After the Cold and Aloof Husband's Mask Falls - Chapter 52

At the very moment the door was pushed open from the outside, Gu Wanlan only regretted that she had forgotten to check the almanac before leaving today.

Seeing the man’s silhouette gradually reveal itself as the door opened, she could even see his profile as he spoke to Cui Qiong and the shallow smile lingering in his eyes.

Gu Wanlan lunged forward and grabbed Cui Jue’s wrist. In the split second before Cui Qiong outside could cry out in surprise, she exerted strength in her hand and violently dragged Cui Jue into the room.

There was a loud clatter.

With a backhand shove, Gu Wanlan pinned Cui Jue against the door, using the momentum to slam it shut completely.

Before Cui Jue could recover from this string of surprises, Gu Wanlan pressed her body against his and hissed into his ear, “Make the person outside get lost.”

During her movements, the veil on Gu Wanlan’s face fluttered with the wind, revealing the face beneath.

Cui Jue gave Gu Wanlan a meaningful look. The young girl before him had disheveled hair, her outer robe was draped haphazardly over her body, and even her face carried an unnatural flush.

Gu Wanlan naturally noticed Cui Jue’s scrutinizing gaze falling upon her, but now was not the time for explanations. She could only stand on her tiptoes and grab his collar, forcing him to look at her, and repeated urgently, “Make the person outside get lost first!”

“Bang, bang, bang!” The door panel behind them was pounded once more with a deafening noise, followed by Cui Qiong’s anxious voice, “Brother! Brother! Are you alright?! You—and you, hurry and break this door down for me—”

“There’s no need!”

Inside the room, his brother’s voice seemed a bit strained and he was panting. Cui Qiong’s mind stalled for a moment.

Countless absurd and outrageous guesses flashed through his head. He still leaned in, unwilling to give up, and asked in a heart-wrenching yet cautious low voice, “Brother, is the person inside that one? Is it of your own free will?”

But this time, his brother did not respond to him. There was only a clack sound, as if something had been hurled fiercely toward him, hitting the door panel with a crisp crack.

Cui Qiong broke into a cold sweat and dared not stay any longer. He hurriedly ushered his subordinates to leave quickly. Even as he left, he did not forget to threaten them: today’s events must not be leaked even a fraction, or else if his brother’s reputation was harmed, he would certainly not let them live.

But, what kind of mess was this?

He had originally caught Gu Wanlan entering this Nanfeng Pavilion by chance and brought his brother over to catch her in the act.

But in the end, why was the one being “bullied” still his brother?

This was simply a total failure of husbandly authority—a complete lack of discipline!

Inside the room, Cui Jue did not know that Cui Qiong was currently agonizing over his lack of husbandly authority. He simply lowered his eyes and looked at the spot on his waist where Gu Wanlan had just pinched and twisted him, letting out a sigh. “Can Madam let go now?”

Seeing that there was no more sound outside, Gu Wanlan hastily retracted her hand. She then reached out rather sheepishly to rub the spot for him. “Apologies, I was truly in a rush just now…”

Cui Jue sucked in a breath of cold air and hurriedly caught Gu Wanlan’s hand, gritting his teeth. “Gu Wanlan! Don’t move! Are you trying to make me lose face again?”

Only then did Gu Wanlan suddenly remember that Cui Jue seemed to be quite sensitive in that particular area.

Gu Wanlan gave a dry laugh and immediately pulled her hand back, coughing lightly. “Cough, I didn’t do it on purpose. I can explain today’s matter. Once Gu Lehuang returns later—”

But before she could finish her sentence, the room next door resounded with the “bang, bang, bang” of violent knocking.

“Open up! The Roulan Hostage has lost an item here! Come out immediately! Submit to inspection!”

Cui Jue seemed to sense something. He looked toward the windowsill in the room and narrowed his eyes; there were faint traces of someone entering and exiting left there.

As Cui Jue raised his foot to head over, Gu Wanlan’s movements were faster than his. She grabbed Cui Jue’s belt, and before he could react, she reached up to strip off his outer robe. “There’s no time to explain! You don’t want to be caught by Xiao Sun and become a laughingstock at a time like this, do you!”

But for some reason, Cui Jue was wrapped up like a bamboo shoot today, layer after layer, making Gu Wanlan feel irritable as she stripped him. “Hurry up! What are you standing there for! They’ll be here any second!”

Thud! It was the sound of the door being kicked.

“Open up! Open the door now!”

Seeing that the people had reached the door, Gu Wanlan gritted her teeth and dragged Cui Jue, whose clothes were half-off, toward the bed.

Just as she was about to turn around, her waist was powerfully embraced.

“What are you doing?! I said, regarding today’s matter, I will truly give you an explanation—”

Gu Wanlan grew anxious.

In the next instant, the world spun around her.

When Gu Wanlan regained her senses, she found herself pinned against the windowsill by Cui Jue.

“Hold me tight.”

The low, raspy voice crashed into her ears.

“What?”

Gu Wanlan instinctively looked up, only to be met by Cui Jue’s frantic kiss.

He was actually doing this for real!

But at this moment, Gu Wanlan could only be forced to endure his “stormy” onslaught. Her body began to go soft in waves, but she hadn’t forgotten the business at hand. She reached out and struggled to grab the wooden hairpin holding back Cui Jue’s hair and pulled it out sharply—

With a loud bang, the door panel was kicked open at that exact moment.

“Acting suspiciously! If you won’t open the door, then—”

The shouting of the guards outside froze in their throats.

Although most in this Nanfeng Pavilion were “pure performers,” there were also those who engaged in the flesh trade. However, most people, upon seeing them arrive, would hurriedly tidy themselves up to meet the guests. Where would they find people devouring each other with such abandon? They truly looked like “hungry ghosts” of lust.

“Qing… Qingzhu! Enough! Enough! Let me go! Someone is here! I’m dying of shame!”

The woman, completely shielded by the man’s figure, seemed to have just come to her senses. She hurriedly pushed away the young host in front of her and scrambled to hide in his embrace, looking as if she were about to cry from panic.

Most women who came here to seek pleasure were people of status and didn’t want outsiders to know they had visited; this was perfectly normal. If they pried too much, they might create enemies for the Prince, so the focus of their search wasn’t here.

“Search! See if the thief is hiding under the bed or in the wardrobe!”

As soon as the lead guard gave the order, the others filed in and began searching the room rampantly.

“Wu-wa, Qingzhu, I’m so scared. How did I encounter such a disastrous thing today? If my husband finds out I was here with you, what will I do?”

The woman seemed terrified to the extreme, actually burying her face in the host’s chest and sobbing softly.

Cui Jue’s brow twitched.

Gu Wanlan, however, was still immersed in her role as a lady afraid of being caught by her husband, acting out her panic. “No, if my husband knows, he definitely won’t forgive me. Should I take the initiative and strike first—”

“Cough! Cough!”

Violent coughing sounded from behind, interrupting Gu Wanlan’s words.

The lead guard feared that if he stayed a step longer, he would hear some lethal secret, and his master would be forced into the love-hate entanglements of high-ranking families. He hurriedly asked the searchers, “Any discovery?!”

The crowd responded, “None.”

“Fine, next room!”

Seeing nothing unusual, the lead guard intended to lead his men away. Before leaving, he kindly reached back to pull the door shut for the people inside. Gu Wanlan was just about to breathe a sigh of relief—

“How is the search?”

Xiao Sun’s voice drifted over from the corridor at that moment.

Thus, Gu Wanlan watched helplessly as the guard’s hand, which was closing the door, stopped, leaving a gap about five fingers wide to the outside.

As Xiao Sun walked over, he instinctively turned his head to glance into the room.

He happened to see a somewhat familiar back flash past his eyes.

Xiao Sun paused.

“Your subordinate is incompetent and has temporarily failed to find the thief—”

“Who is in this room?”

Xiao Sun interrupted his subordinate’s report. Placing his hands on the door, he was about to push it open when a woman’s soft, coquettish laughter drifted through the crack.

“Oh, Qingzhu! Don’t be like this! Let me go! I won’t say you’re inferior to my husband anymore!”

The lead guard gave the room an indescribable look. “Reporting to the Prince, inside this room is a high-born lady who came here behind her husband’s back to seek pleasure.”

A look of disgust flashed in Xiao Sun’s eyes, and he withdrew his hand.

“Who is this Qingzhu?”

He had clearly seen that the back just now somewhat resembled Cui Jue…

The manager of the pavilion had been accompanying Xiao Sun. Seeing him ask, the manager hurried forward, rubbing his hands and smiling flatteringly. “Reporting to the Prince, this Qingzhu is a host in our pavilion. Just now, the guest in this room called ten scholarly-type hosts all at once, and finally chose this Qingzhu.”

“Because his constitution is usually poor, Qingzhu has a bit of a sickly aura, which guests don’t usually like. Now that someone has taken a fancy to him, he is naturally trying his hardest to please her.”

So that was it.

Just a host with an aura somewhat similar to Cui Jue’s.

Xiao Sun let out a cold laugh.

How could someone have the same poor taste as Gu Wanlan, liking this kind of weak, scholarly type, and even calling ten at once?

Xiao Sun instantly lost interest and waved his hand to his subordinates. “Fine, go search the next room.”

It wasn’t until she heard the sound outside fade away that Gu Wanlan let out a heavy sigh, her entire person relaxing completely. “Phew… they’re finally gone.”

“It’s fine now, let go of me first.”

Gu Wanlan instinctively tried to push away Cui Jue, who had held her to hide on the bed in the emergency.

She pushed, but Cui Jue, pinned over her, remained motionless, simply staring at her with his eyes.

Gu Wanlan eventually lost this silent clash of gazes. She simply slumped back onto the bed and said in a “broken jar” manner, “Whether you believe it or not, I came here specifically to secretly follow Xiao Sun.”

Cui Jue smiled. Because of the playful acting just now, his voice was still a bit raspy. The low, husky chuckle crawled into Gu Wanlan’s ears with a tingling itch, instantly raising goosebumps.

“Madam truly has a grand style, calling ten at once.”

Cui Jue paused, then added meaningfully, “And all of them with a weak, scholarly aura.”

Boom!

Without even touching them, Gu Wanlan felt her cheeks must be burning fiercely.

Gu Lehuang, you’ve ruined me!

Gu Wanlan tried to salvage her crumbling reputation. With a flushed face, she gritted her teeth. “It’s not what you think! Gu Lehuang ordered those! She likes that type!”

“Sister! There was a huge commotion outside just now. Qingzhu and I were afraid of getting into trouble, so we avoided the crowd and came back. Are you—”

It was the sound of the door being shoved open again.

Gu Lehuang looked at the scene before her. Her movements froze, and her brain almost short-circuited.

Why did the man pinning her sister to the bed look so much like her brother-in-law?!

Her sister truly only loved gentlemen with this kind of aura.

Well, if her sister was willing to try someone else, it wasn’t impossible.

At this thought, Gu Lehuang immediately blocked Qingzhu, who was about to enter, and said hurriedly, “Sister, don’t worry! I will definitely not tell Brother-in-law about this! Carry on!”

With a bang, the door was cleanly shut by Gu Lehuang again, fearing that if she were a second late, she would ruin her sister’s “good business.”

Gu Wanlan went numb.

Meeting Cui Jue’s half-smiling gaze before her, she covered her face in despair.