Dai Hao rubbed his aching head, trying to clear the fog from the alcohol. He circulated his spirit power to expel the remnants of drunkenness, gradually regaining clarity.
"Why would I have such an absurd dream?"
He shook his head in disbelief. To dream that his wife, Zhu Ying, was being intimate with Qianran—what could have caused such a bizarre notion to arise?
"Last night..."
Dai Hao's thoughts drifted back to the events of the previous night. He had overheard Qianran with a married woman.
The woman's voice was unmistakably familiar.
"You're awake," Zhu Ying's gentle voice interrupted his thoughts as she approached with a bowl of sobering soup.
"Wait a minute... The voice of that married woman and Zhu Ying's voice—they aren't just similar; they're identical!"
Perhaps it was because he spent so much time stationed away from home, with little opportunity to spend time with Zhu Ying, that he hadn't immediately connected the dots upon hearing her sultry tone last night.
But now, hearing Zhu Ying speak, Dai Hao's instincts screamed that something was amiss. As a Titled Douluo, his keen perception was beyond ordinary.
That voice—there was no mistaking it. They were one and the same.
Could it be that what he thought was a dream wasn't a dream at all? Could Qianran and Zhu Ying really have done this deliberately, even rendering him unconscious to cover it up?
Dai Hao's vision darkened as a wave of dizziness hit him. The sensual voice he had overheard and the vivid dream he had intertwined, leaving him feeling as though his entire world was crumbling.
His chest heaved, his mind buzzed, and his whole body felt numb.
"Dai Hao, are you okay?"
Zhu Ying's concerned face appeared in his line of sight, but instead of comfort, it ignited a torrent of fury within him.
"It's probably just my imagination," Dai Hao reassured himself. "Zhu Ying is the Duchess of the White Tiger Mansion. She's the mistress of the house in my absence. How could she possibly be involved with Qianran? That brat's barely grown—Zhu Ying wouldn't stoop so low."
But the voice, that voice, perfectly overlapped with what he'd heard the night before.
A fire of rage flared in his chest as Dai Hao slapped the bowl of soup out of Zhu Ying's hands, sending it crashing to the floor.
"How dare you!"
He had planned to reconcile with Qianran, but now? Qianran had utterly humiliated him, disgracing him to an unimaginable degree.
And to think he had sat with him, calling him brother at the table, while even Yueheng showed Qianran such admiration. All the while, Qianran was... stealing from him?
Breathing heavily, Dai Hao felt anger surge through his veins.
"You... you know, don't you?"
Zhu Ying's false smile faded, replaced by an icy expression as she stared at him.
"Of course I know! You shameless woman! I'll kill you!"
Dai Hao's eyes burned red with fury. The confirmation hit him like a hammer, and his blood boiled with rage, nearly causing him to faint.
After years of fighting on distant fronts, he returned only to be met with such humiliation.
The overwhelming sense of betrayal and dishonor pushed him to the brink of madness.
"Calm down, Dai Hao," Qianran's voice cut in as he appeared in front of Zhu Ying, pulling her away from Dai Hao by several steps.
"Qianran! You dare show your face? I'll kill you!"
The oppressive aura of a Titled Douluo radiated from Dai Hao, filling the room with terrifying pressure.
"You might want to think carefully about that. If you kill me, you'll be the one to destroy a family legacy that's lasted for over a thousand years. You know the consequences," Qianran replied calmly, unfazed.
His words brought Dai Hao back to his senses. Qianran wasn't acting alone—he had the Spirit Hall behind him.
Moreover, for Qianran to appear so brazenly, it was clear he had backup. Expanding his spirit power senses, Dai Hao quickly detected an immensely powerful presence lurking nearby, far stronger than himself.
Dai Hao felt as though he were choking on his own anger.
His wife had been played with, likely right under his nose, and he was only finding out now. He was nothing but a pathetic joke. The White Tiger Duke? He might as well be called the Green Tiger Duke from now on.
Worse yet, Qianran was right in front of him, and he could do nothing about it.
If he killed Qianran, the Spirit Hall would retaliate, and even the emperor wouldn't shield him.
But could he just let Qianran walk away and watch as he and Zhu Ying lived freely, rubbing salt in his wounds?
"You wouldn't want this to become public, would you? After all, it would tarnish the Dai family's reputation. If word got out, the White Tiger Duke would be the laughingstock of the entire continent," Qianran said, a smirk tugging at his lips.
Dai Hao's face turned ashen.
If that happened, he truly might not have the will to go on.
Even now, he could imagine the strange looks his subordinates would give him if they knew.
Though Qianran wouldn't want too many people to know about this, Dai Hao feared the consequences even more. As the White Tiger Duke and patriarch of the Dai family, he had responsibilities—he couldn't afford to be the center of such scandal.
"Zhu Ying is with me now," Qianran continued. "In the future, the Duke's Mansion will benefit from it."
Dai Hao felt the world spin. The thought of profiting from his wife's betrayal filled him with disgust.
But the oppressive aura locked onto him made it clear: if he so much as twitched, the powerhouse hiding nearby would act immediately.
"Qianran, you'll pay for this one day. I won't let you go unpunished," Dai Hao growled, his eyes bloodshot as he stormed out of the room.
At that moment, he made a decision.
Qianran must die. Zhu Ying must face consequences for her betrayal.
"Will this really be okay?" Zhu Ying asked Qianran nervously, her eyes glinting with unease. She wasn't afraid of Dai Hao; at worst, she could return to her Zhu family. But what about Qianran?
"Don't overestimate that useless Dai Hao," Qianran sneered. "I'll deal with him when the time comes."
"Now give Daddy a kiss." Qianran wrapped an arm around Zhu Ying's waist with a wicked grin. It felt exhilarating to taunt Dai Hao to his face. If only they weren't on his turf—otherwise, Qianran would have pushed things even further.
Blushing, Zhu Ying kissed Qianran on the cheek before kneeling in front of him...
...
"That brat sure is audacious. If it weren't for me being here, he wouldn't dare act so recklessly," Qian Renxue muttered from the rooftop, irritated.
There was no way Qianran would provoke a Titled Douluo like Dai Hao without backup. The man was a Level 94 powerhouse, far beyond Qianran's capabilities. From the beginning, Qianran had relied on Qian Renxue's protection.
Of course, Qian Renxue didn't need him to ask—she had been secretly watching over him for days and was well aware of all his little escapades.
"This Zhu Ying is such a shameless woman," Qian Renxue remarked, turning away in embarrassment after watching for a moment too long.
When it came to pleasing men, noblewomen clearly had the edge. Their upbringing exposed them to countless examples of women who used charm to climb the social ladder, so with a little guidance, they embraced such roles with ease.
(End of Chapter)