Chapter 1069: Distorted Love

"A corpse!" Zu An and Yu Yanluo exchanged glances, seeing the bitterness in her eyes. She had finally discovered her husband's whereabouts, only to be met with a cold, lifeless body.

In contrast, Zu An was somewhat more excited. He had no particular relationship with the Duke of Cloud Midst. Now that the truth was uncovered, the situation in Cloud Midst Commandery could be considered stable, and he had completed his mission.

Both instinctively looked towards the block of ice that Uncle Ming had dragged up. It was about the length of a man, with a male figure lying inside, encased in a thick layer of ice. However, the ice was crystal clear, allowing them to vaguely discern the face within. His face was pale and bluish, but his thick eyebrows and broad features, along with a subtle dignity, hinted at his former demeanor. Zu An had been imitating him for days, so how could he not recognize him?

It was Jian Yanyou, the Duke of Cloud Midst!

"Why is it frozen?" Jian Taiding looked at the ice sculpture before him with some confusion. He reached out to touch it but immediately pulled his hand back, clearly chilled by the biting cold emanating from it.

"This cold pond is so frigid, it's not surprising if things freeze," Uncle Ming said, shivering as he warmed himself by the fire.

"But the pond itself isn't frozen," Jian Taiding still wasn't convinced. He could understand if the body froze after being pulled from the water, but for such a thick layer of ice to form while still submerged was truly bizarre.

"Could it be an after-effect of the 'Ice Heart Snow Soul' we used last time?" Uncle Ming, whose hands were almost in the fire, finally felt warm and slowly recovered.

Hearing that name made Zu An's heart skip a beat. He had personally experienced the effects of Ice Heart Snow Soul. Back then, Ma An, a physician from the Imperial Academy of Medicine, had used this poison to plot against him, confidently claiming it could incapacitate even a grandmaster. Was there any connection between the Ice Heart Snow Soul in these people's hands and Ma An? When he had questioned Ma An, the man seemed to be from the Shadow Pavilion. Could Jian Taiding and his group also be connected to the Shadow Pavilion?

At this thought, Zu An couldn't help but grumble inwardly. The imperial court in this world wielded immense power, suppressing many martial arts sects. While overt sects might have vanished, there were still numerous covert organizations. Groups like the Shadow Pavilion and the Leisure Pavilion seemed more mysterious than the last.

At that moment, Jian Taiding's voice pulled him back to reality: "That's certainly possible. This 'Ice Heart Snow Soul' is truly potent. Without its aid, all of us combined would not have been a match for my elder brother."

Uncle Ming warned, "Second Master, you should also be careful. Since that person could give us the Ice Heart Snow Soul to deal with Eldest Master, they could naturally use this poison against you as well."

Zu An's heart filled with doubt: *That person?* Who exactly was Uncle Ming referring to? From his words, it seemed there was someone else hidden behind the scenes. Was it the same mastermind Zu An had sensed before?

"Hmph, of course, I'm aware of the dangers of dealing with a tiger. But once I'm firmly seated as the Duke, I'll be like an emperor in Cloud Midst Commandery. What could he possibly do to me then?"

"You won't get that chance!"

Just then, a clear, cold voice rang out, and Yu Yanluo, her face etched with frost, stepped out. Seeing the body of her nominal husband, and true good friend, casually discarded on the ground while the murderers brazenly boasted, her usually good nature could no longer tolerate it.

Zu An didn't see anything wrong with her action. The necessary evidence had been collected, and there was no point in hiding any longer. It was time to apprehend the two. Jian Taiding was severely injured, and Uncle Ming only had an eighth-grade cultivation. With Zu An and Yu Yanluo working together, they could easily subdue both.

As he was about to follow her out, Yu Yanluo subtly waved her hand behind her back, signaling him not to rush. Zu An immediately understood her intention. She likely wanted to see if she could glean more information.

Jian Taiding and Uncle Ming were startled. They turned around and secretly breathed a sigh of relief when they saw only Yu Yanluo. "Sister-in-law, what are you doing here?" Jian Taiding greeted her with a smile, subtly using his body to shield the ice block on the ground. "Did you come alone? It's freezing here, bad for your health. What were Xingnu and the others thinking!"

Yu Yanluo sneered, "I think you're worried about whether someone else came with me, aren't you?"

Jian Taiding chuckled awkwardly, "Sister-in-law, you've misunderstood. I truly am worried about you."

"There's no need to hide it anymore. I heard everything you said just now. I can't believe you were so deranged as to murder your own elder brother," Yu Yanluo rebuked him mercilessly. "How good Jian Yanyou was to you all these years! Not only are you ungrateful, but you even harmed him. Have you no conscience?"

Hearing her words, Jian Taiding naturally saw no need to keep up the pretense. "Elder brother was indeed extremely good to me. Unfortunately, what he gave me was never what I wanted. And what I truly desired, he simply couldn't give me."

Yu Yanluo's delicate brows furrowed. "How could that be? All these years, Jian Yanyou cultivated you in every way, elevating you to a position second only to him in Cloud Midst Commandery, making countless people envious and critical. What else could he possibly not give you?"

"It's you, Sister-in-law!" Jian Taiding gazed at Yu Yanluo's peerless beauty, his eyes gradually growing fervent.

"Me?" Yu Yanluo didn't react immediately.

Glancing at his elder brother's body on the ground, Jian Taiding felt an urge to confess. "Elder brother could give me anything, but he couldn't possibly give me his wife, you. Sister-in-law, did you know that the moment I first saw you on the day you married my brother, I was completely captivated? I never imagined such a beautiful woman existed in this world; no eloquent words could describe your beauty. From that moment, I swore I would marry no one else in this life!"

Hidden nearby, Zu An was speechless. All that popped into his head was a familiar line from a movie in his previous life: "He's in love with his sister-in-law?"

Even Uncle Ming, standing nearby, secretly shook his head, muttering to himself, "A femme fatale, a femme fatale indeed!"

Although Yu Yanluo had subtly sensed it before, hearing him openly confess still made her tremble with rage. "You beast! I am your elder brother's wife!"

"Of course I know!" Jian Taiding's small mustache twitched, his face somewhat distorted. "Precisely because I knew I couldn't marry you through normal means, I had to resort to desperate measures." "After I decided I would marry you, I felt a deep sense of powerlessness. I knew I wasn't strong enough, so I could only watch the woman I loved go into another man's arms."

Yu Yanluo was speechless.

"From then on, I studied desperately. Whether in cultivation or official tactics, I absorbed every piece of knowledge that could make me stronger, like a sponge," Jian Taiding said in a low voice, recounting the bitterness and hardship of those years.

Yu Yanluo sighed. "Jian Yanyou was so excited back then when he told me you had become ambitious. You clearly had talent, but unfortunately, you used to be a good-for-nothing. Your elder brother was overjoyed when you suddenly straightened up, and he helped you without reservation. Who knew you harbored such intentions from the very beginning!"

Zu An listened with a sigh. Indeed, women were the driving force behind many men's transformations.

"What's wrong with me loving you? It's just that I met you later than elder brother did!" Jian Taiding said with a pained expression. "Do you know what it feels like to watch the woman you love marry another man?"

Zu An listened, dumbfounded. Jian Taiding was indeed eloquent. He was clearly coveting another man's wife, yet by twisting the sequence of events, his words immediately took on a different feel.

At this point, Jian Taiding's tone shifted, and his expression grew excited. "Later, while drinking with elder brother, he revealed while drunk that you hadn't consummated your marriage with him. Do you know how overjoyed I was to hear that news? I almost jumped for joy! From that moment, I became even more certain that destiny was at play, that you were waiting for me. And that's why I became even more motivated."

To his surprise, Yu Yanluo's face was etched with frost. "Do you think telling me all this will make me feel touched? No, learning all this only sickens me! You're a pervert! Jian Yanyou must have been blind to treat you with such devotion. Do you think you're worthy of him?"

Jian Taiding's eager, hopeful expression instantly froze, gradually turning grim. "If I'm unworthy of him, then are you worthy?"

"What do you mean?" Yu Yanluo's delicate brows knitted together.

"Hmph, you've been married to him for so many years, when have you ever fulfilled a wife's duties?" Jian Taiding sneered. "Outsiders envied his good fortune, believing he married the most beautiful woman in the world, thinking he wouldn't want to leave his bed every day. But how could they know he never even touched your finger? You merely used him as a shield to ward off all those persistent suitors."

"Your elder brother and I were good friends. He was willing to help me; it's none of your concern," Yu Yanluo said indifferently.

"Haha, everything you just said about me applies perfectly to you. My elder brother treated you with such devotion; do your actions truly make you worthy of him?" Jian Taiding sneered. "Not only did you shirk your duties as a wife, but these past few days you even brought in a wild man to impersonate him and corrupt his concubines. You really are 'worthy' of him, aren't you!"

At that moment, unnoticed by anyone, the eyelashes of Jian Yanyou's body in the ice block on the ground fluttered almost imperceptibly.