After the Cold and Aloof Husband's Mask Falls - Chapter 56

After sending Gu Baozhu away, Gu Wanlan washed up before returning to the room.

If she had to name the first major change since arriving in Xijing, this would be it. In the past, with the heavy burden of martial arts training, she wouldn’t have cared about such things at all. Now, however, if she didn’t wash up after practicing, she felt a bit embarrassed to even enter the room.

Gu Wanlan secretly grumbled to herself about being “corroded” by the lush splendor of Xijing as she walked in, drying her damp hair with a cloth. Upon entering, she saw that Cui Jue was already out of bed and had tidied the room. Since Gu Wanlan was truly unaccustomed to having servants interfere with her private bedroom affairs, the maids and elderly servants were only responsible for sweeping the courtyard. Within the room, Cui Jue handled most of the cleanup himself.

Hmph. Serves him right for clinging to her and demanding more every time.

Gu Wanlan hummed a few times to herself. Looking at the silhouette of Cui Jue leaning over to tidy the bedding, she found him much more pleasing to the eye than when he was on the bed last night.

Cui Jue finished tidying the bed and turned to see Gu Wanlan entering the room, still clearly carrying the damp mist of her bath. His brows furrowed slightly as he set down the soft pillow and walked over.

He took the cloth from Gu Wanlan’s hand and naturally began to dry her hair for her. “Why didn’t you dry it properly before coming out?”

Gu Wanlan let out a yawn and sat down in a chair, closing her eyes to obediently enjoy Cui Jue’s service. “Too much trouble. I’ll just let it air out in this room for a while and it’ll be fine.”

Cui Jue lowered his gaze, his hands never stopping their rhythmic movements. “The winter wind is strong. If you don’t want to do it yourself, call me next time.”

Gu Wanlan’s sleepiness vanished instantly. She gave a dry laugh. “I think I’ll pass; I can manage.”

What a joke. If she let him into the bathhouse, that would be the end of it.

Stealing a glance, Gu Wanlan noticed Cui Jue’s book box sitting on the desk. She tilted her head back to look at him. “Are you going out later? Are you going to paint a portrait for someone, or are you going to see that Cui Qiong?”

She added another line: “If you’re seeing Cui Qiong, is he planning to stir up more trouble in the imperial court?”

Cui Jue smiled and looked back at her. “Does Madam have a very low opinion of Cui Qiong?”

Gu Wanlan blinked innocently. “Have I mentioned to Husband before? I only made it to Xijing safely because I accidentally received help from that young General, Ji Lin.”

Cui Jue masked the dark glint in his eyes. “Oh? Madam actually knows that heroic General Ji?”

Gu Wanlan feigned a look of concern. “Indeed. Because we traveled together, I have some friendship with him. I heard some rumors from him regarding Cui Qiong’s conduct. Suddenly learning last night that Husband is working for that Cui Qiong, I naturally feel some worry. If Husband encounters anything difficult to decide while with Cui Qiong, you can return to the estate and discuss it with me.”

“Thank you for your concern, Madam. There, it’s dry. You may stand up now.” Cui Jue pulled the cloth away and turned to place it in the basin. “Is Madam also going out today?”

Gu Wanlan smoothed her hair and stood up.

Cui Jue’s hands were truly magical; she didn’t know how he rubbed it, but even the frizz in her hair had been smoothed down.

Stroking her hair, she said nonchalantly, “I’ll probably head to Akishiyama to see General Ji. Speaking of which, so many things happened since I returned to the capital that I haven’t had a chance to thank him properly.”

Cui Jue’s footsteps paused.

He turned to look at Gu Wanlan with a half-smile. “That is only right. Since it’s on the way, why don’t I accompany Madam?”

Gu Wanlan’s body went stiff.

It was true she wanted to gradually deepen the “relationship” between her and Ji Lin in front of Cui Jue to pave the way for her future plans, but she couldn’t actually conjure a living person out of thin air for him right now.

Gu Wanlan hurriedly turned her back and picked out a garment to put on, giving a dry laugh. “Haha, there’s no need. I’ll have Tianxuan accompany me. Husband should go attend to his own business.”

Cui Jue looked at her back with a profound gaze. “Very well. If Madam ever has a need, just call for me.”

Mustn’t rush.

Cui Jue silently slung the book box over his shoulder and gave Gu Wanlan a gentle, refined smile. “Madam, I shall head out first then.”

“Mhm, be careful on the road.”

Gu Wanlan was busy tying the silk laces of her clothing and turned to give him a hurried smile.

“Mhm. You as well, Madam.”

With a smile, Cui Jue walked out of the inner chamber.

He had heard her repeated attempts to probe him and Cui Qiong today.

He truly could not rush.

Pushing the door open, Cui Jue walked out of the house. Outside, the sky was azure and cloudless—a beautiful day.

Cui Jue stood before the door, his gaze empty as he stared at the clear sky, lost in thought for a moment.

In their past life, when Gu Wanlan was still Ji Lin, she had once accidentally saved a dog in the forest. It was an old dog with not much time left. When Gu Wanlan found it, its front leg had been caught in a hunting trap for a long time; it didn’t even have the strength left to howl.

Gu Wanlan had passed by, pried open the trap, and saved it. From then on, for a long period of time, that old dog followed behind her. Occasionally, it would even secretly leave the rats it had killed in front of Gu Wanlan’s tent. Once, when the old dog was sneaking over, it was caught red-handed by Gu Wanlan. Right in front of the dog, she kicked away the rats it had brought and ordered the surrounding soldiers to drive the dog away.

The old dog seemed to possess human-like understanding; it understood her words and began to howl incessantly at her, to the point where even the soldiers showed pity. Gu Wanlan remained unmoved and personally drove the dog away.

Everyone assumed it was because Gu Wanlan simply disliked dogs. But it wasn’t until the old dog never appeared again that she sighed to her subordinates: If that old dog had merely followed her, it would have been fine. But it kept bringing her rats. Even if they were just rats, to an old dog about to lose its hunting ability, those were extremely precious things.

Her act of saving it had been a casual gesture; she had no intention of keeping a dog afterward. Thus, she absolutely could not accept such a heavy and precious sentiment. It was better to cut off the dog’s hopes early on.

Cui Jue lowered his eyelashes, concealing the dark undercurrents in his eyes. His hand on the book box strap gradually tightened.

It was not yet time.

He absolutely could not let Gu Wanlan know all of his secrets right now.

He did not want to be that dog she once kicked away.

The next day, when Gu Baozhu came to find Gu Wanlan, she was actually wearing that cloak again. The gold threads on the cloak shimmered under the sun; Gu Wanlan took a few extra looks at it before boarding the carriage.

Noticing Gu Wanlan’s gaze on her, Gu Baozhu instinctively pulled the cloak tighter around herself and explained in a low voice, “I was in such a rush to leave that I didn’t notice I put this one on again…”

Gu Wanlan let out a yawn. After boarding, she leaned back against the carriage wall, saying indifferently, “It’s fine. It’s just a cloak. If you like it, it’s yours.”

Having her small scheme satisfied, Gu Baozhu felt a secret surge of joy. She was about to talk to Gu Wanlan more about her future “grand plan” of disguising as a man, but found that Gu Wanlan had already closed her eyes to rest. Seeing this, Gu Baozhu quickly shut her mouth, poked her head out, and whispered to the driver to go a bit slower.

However, as she propped her chin and looked at the exhaustion on Gu Wanlan’s face, she couldn’t help but feel curious.

With this much fatigue, what on earth is Gu Wanlan busy with every day?

In truth, Gu Wanlan hadn’t rested for a moment yesterday. After Cui Jue left, she went up to Akishiyama to discuss the matter of He San with Tianquan and the others. He San’s death occurred at Changping Pass, ten thousand miles away, nearly half a year ago. Trying to find out who gave him that sum of silver and what he was supposed to do was incredibly difficult.

Perhaps Cui Qiong had discovered something back then, but he certainly had no hard evidence. Otherwise, he would have charged He San with a specific crime instead of executing him simply on the grounds that He San had offended him and overheard his secrets.

Therefore, after much thought, Gu Wanlan decided to take a risky move to “lure the snake out of its hole.”

If she had Ji Lin find an opportunity to deliberately have contact with the widow He in public, the person behind the scenes might grow suspicious of the woman. That would be their chance to seize the culprit.

However, to have “Ji Lin” walk out of the Akishiyama Villa, she first had to find a way to obtain Emperor Qingyuan’s permission.

After coming down from Akishiyama, she met Xiao Chen, who had come looking for her after receiving her message. Compared to the stagnation at Akishiyama, Xiao Chen had successfully brought the information she wanted.

First, Cui Jue had not lied. The night Xiao Sun caused the uproar, he had indeed entered the palace following Cui Qiong’s carriage.

Second, the person behind Nanfeng Pavilion was, coincidentally, the host of today’s banquet—Princess Xihe.

“Gu Wanlan.”

“Gu Wanlan, wake up. We’ve arrived.”

Seeing that Gu Wanlan seemed too exhausted, Gu Baozhu originally didn’t want to wake her. She had the driver move the carriage into a small alley beside the Princess’s estate to let Gu Wanlan sleep a bit longer. But as the start of the banquet drew closer, she worried that if they didn’t go in soon, they would displease the Princess. Only then did she try to wake her.

Gu Wanlan rubbed the tears from her eyes and yawned. “What time is it?”

Gu Baozhu was truly getting anxious. “The banquet starts in only fifteen minutes. Do you still want to meet those noble ladies or not?”

Gu Wanlan slowly stretched again and said lazily, “Still fifteen minutes? That’s plenty of time. I’ll sleep a bit longer. Gu Baozhu, you go ahead first.”

Gu Baozhu’s eyes went round. For a moment, she doubted if she was hallucinating.

Pl-plenty of time?!

How could she say such a thing?!

Was she planning to steal the Princess’s thunder and be the one to make a “grand finale” entrance?!

Gu Baozhu took a breath to calm her heart. She was about to persuade her further when her head was gently patted. A somewhat helpless voice reached her ears: “Relax, I have my own arrangements. You go first; don’t be late and let others catch you at a disadvantage.”

Gu Baozhu’s face turned red. Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, she covered her head and bristled. “Gu… Gu Wanlan! I—I’m not a child anymore! Why are you patting my head?!”

“Because Gu Lehuang really likes it?”

“I’m not an ignorant person like her!” Gu Baozhu glared at her.

Sigh…

Children are so difficult to handle.

Gu Wanlan felt a headache coming on and hurriedly waved her away. “Fine, Young Miss, hurry along. Don’t disturb my nap.”

“Hmph! Fine! I’ll see what kind of tricks you play in the end!”

Gu Baozhu immediately threw back the carriage curtain and jumped down.

However, as she reached the gate of the Princess’s estate, she couldn’t help but slow her pace, looking back toward the alley with a face full of worry.

Gu Wanlan, what exactly are you planning to do…