After faking my death, the male lead’s cousin went crazy - Chapter 7

After Gu Wan returned to her study, she thought for a long time.

Just now, she had gone to Li Yueyue’s place and carefully inspected everything, yet found nothing. She had even examined the wedding dress Shang Rongyue had worn a few days ago, but there was not the slightest problem with it.

If it was truly meant for a transaction, then even if there was nothing else, there should at least have been some hidden weapon.

Most people involved in treason like this were death warriors. When it truly came to a critical moment, they would rather die than reveal their real purpose.

Yet forget hidden weapons or daggers—the only slightly sharp object was that golden hairpin split into two.

Gu Wan could not help wondering: had she really overthought things?

There came a knock on the door, and Lanxi entered to report.

“Young General, someone from the barracks just came to ask how Young Master Gu’s matter should be handled.”

Gu Wan lifted her eyes, her gaze slightly cold. The answer was self-evident.

Did this kind of matter still need to be brought to her? Naturally, it should be dealt with according to military law.

Seeing this, Lanxi lowered her head and did not dare say anything more. Inwardly, she thought that although Gu Wan currently looked utterly impartial and iron-faced, when she returned to the Gu family on New Year’s Eve, she would have quite a headache waiting for her.

Speaking of it, this Young Master Gu, Gu Ze, was Gu Wan’s younger male cousin, the late-born son of the Gu family’s third branch.

Before him, the third branch had two daughters in a row. Third Aunt had finally looked forward to this son’s arrival, so she practically gave him the stars if he asked, but not the moon.

Gradually, when affection became excessive, people easily went astray.

After Grandfather discovered something was wrong, he directly threw Gu Ze into the military camp, intending to correct that unruly temperament. Gu Ze had barely arrived at Gu Wan’s side when Third Uncle chased after him in a hurry, his words full of the meaning that he had only this one son, and if anything really happened to him, he and his wife would probably be unable to bear it.

Thus, Gu Wan arranged for Gu Ze to work in the kitchen, responsible for purchasing supplies.

First, this task was relatively easy. He only had to go out once every three days, and there was almost nothing to do the rest of the time. Second, it did not require wielding blades or weapons, so it was safer.

At first, Gu Ze was fairly obedient. Gradually, however, other thoughts began to arise.

Taking advantage of his supply trips, he secretly brought wine back to the military camp and was caught red-handed by Gu Wan.

That time, Gu Wan punished him by sending him to the punishment room to receive ten lashes himself. She had originally planned to use that opportunity to send him back to the Gu family. Then the incident of “robbing the bride” and pretending to be bandits happened.

That day happened to be another supply-purchasing day. Gu Wan saw that he had been fairly obedient, and for Third Uncle’s sake, she thought she would give him one more chance. Who knew this cousin truly could not be propped up like a wall of mud? This time, he pushed things even further, using the supply trip as an excuse to hide in a wine house and get drunk. He even called two girls over to accompany him.

When Gu Wan brought people over, he was still holding a girl by the shoulder, boasting about how he was a future general and other such grand words.

Without saying another word, Gu Wan hauled him back and threw him into the punishment room to “sober up.”

But that Young Master Gu was also restless. After hearing that he had just become able to get out of bed, he went sneaking into the kitchen warehouse again, no one knew what he was fiddling with in there.

Just as she was thinking, a familiar voice appeared outside the door, asking gently, “Is the chief here?”

Lanxi was startled and looked toward Gu Wan. Seeing the other party nod slightly, she opened the door and went out, dismissing the guards at the entrance. She smiled and said, “Oh, it’s Miss Li. Do you have business with the chief?”

“Mm.”

Soon, a bright face appeared at the door. The young girl’s eyes were curled with a smile as she leaned half her body in from the doorway. Only after meeting Gu Wan’s gaze did she step inside.

Her steps were small and delicate, her skirt trailing along the ground. She held an armful of fresh flowers, bringing with her a body full of floral fragrance as she approached.

“Just now, Sister Su and the others took me to the back mountain to play. We picked a lot of fresh flowers. These are especially for you. And also…”

Before she finished speaking, she brought out a flower crown from behind her.

Vines were twined around and around, decorated with small scattered flowers. Its shape resembled a phoenix crown.

“Although these flowers aren’t large, their fragrance is refreshing and soothing. Even keeping them for incense would be nice. Do you like it?” Shang Rongyue smiled brightly, holding the flower crown in both hands and offering it to Gu Wan.

A patch of begonias was planted on the back mountain, and the tiny flowers dotted across the flower crown came from there. When the breeze brushed past, a faint, delicate fragrance drifted over.

Shang Rongyue felt that girls should have no resistance to this sort of thing. To weave this flower crown, she had even cut three wounds on her fingertips.

And because of the way she held the flower crown with both hands, Gu Wan happened to see the fresh cuts on her fingers.

Gu Wan fell silent for a moment, seemingly unmoved.

“There’s no need to go to so much trouble. I don’t like flowers.”

“But Miss Lan told me you like begonias.” As soon as Shang Rongyue finished speaking, she realized she might have said the wrong thing. She seemed to have accidentally sold Lanxi out, so she hurriedly changed the topic.

“You have so many books here. I didn’t expect Sister to be such a refined person. Have you read all of these?”

As she set down the flowers in her hands, she walked to the bookshelf by the window.

Looking at the shelves filled with all kinds of books, she thought inwardly that the world was truly declining. Who could have imagined that even a bandit would be this competitive?

“Oh, these?” Gu Wan pretended not to care, but her eyes remained fixed on Shang Rongyue’s every move.

She had only just relaxed her guard toward this Li Yueyue a little, yet Li Yueyue had taken the initiative to come to her study and even showed interest in her books. Could it be that she was looking for something related to written documents?

However, the books on Gu Wan’s shelves were all ordinary books. The true secret reports were not here, so she would not be able to find anything.

Gu Wan answered leisurely, “I robbed them. There was nowhere else to put them, so I piled them here.”

Shang Rongyue’s raised hand froze in place.

“…”

Sure enough, she should not have held too much hope for a bandit.

She casually pulled out a book and flipped through it. Then, as though suddenly remembering something, she asked, “Right, do you know how to read?”

Gu Wan lifted a brow and shook her head.

“Then how about I teach you to write?” Shang Rongyue enthusiastically circled over to Gu Wan’s side, took a few sheets of xuan paper nearby, dipped the brush in ink, and wrote down four characters: taking advantage of someone’s misfortune.

Gu Wan glanced at her and knowingly asked, “What did you write?”

“Upholding justice!”

“But I recognize the character for ‘fire.’”

Shang Rongyue quickly crumpled the xuan paper into a ball and chuckled.

“I knew it. How could such a righteous person like Sister have no ink in her chest at all!”

Then she poured herself a cup of tea and drank it, using it to cover the embarrassment on her face.

Gu Wan could not help feeling suspicious. On one hand, she felt the other party was trying to test whether she truly knew how to read. On the other hand, she also felt that Shang Rongyue was simply teasing her for fun.

She quietly walked behind the girl. The other party seemed focused on the teacup in her hand and did not notice her approaching.

“The tea here…”

“Does it taste good?”

At some point, the bandit had drawn close. That low voice rang right beside Shang Rongyue’s ear, and with those words, a warm breath fell against the shell of her ear.

Without changing expression, Shang Rongyue took a step to the side, pulling some distance between their bodies.

“It tastes quite good. May I ask Sister what tea this is?”

“Emei Snow Bud,” Gu Wan replied, a smile curving at the corner of her lips.

Originally, she had only wanted to test the other party. She had not expected this Li Yueyue to be completely unaware of her approach, and even more unexpectedly, she was so easy to tease. Right now, her ears were so red they looked as though they might drip blood.

If she were a spy, this reaction was a little too vividly acted.

Just as Gu Wan was thinking, a burst of noise came from outside, the clamoring sounds disturbing her thoughts.

“Who is there?” Gu Wan’s temper was not good.

Lanxi went to check and returned with a somewhat awkward expression. She hesitated before answering, “It’s Young Master.”

Gu Wan had originally instructed that once Gu Ze’s injuries improved, Lanxi was to send him directly back to the Gu family. Who knew this person would become restless the moment he could move? It was one thing for him to cause trouble, but he had even deliberately chosen a time when Miss Li was present.

If the act the Young General had been putting on all along collapsed here, would all their previous efforts not be wasted?

Gu Wan waved her hand, signaling Lanxi to quickly send him away. Unexpectedly, Gu Ze outside became even more energetic and shouted, “I want to see my older cousin! How many lives do you all have, daring to stop me? I specially stewed lotus seed soup for her. She won’t refuse to see me!”

Those words were clearly meant for Gu Wan to hear.

When Gu Wan’s mother had been on her deathbed, Third Aunt had taken great care of her. After Gu Wan’s mother passed away, every time Third Aunt saw Gu Wan injured, she would bring her back, carefully apply medicine and bandage her wounds, then stew her a steaming bowl of lotus seed soup.

And now, Gu Ze’s bowl of lotus seed soup was nothing more than a reminder that his parents had once shown Gu Wan kindness. For his parents’ sake, he wanted Gu Wan to let him off.

But Gu Wan had already forgiven him once. No matter how deep the affection was, there would come a day when it was used up.

Outside, Gu Ze was still a member of the Gu family. If he truly hardened his heart and tried to rush inside, no one could stop him.

“Your younger brother?” Shang Rongyue pointed outside the window.

She saw the other party’s difficulty and guessed that Gu Wan probably did not want the younger brother outside to know of her existence. Coincidentally, Shang Rongyue did not want too much contact with him either. After all, they were all bandits. The more bandits who knew about her, the more danger she would be in. So she took the initiative and said, “If you think it’s inconvenient for me to be here, I can avoid him.”

Gu Wan looked at Shang Rongyue with an expression that seemed to ask: with this tiny place, how are you going to avoid him?

Shang Rongyue snapped her fingers, as if she had already thought of a countermeasure.

There was a tablecloth draped over Gu Wan’s desk. She crouched under the desk, and the writing table just happened to block her body.

Shang Rongyue obediently curled up beside Gu Wan’s legs, lifted her head, and smiled, showing off her cleverness to the other party.

Gu Wan shook her head and ignored her.

If Gu Ze did not bring the thing inside today, he definitely would not give up easily. It would be better to send him off quickly, lest he say something wrong. As for Li Yueyue, she might as well hide here for now.

Gu Wan gave Lanxi a look. Only then did Lanxi slightly turn sideways and allow a path into the room.

When Gu Ze entered, his face was piled with a fawning smile.

“Spring makes people prone to internal heat, so I specially stewed lotus seed soup for Older Cousin. I personally watched the fire. I remember when we were young, I often played together with Older Cousin and even laughed that Older Cousin should find a husband who knows how to make lotus seed soup! Older Cousin, try it and see if the taste is right?”

Every word struck a nerve. On the surface, he was trying to please her, but in reality, he was warning her.

Although Gu Wan now held the position of Young General and commanded the Gu family army camp, everyone knew in their hearts that she was a woman, and she would eventually marry. This Gu family army would sooner or later fall into the hands of the Gu family’s boys.

When that time came, it was still uncertain who would be begging whom. If Gu Wan could not live well in her husband’s family, she would still have to come back and ask these male cousins for support, wouldn’t she?

Hidden under the desk, Shang Rongyue’s legs were getting a little sore from crouching, so she slightly shifted her body.

Ever since entering this body, she had spent every day lying in bed recovering. Even her activity had only consisted of going under the grapevine to bask in the sun. In a day, she barely took two steps.

Today, Doctor Su and Miss Ziying had taken her to the back mountain to relax, but she understood that, in the end, this “freedom” had only been obtained because the bandit leader before her nodded in agreement. As thanks, Shang Rongyue had picked flowers for her and learned from Su Zhaoyun how to weave a flower crown.

This was already the day with the greatest amount of activity she had had in nearly half a month. She had already been somewhat tired and had planned to just come deliver the thing, then go back under her grapevine and have a good sleep in the spring sunlight.

Now, her originally aching calves were gradually going numb. Just as she wanted to change position again, the moment she moved, her entire body tilted to the side.

Seeing that she was about to fall flat on her back, Shang Rongyue no longer cared about anything else. Without even having time to distinguish what it was, she hurriedly grabbed the stable thing in front of her, only then avoiding disaster.

After she steadied herself, she suddenly realized that the object in her hands felt somewhat hard, yet it was not as uncomfortable as wood. When she looked back, she discovered that in her panic, what she had hugged was actually this bandit leader’s lower leg.

Shang Rongyue instinctively wanted to let go, but the moment she moved, the pain and numbness in her foot surged up again. Having no other choice, she hugged it again.

At this moment, Gu Wan was listening to Gu Ze’s “show of goodwill.” She was too lazy to argue with him and only wanted to send him away quickly. Suddenly, a touch wrapped around below her knee.

Warm, soft, gentle. A tingling itch instantly spread, and Gu Wan’s body stiffened.

Unfortunately, the other party was not behaving at all right now and was becoming even more energetic. She loosened her grip for a while, then tightened it again, even rubbing up and down.

With that touch, the writing desk shook slightly, and the brocade curtain hanging from the desk rippled.

Gu Wan quickly leaned her body forward, pretending that her own movement had bumped the desk. The leg under the table shifted slightly, warning the person hiding there to behave.

But that tiny movement did not escape Gu Ze’s eyes.

He was passionately recounting the sibling affection he had shared with Gu Wan when they were children when he saw the originally steady writing desk tremble slightly. Then, the tips of Gu Wan’s ears faintly flushed with a thin trace of red.

Don’t tell him that had been caused by the wind. He did not believe it.

Having visited brothels countless times, Gu Ze knew at a glance that someone was hidden under the desk. No wonder Lanxi had blocked him again and again earlier, refusing to let him in. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

She was having a private meeting with a man in her study and even had her subordinate help keep watch!

Gu Wan usually wore a stern face and acted so proper and serious, but it turned out she played quite wildly!

He was rather curious what this shameful little pretty boy looked like, to make his unmoved older cousin actually want to hide someone. How could he miss such a once-in-a-lifetime chance? If he could use this to grasp Gu Wan’s weakness, perhaps with one stroke, he could cancel out his previous debts.

Gu Ze pretended to step forward and offer the food box.

Taking advantage of a moment when the other party relaxed, he suddenly bent down and, with great speed, pulled someone out from under the writing desk.

Sure enough. He knew Gu Wan being alone in her room could not mean anything good. Now, both person and evidence had been caught. Let’s see how Gu Wan would deny it this time.

“I was wondering why Older Cousin kept stopping me again and again. So it turns out you were here having a private meeting with…”

He turned his head and saw a delicate, slender girl. There was a begonia tucked beside her temple, just like her person—fragile and pitifully lovely.

“…a beauty?!”