Chapter 58#

The Cross-dressing Wife#

“Miss, have you eaten?”

“Had a bit,” Lin Xiaodong said vaguely.

Perhaps because he had been too exhausted recently, combined with not eating well, Lin Xiaodong felt lightheaded from the moment he woke up, and his head felt dizzy.

He originally thought he just hadn’t fully woken up and would be fine after a while. He didn’t expect that after arriving at the mourning hall, before even a stick of incense had burned, his body began to sway.

Gu Xingzhai had just returned from seeing off guests outside when he saw Lin Xiaodong, dressed in plain white, collapsed in front of the altar. His cheeks were flushed, and spilled incense ash covered the floor beside him.

His pupils shrank, and he immediately strode over.

Gu Xingzhai half-knelt, first cautiously checking the young man’s breath with his finger. After confirming the other was still alive, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

He couldn’t let this enchantress die just yet, he told himself, suppressing that trace of unexplainable emotion in his heart. No matter what, he had to make Lin Xiaodong confess the truth first.

“Wake up.” He shook the young man’s shoulder.

“Mmph,” Lin Xiaodong groaned, his heavy eyelids trembling.

He was probably muddled from the fever, thinking he was still in the previous world. He tightly gripped Gu Xingzhai’s lapel with one hand and nestled his head into the man’s chest as if acting spoiled.

“Don’t… let me sleep a bit longer…”

Gu Xingzhai’s body stiffened instantly.

He had always been warm-blooded; though he wore long gowns year-round, he only liked the thinnest fabrics. Moreover, in over twenty years of life, he had never been so close to a woman—especially when this woman had an ambiguous relationship with his father…

Thinking of his deceased father, the intense heartbeat in Gu Xingzhai’s chest gradually calmed.

Even if Lin Xiaodong were truly just an ordinary woman, with this layer of relationship, he would not have any improper thoughts about the person in his arms. Even if she were as disreputable as the townspeople claimed, for his father’s sake, Gu Xingzhai would provide for her until she grew old or left of her own accord.

However, just as Gu Xingzhai hardened his heart and prepared to push him away, Lin Xiaodong opened his eyes. After a second of staring at the man’s tense face, he proactively pushed him away.

“Sorry, Young Master Gu,” he said weakly with a smile, coughing a few times with his head down. “Mistook you for someone else.”

Gu Xingzhai’s hand hanging at his side surreptitiously clenched.

Mistaken for someone else?

As everyone knew, in the entire Qingxie Town, there was only one man related to Lin Xiaodong. So, just now, Lin Xiaodong had mistaken him for his father?

“It’s nothing,” he said in a deep voice, but his gaze gradually darkened. “Are you not a doctor? How did you fall ill?”

Lin Xiaodong slowly exhaled a breath of scorching air. All he wanted now was to go back to his room and lie down: “A doctor cannot heal himself; has Young Master Gu not heard of this principle?”

“Don’t call me Young Master Gu,” Gu Xingzhai said instinctively.

“What should I call you then?” Lin Xiaodong asked back. “Xingzhai?”

“……”

Seeing the man show that expression of being annoyed by him again, Lin Xiaodong covered his burning forehead and gave a soft laugh: “Never mind, Young Master Gu. I’m unwell right now, so I’ll be heading back.”

He stood up, becoming slightly out of breath from just one movement. Because of the high fever, two fiery blushes appeared on his cheeks, and his eyes were somewhat misty. His weak appearance, looking like he would topple with a gust of wind, made one feel pity at a glance—but not Gu Xingzhai.

He just watched coldly, seeing Lin Xiaodong walk step by step out of the mourning hall, and then withdrew his gaze without a ripple.

Lin Xiaodong hadn’t expected Gu Xingzhai to send him back.

This man is not Gu Xi, he told himself silently in his heart.

He lost his strength after only a couple of steps and rested for a while against the crooked-neck tree by the door. After feeling some strength return, he gritted his teeth, summoned his energy, and continued forward, bumping right into Housekeeper Zhao who was coming to bring them food—

“Miss, what’s happened to you!”

The housekeeper was greatly shocked, dropped the lunch box in his hand, and stepped forward to support him.

“Nothing, just a cold.” Lin Xiaodong steadied himself and surreptitiously withdrew his arm from the other’s hand. “No need to support me, I can walk myself.”

“Miss, you’re burning like this, why are you still pushing yourself?” The housekeeper expressed his concern with sincere warmth and unhesitatingly knelt down with his back to him. “Come on, let me carry you!”

Lin Xiaodong’s mouth twitched.

He indeed wasn’t wearing a cheongsam today, but he wasn’t a fool either.

Seeing this guy’s impatient look, if he really agreed, he would definitely not avoid being groped a few times.

He thought mischievously: if these lechers knew the beauty they were pining for was a genuine man, what kind of expression would be on their faces?

It must be wonderful.

But unfortunately, he couldn’t tell them the truth for now, Lin Xiaodong thought with regret. Just as he was about to refuse, a hand from behind blocked his path—

“I’ll carry her.”

Seeing the Cheng Yaojin—no, Gu Xingzhai—who had appeared halfway, the smile on the housekeeper’s face froze: “Young Master, this is probably… not quite appropriate?”

“What’s inappropriate about it?” Gu Xingzhai said indifferently. “It’s thanks to Miss Lin’s care before my father passed away that he was able to avoid most of the pain and suffering. Besides, I, Gu, have traveled the world for over ten years with a clear conscience; what do the gossips of others have to do with me?”

“This…” The housekeeper gritted his teeth but couldn’t say anything in rebuttal. He could only watch as the man tucked up his long gown, knelt on one knee, and said to Lin Xiaodong with his head tilted: “Get on.”

Lin Xiaodong didn’t refuse this time.

Although this stone-faced man was very old-fashioned, as he said himself, Lin Xiaodong still trusted his character.

Feeling the soft touch against his back, Gu Xingzhai’s body tensed for an imperceptible moment but soon relaxed again. He supported Lin Xiaodong’s thighs with his large hands, being very careful not to touch anything he shouldn’t, and stood up to carry him toward the main house.

Leaving the mourning hall, the two fell into a temporary silence.

Gu Xingzhai didn’t understand what was wrong with him either. Hearing the housekeeper’s fawning voice mixed with oiliness in the mourning hall, he had stepped out in a moment of impulse. But even now, though he was annoyed by the impulse, he didn’t regret his actions in the slightest.

Lin Xiaodong, meanwhile, lay on his broad shoulders, looking thoughtfully at the man’s profile, wondering what he was thinking.

After a long while, he suddenly spoke: “Is Gu Xingzhai your real name?”

“…Why do you ask that?” Gu Xingzhai paused for a second and asked back instead of answering.

“Just asking.” Lin Xiaodong gave a faint smile. “Young Master Gu, actually from the first moment I saw you, I felt you were very similar to someone. But after that night, I felt you weren’t so similar.”

“Similar to whom?”

“A,” Lin Xiaodong thought for a moment and said vaguely, “very close friend.”

Close.

In these times, if a woman were friends with a man, she would be drowned in some more feudal places—not to mention he used “close” to describe the relationship. For some unknown reason, Gu Xingzhai gave a cold snort: “It seems those people are right; you are indeed a woman who doesn’t follow the rules.”

Lin Xiaodong laughed: “Then I’d like to ask you, what are ‘rules’? And why should women follow ‘rules’ set by men?”

“Of course it’s…” Gu Xingzhai was momentarily speechless.

Don’t be swayed by this enchantress’s words, he thought with gritted teeth. No matter what he says, don’t believe it; it’s all deceptive talk and sophistry.

But Gu Xingzhai couldn’t help but think about Lin Xiaodong’s question. Seeing the man really get caught up in his words, Lin Xiaodong couldn’t stop laughing. Because of his illness, his voice was slightly raspy; the laughter wasn’t at all the “expected” gentleness of a woman, but was very hearty, like copper bells scattered on a wide road, being stepped on by rolling hooves to create a series of crisp and moving sounds.

“What are you laughing at?” Gu Xingzhai asked, but strangely, he didn’t feel any sense of being offended in his heart.

“I was thinking that I’m truly a fool,” Lin Xiaodong finally stopped laughing. He wiggled his toes and hooked his arms around the man’s neck, the smile not yet completely faded from his face. His flushed cheeks added even more color to his already outstanding and bright features. “How could I not see such an obvious thing?”

“…Incomprehensible.”

Gu Xingzhai quickened his pace, deciding to ignore whatever Lin Xiaodong said next.

But to his frustration, the person on his back really stopped speaking. Only the slightly heavy breathing reminded Gu Xingzhai that Lin Xiaodong was still a patient.

Although he wanted to deny it, he did often gain a sense of frustration from Lin Xiaodong.

The two passed through the front courtyard and corridors, stunning the eyes of countless servants, but Gu Xingzhai maintained an indifferent expression throughout. When he brought Lin Xiaodong to the door of the bedroom, he stopped with restraint.

“We’re here,” he said. “You can get down now.”

But Lin Xiaodong didn’t immediately get off the man’s back. Instead, he leaned in and asked a question softly in Gu Xingzhai’s ear:

“You said just now that you have traveled the world for over ten years with a clear conscience, right?”

Gu Xingzhai frowned: “So what if I did?”

He didn’t know what Lin Xiaodong wanted to say, but there was indeed no falsehood in his words.

The man thought coldly: this was the bottom line of his character. No matter how silver-tongued the enchantress was, it would never be shaken—

“Nothing.” Lin Xiaodong slowly exhaled a scorching breath, his voice carrying a trace of a smile that made one’s heart itch.

He whispered: “It’s just that Young Master Gu has a clear conscience, but I am a common person.”

After speaking, Lin Xiaodong ignored Gu Xingzhai’s expression, which was so shocked it was out of control, and jumped directly off him.

The young man walked into the room, not even closing the door, and began to change behind the curtains by the bed, as if he didn’t mind at all that an adult male was still standing at the door. He was far too open about it.

Although he knew clearly that he should turn away and not look at what was improper, Gu Xingzhai stared fixedly at the slender figure behind the dark red curtain, his feet as if pinned to the spot, unmoving.

A light breeze blew, and shadows flickered behind the curtain.

The young man turned sideways to the door, undoing the buttons at his collar one by one, then crossed his arms and began to undress from bottom to top. The blurred, graceful curves made Gu Xingzhai’s breath catch. He finally reacted, slammed the door shut, and fled.

And at the moment the door closed, Lin Xiaodong also stopped his movements.

“I was wondering how long he could hold out,” he breathed a sigh of relief. “I can’t exactly pull out mantou in front of Gu Xingzhai, can I?”

System: “……”

Outside the courtyard, Gu Xingzhai punched the wall.

His expression was disheveled, and his gaze was a mix of offended anger and a deeper, unexamined panic.

After over ten years of cultivation, he could stand out among his peers not only because of his extraordinary talent and hard work, but also because of his iron will that never gave up easily no matter what setbacks he faced—practicing in the coldest winters and hottest summers, maintaining focus, and discarding stray thoughts.

Yet this time, the opponent was clearly just a small, insignificant succubus, and Gu Xingzhai didn’t know how to win this war.

He, Gu Xingzhai, had failed the teachings of his masters and the spirits of his father and mother in heaven.

After a long time, the man closed his eyes with endurance, released his clenched fists, and turned to leave in silence.

Even if he hadn’t found evidence yet, he could absolutely no longer tolerate Lin Xiaodong provoking him so casually.

Otherwise…

He would surely suffer a total defeat.