After the Cold and Aloof Husband's Mask Falls - Chapter 66

The next day, Gu Wanlan woke before dawn.

Last night, after learning about Cui Jue, Qi Rong had pulled her aside for a candlelit talk. Her original intent was to comfort Gu Wanlan, but she ended up rambling about her own past with the Protector State Duke. In short, she hoped Gu Wanlan would follow her heart—gather the rosebuds while she may.

Gu Wanlan spent the entire night in fragmented dreams about Cui Jue, though this time, she no longer saw scenes from her past life.

According to her previous dreams, in her past life, Cui Jue had visited her at Changping Pass as an “old friend” while she was still Ji Lin. It was possible that the past Ji Lin and Cui Jue had shared a friendship, but the more likely possibility was that he had already recognized “Ji Lin” as the little girl who had been separated from him years ago.

Then there was the old painting in his study, dated the spring of five years ago. That painting predated their actual meeting in this life, which meant that this version of Cui Jue had possessed memories of the past life for at least five years.

Wait…

That meant the current Cui Jue likely knew she was Ji Lin from the very beginning?!

Thinking back to how she had deliberately enticed him just to spite her “arch-rival”…

Thinking about how she had boasted to his face about how close she and “Ji Lin” were…

Gu Wanlan suddenly wanted to dig a hole and bury herself in it.

But if that were the case, he later used his secret identity as the Head of the Cui Family to send Cui Qiong to Changping Pass as the army supervisor, and finally used the pretense of discovering her true identity to force her to abandon the role of Ji Lin and retreat to Xijing…

As expected, something must have happened at Changping Pass in the past life that resulted in her being shackled and forced into marriage.

And what about Cui Jue? In the past life, his voice was ruined and his face was scarred—was that the work of the Cui family?

And why did the Cui family commit such a foul deed?

As the thoughts swirled in her head, Gu Wanlan lost all desire for sleep. She climbed out of bed, changed her clothes, and went out to practice.

By the time she finished two sets of fist techniques, Tianxuan was walking toward her with a hurried expression. Gu Wanlan retracted her stance, jumped down from the martial arts stage, and asked urgently, “Did you find something out about the Cui family?”

Tianxuan’s expression was grave, with a trace of confusion in her eyes. “It’s not the Cui family; it’s the Prince of Huai. News from Akishiyama says the Prince sent an invitation to Ji Lin, requesting a meeting at Wanxi Restaurant today.”

Wanxi Restaurant—the very place where the Prince of Huai’s heir had been attacked.

Gu Wanlan took the invitation with interest and flipped through it. “At a time like this, he actually has the heart to host a banquet?”

Tianxuan’s expression was grim. “The Prince’s messenger left a verbal message, telling you not to forget the transaction from that day. Today is the time to fulfill the agreement.”

“Transaction?” After a momentary daze, Gu Wanlan remembered the incident. To get Tianquan released back then, she had promised to help the Prince find clues regarding the identity of Feiyan. It was a somewhat ridiculous matter; since the Prince hadn’t mentioned it again, she had forgotten. Bringing it up now was likely because the Prince knew Feiyan was the one in charge of his son’s case.

With a snap, Gu Wanlan closed the invitation and tossed it to Tianxuan, smiling. “Tell him I will certainly attend today.”

What a joke. An opportunity to walk openly in public as “Ji Lin” was too good to pass up; she wouldn’t miss it for anything!

Furthermore, after her reconstruction of events with Xiao Chen yesterday, they found that a person with a penchant for torture like the Prince’s heir would likely keep a victim’s corpse as a trophy in a place he could reach and live in daily. Therefore, the victims’ remains were very likely hidden within the Prince of Huai’s Estate.

However, a royal of the Prince’s status would usually be guarded by elite secret guards. She and Xiao Chen were confident they could enter the estate under surveillance, but they weren’t confident they could search the grounds without being discovered. This meeting provided the perfect opportunity to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

Gu Wanlan mentally refined the plan. Seeing no flaws, she split tasks with Tianxuan, sending her to inform Xiao Chen while she changed her attire and entered the palace to request a decree.

As expected, upon hearing that it might lead to a faster resolution of the high-profile Prince of Huai scandal, Emperor Qingyuan granted Gu Wanlan permission to use the identity of “Ji Lin” for this mission.

Gu Wanlan suppressed her inner joy and headed straight for Akishiyama after leaving the palace.

This day was destined to be a colorful one for the people of Xijing.

Early in the morning, the news that “the true power behind the Cui family is actually the live-in husband of the Gu family’s girl” was the hot topic in teahouses. The factions of “powerful alliance,” “marrying for love,” and “an insult to refined culture” were locked in a fierce debate. A bit later, news of their divorce broke, and the crowd began imagining a tragic love story where two lovers were forced apart by their conflicting true identities.

But before they could mourn for long, another major event grabbed everyone’s attention—General Ji Lin, who had been recuperating at Akishiyama Villa since returning to the capital, had finally emerged!

The people of Xijing were already full of curiosity toward this boy general who had appeared out of nowhere. After he entered the palace for his rewards, everyone thought his career would soar, only for news to break that his illness had relapsed and he had to rest at Akishiyama. Rumors and speculations had been rampant, adding a layer of mystery to the man.

“Where is he? Where is this Ji Lin? I have to go see for my daughter if he really has three heads and six arms!”

“Nonsense! Who said he has three heads and six arms? I caught a glimpse of him the day he returned to the capital. He’s so handsome it made me blush just looking at him.”

“Shameless!”

“Hey, Auntie He, why are you so quiet today? Oh, why is your face so pale? Are you sick?”

The women who had been chatting and laughing noticed the Widow He’s strange behavior and hurried forward to show concern. But the widow reacted as if she had been stung, violently slapping away the hand reaching toward her.

With a crisp smack, the scene went silent for a moment.

It wasn’t until she saw the scrutinizing gazes of the crowd that the widow snapped back to her senses. Her face was pale as she gripped the hem of her clothes and apologized hurriedly, “So-sorry, I just remembered I have something to do at home…”

With that, she didn’t even wait for a response before running toward her house, looking as if staying on the street for one more second would kill her.

“How strange.”

“Tsk, that’s nothing. Compared to that, isn’t it stranger how her family suddenly became rich? Who knows what kind of shady dealings they’ve been doing in secret.”

Widow He couldn’t care less about the gossip behind her. Her mind was filled with only one thing—Ji Lin had actually come out of Akishiyama Villa!

She had to go home immediately; she couldn’t be run into by Ji Lin while outside.

No—no, she had to move. She had to leave now and vanish from Xijing forever!

When He San first started making a name for himself at Changping Pass, she had gone there to visit him. During that visit, He San had been severely injured on the battlefield. Fortunately, a young soldier named Ji Lin had saved him, dragging him out from a pile of corpses and allowing him to live to enjoy his military merit.

At the time, she was profoundly grateful to Ji Lin. Seeing that he had no family, she would always give him a portion whenever she sent things to He San. Every time the boy saw her, his face flushed red from the cold, he would call her “Auntie He.”

Before she left, she felt Ji Lin was a good lad, so she told He San to remember this kindness and look out for each other. She couldn’t remember He San’s expression clearly then, but his final, sinister words made her spine chill even now when she recalled them.

“A good lad? Why not ask the Ji Lin in the underworld if he agrees with Mother’s words?”

She had been stunned into a daze by those words, but the merchant caravan she was with was about to depart, so she couldn’t linger. She could only give her son a few more instructions about daily life before leaving Changping Pass.

But those words were like a spear hanging over her head, preventing her from sleeping peacefully—especially after hearing that the young “Ji Lin” had achieved such legendary military merit.

Finally, after He San sent someone to give her a large sum of silver and a letter, that spear fell.

Not long after, news of He San’s death arrived from Changping Pass.

She didn’t know if He San had used the secret to threaten Ji Lin and was silenced, or if He San had made a deal with someone else and, when things went south, tried to use the secret to force Ji Lin to protect him, only to be killed. Or perhaps it had nothing to do with Ji Lin at all.

But regardless, she knew Ji Lin’s secret.

Thinking of the lethal letter He San had sent her, her heart felt like it was going to leap out of her throat.

She could absolutely not let Ji Lin know she held his greatest secret. She had no intention of investigating the true cause of her son’s death; she only wanted to live out her remaining years in peace.

Huffing and puffing, she ran all the way to her front door. Just as she fished out her key to open the door, it was pulled open from the inside with a creak.

Within her field of vision was a pair of official boots in a male style.

“Widow He, you’ve certainly made us wait a long time.”

Her pupils shook violently.

In the next instant, she fell into complete darkness.