Love Beyond the Grave

When He Simu woke up, she felt sensations in her body that were indescribable. At first, it was warmth, then pain, then soreness—comfortable yet uncomfortable, a complex ebb and flow within her. This was far more intense than the first time she had regained her sense of touch.

Lazily opening her eyes, she saw Duan Xu playing with her hair in front of her. Propping his head up with a smile, his fingers twirled and looped through her locks. Their skin was pressed together, her arms wrapped around his waist, her legs tangled with his.

This sensation of skin against skin was subtle yet maddening.

Seeing her awake, Duan Xu grinned brightly. "Simu."

Narrowing her eyes, He Simu flipped him over, pinning him beneath her.

The next instant, she regretted the sudden movement. Her body creaked in protest, the pain flaring sharper, the soreness deepening—utterly self-inflicted suffering.

Glancing at the bruises covering her body, she leaned down and glared at him. "Duan Xu, are you a dog?"

The moment she spoke, she froze. Was that her voice? Why was it so hoarse?

Duan Xu stroked her neck and helpfully explained, "You were screaming too much yesterday. Now your body is just like a mortal's—fragile."

She slapped his hand away, her voice rasping with anger. "And whose fault is that?"

Blinking innocently, he pointed to the bite marks on his shoulder. "I think you're the one who's more like a dog."

He Simu punched his chest, grinding her teeth. "Duan Shunxi, you—"

Before she could finish, Duan Xu lifted his head and silenced her scolding with a kiss. The wet, lingering touch made her shiver. When he released her and lay back, he meekly said, "I was wrong."

His specialty—admitting mistakes enthusiastically but never changing.

Pulling her waist down, he effortlessly collapsed her already weakened body onto his, pressing them flush together. Staring at her with those innocent eyes, he asked, "But I was careful later. How did it feel then? Good?"

"..."

The four-hundred-year-old Ghost King, the one who had initiated everything, actually blushed at this moment.

She raised a trembling finger at him, feigning fierceness. "Shut—"

Before she could finish, the door burst open with a bang. A lively young girl skipped into the room, calling out, "Third Brother, I heard—"

Duan Jingyuan gaped at the chaotic scene—the messy room, her third brother lying on the bed, the beauty atop him, the bare shoulders. Just as she opened her mouth to scream, her brother swiftly covered the beauty with the blanket and pressed a finger to his lips.

"Jing Yuan! Don't scream!"

The shriek died in Duan Jingyuan's throat. After a stunned pause, she fumed, caught between storming out and staying, her voice hushed but furious. "You—in broad daylight! What have you done to my brother?"

He Simu arched an eyebrow, certain she had misheard.

"Me?"

In the current situation—a naked man and woman entwined in bed, the man a military general, the woman covered in bruises—how could anyone ask what the woman had done? It was obvious who had done what to whom!

And as for "broad daylight"—everything had already been done in the dark.Duan Jingyuan nodded vigorously, angrily demanding, "What have you done to my pure and virtuous third brother?"

Her pure and virtuous third brother, upon hearing the term "pure and virtuous," instantly couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.

He Simu narrowed her eyes, glancing at Duan Xu before turning back to Jingyuan. She pointed at Duan Xu and said calmly yet firmly, "It was your pure and virtuous third brother who abandoned me after leading me on."

By the time they had finally progressed past the awkward encounter to sitting properly dressed at the table for a civil conversation, Jingyuan was hugging her arms, her gaze flickering uncertainly between them. Duan Xu picked up the teapot and poured a cup. Just as Jingyuan was about to say, "Don't think you can placate me with tea and brush this off," she saw her brother hand the cup to the unfamiliar woman beside him.

"Drink some tea to soothe your throat," he said, patting her back.

The unfamiliar girl shot Duan Xu a glare, took the teacup, and downed it in one gulp. Duan Xu then refilled her empty cup.

"..."

Jingyuan felt that although there were three people in the room, it somehow seemed like there were only two in their eyes. Clearing her throat, she said to Duan Xu, "Third Brother, what's going on? Just yesterday, at your wedding, your bride went missing—how could you just..."

"Exactly! You heartless man. You swore undying love to me in Shuozhou, only to abandon me and marry someone else in the Southern Capital. I traveled all the way here to demand an explanation, and yet, on your wedding night with another, you..." He Simu seamlessly picked up Jingyuan's words, her voice hoarse as she lifted her sleeve to cover her eyes, appearing utterly sincere.

Jingyuan choked for a moment before managing to ask, "Third Brother... did you really abandon her after leading her on?"

Duan Xu looked at He Simu's amused eyes peeking from beneath her sleeve. Adjusting his expression, he let out a long sigh and said, "I never thought you'd see me that way."

He Simu raised an eyebrow.

Duan Xu then took her hand, holding it gently but firmly, and said softly, "Back in Shuozhou, I confessed my love to you countless times, but you rejected me repeatedly because of your family background. Heartbroken, I returned to the Southern Capital, thinking that since it couldn't be you, it didn’t matter who I married—so I rushed into this wedding. When disaster struck on the wedding day, I decided not to drag another woman into this mess and resolved to remain unmarried for life. But then you came looking for me, and I thought you'd changed your mind. Overwhelmed with joy, I lost control... So, have you changed your mind?"

He gave her hand a light squeeze, his sorrowful gaze hiding a hint of mischief, as if to say— That's enough, stop acting already.

He Simu stared at him for a moment before shaking off his hand and throwing her arms around him instead, burying her face in his chest without a word.

Jingyuan suddenly felt as if she were sitting on pins and needles, as though she were watching a play come to life. Since when could my brother say such sappy things? What’s going on? Is something wrong with him, or me, or the entire world?

Rubbing her temples, she struggled to collect her thoughts. "Third Brother, no matter what... you have to take responsibility for this girl... but you just made a vow... how can you give her a proper status? And this girl... what’s her name? What’s her family background?""She's called He Xiaoxiao, a wanderer of the jianghu, the only heir of her family for generations. If I want to be with her, I must marry into her family," Duan Xu answered smoothly. He Simu lifted her eyes from his embrace and added, "Mere formalities mean nothing to us jianghu folk."

"Marry... marry into her family? Mere formalities?"

Duan Jingyuan looked at them in confusion. Having only ever been to Dài Province and the Southern Capital in her life, she'd never encountered jianghu people before. Was this really how they behaved?

Duan Xu patted He Simu's back, planted a light kiss on the crown of her head, and said to Duan Jingyuan, "To outsiders—especially Father—just say she's Chen Ying's elder sister who came from the north to visit him. I'll trouble you to help look after her during this time."

Duan Jingyuan nodded stiffly.

Something felt off, but after the morning's barrage of strangeness had already exceeded her capacity to process, even seeing her brother kiss He Xiaoxiao's hair was starting to seem normal.

He Xiaoxiao yawned loudly, complaining of sleepiness and demanding to return to bed. Her pale forearm extended from her sleeve, revealing deep and shallow love marks. Duan Jingyuan immediately covered her eyes, peeking through her fingers to see her brother smiling as he took He Xiaoxiao's arm, scooping her up and placing her back on the bed. He removed her shoes, tucked her in, and told her to rest well.

Then Duan Xu turned, slung an arm around Duan Jingyuan's shoulders, and ushered her out of his room.

"Remember to knock before entering my room from now on."

"Who would have thought there'd be... someone else in your room?"

"Now you know."

After taking a few steps, Duan Jingyuan stopped and turned back, carefully studying her brother's expression. "I thought you'd be heartbroken over yesterday's events. Aren't you worried about Miss Wang? You're being rather heartless, don't you think?"

Even Duan Jingyuan, who always prioritized Duan Xu, couldn't help questioning him. Duan Xu patted her shoulder with a bright smile. "Of course I'll still look for Miss Wang, but worry and sorrow won't help. Though if outsiders ask, remember to tell them I'm truly worried and distressed—best say I'm too troubled to eat or sleep."

Duan Jingyuan's eyes widened as she watched Duan Xu adopt a deeply troubled expression and walk out of the courtyard, leaving her frozen in place. She wondered how she'd ever wanted to marry someone like her third brother.

Her third brother was truly too fickle!

She couldn't help but genuinely start suspecting whether her brother had taken advantage of He Xiaoxiao and then abandoned her.

On the second day after the wedding farce, the moment Duan Xu saw his father, he was rewarded with a resounding slap.

Duan Xu didn't dodge. The red marks of five fingers gradually appeared on his face. He lowered his eyes with an almost imperceptible curve of his lips before looking up at Duan Chengzhang standing before him.

His father, frail and sickly, usually sat whenever possible. Yet now he stood before Duan Xu, trembling with rage. Pointing at him, he scolded, "How could you be so impulsive? Who were the people seated in that hall? You made such a solemn vow on the spot—have you become so arrogant after one trip to the border that you think you can conquer Danzhi in just a few years? With these words spoken, what will you do now?"Duan Xu remained silent, allowing his father to rage until he began coughing. Only then did he seem to thaw, reaching out to pat his father’s back soothingly. In a low voice, he said, “The Hú Qì People insulted us so grievously that I lost my temper and spoke recklessly.”

Duan Chengzhang pointed at him, his finger trembling for a long moment before he finally dropped his hand with a sigh of exasperation. The Duan family already had few descendants, and with Duan Xu’s declaration, he wouldn’t be able to remarry for years. Even if he had concubines, any child born would not be legitimate and thus unfit for prominence.

If not for Duan Yiqi among the younger generation, he might have fainted from sheer frustration.

Having already beaten and scolded him, Duan Chengzhang fell silent for a moment before saying, “This isn’t entirely without its benefits.”

In the case of Consort Yu’s witchcraft scandal, Sun Zi'an’s family had been raided, not only confirming the corruption in the Horse Administration but also uncovering other embezzlement and misconduct. Jing Yan, a staunch and upright official, had directly presented the evidence to the Emperor to avoid complications. Though the Emperor hadn’t made a public spectacle of it, he had privately reprimanded the implicated officials. Among them, Qin Huanda, the most deeply involved, had been ostensibly promoted while actually demoted, losing his real authority in the military.

With Qin Huanda stripped of power and Duke Pei’s influence in the military severely weakened, Duke Du naturally sought to press his advantage and expand his own military presence. Considering rank and qualifications, no one was more suitable than Duan Xu.

Duan Chengzhang briefly explained the situation to his son, his voice grave. “Though I’m reluctant, Duke Du has made his stance clear, and I have no choice. You’ll likely remain in the military from now on. And the bold words you spoke yesterday will spread throughout the Southern Capital within a day. Once the Emperor hears of them, he’ll surely think highly of you. I suppose that’s the only silver lining.”

Duan Xu smiled faintly and replied calmly, “I’ll follow Father’s arrangements.”

The plan was proceeding smoothly—exactly as he had hoped.