After the Cold and Aloof Husband's Mask Falls - Chapter 42

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Gu Wanlan stared at Cui Jue standing at the door. She blinked once, then twice.

The man before her had his collar wide open, his hair disheveled, and a flush on his face. He looked suspicious no matter how one viewed him.

Seeing that Cui Jue was about to speak, Gu Wanlan cut him off instantly. She stepped forward and said, “Do not explain!”

“?” Cui Jue was dazed.

Taking advantage of this gap, Gu Wanlan directly used her shoulder to nudge Cui Jue aside, slipped into the room, and locked the door behind her. The entire sequence of movements was as smooth as flowing water.

Regardless of whether he was guilty or not, in such a critical moment, the only option was to strike first with an accusation!

“So this is the ‘painting in the study late at night’ that my husband spoke of! From the look of it, you seem to be in this room alone doing something shameful!”

As she made the counter-accusation, she quickly hid the bundle of clothes on the roof beams. While washing the disguise off her face, she glanced at the door. The man’s silhouette was still reflected on the window paper; he didn’t seem to have moved.

Understanding the implication in Gu Wanlan’s words, Cui Jue looked down at his current appearance. He couldn’t blame her for misunderstanding. However, just now, while he was changing out of the clothes he wore to the palace, he heard someone approaching outside. Forced by circumstance, he had to come out like this to meet the person.

“Madam is correct. Just now, I fell asleep and had some dreams worth reminiscing over.”

Inside the room, Gu Wanlan gritted her teeth. “There’s no need to tell me the details.”

“A-choo!” Another sneeze drifted in from outside.

Gu Wanlan stopped her hand while redrawing her eyebrows. She looked around to confirm that the suspicious items were hidden, set down her eyebrow pencil, and opened the door for him. “Come in!”

The wind imperiously swept Cui Jue’s scent into the room, enveloping Gu Wanlan. She froze, sensing that today, besides his usual cold ink fragrance, there was another familiar scent of incense mixed in. However, her mind was too full of other things at the moment to identify it clearly.

Gu Wanlan decided not to overthink it. She turned back to the mirror. “Gu Lehua and I had already fallen asleep, but I hurried back after hearing the news. It’s just that the clothes I was wearing weren’t suitable for seeing Xiao Sun, so I did this to save time.”

Cui Jue, who was dressing with his back to her, paused his movements. Gu Wanlan caught his reaction through the bronze mirror. She pursed her lips, let out two unnatural coughs, and looked away. “As for Xiao Sun, he and I do have a history, but there is nothing else between us. You will know more shortly.”

“No rush. To drive him away, there is actually a better method.”

“?” Gu Wanlan instinctively looked back. A warm breath unexpectedly covered her.

The news that a Roulan man had appeared outside the manor at midnight specifically asking for Gu Wanlan had startled Qi Rong awake.

Unaware of the prior context and knowing it involved Roulan, she didn’t dare make an unauthorized decision. She could only send people to guard the main gate while she went to find Gu Wanlan. When she heard that Gu Wanlan had gone to Gu Lehua’s courtyard tonight, she felt something was wrong. Sure enough, when she arrived at the small courtyard and saw Gu Lehua’s dodging gaze, she understood everything.

Qi Rong felt both angry and distressed, nearly losing her breath. She had always known Gu Wanlan was capable, but first there was the disappearance for several days before the wedding, and now this late-night excursion on the second day after the wedding—what exactly was she busy with outside?!

“What about the son-in-law?”

“The son-in-law went into the study to paint this evening and hasn’t come out. Since this involves the Eldest Miss’s reputation, we haven’t informed him for the time being.”

“Good. Keep it from him for now.”

“And the person outside? He has waited for nearly half an hour and hasn’t left. It won’t be good if he stays until dawn.”

Qi Rong took a deep breath. “I will go.”

The maid gasped. “Madam, that’s a Roulan man who kills without blinking. If he turns violent on the spot…”

“My daughter can face him! Why can’t I?!” Qi Rong roared instinctively.

After speaking, realizing she had lost her composure, Qi Rong suppressed the urge to cry. “It’s just one Roulan man. Wanlan had to face many more back then!”

The dangers Wanlan was currently facing were also far more than she imagined! She had to work hard to hold things together!

“Open the gate!”

Carrying a surge of resolve, Qi Rong strode out. Hearing the sound of the gate opening, Xiao Sun merely glanced up before looking down again.

“This Prince is looking for Gu Wanlan.”

Qi Rong pinched her palms and said sharply, “Wanlan is my daughter. Her reputation is not something you can defame! Leave immediately!”

Hearing her mention her identity, Xiao Sun finally took an interest. He scrutinized Qi Rong, though his eyes were full of deep mockery. “So what if you are her mother? Besides giving birth to her, how many days did you raise her? You have no right to speak to this Prince on her behalf.”

Qi Rong trembled, her entire face turning deathly pale. Since the Protector Duke fell ill, she had truly faced outsiders for far too long.

When facing Xiao Sun’s interrogation, she thought she would be afraid or cowed. But in this moment, she remembered a long-forgotten fact: before she married Gu Changfeng, she had been a merchant girl who appeared in public, and she had once been mocked by people claiming a woman had no right to conduct business.

How had she responded then?

Qi Rong forced her trembling body to steady. She snatched a long staff from the hand of a nearby servant and swung it straight at Xiao Sun’s head.

“I have no right? How things are between me and my child is not for an outsider like you to judge! Coming in the middle of the night to ruin her reputation—you have the nerve to act as if you hold deep affection for her! Even the pigs in the pen don’t have a thick skin like yours!”

Her outburst was followed by a long string of insults in a southern dialect.

The onlookers were speechless. No one expected the seemingly fragile Madam of the Protector Duke’s Manor to be so fierce. Xiao Sun was momentarily dazed by the beating and forgot to strike back.

Seeing the situation falling into chaos, just as Xiao Chen was about to intervene, someone stepped out from behind Qi Rong. He gripped the staff in her hand and spoke softly, “Mother, let me handle this.”

Xiao Chen paused, caught a glimpse of the man’s face under the cloak, and lowered his arm, receding back into the crowd.

Xiao Sun’s previous meeting with Cui Jue had been but a hurried glimpse in the dense forest; he hadn’t seen him clearly. But now, the moment the man appeared, he instantly knew his identity—this was Gu Wanlan’s new husband, Cui Jue.

He certainly has a good face. Truly worthy of being a pretty boy who lives off a woman.

Seeing that it was him, Xiao Sun stopped holding back. He let out a cold laugh, gripped the staff, and prepared to shove it back toward Cui Jue with force—

Cui Jue sighed softly. “Ah Sun, stop making trouble. If I am injured, Wanlan will be distressed.”

The refined gentleman removed the hat of his cloak. His gaze toward Xiao Sun even held a hint of indulgence, as if treating a junior.

Xiao Sun froze.

The watching messengers nearly dropped their jaws. They had feared a head-on collision where the “weak” husband would be bloodily killed on the spot; they didn’t expect him to be such a master at infuriating people.

With a loud crack, Xiao Sun directly snapped the staff in his hand. He closed in on Cui Jue, looking at him as if looking at a dead man. “What are you boasting about? You’re just a pretty boy she uses for amusement.”

“Is that so?” Cui Jue wore a faint smile and took a step toward Xiao Sun. “However, she speaks to me, smiles at me, acts spoiled with me, and even…”

“Speaking of which, Ah Sun.” Remembering something, Cui Jue’s tone became extremely soft, like a whisper between them. “Guess what we were doing before you arrived?”

Being so close, Xiao Sun immediately saw an ambiguous red mark on Cui Jue’s neck.

In an instant, Xiao Sun felt his blood boil; his scalp felt like it was exploding. He thought he had accepted the fact that she would marry. He always knew that coming to Great Xia meant he had more important things to do! Therefore, while on the run, he intentionally avoided news of her and stayed away from places she might appear. Even his appearance here tonight was part of another calculation.

But when this person repeatedly boasted of how close he had been with Gu Wanlan—and how much closer they would be in the future—Xiao Sun truly wanted to tear Cui Jue into pieces and pierce him with ten thousand arrows!

But he couldn’t. At least not now.

Xiao Sun looked at Cui Jue with dark eyes. “Cui Jue, don’t be happy too soon. The winner is the one who wins at the very end.”

Cui Jue’s smile vanished, his eyes filled with bone-chilling coldness. “Is that so? We’ll see if you even get the chance this time.”

In his previous life: He had traveled south to raise grain and fodder when he received news that Gu Wanlan had surrendered and been captured. He rode three horses to death, traveling in the opposite direction to reach the fallen Changping Pass. Before he even reached the city gate, he saw a scarred corpse hanging from the wall. He was all too familiar with the silver armor on that body; it was the same armor he had carefully wiped clean for her before he left.

Even knowing it was likely a trap, he tried like a madman to reclaim that body. When he was pierced by ten thousand arrows, he actually felt nothing, not even pain. He had simply vomited too much blood and didn’t want the thick blood to soil her face. He struggled clumsily to brush the tangled hair from her face.

When he saw the face of the corpse clearly, he let out a sigh of relief. Although extremely similar, it wasn’t her.

And the only person capable of such a deception was the Roulan King Xiao Sun, who had a history with Gu Wanlan. She had been taken by him.

Cui Jue had no strength left to rise; he could only take one final look toward the grasslands before he died.

Being a man himself, he dared not imagine what Gu Wanlan experienced after being taken by Xiao Sun’s scheme in the previous life. A person as proud and unrestrained as her had her wings brutally clipped.

Was this the ‘final winner’ he spoke of?

Cui Jue lowered his lashes, hiding the mountain of killing intent in his eyes. “The one who once shared affection with her was only Ah Sun of the grasslands. But now Ah Sun is dead, and she no longer has any confidants or friends in Roulan. Therefore, she will not see you. Please leave.”

Xiao Sun licked his back teeth and laughed. “This is a clean break then? Are these her words, or yours?”

Cui Jue looked up. “Naturally, they are hers.”

“Fine.” Xiao Sun nodded noncommittally.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, he stopped beside Cui Jue. “Cui Jue, in truth, this Prince has long wanted to say—if your hearts were truly in sync, why would you fear her meeting me? You’ve actually known for a long time, haven’t you—”

Xiao Sun’s heterochromatic eyes stared straight at the refined face beside him, his lips curling into a wicked smile. “Known… that she once loved me.”

Cui Jue’s muscles tensed instantly. Yes, he knew. This was a fact he had known in his previous life. When he stayed by her side in the name of a military strategist in the past life, he clearly saw the expression she had every time she looked at Xiao Sun. There was regret, resentment, and heavy hatred.

But all of that originated from love.

They had experienced too many life-and-death dangers together. By comparison, his six months with Gu Wanlan at Changping Pass were practically not worth mentioning. Furthermore, no one would want the love of a man with a hideous face. He could only suppress his own love, forcing himself to be a bystander to their love and hate.

Sensing the emotional turmoil coming from Cui Jue, the smile on Xiao Sun’s face grew wider. “Cui Jue, she and I are currently forced into opposing positions, but there is plenty of time ahead. This Prince will allow you to live until the day you see her return to my side.”

He even reached out to adjust the heavy cloak on Cui Jue’s shoulders. “Until that day comes, I’ll trouble you to keep her safe for me.”

“Keep her?” In the snowy night, the cold young man let out an abrupt, mocking laugh. White snowflakes fell on his eyelashes; though they added a touch of fragility, Xiao Sun felt that his eyes were strikingly sharp at this moment.

The events of the end of the previous life were vivid in his mind. A fire was ignited in Cui Jue’s chest. He could no longer maintain his cold disguise and became aggressive.

“Xiao Sun, she is only herself, and she will always belong only to herself. Whether it is me, or you, or anyone else, this is an unchangeable fact!”

He stared fixedly at Xiao Sun, as if warning him, and as if repeatedly driving back his own dark inner self. Cui Jue took a breath, his tone returning to calmness. “Xiao Sun, if you can’t even realize this, I can only suspect that when she favored you, she was too young and had poor judgment. Things have come to this; I have nothing more to say to you—”

Fearing that if he stayed, he truly wouldn’t be able to stop himself from killing Xiao Sun on the spot, Cui Jue turned to leave. He happened to lock eyes with Gu Wanlan at the gate. Through the wind and snow, her expression was unclear.

Cui Jue froze and pursed his lips, but he still walked toward her, his heart beating rapidly.

She saw everything. She heard everything. Just now, he had treated the person she once loved with such bitterness…

“Gu Wanlan! I knew you would come out! You came out to see me!” Behind him was Xiao Sun’s joyful shout and his rapidly approaching footsteps.

Seeing the shadow behind him grow larger until it completely covered his back, someone suddenly thrust out an arm. They reached past that person and grabbed his hand directly.

“Apologies, you are in my way. I am here to take my husband back to our room.”

Cui Jue looked up sharply. In the snowy night, beside the lantern, was the girl’s smiling face, bright as the warm sun.

Xiao Sun stopped in his tracks, his expression turning dark. “Gu Wanlan, are you serious?”

Only then did Gu Wanlan shift her gaze from Cui Jue to Xiao Sun. The corners of her mouth curled up, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “You should be glad you’ve already been beaten by my mother. Otherwise, the person hitting you here would be me.”

“From start to finish, I, Gu Wanlan, only ever had a playmate on the grasslands named Ah Sun. As for any other person, I didn’t know them before, and I won’t know them in the future.”

“Gu Wanlan! But you owe me!” It was too cold. This was the first time he had seen such a cold expression on her face. Xiao Sun felt panic for the first time, as if something were spiraling out of control. He reached out to clutch his right chest, as if holding onto the last rope in his hand. “When you fled Roulan, you stabbed me here. This is what you owe me—don’t think you can walk away clean!”

“Is it here?” A calm voice suddenly rang out.

Squelch— the sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh.

The people around them gasped in unison. Cui Jue seemed oblivious to it. He simply pushed the dagger in his right chest an inch further, then looked up at Xiao Sun with cold eyes, his expression full of utter impatience.

“I’ve paid it back for her. Now, get out.”