Chapter 3: Target Pei Yuhuai’s Affection Has Dropped

Chapter 3: The Favorability of the Task Target Pei Yuhuai Has Decreased

"??"

That voice?

Pei Yuhuai's eyes widened as the absurd scene from last night at the Pleasure House flashed before him.

The face of that man in black also became clear, gradually overlapping with the person before him, both with palms equally scorching hot.

That vermilion mark between his brows—he'd even touched it last night.

Pei Yuhuai was shocked and panicked, but he composed himself and pretended not to recognize him, asking, "Oh, then what's your name?"

"Lan He."

Lan... He...

Indeed, as his name suggested, a man as otherworldly as a crane.

A gorgeous immortal like this—wasn't he a million times better than that bastard Ji Huaiyu?

Ji Huaiyu couldn't give a damn if he lived or died, so why should he grieve over a scumbag? Rather than wallowing in his own misery, he might as well have some fun.

For example: keeping a boy toy for kicks.

The guy in front of him fit the bill perfectly—delicate features, tall and elegant, looking frail and fragile, with nothing to his name and reduced to selling himself.

Perfect as a kept bird—he'd definitely be obedient.

With that thought, Pei Yuhuai liked Lan He more and more, his grin growing wider and wider.

"Tell you what—since we ran into each other today, it must be fate. I'm headed to the princess's place for a banquet—come with me."

Lan He said coolly, "Sure."

"You look familiar—have I seen you somewhere before? Ahem, with a face like that, why are you letting people push you around? Why not stick with me? I'll have your back."

Pei Yuhuai was talking out of his ass without blinking.

Lan He just smiled, not calling him out on it, and instead went along: "I'm lucky you're willing to look out for me. You look familiar too—we must have met somewhere."

Oh, so he'd forgotten as well?

The two chatted all the way to the main hall, where the couple was about to start the wedding bows.

The princess, graceful under her big red veil, while the groom, in his red wedding robes, held the red silk ribbon, looking every bit the part.

Everyone was saying the top scholar and the princess were a match made in heaven.

Pei Yuhuai watched from the crowd.

His heart didn't have that dull ache anymore, and he wasn't choking on sadness either—instead, he kind of wanted to laugh and also punch him square in the face.

And then—

Ji Huaiyu caught sight of Pei Yuhuai standing in the crowd, a flash of nerves and panic in his eyes.

Pei Yuhuai also noticed Ji Huaiyu's gaze. He let out a cold snort, and out of spite, grabbed the sleeve of the guy next to him, forcing a smile: "You hungry?"

Ji Huaiyu quietly clenched his fists.

Lan He kept a straight face and said nothing.

No one let on, but underneath, tensions simmered as they all played their parts through the ceremony.

"Send them to the bridal chamber."

With a loud announcement, Ji Huaiyu led the bride out of the hall. As he passed near Pei Yuhuai, a robotic voice rang out in his head.

"Warning⚠️: The target Pei Yuhuai's favorability has dropped—currently at stage seven."

Ji Huaiyu looked shocked and asked.

"What's going on? Wasn't the plan that once he fell for me and I dumped him, he'd go dark? If he's gone dark, why does favorability even matter?"

"The system detects the target hasn't gone dark, and favorability hasn't maxed out."

Ji Huaiyu's face went pale instantly.

"Favorability's been at stage ten—didn't you say the odds were good? Now you're saying he hasn't gone dark?"

The system was sweating: "The system did warn you—you should've revealed everything when favorability was maxed out at stage ten. But you insisted on getting married now."

"The emperor set the date—how could I refuse? If the emperor gets a bad impression of me, my future's screwed. It's been at stage ten for ages, and you said the odds were good."

Once the task was done, the host could either go back to their modern life or stay in this world.

Ji Huaiyu had wanted to stay from the start—rich and powerful, on top of the world—way better than being some miserable office drone back in the modern world.

"I did say there were risks."

"Shut up. So what do I do now? He hasn't gone dark. What about my task? What do I do next?"

"Best plan: raise the villain's favorability fast, do nice things for him, and finish the job of making him go dark."

"..."

Pei Yuhuai was easy to read—a few sweet words would win him over, so getting the favorability back shouldn't be hard.

With that in mind, Ji Huaiyu's sour expression relaxed a bit.

He acted like nothing was wrong, looked away, and walked past Pei Yuhuai with the red silk in hand.

"Warning⚠️: The target Pei Yuhuai's favorability has dropped—currently at stage six."

Ji Huaiyu stumbled on the step and nearly ate it.

Once the couple left, everyone laughed and rushed off to crash the bridal chamber. The young general who'd come to congratulate them nudged Pei Yuhuai.

"Come on, let's go mess with the newlyweds."

Pei Yuhuai hesitated, then followed the crowd—playing along was always the safe move.

After all, the bride was a princess, so everyone just went through the motions, made some noise, and then headed back to the front hall for drinks. Pei Yuhuai, thanks to the note someone had slipped into his hand, ended up at the back.

Ji Huaiyu wanted him to stick around.

So he just had to wait?

Nope.

Pei Yuhuai tore the paper ball to shreds and turned to leave.

"Yuhuai, wait!" Ji Huaiyu was still in his fiery red wedding attire, walking hurriedly, his expression far from the joy he'd shown when fetching the bride.

He caught up, tense and frantic, and whispered, "Listen to me, I don't want to be the imperial son-in-law. I was forced into this—the emperor's decree, I can't go against it. Can you get it?"

Pei Yuhuai looked at this face up close again—well-proportioned features, delicate brows and eyes.

He used to love this face so much.

But he couldn't forget the disgust in those eyes when they were hidden in the dark, nor the cruel words from that mouth, stabbing his heart like knives.

Pei Yuhuai sneered. "Of course. I understand."

"That's good, I knew you would—"

"Warning⚠️: The target's affection for Pei Yuhuai has decreased, currently at the fifth stage."

Ji Huaiyu: "???"

Panic hit him. He stared in shock at Pei Yuhuai's retreating back, chest tightening, and hurriedly reached out to grab him.

The fox-fur cloak got yanked off, and a cold gust of wind swept by. Pei Yuhuai hunched his shoulders, irritably bending to grab the cloak, cursing at him, "Are you crazy?"

With the fox-fur cloak gone, the mottled marks on Pei Yuhuai's pale skin were on full display, screaming of past passion and intimacy.

Ji Huaiyu saw them, his pupils constricting, and a wave of inexplicable rage surged in him: "Pei Yuhuai!"

He grabbed Pei Yuhuai's collar, chest heaving with fury: "What are these marks? Who did this?"

Pei Yuhuai rolled his eyes and pried his hand away: "None of your goddamn business."

"You!" Ji Huaiyu's face turned ashen, "Did my words just go in one ear and out the other? Who allowed you to mess around? Tell me, who exactly?"

"?"

Oh, so this bastard actually cared about that.

Pei Yuhuai draped the cloak back on, grinning slyly, like he was getting back at him: "The Imperial Son-in-Law wants to know? All I can tell you is, he's an incredibly handsome man, and his skills are top-notch—it was absolutely mind-blowing, hee hee."