AGMATSWHLMAR Chapter 7

The Duke Auston’s words, before they even had a chance to reach anyone’s ears, had already frightened the Empress greatly.

Her meticulously nurtured Crown Prince was gone, and she herself had lost the ability to bear children. Now, her only hope was that Auston could produce an heir.

Auston’s reputation was already bad enough; the Empress absolutely couldn’t sit by and watch him actually kill his partner, adding scandal and shame to her power and future grandson.

Therefore, on the eve of Ruan Tang and Auston’s wedding, the Empress specifically summoned Ruan Tang to the palace to speak with him.

She also gifted Ruan Tang an expensive watch, instructing him to keep it close to his body, and never to be separated from it, day or night, after the marriage.

This watch, though called a watch, was actually a self-defense device for the elite, developed with the latest technology. It contained a special electrical current device that, when it detected the wearer’s life was in danger, could stun not just an Alpha, but even nine bulls.

Ruan Tang glanced at the watch given by the Empress, immediately understanding her meaning. He smiled at the Empress knowingly, accepting the gift: “Thank you, Your Majesty, I like this gift very much, and I will definitely keep it with me at all times…”

Although he was about to marry the infamous Duke Auston of the Empire, Ruan Tang himself wasn’t worried at all—

Because he knew very well that this marriage represented the union of the Ruan family and the Empress’s forces, and he was about to become Auston’s rightful legal partner… Unless he sought death himself, even if Auston was cruel and perverse, the Empress and the forces behind Auston wouldn’t let him die.

Therefore, he could safely be a lazy bum.

The Empress didn’t expect Ruan Tang to be so calm, and immediately took Ruan Tang’s hand affectionately, smiling: “Good child, why call me Your Majesty? After you and Auston are married, we’ll be family. You’re no different from my own child, you should call me Mother…”

The beautiful and dignified Omega looked gentle and kind, showing no hint of being a figure stirring up storms in the whirlpool of power and politics.

“Yes, Mother,” Ruan Tang said, immediately obeying the Empress’s instructions, respectfully changing his address.

The Empress patted Ruan Tang’s hand, smiling even more kindly: “That’s right, after you and Auston get married, you must find a way to have a child as soon as possible. Once you have a child, if you want to move out and live alone, I won’t stop you… I know, this marriage has wronged you.”

“Mother doesn’t force you to like him. He has a bad temper. Before you have a child, bear with him a little, treat him like a child, and don’t argue with him…”

“Although Auston—but, as long as you give birth to a child, that child will be the future Crown Prince of the Empire. At that time, you will have supreme power, and Mother and the forces behind Mother will stand on your side…” The Empress patted his hand gently, constantly painting him a grand picture, unreservedly expressing her closeness to Ruan Tang: “At that time, you, me, and my future grandson will be the most noble existences in the entire Empire…”

“At that time, I won’t stop you from doing anything you want.” The Empress’s words, inside and out, urged Ruan Tang to have a child as soon as possible after the marriage, without even a trace of concern for her eldest son, even tacitly allowing Ruan Tang to have an affair after giving birth to her grandson.

She was the Empress, but also an Omega, knowing full well that even she disliked her eldest son’s appearance and that no Omega could possibly like him.

The reason why Ruan Tang agreed to marry Auston and showed such willingness was probably for the power behind him.

Therefore, she spared no effort to paint a grand picture for Ruan Tang.

She never cared about Auston, her son, wanting only a grandson who combined her family’s bloodline and the royal bloodline.

As long as Ruan Tang could give her this grandson, she didn’t care about her son’s life or death, even if Ruan Tang wanted Auston to disappear in the future, she wouldn’t care.

Ruan Tang listened to the many empty promises the Empress made, putting on an expectant and obedient appearance, repeatedly agreeing with the Empress’s intentions, clearly looking like an obedient puppet, and very much longing for the grand picture the Empress had painted for him.

It wasn’t until the Empress was satisfied that she let Ruan Tang leave.

When Ruan Tang left the palace, he looked back at the towering palace walls from afar, recalling the Empress’s seemingly gentle and kind appearance, but felt a chill in his heart, not believing a single word of what this noble figure had said.

For some reason, he felt a little sad for his future husband, Duke Auston.

However, after the sadness, there was nothing left.

He couldn’t even take care of himself, so how could he manage others?

……

Ruan Tang and Auston’s wedding day arrived in the blink of an eye. Although Auston was the eldest son of the Emperor and Empress, because of his infamous reputation and rumors of mental illness.

The royal family chose not to make a big deal out of this marriage.

Not because they didn’t want to, but because they were afraid that Auston would go crazy in public, shaming the entire royal family.

Ruan Tang had no objections to this. Therefore, after the royal family published the news of Ruan Tang and Duke Auston’s marriage in the newspaper, they directly had the people from the Marriage Administration have the two of them sign the marriage agreement separately and notarize it.

Ruan Tang was considered married to Auston and officially became Duke Auston’s partner.

The royal family was, after all, the royal family. Although they cancelled the wedding to avoid Duke Auston’s on-site madness and simplified all procedures, in order to give Imperial Marshal Ruan Ming face and to publicize Ruan Tang’s future identity to the entire Imperial Star noble circle, the Empress still chose to hold a grand wedding banquet.

She invited the entire Imperial Star’s royal relatives and the top aristocratic families to attend.

The entire banquet started at four in the afternoon and lasted until ten in the evening.

Duke Auston, as Ruan Tang’s partner and the other protagonist of this banquet, never appeared. Instead, His Majesty the Emperor made a brief appearance, expressing his blessings for Ruan Tang and Auston’s marriage, and performed a scene of deep affection with the Empress in front of everyone before leaving the banquet.

The Empress stayed with Ruan Tang all the time, leading him to re-acquaint himself with these nobles he already knew in his new capacity.

The gorgeously dressed men and women smiled and congratulated him on his marriage, but Ruan Tang could see that they were all mocking him in their hearts.

But Ruan Tang himself didn’t care at all, adapting well to the situation—

He quietly stayed by the Empress’s side, acting as a son-in-law to help her deal with the guests.

He didn’t enter into marriage because of love, nor was he marrying a normal person. Therefore, he didn’t feel lost or embarrassed at the current situation, and was very calm and composed.

It wasn’t until the wedding banquet ended that Ruan Tang was sent to Duke Auston’s manor by the Empress’s people.

People scattered home, only then did they remove the fake smiles from their faces and discuss Ruan Tang’s marriage.

Ruan Tang didn’t care, but the people who attended this wedding banquet alone didn’t think he didn’t care. They all felt that he was putting on a brave face, pretending to be happy. As soon as they left the palace, they secretly talked about Ruan Tang and Duke Auston’s absurd and embarrassing marriage.

Some felt that he deserved it for selling his marriage for power and status, and some felt that such a beauty, although a bit scheming and vicious, was a pity to marry a moody, disabled madman.

“It’s terrible, this Ruan Tang is willing to give up his life for power and status. What kind of person is Duke Auston? The Omegas who died in his hands, even if they were criminals, there were dozens, if not hundreds… This is still the royal family deliberately suppressing the news, but who knows if he has killed ordinary people? He’s just a cruel and inhumane master… How dare he marry such an Alpha…”

“Tsk tsk, although this Duke Auston is a madman, it’s obvious that he doesn’t like him. Otherwise, how could he just leave him alone to sing a solo show at the wedding banquet?”

“I’ve never seen such a shabby wedding, it’s really embarrassing…”

“Don’t laugh at this shabby wedding, in the hands of that one, who knows if he can live for more than a month?”

“That’s what he deserves.”

Listening to the whispers around him, Shen Mozhi’s brow furrowed unconsciously. Recalling Ruan Tang, the Omega who had been engaged to him, and his calm and composed appearance just now, his heart inexplicably felt a little sour and stuffy.

He didn’t like Ruan Tang, and even hated his act of impersonating his savior, mistakenly agreeing to be engaged to him in an attempt to pass off the spurious as the genuine.

But he didn’t want him to die—

But Ruan Tang had voluntarily chosen to marry the Bluebeard Duke Auston. Although he couldn’t understand what kind of mentality Ruan Tang had to make such a choice, Shen Mozhi felt that marrying such an Alpha, Ruan Tang’s end would probably not be too good.

“Mo Zhi, is that Duke Auston really that scary? It’s all my fault, if I had persuaded my brother more at that time, and tried to resolve the conflict between him and Brother Zhou…” Just as Shen Mozhi was distracted, a pitiful voice rang in Shen Mozhi’s ear, filled with concern for Ruan Tang: “Then he wouldn’t have married that duke like this. If I had tried harder…”

It was his beloved, his white moonlight—Ruan Xi.

Ruan Xi’s voice immediately pulled Shen Mozhi back to reality, reminding Shen Mozhi of Ruan Tang’s past misdeeds and his repeated schemes and harms against Ruan Xi.

Looking at the pure and innocent person in front of him, who was still so kind even after being hurt by Ruan Tang again and again, Shen Mozhi immediately woke up.

“Xi Xi, this has nothing to do with you, you’re too kind.” Shen Mozhi forcibly ignored the strangeness and sourness deep in his heart, and hugged his beloved, comforting him: “Marrying Duke Auston was Ruan Tang’s own choice. Even if the ending is not good in the future, it’s what he deserves, it has nothing to do with you!”

Ruan Xi was the one who truly deserved his care and cherishment.

A black-hearted lotus like Ruan Tang was not worthy of being compared with him at all. Even if he died, it was his own fault and he didn’t deserve his sympathy.

Shen Mozhi kept telling himself this, but for some reason, a feeling of loss arose in his heart.

His intuition seemed to be telling him that he had permanently lost something extremely precious and important to him.