Fairy, Please Forgive Me, I Never Meant to Impersonate Your Husband
Chapter 40 - Aunt Fang’s Secret

Chapter 40: Aunt Fang’s Secret

One of the jade boxes contained five thick talisman papers, but these were unlike ordinary ones.

The talisman papers used in the rune repository or the official road permits issued by the Road Office were typically half a li thick (about the thickness of standard coated paper), three fingers wide, and five inches long.

But these five talisman papers were dark gray in color, three li thick (roughly one millimeter), five fingers wide, and nine inches long. They were densely covered in intricate red runic lines, forming an overwhelmingly complex pattern.

“How do you and Madam Cheng have march talismans?” Wu Yuan immediately asked sternly.

This also showed he was no stranger to such talisman papers.

March talismans were special talismans only accessible at the city-level territory and rarely circulated outside.

They were primarily used by armies for rapid movement on official roads. A single talisman could last for fifteen days in standard time, forcibly doubling the speed of travel compared to ordinary permits.

These talismans could borrow most controlled official roads and post roads without needing to apply for passage rights from the town-level Road Office—extremely powerful and domineering.

“These were left to me by my mother. They have nothing to do with Madam,” Aunt Fang replied, a hint of nostalgic sorrow in her voice.

“Then what about this?” Wu Yuan picked up the item from the last jade box. “Don’t tell me this was also left to you by your mother? Are you richer than your mistress, Madam Cheng?”

The item in the jade box was unmistakably a miniature model of a Star Origin structure—a stele. Just from its appearance, Wu Yuan could roughly guess its purpose.

This was one of the rewards he had once hoped to obtain when establishing his own territory, but his plans had been disrupted by the appearance of the Adjustment Tower and the Cross-Realm Shop.

Never did he expect it to appear before him now. Truly, after searching far and wide, it had come to him effortlessly—both a shock and a delight.

“The Household Register Stele was indeed not from my mother. It was secretly given to me by Merchant Lord Huan Su.”

At this point, Aunt Fang’s voice gradually softened, as if she felt somewhat guilty.

The Household Register Stele was the name of this Star Origin structure.

Such structures weren’t rare, but they were crucial for newly established territories.

Only about one or two out of every hundred new territories could obtain one quickly.

Star Origin structures weren’t common goods, they had many marvelous uses and were inherently valuable.

“Why would Huan Su secretly give you a Household Register Stele? Were you secretly his mistress?” Wu Yuan asked curiously.

He suddenly felt the story behind this might take a bizarre turn.

“He wanted to bribe me. Knowing that giving me large amounts of gold coins would be too conspicuous, he took the smallest item from his collection—the Household Register Stele, and forced it on me. I didn’t want it, but he insisted.”

“What was his purpose in doing this?”

“He wanted… Madam Cheng.” Aunt Fang stammered slightly.

Wu Yuan was stunned. The story had taken such a clichéd turn!

Huan Su’s lust had emboldened him to secretly covet the wife of one of his strongest subordinates.

“Wasn’t he afraid Madam Cheng’s husband would find out? If a peak Visceral Control realm martial artist decided to resist, could Huan Su handle it?”

“The merchant lord didn’t plan to act immediately. He was making preparations in advance. Once the caravan reached the market at Cloud Green Jade Rain Mountain, he was confident he could capture the three Cheng brothers in one move.”

“For the sake of a woman, he’d eliminate his three most capable subordinates? Has Huan Su lost his mind?”

“It wasn’t like that. Rumor has it the Cheng brothers were plotting against him first, so the merchant lord decided to strike preemptively.”

“So both sides had their own schemes.”

Wu Yuan began to understand. The full details couldn’t be determined solely from Aunt Fang’s words, but it was clear that one side was rebellious while the other was lustful—neither was innocent.

“So you betrayed Madam Cheng? You’ve got quite the nerve. How does it feel to be a traitor?” He sneered again.

Aunt Fang quickly waved her hands. “No! I didn’t want to betray Madam. I admit I was tempted, but I never took the final step, so Madam remained unharmed.”

“Or was it just not the right time? If I were Huan Su, I’d eliminate the Cheng brothers first before enjoying everything Madam Cheng had to offer.”

“But the merchant lord didn’t think that way. In his words, possessing Madam while the Cheng brothers were still alive made it all the more thrilling. He kept urging me to drug Madam so he could act in secret, but I kept finding excuses to delay.”

“What kind of drug?”

“An aphrodisiac.”

“Where is it now?”

“I secretly threw it away. I was afraid I might actually give in and betray Madam, so I didn’t dare keep it.”

“Why confess all this to me?”

“Because… I want to ask for your help.”

At this point, Aunt Fang hesitated, but suddenly gritted her teeth and knelt on the ground with a thud. “I’ll trade you a secret in exchange—one that will absolutely make your efforts worthwhile.”

“Let’s not talk about the secret yet. First, tell me what you want me to do.”

Wu Yuan wasn’t one to be swayed by potential gains. The greater the benefit, the greater the risk.

“I want to save my mother. She’s imprisoned in the town jail of Chang’an Town, about a hundred thousand li from here. I’ve tried everything but couldn’t free her.

Later, I heard a traveling merchant was close friends with a high-ranking official in charge of justice in the town. This merchant was known for his righteousness, but he’d been frequenting the market at Cloud Green Jade Rain Mountain for ten years and hadn’t returned to Chang’an Town.

I wanted to go to Cloud Green Jade Rain Mountain to seek his help, but I had neither status nor strength. So I devised a plan to befriend Madam and joined Merchant Lord Huan Su’s caravan heading there.”

“If you’d already planned to seek that merchant’s help, why suddenly change your mind and ask me? At most, you should’ve just begged me to let you go.”

“No.” Aunt Fang shook her head firmly. “My previous plan was just grasping at straws. But I’m asking you because you’re the one who can save my mother.”

“Why? I don’t even think I have that kind of ability.” Wu Yuan found it amusing.

“You have money!”

“You have money too. Selling this Household Register Stele alone could get you at least three hundred gold coins.” Wu Yuan waved the miniature stele in his hand.

Aunt Fang shook her head again. “I’m not talking about gold coins. I mean spirit pearls. If you hadn’t discovered the secondary spirit stone mine, I wouldn’t have dared to confess because I had no certainty. But now that you’ve found the mine, with secondary spirit pearls in abundance, I’m absolutely confident.”

“I have to admit your reasoning is sound, and your scheming runs deep.” Wu Yuan nodded, seemingly impressed. But then his eyes turned cold as he asked, “But why should I help you? With this Household Register Stele?”

“The stele was never mine to begin with. I’m not using it as a bargaining chip. I’m offering myself. Will that do?”

With that, Aunt Fang suddenly loosened a hidden sash.

Her outer robe and tight-fitting clothes slid off in an instant, revealing an exquisitely alluring, naked body before Wu Yuan.

Wu Yuan was no ascetic. If Aunt Fang had merely stripped, her figure alone—no matter how enticing—wouldn’t have captivated him, given her plain appearance. But what she removed wasn’t just her clothes, it was also the delicate disguise on her face, unveiling a stunningly beautiful visage that instantly stirred his nerves.

On another note, he suddenly realized Aunt Fang might be the perfect candidate to manage the subsidiary shop. So, half-resisting and half-yielding, he accepted her “bargain.”

The details of their passionate encounter cannot be described in full.

Suffice it to say, Aunt Fang’s soft moans and Shopkeeper Wu’s fierce roars intertwined as yin and yang merged, exploring the profound mysteries of life together.

…