Chapter 65#

The Cross-dressing Wife#

The moment he entered the door, Gu Xingzhai instinctively caught Lin Xiaodong, who came throwing himself at him.

But he regretted it the next second.

Hearing the series of gasps from the courtyard behind him, Gu Xingzhai expressionlessly dragged the young man by the wrist into the study, turned around, and slammed the door shut.

He believed that in less than two days, every man, woman, old, and young in town would know that his former “lover” had traveled a thousand miles for love, and finally, the lovers were united… my ass.

“What on earth are you doing?” The man sat in a chair, rubbing his forehead helplessly.

Lin Xiaodong lay on the soft couch in front of him with a beaming smile, as improper as ever. But now, when Gu Xingzhai looked at him, he couldn’t help but recall various intimacies from last night. He shifted his sitting position uncomfortably to hide it: “Have you eaten breakfast?”

“I have.” Lin Xiaodong took the opportunity to recount the housekeeper’s visit. Gu Xingzhai was silent for a moment, then took out a thick, old account book from a locked cabinet in the study and handed it to him: “Take a look at this.”

Lin Xiaodong took it and scanned it briefly. He found it was a detailed ledger recording the mansion’s expenses for the past ten years. Too lazy to read it himself, he had the system scan it. He discovered that the discrepancies were so large the bookkeeper hadn’t even bothered to hide them—an egg recorded as costing three taels of silver. Did he think he was Empress Dowager Cixi!?

“Where did you get this ledger?”

He didn’t think the housekeeper would just hand something so important over to Gu Xingzhai.

“My father might have been bedridden for years, but he wasn’t senile,” Gu Xingzhai said calmly. “He saw everything that man surnamed Zhao did, deceiving those above and below. He simply lacked the strength to act and wanted to wait for my return to deal with it. Unfortunately…”

Mentioning Old Master Gu’s death, an expression of dejection and regret appeared on the man’s face.

“You’ve been traveling outside for so many years; didn’t your master ever let you come back to visit?” Lin Xiaodong was also curious. Gu Xingzhai didn’t seem like that kind of person. “Or does your sect have rules, like not being able to contact family before completing apprenticeship?”

“You’ve been reading too many storybooks,” Gu Xingzhai sighed. “No sect would have such inhumane rules. It’s just that three years ago, I followed my master to the capital to perform a ritual for a certain high official, supposedly to eliminate a karmic obstacle. But no one expected it would take three years. By the time over a hundred demon hunters emerged, fewer than one in ten were still alive. My master and I were also severely drained. Just a few days into our recovery, we received the letter about my father’s critical condition. I rushed back to Qingxie Town as fast as I could, but unexpectedly, I was still one step too late.”

“…No wonder.”

Lin Xiaodong thought, No wonder when I first saw Gu Xingzhai in the mourning hall, his complexion wasn’t much better than Old Master Gu’s in the coffin. He had only started looking human recently.

However, what kind of powerful karmic obstacle could trap over a hundred demon hunters for three whole years and even cause over half of them to perish?

Gu Xingzhai knew what he was thinking with just a glance.

But the events of those three years were far too bizarre; even if he spoke of them, no one would likely believe him.

In this vast world, humans were ultimately the spirit of all things. Just as succubi lived off human yang energy yet always struggled to survive while being hunted by demon hunters, no matter how powerful a karmic obstacle was, it shouldn’t be able to single-handedly take on the top demon hunters of every major sect.

However, in the first year, Gu Xingzhai personally witnessed the fall of countless demon hunters, completely shattering the worldview he had built over a decade.

In the second year, his heart had grown numb to it, and he was even prepared to sacrifice himself at any moment.

In the third year, on the brink of death, Gu Xingzhai finally discovered the truth of the “karmic obstacle” they had been fighting—

It wasn’t a karmic obstacle at all, but a dying dragon vein.

That official from the capital had invited them there simply wanting to use their lives to patch up the teetering dynastic fortune!

But how many gifted individuals throughout history had failed in the attempt to change fate against heaven’s will?

The changing of dynasties and the replacement of dragon veins had existed since ancient times. The seniors had already known the truth, yet out of concern for the lives of the hundreds of millions of common people behind them, they didn’t dare to retreat easily. In the end, they sacrificed themselves for something that was utterly meaningless.

Recalling the tragic scene back then, Gu Xingzhai’s clenched fists trembled uncontrollably.

In the final year, although he and his master luckily survived, his master, due to his age and severe injuries, had lost all his cultivation. He likely wouldn’t last many more years. The other sects were even more tragic; almost all the sect leaders, masters, and elders had died in battle. All that remained were the younger generation who had been ordered to stay behind for support.

Even if his martial uncles and others had left without regrets, saying that the Chinese heritage was not broken and there would be future generations to keep it alive, Gu Xingzhai could not swallow this grievance no matter what.

If not for that official from the capital, if not for him… those seniors wouldn’t have died!

“Are you okay?”

Gu Xingzhai snapped back to his senses.

The young man had leaned down, looking at him with a face full of concern. A warm palm lightly covered his fist, like a silent comfort.

Lin Xiaodong didn’t know what had happened, but seeing Gu Xingzhai show such an enduring expression, he guessed he must be thinking of some unpleasant memories. Considering the current state of this era where human life was treated as worthless, he basically understood most of it.

To be honest, he didn’t know how to comfort him regarding such matters. He could only try to find another topic to divert the man’s attention: “By the way, I just thought of a good way. We can use a ‘bait and switch’ to catch that man surnamed Zhao off guard!”

Gu Xingzhai slowly exhaled a breath, put his arm around his waist, and pulled Lin Xiaodong onto his lap. He listened quietly to him babbling mischievous ideas, feeling the knot in his heart slowly unravel, replaced by a faint, fulfilling warmth. And this feeling seemed somewhat familiar…

A sense of mismatch crossed his mind.

Had he… held someone in this position before?

Gu Xingzhai frowned, wanting to delve deeper into this mysteriously appearing thought, but soon all his attention was drawn away by Lin Xiaodong’s words.

“Bait and switch?” He raised an eyebrow. “Tell me, what kind of switch?”

Lin Xiaodong gave a mischievous smile. He leaned in and whispered: “It’s…”

A moment later, Gu Xingzhai understood.

“This is a good method,” he nodded affirmatively. “Alright, we’ll do as you say.”

The next day.

Lin Xiaodong was still eating lunch when the housekeeper arrived early to wait by his side. Although he didn’t speak, just seeing his anxious, sweat-drenched appearance, he looked exactly like a father desperate for his son’s well-being.

“Alright,” seeing this, Lin Xiaodong didn’t have much appetite to continue eating. He put down his chopsticks and sighed, “Stop wiping your sweat, let’s just go.”

“Miss, I’ll lead the way!” the housekeeper said hurriedly.

His house wasn’t far from the Gu mansion, but Lin Xiaodong hadn’t expected it to be so luxurious. Just looking at the door and its decorations, it wasn’t much different from the Gu mansion’s exterior. Passing through the front courtyard to the backyard, he noticed almost all the rooms were tightly shut. The entire courtyard was unnervingly quiet—normally, for such a large home, wouldn’t you hire at least one or two servants to clean?

“Miss,” seeing him distracted, the housekeeper coughed and raised his voice, as if intentionally trying to divert Lin Xiaodong’s attention, “we’ve arrived.”

Lin Xiaodong looked at him indifferently. He didn’t give an ambiguous “mm” until the housekeeper’s smile had stiffened, then stepped into the room.

The room was large, and the furniture inside was clearly valuable, though the taste left much to be desired. The little fat boy he had met once before was lying on the bed, his face deathly pale. He had thinned down significantly in just the few days since they last saw each other. A woman adorned in gold and silver sat by the bed, wiping away tears. It seemed the illness was indeed real.

“Miss, my son has been bedridden for days,” seeing his biological son so sickly, the housekeeper’s tone couldn’t help but become anxious. “I had the town doctor look at him, but nothing worked. Everything he eats, he throws up! Look, what should we do?”

The woman grabbed Lin Xiaodong’s hand and sobbed: “Miss, please save our Qiu’er! Show some mercy, for the sake of Old Zhao’s dedication to the Gu family, have pity on our family…”

Lin Xiaodong surreptitiously withdrew his hand, maintaining a gentle smile on the surface: “Don’t worry, I will certainly do my best.”

He walked to the fat boy’s side, feigned checking his pulse, and had the system prescribe some medication which he wrote on paper. The housekeeper held the paper as if it were a priceless treasure and immediately signaled his wife: “Quickly, go get the medicine according to what the Miss said!”

“I-I’ll go right now!” The woman exchanged a meaningful look with him, feigned a panicked look, and ran out the door with her skirts in hand before Lin Xiaodong could even finish speaking.

“Why run so fast? I haven’t finished yet,” Lin Xiaodong frowned.

“Go on, go on, I’m listening,” the housekeeper said with a forced smile. His eyes darted around, and he asked as if casually, “Miss, why don’t we go sit in another room? It wouldn’t do for the boy’s sickness to pass to you. If your delicate body falls ill, I, Old Zhao, would be deeply guilty.”

“Parasitic diseases don’t spread that easily… fine.” Lin Xiaodong stood up helplessly, seemingly persuaded by the housekeeper. “Where is this other room you mentioned?”

“Right next door!”

Seeing him so easy to talk to, the housekeeper was overjoyed. But after he led Lin Xiaodong into the room and spoke a few words, he went out again under the guise of pouring tea and never returned.

Lin Xiaodong sat in the room calmly, unhurriedly surveying his surroundings.

It was a dimly lit room, with a landscape screen dividing the space into inner and outer sections. He sat in the inner compartment, which had only a tiny window on the north wall facing a desolate little pond. The room contained a square table, two stools, and a very conspicuous soft couch—on which a blanket and a pillow were spread in a messy fashion.

If a normal lady of a great family were sitting here, she would certainly follow the rules, not rummage around, and wait quietly for the housekeeper’s return. But Lin Xiaodong didn’t care about that. He got up, went to the soft couch, and flipped back the blanket—

Sure enough, he found a series of “indescribable” small toys underneath.

“Ruining a woman’s reputation to fight for an inheritance… you’ve really got some nerve.” Lin Xiaodong laughed and put the blanket back. If he wasn’t mistaken, the person coming in soon should be…

“Xiaodong?”

Hearing Gu Xingzhai’s deep voice tinged with a hint of question, Lin Xiaodong, who was lying on the soft couch playing with a string of beads, smiled.

See, the show is starting.