After the Cold and Aloof Husband's Mask Falls - Chapter 43

Gu Wanlan did not know how things had developed to this point.

Clearly, after briskly drawing a line with Xiao Sun, she had returned to apply medicine to Cui Jue’s injury. But as she was doing so—perhaps because Cui Jue’s gaze was too burning, or perhaps because she was once again seduced by his current appearance—by the time she realized what was happening, her clothes were in disarray and she was tangled in Cui Jue’s embrace once more.

Seeing bloodstains blooming against her palm, Gu Wanlan cursed herself internally for being “blinded by lust” and tried to pull away. “Stop… stop… the wound… your wound is going to tear open…”

When she spoke, she found her voice so tender it seemed as if it could drip with water.

“Let it be.”

Cui Jue had no intention of stopping. He only held her tighter, as if wishing to knead her into his very blood and bone, pressing devout and feverish kisses onto every inch of her skin.

Gu Wanlan’s face was flushed scarlet. The Cui Jue of today felt somewhat strange to her. Every time she had seen him before, he was a picture of faint smiles and calm indifference, never raising his voice—like a cold and gentle crane. Only today did she learn that he, too, could “bite.” He had even performed that mad act of “repaying” her debt himself.

Yes. Mad.

But Gu Wanlan felt she was about to go mad herself. Waves of pleasure surged up her spine, making her scalp tingle. She pushed at Cui Jue’s head like a fish tossed onto the shore, able only to gasp for breath. “Don’t… stop, stop…”

How could he—

How could he?!

Gu Wanlan’s eyes widened suddenly. She was about to push him away with all her strength, but Cui Jue was faster. He pinned her hands firmly behind her back and lowered his head.

Her waist arched in that instant, her body trembling uncontrollably. Extreme pleasure and shame hit her like a towering wave; she could only bite her lip hard to keep from making even worse sounds.

An unknown amount of time passed—so long that she felt her soul had left her body. Only then did Cui Jue let her go.

The scene before her was a blur, her mind blank. She could only gasp for air to settle the continuous tremors racking her body. After a long while, a cold finger touched her lip, which had been bitten until it bled. A sigh followed.

“My fault.” Cui Jue’s voice was entirely hoarse.

Only now did Gu Wanlan’s vision gradually clear.

Cui Jue still possessed that cold, otherworldly face—there was even a grain of snow from outside caught on his eyelashes—but his thin lips bore a glistening, moist sheen.

With a boom, Gu Wanlan’s face turned red all the way to her neck. She pushed his face away, feeling both ashamed and furious, her eyes rounding in a glare. “If it’s not your fault, whose fault is it!”

But she had lost her strength. What she thought was a powerful statement sounded like the mewling of a spoiled kitten. Gu Wanlan immediately shut her mouth and turned her head away, unwilling to speak further.

Cui Jue let out a low laugh. He reached out his hands to turn her head back, still maintaining his half-kneeling posture on the floor, looking up at her. “I was just… very happy, so I wanted Madam to be happy too.”

“Happy?”

Because you chose me without hesitation.

Meeting her gaze, Cui Jue almost let the words slip out. At the last second, he swallowed them back down. “Because that man called me a ‘pretty boy,’ and Madam stood up for me in the end.”

“Haha, you really do look a bit like a pretty boy like this.”

“It matters not. Being born with a face that surpasses others by several degrees is, after all, my strength.”

Gu Wanlan couldn’t bear him looking up at her while kneeling like that for so long. She quickly pulled his arm to make him stand. “Don’t kneel on the floor. Get up first.”

“Mhm.”

“However,” she continued, “regarding what happened today—I know you meant well, but you were far too honest. You only needed to put on a show to scare him off; there was no need to actually bleed for it.”

“I couldn’t help it. I just wanted to drive him away as quickly as possible.” Cui Jue stood up, offering a somewhat helpless smile.

“?” Gu Wanlan was confused.

Cui Jue lightly traced the bloodstain on the girl’s lip with his finger, his gaze turning deep and dangerous once more.

“When you smiled at me at the gate…” Cui Jue leaned down again. “I’ve wanted to do this ever since.”

The night was still long.

Due to the night of “bloody battle,” it was no surprise that the Protector Duke’s Manor summoned a doctor the next day to re-dress Cui Jue’s wound.

After seeing the doctor off and looking at Cui Jue, who was asleep on the bed with a somewhat pale face, Qi Rong poked Gu Wanlan’s forehead in frustration. “How old are you now?! How old?! How can you still not know moderation! Little Cui was already in such a state for you yesterday, yet you… you actually…”

Qi Rong found it hard to put into words. She could only glare at her and deliver the final verdict: “In short! You are to move to Lehua’s courtyard for the next few days! You are not allowed to disturb him again!”

Gu Wanlan felt like it was “snowing in June”—the sheer injustice of it.

It wasn’t as if she hadn’t refused last night! It was clearly him who had seduced her over and over, even using such shameful methods. Under those circumstances, if she hadn’t reciprocated a little, wouldn’t that have been a waste of a good thing?

Gu Wanlan was about to talk back and defend her crumbling reputation, but glancing at the man on the couch—his face pale from blood loss—she felt a sudden pang of guilt. “…I know I was wrong.”

“If you know it, then why aren’t you packing your things and leaving?”

“…Oh.”

Realizing that if she stayed any longer, Qi Rong would treat her like some lust-crazed demon, Gu Wanlan quickly grabbed a few items of clothing and slunk away with her tail between her legs.

Watching her leave, Qi Rong turned back to look at the sleeping Cui Jue. The scene of him stabbing himself to force Xiao Sun away last night flashed through her mind.

Her daughter was “inside the mountain,” so she could not see the mountain’s true face. But as a bystander, Qi Rong saw it clearly. Unless one loved another to the extreme, one could not do such a thing. Yet, even for those who love deeply, most could not perform such a “mad” act.

Qi Rong rubbed her brow with a headache. She looked at Cui Jue several times, wanting to say something, but ultimately only left a sentence: “Rest well. I won’t let her disturb you these few days,” before turning to leave.

Hearing the door click shut, Cui Jue slowly opened his eyes.

The sunlight was perfect, streaming into the room. It was clearly a fine day after the snow. Cui Jue stared at the dust motes dancing in the beams of light for a while. Finally, he raised his arm to cover his eyes.

Last night, he had been too happy; it felt like a dream. He was simply somewhat unwilling to face the conversation they had agreed upon for today—the talk that was supposed to happen, whose direction remained unknown.

As such, he would use this injury to delay it for a few more days.

After being “exiled” to Gu Lehua’s courtyard, Gu Wanlan didn’t stay idle. She changed into a brisk outfit and headed straight out, ordering a carriage to Xiao Chen’s Songyan House.

As expected, before she could finish a single cup of tea at Songyan House, news arrived: Emperor Qingyuan wanted to see her again.

Last night, capturing Xiao Sun was a task she had taken upon herself before the Emperor. But man proposes and God disposes; Xiao Sun had “exposed” their prior connection right in front of her manor. In all fairness, she was no longer suitable to be involved in matters related to him.

So, in the end, she had secretly signaled Xiao Chen to take Xiao Sun to see the Emperor. She believed the Emperor wouldn’t want to see her right now; he would have much more to discuss with Xiao Sun. All she needed to do was “carry thorns and ask for punishment” (apologize).

Entering the palace again, Gu Wanlan’s heart had completely calmed. She knelt in the great hall for a long time. Emperor Qingyuan did not look up, so she remained kneeling.

After a long while, when her knees began to grow numb, the Emperor finally set down his brush and sighed. “Wanlan, do you know? Last night, Xiao Sun told me quite a bit about the past between you and him. You two could actually be considered to have ‘shared life and death’ once.”

Gu Wanlan’s expression was solemn as she gave a heavy kowtow against the smooth floor. “This official was dull and failed to discover his identity. I was deceived by him for a long time; it is my dereliction of duty! I beg Your Majesty for punishment!”

“You have indeed disappointed me!” Emperor Qingyuan snorted and tossed aside his imperial brush. “I gave you the identity of Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Messengers because I thought you were the best candidate to monitor the hostage in secret. But after you made such a scene with your relationship last night, how can you possibly pry information from his side?!”

“?!” Gu Wanlan almost couldn’t stop herself from looking up, but she forced it down. Waves were already rising in her heart.

What did the Emperor mean? He didn’t intend to pursue the fact that she had once been overly close with the Roulan royalty?! Why?

She couldn’t figure it out, but she knew that if she wanted to restore her identity as Ji Lin in the future and return to the battlefield, she had to make the Emperor believe there was no collusion between her and Xiao Sun. In the future, she should have no further entanglements with him—and if she did, it should only be on a life-and-death battlefield.

Gu Wanlan suppressed her thoughts, closed her eyes, and spoke loudly. “Your Majesty! Xiao Sun is the true hostage. He had his subordinate impersonate him first and designed a trap to lure us there later. He clearly harbors the heart of a wolf, wishing to use the death of that fake hostage to restart the conflict between our two nations so he can reap the benefits from behind the scenes!”

“He already told me all this last night. It was just a game of his. Since there were no losses, it is ultimately a minor matter.”

The Emperor showed little interest in her passionate speech. He toyed with the imperial brush in his hand, thinking of something.

A minor matter?! If they hadn’t been alert, half of her people would have perished in that fire. That was a minor matter?!

Gu Wanlan took a deep breath. “This official is dull. I ask for Your Majesty’s clear instructions on what you wish me to do.”

Looking at her obviously angry expression below, the Emperor smiled and stood up from his chair. He remembered the first time he met Gu Wanlan. That was the day Ji Lin had returned in victory to receive rewards. That day, he had intended to completely win over this “star general,” preparing all sorts of rewards and beauties. He hadn’t expected the general to kneel and confess the moment she arrived, giving him a massive “surprise.”

He had been furious then, smashing a newly acquired white jade teacup.

“Falsifying identity, sneaking into the military!” “A hen crowing at dawn—the crime of deceiving the Emperor!” “Ji Lin! I shall have your life for this!”

The girl, still dressed as a young man in the hall, lay prostrate on the ground. She seemed unable to bear the imperial might, her whole body trembling. “This criminal knows her crime is worthy of ten thousand deaths. Your Majesty treated me with sincerity, yet I hid things from you. My heart was truly terrified, so as soon as the war ended, I came specifically to ask for punishment—”

“Terrified? Hah, you know terror? I see your gall is larger than the heavens!”

The Emperor had sneered, but he began to re-evaluate the person before him. He truly hadn’t expected the person who could strike the enemy camp from a thousand miles away to be a woman. After wiping away the disguise, she was actually a quite beautiful woman.

Women of that age, like his Third Princess, were already married or still had the heart of a child wanting people to play with them all day. Yet the person before him could take a head on the battlefield without blinking!

“This common woman naturally fears blood and dead bodies…” “But I had no choice.” “I grew up as a slave on the Roulan grasslands with my foster father. There, they gouge out the eyes of war captives, dry them, and string them into beads as a symbol of bravery.” “They cut open the bellies of slaves at will, letting their intestines fall to the ground while they beg for mercy, just to see how we differ from them!” “There! We were just ‘two-legged sheep’ to be slaughtered at will!”

The girl had looked up sharply at the Emperor, her eyes red, yet she forced her tears not to fall.

“But I was not resigned!” “There was not a moment I did not want to escape from there, did not want to eat their flesh and blood!” “Fortunately…” She sniffled, a trace of a satisfied smile appearing. “I succeeded.” “I killed General Bayar, executed three hundred and fifty-eight Roulan soldiers, and drove them out of Changping Pass.” “So, even if Your Majesty grants me death today, I have no regrets.”

With that, the girl had actually moved to ram her head against a pillar in the hall! She clearly intended to die! Had Yuanxi not stopped her in time, and had the Emperor not accidentally seen a red jade pendant she dropped and recognized her as Gu Changfeng’s child, she would have died that day.

Therefore, even though he knew long ago that she had grown up on the Roulan grasslands, he never doubted her loyalty to him.

However… the Emperor thought of the “sincerity of cooperation” Xiao Sun had presented last night. He paced slowly and arrived before Gu Wanlan.

“Wanlan, I have never doubted your loyalty. However, Xiao Sun is a man of unfathomable depth. Only by using your identity as Gu Wanlan can you get close to him.”

Gu Wanlan froze, looking up in disbelief.

The Emperor patted her shoulder and spoke with a smile. “Therefore, this connection with Xiao Sun… you must not break it.”