After the Cold and Aloof Husband's Mask Falls - Chapter 51

The private room, which wasn’t large to begin with, was suddenly packed with people.

Ten young men stood in a row. One held a folding fan in his hand, another struck a melancholic pose like “Xi Shi clutching her heart,” and one even had his collar wide open, his face flushed red as if he were in a state of delicate exhaustion.

That wasn’t all. After each had showcased his individual charms, they bowed in unison to Gu Wanlan and Gu Lehuang, casting flirtatious glances. “Ladies, these humble scholars offer our greetings.”

Gu Wanlan instantly broke out in goosebumps.

She quickly dragged Gu Lehuang—who was watching with great interest—backwards, lowering her voice to a fierce hiss, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Gu Lehuang covered her lips and giggled. “Since we’re already here, wouldn’t it be a pity not to call a few gentlemen for company? Besides, I ordered these men specifically according to your tastes, Sister.”

“Look at this one,” Gu Lehuang pointed to one of them. “Doesn’t his style of dress look exactly like Brother-in-law’s?”

Gu Lehuang then pointed to the “sickly Xi Shi” at the end of the line. “And look at this one. Doesn’t that sickly demeanor also have a few hints of Brother-in-law’s charm?”

Gu Wanlan’s mouth twitched. She smacked Gu Lehuang’s head down and gritted her teeth. “So you did this on purpose to mock me, afraid that I wouldn’t think of that man at home even while I’m out here?”

Gu Wanlan fished out a few pieces of broken silver and shoved them into Gu Lehuang’s hand. “Go dismiss them all!”

Thinking of something, Gu Wanlan pulled Gu Lehuang back. “Wait.” She rubbed her brow and said helplessly, “We can’t have no one here at all. Leave that ‘sickly Xi Shi’ behind.”

To avoid losing Xiao Sun, she hadn’t had time to disguise herself or Gu Lehuang; the two of them were only wearing veils over their faces. Fortunately, the noble ladies and young misses who frequented this place often wore veils to prevent their identities from being leaked, so they didn’t stand out.

Before entering this “Nanfeng Pavilion” (male brothel), Gu Wanlan had already mapped out the layout. This place was located on a street corner, with only one side facing the street and the other three sides facing secluded alleys. Just now in the main lobby, she had seen Xiao Sun head to the private room at the far right of the second floor—only one room away from theirs.

Seeing that out of the ten of them, these two wealthy guests had only kept him, the “sickly Xi Shi” eagerly approached with a face full of joy. “This humble one is named Qingzhu. Do the two guests wish to hear a song or something else?”

Gu Wanlan gave a light cough. “Ahem, this is the first time we sisters have visited your establishment. But to tell the truth, I was originally attracted here by someone else—”

Gu Wanlan’s face suddenly darkened as she slammed her purse onto the table. “But why was it that when it came time to pick someone, that curly-haired gentleman I took a fancy to wasn’t in the catalog?! Is it because you think our silver is too little?!”

The young host named Qingzhu had initially looked disappointed upon hearing the guest already had someone else in mind. But when he heard who she was interested in, he couldn’t help but smile. “Please calm your anger, honored guest. This is a misunderstanding. How could our humble establishment accommodate such a ‘Great Buddha’? That curly-haired gentleman you saw is likely the Prince-Hostage from the Kingdom of Roulan.”

Before Gu Wanlan could speak, Gu Lehuang’s brows shot up as she barked, “If he’s not here, he’s not here! Why bring up some Roulan Hostage to fool us! A dignified Prince—how could he possibly come to a place like yours?! Sister! I think this host is extremely slippery. I’m going downstairs right now to find someone else to replace him!”

Hearing this, Qingzhu grew anxious on the spot.

Because his constitution was weak, many guests found him bad luck and were unwilling to pick him. Now that he had finally found two “blind” and wealthy newcomers, how could he let them go?

He hurriedly explained, “He truly is the Roulan Hostage! When I first saw him two days ago, I was startled too! I found out later that because this Hostage is bored in the capital of Xijing, he has visited every famous red-light district. Our Nanfeng Pavilion is somewhat famous in Xijing, so he came just to broaden his horizons.”

Hearing this, Gu Wanlan felt even more that something was amiss.

Others might actually believe the excuse about “broadening horizons,” but Gu Wanlan knew that while Xiao Sun might go to cockfights or dog races out of boredom, he would never be interested in this.

His mother had reportedly given up her noble status to follow a lover to Roulan, only to end up dying a miserable death. Back then, it was Gu Wanlan who had accompanied Xiao Sun to a desolate field to bury his mother’s remains. She hadn’t interacted much with that aunt, so she didn’t have much feeling for her, but Xiao Sun’s expression at the time had been extremely cold.

“Everything was her own doing.”

Under the moonlight, the boy’s eyes were colder than the waters of the Huyan River in winter.

“Oh. I’m a bit hungry.” The wind on the prairie was strong at night. Gu Wanlan sniffled and helped add another handful of soil to the mound.

“In the future, I will certainly not be as foolish as her.” The young boy stood straight before the small earthen mound, as if making a solemn vow.

“Oh. Let’s go back and eat.” The young girl rubbed her nose and turned to leave.

“What do you want to eat?” the boy asked, following her.

“Whatever. I have to work tomorrow; filling my stomach is the most important thing.”

“I still have half a piece of dry steamed bread.”

“Then we’ll eat the bread with roasted insects.”

“I don’t want the heads.”

“Fine, Sun. Since you’re pretty pitiful today, I’ll leave the insect tails for you.”

Gu Wanlan’s thoughts drifted for a moment. When she returned to her senses, she realized that both Qingzhu and Gu Lehuang were looking at her.

Gu Wanlan coughed twice. “If you put it that way, it does make sense.”

She sent a subtle glance to Gu Lehuang. Gu Lehuang quickly said, “Right, Qingzhu. This is my first time here, and I’m quite interested in this place. Could you show me around so I can open my eyes?”

As long as the guests didn’t replace him and their requests weren’t overboard, Qingzhu had no reason to refuse. He immediately agreed, though he vaguely sensed that the taller woman was the one truly in charge between the two. He asked tentatively, “Would this guest like to come along?”

Gu Wanlan pulled out a chair and sat down directly, waving them away. “You two go. I’m a bit tired; I’ll rest here for a moment and wait for you to return.”

Seeing that this guest had no intention of calling for anyone else, Qingzhu was delighted. He hurriedly led Gu Lehuang out, fearing that if they delayed a moment longer, the guest inside might change her mind and call for another favorite, splitting his tip.

The moment the door closed, Gu Wanlan—who had been feigning sleep with closed eyes—opened them.

She nimbly shed her outer skirt, hiding it in the bedding, and then pushed open the window facing outward. Below the window was a secluded and dark alley.

Gu Wanlan gripped the edge of the windowsill, flipped out of the window, and stepped onto the eaves extending from the first floor. Staying low, she carefully bypassed the room between her and Xiao Sun, heading toward the end of the hall.

“…Wait a moment, my master… come over.” A hazy female voice drifted through the window—a voice she had never heard before.

“Tsk, I really don’t know what kind of fetish your master has, preferring to meet in a place like this.” The tone was arrogant and somewhat cold—it was Xiao Sun.

Gu Wanlan’s footsteps paused.

As expected, Xiao Sun had come here for a clandestine matter.

Gu Wanlan pursed her lips, softened her breathing, and leaned her body forward a bit more.

The female voice gradually became clearer.

“The master does this for the sake of convenience. If outsiders knew that she was involved with you, it would only make people suspicious of her identity. Besides, the master believes that a dissolute Roulan Prince fits the expectations most people have of you, and it is more beneficial to you.”

Xiao Sun paused, his tone deepening. “…I know she does it for my own good.”

“Since she hasn’t arrived yet, have you brought the information I asked for?”

The more Gu Wanlan listened, the more alarmed she became.

She had thought Xiao Sun was meeting someone today to reach some sort of deal for mutual benefit.

But listening to this, they sounded like people who were already extremely close.

There was a “crinkle” sound—the sound of paper being unfolded.

“Cui Jue’s life history is all here.”

“This is no different from what I’ve already found, but this isn’t what I want.”

“No, look at this entry. Someone in the palace once witnessed Cui Jue entering the palace, right on—”

Gu Wanlan held her breath, her eyes widening suddenly.

But right at that moment, her ears caught a movement from another direction.

She immediately took a breath and surged upward, grabbing the eaves of the second floor. Using her core strength, she rolled her body upward and climbed to the third floor.

“Creak—” The moment she landed, before she could catch her breath, a window on the floor below was slammed open from the inside. Flirtatious laughter drifted out: “Oh, don’t open the window, it’s so embarrassing!” “What’s there to be embarrassed about? Is it more embarrassing than this?”

Gu Wanlan’s face turned incredibly dark.

Are you kidding me! Her plans were ruined just for this nonsense!

Gu Wanlan was unwilling to give up and wanted to lean down to listen again, but immediately following that, the window in Xiao Sun’s room was also pushed open from the inside.

“What happened?”

Inside the room, an ordinary-looking elderly woman stepped forward to ask.

Xiao Sun frowned. “The soundproofing here is far too poor. If someone…”

When his gaze fell upon a shattered tile outside the window, Xiao Sun’s expression changed. He instantly flipped out of the window. “There was likely someone outside just now! Say that this Prince has had something stolen—lock down the entire Nanfeng Pavilion immediately!”

Out of a whole row of tiles, only that one was broken, and the marks on that shattered tile were clearly made by someone with internal power. It was obvious that someone had been eavesdropping outside their window. Seeing the window next door suddenly open, they had hurriedly fled upward to the third floor.

Gu Wanlan practically wanted to curse.

When she heard Xiao Sun open his window below, she knew things were going south. She didn’t dare hesitate a second longer, immediately finding a room and breaking in through the window. Her front foot had just rolled into the room when she heard the sound of Xiao Sun grabbing the eaves and coming up behind her. A cold sweat instantly broke out on her back.

Fortunately, she was lucky. There was no one in the room. She hurriedly covered her face with her sleeve and dashed toward the door.

When Xiao Sun followed her in, he only saw the door standing wide open, swinging back and forth from the momentum. If he had only been suspicious of someone being outside the window before, he was certain now!

But the identity of that person in the room was extremely sensitive; he absolutely could not let an outsider know!

Xiao Sun’s eyes were like knives as he immediately gave chase. But it wasn’t until he chased her onto the corridor and met the startled gazes of everyone looking at him that Xiao Sun suddenly realized something was wrong! If that petty thief had fled out like him, why would the others be looking at him like that?

He immediately doubled back into the room. Sure enough, the wardrobe doors were wide open, and the window was swung wide—there was no longer a trace of anyone inside!

That thief had actually used the moment he left to flip back out!

He had been played like a fool! Truly cunning!

The attendant he brought with him soon caught up. Looking at the visibly enraged Xiao Sun, the attendant had no choice but to speak up, “Prince, do we still need to lock down Nanfeng Pavilion?”

Xiao Sun gritted his teeth. “Lock it! Why wouldn’t we?! One group follow the outside to give chase, and the rest of you search this pavilion thoroughly for me!”

He had a feeling this person was still inside Nanfeng Pavilion. Otherwise, they would have fled outward the first time.

Having shaken off Xiao Sun, Gu Wanlan didn’t dare rest for a second. She hurried all the way back to the outside of her own room.

The commotion inside the pavilion had already spread; it sounded like people were searching room by room.

Gu Wanlan quickly flipped through the window. Before she could even finish re-tying her outer robe, a terrifying voice drifted in from outside the door.

“He really did enter this room. Why would I lie to you, Brother? If you don’t dare open this door, then I’ll—”

It was Cui Qiong, the one who loved watching a scene.

“No need. It’s likely a misunderstanding—”

It was Cui Jue, who proactively cut off Cui Qiong’s words.

Hearing this, Gu Wanlan was just about to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Creak—” The door was pushed open from the outside.

Gu Wanlan’s scalp went numb.