Chapter 178 - 113 Husband, are you hiding something from me?

"There’s a scent of oranges."

Uncle Fu replied, and upon hearing this, Chen Jie said, "Then I’ll have to trouble Uncle Fu."

Uncle Fu nodded and added, "Alright, I’ll be off then."

Urging the horse along, the carriage picked up speed, and Chen Jie turned to approach the gate, noticing the door bolt was already in place; he couldn’t bear to wake his wife in the middle of the night.

So, he simply climbed over the courtyard wall.

"Who’s there? Is it you, husband?"

Chen Jie hadn’t jumped down yet when he saw a woman sitting inside the courtyard. Looking up at Chen Jie perched atop the wall, she cautiously asked.

"Wife?"

Chen Jie said in surprise, "You’re not asleep?"

Upon hearing this, Su Yunjin stood up and said, "No, I can’t sleep."

In reality, it wasn’t that she couldn’t sleep; she was afraid that if she fell asleep, she wouldn’t hear her husband knocking.

Chen Jie dropped down to the ground and took hold of Su Yunjin’s cold hand, saying, "It’s so chilly at night; waiting like this, what if you catch a cold?"

"It’s okay, summer is already here, it’s not that cold."

"Husband, have you returned from drinking? Why so early?"

Chen Jie replied, "Ah, yes, I didn’t stay long after the drinks and also went to White Tiger Hall to meet with my foster father. Isn’t tomorrow the big event? We discussed the details."

"Oh."

Su Yunjin nodded, and Chen Jie casually handed her the clothes Peng Shizhong had prepared for him, saying, "These are for me to wear tomorrow."

"Mmm, husband, I understand. Oh, by the way, Xiao Hu sent a message today saying he’s going to stay at White Tiger Hall for training these next few days and won’t be coming back. Did you know?"

Hearing this, Chen Jie said, "Oh, I’m aware. It’s a good thing. Uncle Fu, my foster father’s personal guard training him, is truly skilled. Xiao Hu will learn genuine skills from him."

"Oh, then that really is good news."

As Su Yunjin spoke, the two of them walked toward the house.

"Is Ruirui asleep?"

Chen Jie asked, to which Su Yunjin replied, "Yes, she’s been asleep for a while now. Huh, husband, what’s that in your hand? Oranges? They smell really strong."

"Oh, right, oranges. I saw some being sold when I left after drinking, so I bought some."

Su Yunjin took them and observed, "These oranges are still green; they seem very sour."

Chen Jie replied, "I only found out they were sour after buying them."

Hearing this, Su Yunjin said, "Let me try one."

Chen Jie warned, "Go ahead and try, but they are indeed very sour, don’t let them sour you too."

Unconvinced, Su Yunjin peeled one open and took a bite, "Hiss—so sour, why would anyone sell oranges like this? They could sour someone to death."

"Maybe they sell to those who aren’t afraid of sourness."

Chen Jie smiled and followed her into the room.

"Husband, take a bath first. I’ve warmed the water for you. With such an important event tomorrow, it’s best to wash up thoroughly."

Hearing this, Chen Jie said, "Alright, thank you for the trouble, wife."

The bath barrel had been prepared by Su Yunjin; she added water, checked the temperature—it was just right—then called for Chen Jie to bathe.

Chen Jie stripped clean and sat in the wooden tub, while Su Yunjin, even though long married to him, still blushed.

Soaking in the tub, Chen Jie felt comfortable. Su Yunjin bustled about, arranging his new clothes to be worn tomorrow neatly laid out without a single wrinkle—tomorrow’s critical occasion couldn’t allow the husband to lose any face.

Then she picked up Chen Jie’s discarded clothes to place them in the laundry basket, intending to wash them the next day.

However, as she picked up the old clothes, her expression froze; she plucked a long strand of hair from the clothes that didn’t belong to her.

Her other hand involuntarily clutched the edge of the fabric.

Her mood dipped for some reason, but soon her attention was drawn to a very small cut on the clothes.

This slash was clearly made by a sharp instrument, and it was quite fresh; Su Yunjin was certain that this cut wasn’t there when he left this morning.

Was it made today?

The position of the cut was dangerously close to the neck, and her face turned a shade paler as a dreadful thought crossed her mind.

She spread the clothes out and then noticed two pockets, one of which contained Lime Powder, something she was aware of. The other pocket, usually empty, was bulging today.

Upon opening it, she found it was a roll of silver notes.

"Ah!"

Su Yunjin covered her mouth, startled by the amount of money.

Chen Jie heard the noise and asked, "What is it, wife?"

Su Yunjin quickly put the silver notes back and said, "Nothing."

Chen Jie turned to glance at Su Yunjin and spoke, "Oh, did you see the silver notes? My foster father gave them to me."

Hearing this, Su Yunjin approached and said, "Oh, husband, let me rub your back for you."

She then started to gently knead his broad back with her delicate hand, and he found it very relaxing.

Meanwhile, Su Yunjin was examining Chen Jie’s hair. Her observational skills were strong, and it didn’t take her long to discover several broken hairs amongst Chen Jie’s lush locks, causing her heart to sink.

Connecting the slash on the clothes to its position, she came to a conclusion.

Her husband had been in danger!

As for that strand of a woman’s hair, she had no more thought to spare for it. Compared to the possibility of another woman being with her husband, what concerned her more was his safety.

Perhaps from a modern woman’s perspective, finding another woman’s hair on a man should lead to a huge confrontation, but Su Yunjin felt that if there really had been such a woman, yet her husband chose not to stay over with her but to come back and be with her instead, it showed that in his heart, she held a position far above any other woman.