At that moment, Le Zhengyue stood silently inside the Yue Family's prison.
Xu Sanshi had already been locked in a cage.
Looking at Xu Sanshi, who lay there in a state of utter defeat, Le Zhengyue turned his interested gaze toward Jiang Nannan beside him.
"What does it feel like to see your husband from your previous life lying here like a dead dog?"
Le Zhengyue looked at Jiang Nannan, curiosity in his voice.
He understood the psychology of girls like Jiang Nannan very well.
To say she liked Xu Sanshi that much was a joke. She only enjoyed his attentions—or, rather, his guilt.
It was precisely because she enjoyed that guilt, and even developed a sense of superiority from it, that she had said those words in the original timeline: "Is this how you protect me?"
Thinking that such a stupid remark had come from Jiang Nannan's mouth made Le Zhengyue look at her with a hint of disdain.
Meeting Le Zhengyue's gaze, Jiang Nannan's expression barely changed.
She simply looked at Xu Sanshi with a complicated expression.
Compared with the lifelong devotion other couples had shared, she and Xu Sanshi had ended up together, but their life as husband and wife had never been especially perfect.
She had not even left him a child in the end.
"Nannan, what are you doing here?"
"Nannan, is he threatening you?"
"Damn it, who are you people?"
"Why are you treating us like this?"
Before Jiang Nannan could say a word, Xu Sanshi, who had just opened his eyes in the cell, saw her standing there. Anger filled his voice.
But neither Jiang Nannan nor Le Zhengyue paid him any attention. Jiang Nannan looked at Le Zhengyue with some helplessness.
Meeting the young man's teasing gaze, she simply stood there quietly.
"I don't feel anything for him anymore."
"I told you I never liked him in the first place. Otherwise, after being reborn this time, I would have gone straight to find him instead of deliberately putting it off."
Jiang Nannan paused there.
Her gaze fixed on Xu Sanshi in the cell. Even as she met his despairing, bewildered eyes, her expression remained calm.
Still, seeing her former lover so utterly despairing made her bite her lip gently.
Le Zhengyue, however, did not care about any of that.
So what if he took what he wanted by force? With his status and position, what could anyone do about it?
"I don't believe you."
"I was going to let him live, but what if he comes after me for revenge once he gets out?"
"After all, he's your man."
Le Zhengyue paused there, meeting her faintly amused gaze.
Jiang Nannan did not answer. She only lowered her head.
After spending these past few days with him, she had come to understand just how vile the young man in front of her was.
There was certainly nothing good behind what he had just said.
"His limbs haven't been completely crippled yet. I want you to cut them off yourself and cripple his Martial Soul."
"Only then will I believe that you really want to be my maid, rather than still thinking of rescuing him."
Le Zhengyue's voice was perfectly calm.
Both Jiang Nannan and Xu Sanshi inside the cell could hear him.
At his words, Jiang Nannan's body stiffened for an instant.
They had once been husband and wife. It was impossible for her to feel nothing for Xu Sanshi.
But Le Zhengyue's words also made his stance clear.
If she did not do as he said—or, rather, if she defied his orders...
At the thought, fear suddenly welled up in Jiang Nannan.
She knew that even if she crippled Xu Sanshi, even if she destroyed his Martial Soul completely and left him a cripple, he probably would not hate her all that much.
But if she went against Le Zhengyue's wishes, and she thought of her mother, her heart sank.
Xu Sanshi, meanwhile, clenched his teeth. His eyes blazed with fury.
"You little beast!"
"You're so young, yet you have such a vicious mind. Someone like you doesn't deserve to live!"
"Just you wait. The moment I get out, I'll wipe out your ancestors for eight generations!"
Xu Sanshi's voice seethed with anger as he glared at Le Zhengyue.
Le Zhengyue merely turned and glanced at him, calm as ever, as he listened to the curses.
Then, under Xu Sanshi's disbelieving gaze, Le Zhengyue grabbed Jiang Nannan by the neck, pulled her closer, and pressed his lips against hers.
A softness beyond compare touched him, and Jiang Nannan's body trembled slightly.
Both Jiang Nannan and Xu Sanshi stared in disbelief.
Jiang Nannan tried to pull away, but the young man's terrifying strength held her fast. She could not retreat even a step.
The kiss lasted well over two minutes.
Only after those two minutes did Le Zhengyue slowly raise his head. The girl's eyes were shy and flustered, but his expression remained calm.
"You can keep talking. Every time you curse me, I'll kiss her for two minutes. How does that sound?"
As he spoke, Le Zhengyue looked at Xu Sanshi with interest.
"If we go back to our room to kiss, do you think things might get so heated that we end up going too far?"
Le Zhengyue spoke calmly.
At his near-taunting words, Xu Sanshi's body trembled, but there was nothing he could do.
After remaining silent for two seconds, Jiang Nannan walked forward and opened the cell door.
Meeting the girl's somewhat ashamed gaze, Xu Sanshi clenched his teeth.
But before he could speak, Jiang Nannan's pale fingers lifted. A strange force emerged, then poured straight into his body.
His Martial Soul and all his meridians were destroyed in an instant. A bloodcurdling scream rang out.
Le Zhengyue remained perfectly calm as he watched Xu Sanshi howl in agony.
With Xu Sanshi crippled, the most unruly one had been dealt with.
Jiang Nannan, meanwhile, could become a spy planted inside Huo Yuhao's team.
Huo Yuhao wanted to join the Shrek Seven Devils, so he would naturally still use his original lineup.
After all, almost all the members of the original lineup had eventually reached the Super Douluo level, and they were no weaklings.
Besides, he was familiar with them, so Huo Yuhao would most likely bring the original lineup together again.
Even though this version of Jiang Nannan had been weak in the original timeline, Huo Yuhao would most likely still bring her along.
And that was enough for Le Zhengyue.
He did not need Jiang Nannan to become one of the Shrek Seven Devils. He only needed to plant a spy at Huo Yuhao's side.
Even though Jiang Nannan was, in essence, his woman and his maid, on the surface she was still a student of Shrek Academy. She had joined through special means and had no connection to the Yue Family.
Huo Yuhao would have no reason to suspect otherwise.
Once Jiang Nannan joined Huo Yuhao's team, Le Zhengyue could learn about some of Huo Yuhao's secrets—or, rather, his circumstances—and even gain a complete understanding of them.
That was what Le Zhengyue needed.
Of course, he was not actually doing this for Huo Yuhao, but for Wang Dong'er.
When the time came, he would use the Great Memory Erasure Technique to erase Wang Dong'er's memories.
With Jiang Nannan as a spy, whether he wanted to scheme against Huo Yuhao, drive a wedge between the two of them, or make other arrangements, everything would go much more smoothly.
Before you continue