Making a Deal with Fu Heng

"Since we have arrived, let us go."

With these words, Chu Li was the first to step out of the thatched pavilion, facing the pitch-black and freezing night without the slightest hesitation or retreat.

Fu Heng snapped back to his senses and strode to follow her.

"Will there be any danger in the process of lifting the blood curse?"

"The Prince is caring for me so much that it will make me misunderstand. Or is it that the Prince is just this kind to everyone?"

Chu Li asked casually. Of course, she knew Fu Heng was not being so kind-hearted out of the goodness of his soul. It was simply that interacting with him now under a different identity always revealed another side of Fu Heng, leaving her somewhat dazed. Which Fu Heng was the real him?

Fu Heng raised his hand, withdrew a piece of paper, and said without any evasion:

"The reason this Prince cares for you is naturally because I want something from you. As long as you refuse to help me find someone for even a single day, this Prince will not give up."

The piece of paper bearing Chu Li's birth characters was once again offered before her. This time, she hesitated.

Did he really want to find her that badly?

Chu Li gradually slowed her pace and turned her head to look at Fu Heng.

"Your Highness, how about we make a deal?"

Fu Heng secretly raised an eyebrow, though he did not agree immediately. Instead, he asked with a teasing tone:

"What? Not refusing this time? How do you wish to trade?"

Under normal circumstances, if anyone dared to bargain with Fu Heng, he would surely make them regret ever coming into this world.

Yet this matter concerned Chu Li, so Fu Heng would not treat it lightly. Although he had not yet agreed, in his heart he had already made up his mind that this deal was going to happen, no matter what conditions the other party proposed.

Chu Li had already reached out to take the piece of paper, saying at the same time:

"This time, I can help Your Highness divine whether the owner of these birth characters is currently safe and sound. In exchange, Your Highness must give me that lotus jade artifact."

Fu Heng's gaze deepened, and he couldn't help recalling the woman's reaction when she saw that jade artifact at the Seven Treasures House earlier today. He grew somewhat curious.

"Is that object very special?"

"In Your Highness's hands, it is perhaps merely an ornament to please women. But in my hands, it can be used as a ritual implement."

Chu Li did not explicitly state that the Jade Lotus Soul Seat was a divine artifact of her sect, referring to it merely as a ritual implement.

Upon hearing this, Fu Heng naturally fell into deep thought. He had bought that item merely because he heard the Seven Treasures House possessed a supreme treasure of the house, one that even the late Emperor had once mentioned. Being a snow-lotus-shaped jade ornament with high aesthetic value and an auspicious meaning, it was most favored by women. Figuring that since he was already there, he might as well buy it back for Li'er.

However, knowing now that it was a ritual implement, Fu Heng was not an unreasonable person. Ritual implements could only unleash their true effects in the hands of practitioners.

Therefore, Fu Heng thought for a moment and said:

"It is naturally fine to give it to you. However, you should know how much silver this Prince spent to buy it. Merely divining fortune and misfortune is not enough."

Seeing that Fu Heng had relented, the stone in Chu Li's heart finally fell back into place. At the very least, the Jade Lotus Soul Seat would end up in her hands; as a divine artifact of her sect, not a single one could be missing.

"Then what does Your Highness propose?"

"This Prince will not take advantage of you. You previously said you know how to draw puppet talismans; this Prince wants a puppet talisman as an additional condition."

Upon hearing this, Chu Li immediately became alert and looked at Fu Heng with a solemn expression.

"What do you want a puppet talisman for? Such a talisman cannot be used indiscriminately, and I have my principles. If Your Highness maintains this attitude, then this deal is off."

At worst, she would think of another way. The Jade Lotus Soul Seat was a divine artifact of her sect, and she was duty-bound to retrieve it. Yet if it required her to violate the precepts of her sect as a prerequisite, she would rather wait and look for another opportunity.

Her sect's tenets were to safeguard peace, regulate the yin and yang of heaven and earth, perform good deeds, and accumulate merit; it could not assist in tyranny.

The puppet talisman was far too domineering. If it were handed over to someone else to use at will, the resulting sin would be far too heavy.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Fu Heng's character, but once using this talisman spawned karmic retribution, the impact on Fu Heng would be immense.

She could gamble that Fu Heng would not use the puppet talisman to create chaos, but she could not gamble on the direction of karma.

Fu Heng furrowed his brow, and a powerful aura suddenly erupted from his entire body. His gaze brook no argument as he said:

"This Prince wants the puppet talisman. Do not think this Prince is begging you; without you, I can still find the person just the same!"

He was, after all, the Prince of You, accustomed to bestowing life and death at will. The occasional display of being easy to negotiate with was merely a momentary illusion. Deep down in his bones, he would forever remain that inviolable prince.

Chu Li sighed inwardly, gritted her teeth, and finally agreed.

"Deal. But this commoner must still remind Your Highness: once a talisman like the puppet talisman is cast upon someone else, it may spawn karmic retribution. You should know that the more domineering a talisman is, the more likely it is to suffer backlash."

Even practitioners could not truly resist the temptation of a puppet talisman, let alone an ordinary person.

Just imagine, with this single puppet talisman, one could control anyone, turning them into puppets at the mercy of others.

How could those who could not control their own base desires and possessed weak willpower resist the temptation of such a talisman?

Chu Li could not be certain whether Fu Heng possessed such self-control. Once things went out of control and suffered a backlash, the entire Eastern Cang Kingdom might plunge into turmoil.

Fu Heng was a prince and already occupied such a lofty position.

To put it bluntly, with just one more step, he could rule the entire realm.

Chu Li did not know whether her decision was right or wrong, but since she had already agreed, she could only choose to believe in Fu Heng.

After the two reached a preliminary consensus, they proceeded one after the other toward the surrounding mountain forests.

Along the way, Chu Li was filled with anxiety, constantly giving herself psychological preparation.

She had already decided to leave the Prince of You's Mansion; from this day forward, what did Fu Heng's life or death have to do with her? Why should she endure so much inner torment for his sake?

Wasn't it just a puppet talisman? She would give it to him.

A puppet talisman in the hands of an ordinary person would inherently have its effects diminished, falling short of the maximum potential a practitioner could unleash. If the person Fu Heng wished to control was someone who would incur massive karma, it simply wouldn't work; the effect of the puppet talisman wasn't outrageous to that extent.

Used on some insignificant people, even if it spawned a certain amount of karma, as long as it didn't involve her, why bother caring about all of that?

Having figured this through, Chu Li's steps grew light once again.

Meanwhile, Fu Heng, quietly following behind her, noticed that not only was her pace consistently fast without her even being out of breath, but on this bone-chillingly cold night, she was wearing only a thin night-walking outfit yet showed no signs of feeling cold. This made him start muttering doubts to himself once more.

What sort of unusual methods did this woman still possess?

Why was it that every time he went out alone with her, he always witnessed different bizarre sights?

Once this matter was over, perhaps he could try to lobby her. If he could recruit such a capable person into the manor to work for him, it seemed it wouldn't be a bad idea after all.