After the Cold and Aloof Husband's Mask Falls - Chapter 4

Because the Protector Duke had been ill for a long time, the funeral preparations were already in place. By dusk, the entire Gu Manor was draped in white silk.

In the main hall, Qi Rong (the Protector Duke’s wife) was a broken mess of tears, leaning on her adopted daughter, Gu Lehuan. Years ago, after losing her biological daughter Wanlan, Qi Rong had been inconsolable. The Protector Duke had even taken medicine to ensure he would never have other children, a sign of his devotion to his lost daughter. Ten years ago, Qi Rong rescued the orphan Lehuan, whose eyes resembled Wanlan’s, and raised her as her own.

As the funeral progressed, the Old Madam and the second branch of the family, led by Gu Qingyun, arrived. They didn’t come to mourn; they came to conquer.

The Plot to Overstrip the Title

“Sister-in-law, my brother has passed,” Gu Qingyun said with cold efficiency. “You have no son to carry his spirit tablet or throw the funeral basin. My eldest son, Weiye, is six years old. We should record him under my brother’s name so the Protector Duke’s lineage isn’t insulted.”

Qi Rong trembled with rage. Her husband was barely cold, and they were already trying to steal his title! “Everything can go to you, but not the title! That title belongs to Changfeng—and to Wanlan!”

“Wanlan?” Gu Qingyun sneered. “Didn’t you hear? That daughter of yours isn’t dead. She showed up today, though she’s off playing somewhere right now.”

Qi Rong was so shocked by the news that she spat out a mouthful of blood. She begged the Old Madam to send people to find her daughter, but the Old Madam remained unmoved. “We have no spare hands. Besides, if word gets out that she wasn’t here when her father died, her reputation will be ruined. Better to let Weiye take the title so Wanlan has a brother to rely on.”

When Qi Rong refused to sign the adoption papers, Gu Qingyun lost his patience. “Men! Serve the Madam as she applies her seal!”

Two sturdy nannies grabbed Qi Rong, trying to force her thumb onto the ink. Gu Lehuan tried to intervene, but she was shoved aside. Suddenly, a gust of wind swept through the hall. Two small stones flew in from the darkness, hitting the nannies with such force they collapsed, screaming.

“It’s Father! Father’s spirit has appeared!” Lehuan cried out.

Gu Qingyun, terrified but furious, lunged at Lehuan to slap her. “I raised you as a lady, and you think you have a voice here?”

The General Returns

Lehuan closed her eyes, bracing for the blow. It never came.

A girl in a white dress had appeared, catching Gu Qingyun’s wrist with effortless grace. Gu Qingyun’s face turned purple as he tried to break free.

“Bitch! Let go! My hand is breaking!”

SLAP!

Wanlan backhanded him so hard he spun. Before he could recover, she slapped him again, knocking out a tooth.

“Wretch! Let go of your uncle!” the Old Madam screamed, slamming her staff.

Wanlan looked back with a look of pure innocence. “An uncle? I just returned home and saw this villain bullying the weak. How could he be my uncle? Perhaps a thief is wearing my uncle’s skin. Let me check.”

She pulled out a small dagger and moved it toward Gu Qingyun’s face. The man shrieked for his guards, but no one came.

“The guards?” Wanlan tilted her head at the Old Madam. “This is the Protector Duke’s manor, and I am its master. Those blind servants who tried to block me have been thrown out. You look quite wrinkled, so you must be my grandmother. Did I do the right thing?”

The Old Madam was nearly choked with rage, but she forced herself to stay calm. “Release him! Kneel before your father’s coffin! You failed to serve him in his illness, you weren’t here for his passing, and now you desecrate the mourning hall! You unfilial girl!”

“Unfilial”—the heaviest of social death sentences. Qi Rong tried to defend her daughter, but Wanlan stepped toward the coffin.

“I have not yet sought justice for my father,” Wanlan said. “I have no face to kneel.”

“What nonsense are you talking?!” the Old Madam barked.

Wanlan turned to the crowd, her cold laughter echoing. With her right hand, she gave a violent shove, sending the heavy coffin lid flying off.

“My father is not dead! You were so eager to dress him in a shroud and put him in a box—tell me, what is your true intent?!”