After the Cold and Aloof Husband's Mask Falls - Chapter 67

Upon hearing that Ji Lin would attend the meeting on time, the Prince of Huai practically wanted to clap his hands in laughter.

He rubbed the jade ring on his thumb and narrowed his eyes, looking down at the woman sitting slumped on the ground with disheveled hair.

The Prince of Huai’s Estate had been pushed to the center of a storm. Originally, he had planned to use Ji Lin’s close dealings with the Protector State Duke’s Estate to divert public attention, but who knew the person sent to investigate Ji Lin would bring back such a massive surprise?

It was an incredible coincidence. If this woman hadn’t lived in the same alley as Old Mrs. Wang, his men would never have discovered that this plain widow had a history with Ji Lin—and he would never have followed that thread to discover the monumental secret Ji Lin was hiding.

The Prince of Huai rose from his armchair and paced slowly to Widow He’s side. He put on his usual “Bodhisattva” mask and smiled. “I heard your son was caught in the dispute between Cui Qiong and Ji Lin at Changping Pass and died an unexplained death. If you have any grievances, you may tell this Prince; I will see justice done for you.”

Widow He looked panicked, her forehead drenched in cold sweat. She forced her chattering teeth to stop. “This—this humble woman knows nothing of the events at Changping Pass. I—I beg the Prince to let me go home.”

“Nonsense!” The Prince of Huai kicked her in the shoulder and barked, “When you went to Changping Pass, and how your son sent silver and letters to you through others—this Prince knows everything! Asking you now is merely giving you a chance to identify him on the spot when the time comes!”

Widow He clutched her shoulder, her heart shaking with terror as her trembling grew worse. “I don’t know… I don’t know…”

He wondered what kind of “soul-snaring” art that Ji Lin had used on this woman to make her refuse to speak even now.

As the appointed hour drew near, the Prince of Huai lost interest in further interrogation. His mind was entirely filled with the staggering secret recorded in that letter—the secret about Ji Lin!

—A dignified General of the realm is actually a woman!

Once this scandal of “a hen crowing at dawn”—breaking all laws of nature and ethics—was exposed, who from the imperial court down to the commoners would still care about his son’s affairs?

The Prince of Huai let out a loud laugh. He methodically pulled a letter from his sleeve. As expected, the moment Widow He saw it, she looked as if her soul had been snatched away and went completely still.

“Well? Does it look familiar? Widow He, you certainly hid this letter deep; it took this Prince quite an effort to find it.”

Widow He finally snapped back to reality, like a puppet whose strings had been reconnected. She hurriedly crawled forward on her knees, wailing, “My Lord! My Lord! This matter has nothing to do with this humble woman! My family only wants to live in peace! I beg for Your Lordship’s mercy!”

That’s more like it.

The Prince of Huai spent a moment satisfied with the sight of Widow He’s tear-streaked face before kicking her aside.

“Whether you can live in peace depends on your performance today, Widow He.”

Widow He bit her lip, trembling as she performed a deep kowtow. “…This humble woman knows what to do.”

Gu Wanlan arrived at Wanxi Restaurant exactly on time.

Since the lunch hour had just passed, the restaurant wasn’t very crowded. Only a few customers who had finished their meals remained, gathered in small groups to chat and eat melon seeds.

Because she was using the identity of Ji Lin, Gu Wanlan was accompanied only by Tianquan today.

The moment she entered, she sensed something was wrong and frowned slightly. Tianquan’s expression was grim as he lowered his voice. “General, there are at least thirty ordinary attendants and twenty elite soldiers in this building. As for those further out, I cannot sense them… The Prince of Huai likely harbors ill intent today.”

Gu Wanlan merely gave a faint, silent smile.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, she looked upward. Her gaze met that of the Prince of Huai, who was standing by the second-floor railing.

The Prince offered the young General below a gentle smile.

On the day Ji Lin arrived in the capital, the Prince had not been in Xijing, so he had only met Ji Lin once at Akishiyama Villa. At that meeting, he had been somewhat surprised that the youth who achieved such merit was so handsome and delicate. But if one considered that Ji Lin was actually a woman, it all made sense.

And…

If she were a woman, then considering the women’s clothing he saw at Akishiyama and the timing of the appearances of Ji Lin and Gu Wanlan, it was highly probable that Gu Wanlan was Ji Lin!

At the thought that he was about to personally expose such a sensational secret—with the potential to completely topple the Protector State Duke’s Estate and bring the entire military nobility faction under his control—the Prince felt a long-lost surge of excitement.

Mustn’t rush.

The Prince let out a soft breath, watching with a smile as the ignorant girl below stepped up the stairs one by one, walking into the trap he had designed.

He couldn’t rush; he wanted to see her struggle, see her beg for mercy, and finally see the terror and despair in her eyes.

Humiliating a fierce woman who had slaughtered on the battlefield would surely be far more interesting than humiliating ordinary prey.

“General Ji has arrived.”

“My Lord.” Gu Wanlan gave a bow. Before finishing the gesture, she covered her mouth and began to cough violently, her voice sounding two shades huskier than before. “Ahem, apologies, My Lord. This General has recently caught a cold again; please forgive my lack of etiquette.”

“It is no matter.”

The Prince gave her a half-smile and led the way into the private room.

…A cold, eh.

A good method for disguising the voice; perhaps she already had a premonition that her secret was about to be outed.

With a clack, the door to the room was shut.

Gu Wanlan instinctively looked back once but said nothing.

“Very well. General Ji, frank people do not speak in riddles.” The Prince’s gaze drifted to Tianquan beside Gu Wanlan, and he smiled. “This Prince once promised to release your guard; he seems to be doing well now. So, have you found the information I wanted?”

Gu Wanlan paused. Just as she was about to speak, she broke into another fit of heart-wrenching coughing. A look of disgust flashed across the Prince’s brow, and he moved slightly away.

Gu Wanlan said hoarsely, “My Lord, the Commander of the Embroidery Guard, Feiyan, is quite treacherous. The manpower I can utilize in Xijing is limited; it is truly difficult to ascertain her identity.”

Before the Prince could speak, Gu Wanlan added hurriedly, “However, it’s not as if I found nothing. Feiyan was once ordered to rescue that fake Roulan Hostage, but she was lured into a trap by the true Hostage, and her people nearly perished in a fire. If My Lord wishes to investigate Feiyan, perhaps that Roulan Hostage would have more information.”

The Prince’s mouth twitched without much expression.

Fine; he hadn’t expected Ji Lin to have much information anyway.

He cast a covert glance at the incense burner behind Gu Wanlan, then gathered a smile back onto his face. “General Ji’s words seem to lack a bit of sincerity.”

Gu Wanlan gave two more low coughs. “At a time like this for the Prince of Huai’s Estate, that I am still willing to attend this meeting should be enough to prove my sincerity.”

The Prince’s eyes narrowed. Just as he was about to speak, a clamoring voice drifted up from below.

“Let me see Ji Lin! Is that murderous Ji Lin in the building?! He killed my son because my son knew his secret! I’m going to find Ji Lin and get justice!”

Seeing the person before him slam the table and surge to their feet upon hearing the voice, the Prince’s smile widened slightly.

The main event had arrived.

He gave Gu Wanlan a look of feigned concern. “Look at that. There are always people in this capital who speak such nonsense. Do you need my men to help you drive her out?”

“N—No need! I’ll go personally!”

The person before him seemed unable to wait a second longer and hurried out the door. However, the moment they reached the threshold, their figure staggered, nearly falling down the stairs.

Tianquan hurriedly supported her. “General—”

But at that moment, Tianquan also sensed something was wrong. His head throbbed, and his vision momentarily doubled!

Holding Gu Wanlan, he whipped his head back to glare at the Prince, who had followed them out of the room. He snarled, “It’s you! Prince of Huai! You dared to drug my master!”

The Prince smiled and ordered his men, “It seems General Ji is a bit overwhelmed by the wine. Since she wants to go down and see the woman, why not hurry and support her so she can have a good look?”

Hearing this, Gu Wanlan—whose head was still heavy—seemed to realize something was wrong. But now, she and Tianquan were no match for the elite soldiers by the Prince’s side; they were completely subdued before they could even make a move.

The commotion upstairs spread to the ground floor.

Those gathered around the woman looked up, only to run right into the other protagonist of the woman’s accusation—Ji Lin!

But the youth was now being held with his arms twisted behind his back, looking quite disheveled. Where was the aura of a young General?

After a long while, the youth seemed to suppress the drugs surging through his body. He gritted his teeth and said, “Prince of Huai! I came to this meeting in good faith! Yet you used knockout incense in the room! What is your intent!”

Seeing that Ji Lin was completely in his hands, the Prince no longer feared dropping his mask. He looked at the youth’s hate-filled gaze and smiled. “Naturally, I am seeing justice done for the people.”

The youth’s whole body went stiff, as if his pressure points had been struck, and he went motionless. However, his face turned two shades paler than before.

With a flick of his sleeve, the Prince walked up to the wailing woman and spoke with immense majesty. “What secret did your son discover that made Ji Lin want to kill him? Tell the truth, and this Prince will surely see justice done for you today!”

Widow He’s eyes were already red and swollen like walnuts from crying.

Being so close, she saw the threat in the Prince’s eyes. Her mother-in-law and the rest of her family’s lives were now in the Prince’s hands.

Things had come to this; she could only do a disservice to others.

At this thought, Widow He gritted her teeth and pointed at the youth— “The secret my son—my son discovered is that Ji Lin is actually a woman!”

The bustling Wanxi Restaurant went completely silent at that moment.

Everyone looked at the disheveled youth in disbelief.

…What?

The star general who appeared out of nowhere and traveled ten thousand miles to slay the Roulan commander was a woman?

After a deathly silence, the restaurant erupted into a total frenzy. Everyone began discussing this absurd and incredible matter, some even starting to argue.

One could foresee that Xijing City would be the same tomorrow.

The Prince of Huai looked at all this with satisfaction. Everything was now within his control.

There was only one last step…

He walked slowly to the subdued youth and spoke condescendingly, “To say such a thing is truly absurd, yet clarifying it is also quite simple…”

With a shing, the Prince pulled a long sword from the guard beside him.

“This Prince does not believe for a second that General Ji is a woman. General, forgive my lack of etiquette.”

With a gentle smile still on his face, the Prince pressed the tip of the sword against the youth’s trembling body. Amidst her look of extreme terror, he flicked his wrist. The sound of tearing fabric followed—

Come, let him taste her deepest despair.

But when the scene before him was revealed, the Prince’s pupils contracted, and the sword in his hand instantly slid to the floor.

He cried out in disbelief, “How can this be?!”

The people nearby couldn’t resist any longer and craned their necks to look. They saw the subdued youth’s upper garment ruined, revealing a flat chest and clearly visible abdominal muscles. This—this was clearly a man through and through!

“Tsk. I didn’t expect the little General Ji to have such a decent physique. But he is a General who achieved military merit after all; it’s a bit too pitiful for him to be publicly humiliated like this.”

A familiar voice sounded from behind. The Prince felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He stood up abruptly and looked back.

The color drained instantly from the Prince’s face.

Who else could it be standing on the outside of the crowd watching the commotion but Gu Wanlan?!