Chapter 74
“Senior Sister sent me Senior Brother Li’s contact information, but it seems he’s on a plane today. I’ll let you know as soon as I get in touch with him.”
“Mn, I’m in no rush.” Lu Wanqing nodded calmly.
The continuous sound of clinking bowls and chopsticks rang out from the kitchen. Yi Xingshui put away her phone and walked in, standing before the kitchen island. She watched with trepidation as Lu Wanqing beat the eggs with professional and skillful movements.
“Shu Ci said he’d treat me to a meal with you when he had time, but he didn’t say that you, Senior Brother, would be the one cooking personally,” she stammered, clutching her cup. “What have I done to deserve this?”
After her Senior Brother went missing, he hadn’t replied to her messages until now. She had thought their bond as fellow disciples had come to an end.
Lu Wanqing replied, “I didn’t intend to cook personally either. He fainted again.”
Yi Xingshui: “…”
“When he wakes up, you can blame him.” Lu Wanqing’s gaze flickered slightly. “Except for him, I won’t go out to eat alone with anyone.”
Shu Ci could bring up divorce at any moment now; he didn’t want to voluntarily leave him with any leverage.
“Besides, if I go out to treat someone to a meal now, it’ll be on the news.”
Lu Wanqing glanced sideways, the word “Trouble” practically written on his face.
He put down the whisk and refilled Yi Xingshui’s empty cup with water, taking an extra look at this straight-shooting Junior Sister.
His resume in the Seventh District was public, and it overlapped with the time he studied at the medical school. If one thought about it carefully, there were huge discrepancies.
He had thought she would notice and question him, but even though he kept her for a meal and gave her the opportunity, she showed no intention of bringing it up.
It was as if… she had completely forgotten about it.
It was strange to say, but despite standing at the forefront of the Jin Li incident as a General and being at the center of the storm of public opinion, he hadn’t received any doubts from people he knew under his other identity so far.
Lu Wanqing withdrew his gaze and answered her earlier question, “Naturally, we have to treat you. If you hadn’t brought him out from Jiaoyuan Island, I’m afraid…”
The person who spent that first heat cycle with Shu Ci wouldn’t have been him.
Yi Xingshui opened her mouth, realizing another possibility. With Gu Lanzhu’s temperament, he wouldn’t easily give up on meat that was already at his lips.
“Speaking of which, I have some insider information.”
She rubbed her fingertips against her phone screen, silenced for a moment, then spoke, “Councilman Gu Yan… seems prepared to abandon Gu Lanzhu.”
Lu Wanqing stopped what he was doing.
“What do you mean?”
“My family has deep cooperation with the Gu corporation. Although I’ve cut ties with my family, some connections haven’t been completely severed.”
Yi Xingshui tapped open a few newsletters regarding the family business.
“My family is decoupling from Gu Lanzhu’s industries. For those with deep binding, the shareholders have also been changed to… Gu Chuang’s people.”
She had grown up with the children of the Gu and Chen families, and she knew full well that those Alphas were educated under the law of the jungle.
Even direct blood relatives didn’t necessarily harbor much deep affection. Compared to ethereal emotional bonds, they valued the maintenance of family honor more.
Gu Lanzhu was certainly the most excellent heir, enjoying all of the Gu corporation’s resources, but his subordinates and his father and uncle formed distinct interest groups.
“In other words, if Gu Yan wants to salvage his reputation and cut his losses, the most effective move is to push all the crimes onto Gu Lanzhu, and then—”
Lu Wanqing leaned over to place the ingredients into the oven and gently turned the knob.
With a soft click.
The warm yellow light of the oven illuminated his eyes.
“Sacrifice family for the greater good.”
The Gu Residence.
A stack of documents was thrown directly at Gu Lanzhu’s feet. He was pinned to the ground from behind, looking up in a daze at the man sitting upright at the desk.
“Dad?! What does this mean?”
Father and son, red eyes meeting red eyes. Gu Lanzhu’s fingertips twitched.
From childhood to adulthood, he had always been his father’s pride. As a top-tier Alpha, all glory had been within easy reach.
This was the first time he saw an expression of ‘hating iron for not becoming steel’—utter disappointment—in the wrinkles at the corners of his father’s eyes. A vague sense of unease rose from the bottom of his heart, and the feeling of the situation spiraling out of control rushed over him again.
Under strict orders from Gu Yan, no matter how much Gu Chuang wanted to plead for his son, it was useless. They were all grasshoppers on the same rope; sacrifices had to be made for the best outcome.
If the people wanted to see a clean and innocent candidate, then Gu Lanzhu had to be the one to shoulder the responsibility for the Gu family.
Gu Chuang rubbed his temples, suppressing his emotions. “I ask you, from the moment Shu Ci was sent to the Central Hotel, have you done a single thing that didn’t leave a handle for others to grab?”
Shu Ci’s long image-text post was so meticulous that even the council’s secretarial team couldn’t pick out a single error.
And the evidence had been eagerly delivered to him by his own son.
Gu Lanzhu’s eyes trembled slightly. “But before… there were never any mistakes before.”
Gu Chuang didn’t bother listening to his explanation, waving his hand to have someone cover his mouth. “Next, I speak, you listen.”
Gu Lanzhu struggled, mumbling incoherently. He wanted to release his pheromones to resist, but he realized the person controlling him from behind had immediately injected him with a muscle relaxant.
“Zhao Qian has been with you the longest. We’ve already had him turn himself in. Next, he will confess everything about your situation, including these.”
Gu Chuang gave him a meaningful look, his gaze sweeping over the documents thrown at his son’s feet.
“When you accept the investigation, just admit to it proactively.”
Gu Chuang sounded as if that was all there was to say.
Gu Lanzhu’s brow twitched. He leaned forward to look at the documents. They were… almost entirely forged. Not only the things his uncle and father had done, but even the matters originally involving the Chen family had been twisted so that he was the culprit.
He understood instantly—
They were going to frame him for all those transactions and ‘Omega selection’ activities, making him suffer prison time in their stead!
He had never known about so much of the inside information. When he heard his father was selecting an unmarried Omega for him back then, he hadn’t taken it to heart.
Before meeting Shu Ci, he had always thought his father was just rushing him to get married in the ordinary way, to produce top-tier offspring with high compatibility. Just talk.
“Did Uncle force you to do this? We can win back a round without resorting to this! Lu Wanqing has a weakness—”
“Don’t mention him.” A trace of hostility surfaced in Gu Chuang’s eyes. “He made a good start.”
Ever since Lu Wanqing was suspended pending investigation, it gave He Lian an excuse to thoroughly investigate military discipline. Among those demoted to the Far-flung Regions, transferred away from the center, or directly disciplined and sent home, there were too many of their eyes and ears.
The two of them were already overwhelmed and had decided not to clash head-on with a rock like Lu Wanqing for the time being.
“Hand over the seal obediently yourself, or let them do it.” Gu Chuang hid the irritability in his eyes. “As long as the green hills remain, there’s no fear of running out of firewood. Once your uncle successfully gets elected as Chief Executive, it won’t be too late to get you out.”
Gu Lanzhu looked at his father, who seemed like a stranger, and a chill grew in his heart.
The drug’s effects gradually took hold, and he slumped forward groggily.
Gu Chuang stood up, took the private seal from Gu Lanzhu’s pocket, placed it in Gu Lanzhu’s hand, and stamped the documents one by one.
“Your sacrifice can save the Gu family’s century-long plan. Be obedient.”
The Alpha’s cold voice echoed softly in the study.
A crisp clinking sound rang out from a distant place, like the brief kiss of a spoon against a cup wall, or the collision of fruit pieces poured into a blender.
Shu Ci’s eyelids fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes. Sunlight shone through the gap in the curtains onto the wooden floor.
How long had he slept?
The last image he could vaguely remember in his mind was of himself in the stairwell storage room, almost bluntly baring his days of worry and anxiety to Lu Wanqing.
Shu Ci rubbed his eyes and sat up. The fragmented sounds hadn’t stopped; on the contrary, the sound of surging steam came from outside.
He threw off the covers, sneezed lightly in the deep autumn temperature, draped a coat over himself, stepped into the plush slippers by the bed, and walked to the living room.
There was no one in the living room.
However, the floor, which had been made a mess during the time he was home alone waiting for news, had been cleaned until it was spotless.
Following the sound, Shu Ci walked to the kitchen.
As expected, a broad silhouette had its back to him. A simple white top outlined the well-defined muscles of his back.
Water was boiling here, fruit juice was being blended there, and sweet pastries seemed to be steaming in the pot, their aroma wafting out mixed with the steam.
Why did the scene before him seem… like he was still dreaming?
It was as if his and Lu Wanqing’s real married life—without worries, without hesitation, warm and carrying the scent of hearth and home—had flooded into his dream.
He moved his lips and whispered, “Good morning.”
The person in the kitchen clearly stiffened for a second, and the movements of his hands slowed down.
Shu Ci raised an eyebrow. Confirmed, not a dream.
Lu Wanqing turned around. Seeing him dressed warmly and neatly, he relaxed. He placed the freshly mixed milk and oatmeal onto the kitchen island and pushed it in front of Shu Ci.
“Drink something hot first. Breakfast will take a little longer.”
Shu Ci followed the advice readily, tilting his head to drink. Out of the corner of his eye, he observed Lu Wanqing’s somewhat unnatural movements over the rim of the cup.
In the corner of the counter was the Pu’er tea Shen Ti had given him—Shu Ci’s favorite drink—and Lu Wanqing was boiling water to prepare tea.
His eyes curved slightly.
Such a decisive and bold General, yet when faced with feelings, he avoided them like an ostrich. Regarding the two kisses earlier, it was as if they didn’t exist if he didn’t mention them; if he didn’t speak of them, they could live in peace.
Such caution and restraint inexplicably provoked the rebellion in Shu Ci’s bones.
Conflict and contrast were the eternal pursuits of a director. The more Lu Wanqing held back, the more Shu Ci wanted to destroy that composure.
Whether 1% or 100%, people in love should sink together.
“How long did I sleep?” Shu Ci put down the cup and walked to Lu Wanqing’s side. “Don’t tell me the Disorder Syndrome flared up again?”
Lu Wanqing looked sideways at him. The color stained on the corners of his mouth and lips caught his eye unexpectedly, causing his heartbeat to become instantly chaotic.
“About two or three days. Not as long as the time on Dragon Spine Island.”
Lu Wanqing looked away, pulled out a tissue, and carefully covered the corner of his mouth. “Wipe it.”
Shu Ci’s eyes twinkled.
Lu Wanqing didn’t even dare to mention the “heat period,” only daring to refer to it as “Dragon Spine Island.”
This only piqued his playfulness further.
“You wipe it for me.” He let his hands hang motionless and took a step closer to Lu Wanqing.
Lu Wanqing stopped moving.
Shu Ci raised an eyebrow. “I seem to remember someone was very skilled at feeding me and wiping my mouth on Dragon Spine Island. What? Tired of it already?”
Lu Wanqing sighed. With a gentle turn of his wrist, he slowly rubbed and wiped Shu Ci’s lips and the corners of his mouth, listening to the violent beating of his own heart.
“Gu Lanzhu was arrested and imprisoned early this morning.”
He cleaned him up unhurriedly, threw away the tissue, and let his gaze fall on the slightly reddened peak of Shu Ci’s lip as he spoke slowly.
Shu Ci’s eyes went wide, his face full of surprise. “Really?!”
Lu Wanqing nodded.
Suppressing the strange emotions in his voice, he told him word for word about Yi Xingshui’s inside information and the whirlwind progress of the investigation over the past two days.
“Now you have no more worries. Regarding Gu Yan’s side, Shen Lin will think of a way.”
Gu Lanzhu had been brought to justice; no one would covet him anymore.
The freedom he longed for was within reach.
Even if Shu Ci brought up divorce in the next second, he was fully mentally prepared.
Unexpectedly, Shu Ci looked up, his eyes shining. He grabbed Lu Wanqing’s arm and asked excitedly, “Can I visit him in prison? I want to give him my whole room full of thick law books!”
He had wanted to do that for a long time.
Lu Wanqing: “…”
Author’s Note:
Lu Wanqing: Regarding divorce, I have done sufficient mental preparation.
Shu Ci: Really? I don’t believe you 😀
Recommended Reads
