in the city square that fateful night, during the battle Royale.
Dropping the bag of groceries, Mu Rong Shu prepared a defensive stance. However, the lady from the imperial family raised her hand.
"I'm not here to fight."
"Oh?" Mu Rong Shu raised an eyebrow. "Then what do you want?"
"I want you to divorce Zhao Huan Shi," the lady from the imperial family replied. Mu Rong Shu scowled.
"No."
"Why not?" the girl sneered. "Your Mu Rong family all treat him like rubbish anyway, so why do you bother keeping him?"
"Who treats my husband like rubbish?" Mu Rong Shu demanded. "The cousins who did that have already been beaten up. My husband has done more than enough to prove himself. Anyone else who continue to harass him will only end up making themselves look like fools."
"Even so, you are not worthy of him."
"And who are you to decide that?"
"I am Wang Ling Er of the imperial family…and Zhao Huan Shi's real fiancée."
For a moment, Mu Rong Shu was silent. She wasn't sure if she had heard Wang Lin Er right. She narrowed her eyes.
"Huan Shi's fiancée? You?"
"Yeah. Only I am worthy of being his wife. That's why you should divorce him."
"And who are you to decide that?" Mu Rong Shu folded her arms and met Wang Lin Er's gaze evenly.
"No one," I said, surprising the two of them. When did I show up? Well, truthfully, one of the formations set up outside our house had alerted me to the presence of a potential intruder, which was why I hurried home. I didn't expect someone from the imperial family to show up. "I don't have a fiancée. I don't even know who the hell you are."
"I am engaged to the son of the Zhao family. The future heir to the Zhao clan."
As if that explanation meant anything to me. I shrugged. "You're looking for the wrong person then. My brother isn't here. And I've been kicked out of the Zhao family long ago."
"I know. Your brother is dead." Wang Ling Er's statement was flat and matter of fact. "That means you're next in line to succeed."
"No. I have no intention of succeeding anything. I severed all ties with the Zhao family three years ago. They have nothing to do with me now. I've married into the Mu Rong family, anything you have, take it up with my grandfather-in-law."
"There's no need to." Wang Ling Er shook her head. "The Zhao family is doomed. There's no need for you to rejoin them. We just need you to marry into the imperial family."
"Uh, you do realize that I'm already married, right?" I held Mu Rong Shu close to me. "So I'm afraid that's no longer possible."
"Divorce that woman and marry me," Wang Ling Er ordered. I almost burst out laughing at her sheer audacity.
"You have no right to tell me what to do or who to marry. What I do is none of your business. I don't care about the Zhao family or imperial family. You can play whatever political games you want, but don't involve me in them."
"With your summoning abilities, it'll be a waste to leave you in the hands of the Mu Rong family," Wang Ling Er argued. "With the resources of the imperial family, we can make you the strongest."
"I don't care about being the strongest," I snapped. "I don't want anything to do with you arrogant major families. I'm not worthy of being in your presence."
"Are you turning me down because of her?" Wang Ling Er glared at Mu Rong Shu. "I'll admit that she's beautiful, but she's from a shadowy clan. Just what can the Mu Rong family offer that we can't?"
"See, that's the problem. You think of marriage as a political deal…about benefits. I don't care about that. I will only marry the woman I love. Through thick and thin, for better or for worse, till death do us apart." I hugged Mu Rong Shu tighter to me. "I will never leave her."
"I see." Wang Ling Er appeared to understand something. She sighed wearily. "How about this? You can keep Mu Rong Shu as your mistress even after you divorce her. The imperial family will provide for them, including a home. We'll also sponsor the education and whatever resources you need for your children. So long as you are officially my husband and our child is the legitimate heir, I don't care what you do with other women outside the imperial family's house. You can even stay with them permanently. We don't care if you publicize it."
So basically a concubine, but because modern laws didn't allow for polygamy, Mu Rong Shu was relegated to being a mistress.
However…
"Are you insane?" I rolled my eyes. "Do you really think I'll allow my wife to suffer such indignity and scandal? Are you kidding me? No, Shu is my legitimate wife. She is the only woman fit to be my legitimate wife. You're not even worth a strand of hair on her."
"You…!" Wang Ling Er was incensed. "You dare insult me?! I…!"
"Wait, so you're allowed to insult my wife, but you get all uppity and angry when you get spoken back to? Don't dish it if you can't take it."
"It's all right, dear." Mu Rong Shu tugged at my arm. "I don't mind it at all. Don't pay her any attention."
"Okay."
We were about to turn away, but Wang Ling Er was insistent.
"You can't do this! Do you know who I am? I'm from the imperial family! You can't reject me!"
"Oh, so the imperial family can force people to divorce and force people to marry them? The imperial family can insult other people and look down on them, but other people are not allowed to talk back to them?"
"YES!"
Wow…the sheer arrogance and shamelessness…I couldn't help but bury my face in my palm. This was just ridiculous.
"If you don't accept my proposal, then the imperial family will be your enemy."
"That's…!" Mu Rong Shu turned pale, but I held her hand firmly and shook my head. Curling my lips into a sneer, I glared at Wang Ling Er.
"Bring it on. When I clash against you in the Spirit War, I won't hold back at all. And I don't expect you to show me any mercy either."