Chapter 1070: Suspicion and Paranoia

“He really cares a lot about his older brother and sister-in-law. As a younger brother, he actually went to play the xiao for them? Their relationship really is great!”

“Nonsense! Is that something an ordinary person would do? He clearly likes his sister-in-law.”

“You have a point. Hey, he was even playing the xiao toward their window. I really wonder how he felt as he watched the girl he likes do that with his older brother…”

“If he hadn’t been a weirdo to begin with, would he have been playing that xiao right outside?”

…

Jian Taiding had the entire Military Affairs Manor under his control, so his authority in Cloudcenter Commandery was almost limitless. He naturally had his own efficient information channels.

When he heard the random rumors going around, he almost exploded from anger. He sent all of the teacups and vases in his room smashing into the ground, not leaving a single one intact.

“Disgraceful, absolutely disgraceful!” Jian Taiding’s face was about to turn purple from anger. He had wanted to show off a bit the previous night; and yet, not only had he failed, he had instead become the laughingstock of the entire commandery.

He had already built the event up quite a bit, and the previous night, he had even told everyone to witness the exposure of the imposter. And yet, in the end, all that had done was make him seem like a little clown.

How could he, a proud and arrogant man, tolerate that?!

Uncle Ming’s face twitched. He couldn't figure out what had gone wrong either. All of their arrangements had been made properly, so why had such a ridiculous mistake happened?

“Is Zhang Ji still not here?” Uncle Ming asked. The key issue was Zhang Ji. He wanted to find out just what exactly had happened last night in that room.

“She seems to have arrived. She’s waiting outside of the room right now,” a subordinate reported.

“Why aren’t you bringing her in yet?!” Jian Taiding cursed. He had previously thought that his subordinates were quite competent, so why did they all seem as slow as pigs now?

Zhang Ji was quickly invited inside. Unlike Jian Taiding and Uncle Ming, whose expressions were overcast, she was radiating happiness.

“Second uncle!” She immediately bowed respectfully to Jian Taiding. She wasn’t the main wife, after all, and she was someone who had been raised by Jian Taiding. She carried herself humbly before him, not believing that he would really treat her as his sister-in-law.

When he heard the words ‘second uncle’, Jian Taiding’s eyes twitched. Normally, he would secretly admire her long legs, but now, all he could think of was of these long legs being ravaged by another man.

However, he endured his rage and put on a pleasant expression, asking, “What happened last night? Why have you only returned in the morning?”

Zhang Ji blushed and replied, “Second uncle, do you not already know the answer to that? The duke told me to serve him, so how could I not do my job properly?”

Even though he’d already had his suspicions, Jian Taiding still felt as if thunder were crashing in his mind. He could no longer hold back the rage within him. His voice rose as he exclaimed, “Did I not tell you he was an imposter?! Would you sleep with any random wild man who told you to sleep with him?”

Zhang Ji looked somewhat unhappy. Even though she had been raised by Jian Taiding, she had already been part of the duke’s harem for so long. In the past, Jian Taiding would have had to treat her with respect and gifts. When had he ever suddenly become hostile like this?

She might have just swallowed her anger if the duke were still missing, but now that the duke had already returned, she had someone to support her. There was no way she would act as cautiously as before. She shot back, her face entirely red, “Second uncle, please conduct yourself properly. I have always carried out my duties as the duke’s wife properly. Apart from the duke, I have never had another man. I do not even converse with other men normally. Second uncle cannot slander me with such words.”

“You…!” Jian Taiding was furious. This woman really thinks she is completely independent and grown up now! Does she not know who the true lord of Cloudcenter Commandery is?

Uncle Ming quickly got up to stop Jian Taiding from losing his composure further. After all, they still had to rely on Zhang Ji for many things. As such, he said to Zhang Ji in an amicable manner, “Third madam, we have our sources that tell us this man is fake. Why do you think he is real?”

“Fake?” Zhang Ji frowned and replied, “That is impossible. Do you think I would not even recognize my own man? He is the duke through and through.”

“But how is that possible?!” Jian Taiding obviously didn’t believe that. He even began to suspect that she had already been bought out by Yu Yanluo beforehand, and that they were working together to fool him.

Uncle Ming thought more meticulously. He asked, “How did the third madam confirm that he was the duke?”

“How else…” Zhang Ji trailed off as she blushed, looking bashful.

Uncle Ming could only change the topic a little, asking, “Can you tell us some more details? For example, some secret lovers’ words between husband and wife that only the two of you know of?”

“Of course we have those. Only the two of us know what the duke calls me. There are all kinds of other details too. He is exactly the same as before,” Zhang Ji replied.

“Do you think that secret name he used for you could accidentally have been revealed to someone else?” Jian Taiding asked. He was also starting to calm down. Compared to raging helplessly, it was more important to understand where the problem lay.

“Of course not. Why would I randomly talk about our private affairs to other people?” Zhang Ji began to panic too. She began to worry about whether she looked like a gossip in the eyes of others.

Jian Taiding frowned. If this woman is telling the truth, what the hell went wrong? It seemed as if this woman were colluding with that imposter, no matter how one looked at it.

Uncle Ming asked, “Apart from your nickname, is there any other proof? For example, certain traits of his body?”

Zhang Ji replied with a strange expression, “His body was the same as the duke’s. He has a few moles on his body, and they are all exactly the same.”

“Those would be easy to mimic. I am talking about some things he cannot copy.” Uncle Ming was a bit embarrassed, but with how things were, he couldn't make too much of a fuss. He continued, “For example, his… size. Also, his degree of intimacy. There is no way he could have imitated those things, right?”

“Those things were all exactly the same.” Zhang Ji’s face reddened. If not for Uncle Ming leading the discussion, she would already have become upset long before if she had been asked those things. “It is not just his body’s… traits. How he becomes intimate, and even how long he lasts before he… comes, it is all exactly the same. You are worrying too much. He is the duke; why do you two keep calling him fake? Do you think I could not tell who my man is and would sleep with anyone?”

Zhang Ji was starting to feel embarrassed. She had clearly confirmed his identity, so why were they still insisting the duke was a fake? Don’t tell me they don’t want the duke to come back, and instead want to continue dominating the Duke and Military Affairs Manor… As someone who had resided in such a place for so long, she wasn’t stupid either. When she realized those things, her face paled and her happy expression faded.

Jian Taiding and Uncle Ming exchanged a look, seeing the shock in each others’ eyes.

“Were you perhaps drugged?” Uncle Ming asked with a frown.

“What drugs? Did you not keep warning me over and over yesterday? I did not eat anything after I went in, nor did I drink anything. There were no strange smells inside either. How could I have been drugged?” Zhang Ji blushed. She had gone inside the previous day as if she were facing a prisoner, acting incredibly fussy. Fortunately, the duke was generous and hadn’t blamed her too much. When she remembered his generosity and warmth, as well as that hot feeling, she felt her heart begin to pound.

“If you were not drugged, could he have used some kind of illusion?” Jian Taiding muttered to himself. Zhang Ji wasn’t a normal woman; she was trained in espionage skills too. Normal drugs wouldn’t escape her notice.

Uncle Ming’s eyes lit up. That was indeed a possibility. He quickly asked Zhang Ji some probing questions, but she was sober and calm. Furthermore, she remembered all of the details from the previous night clearly. There wasn’t any chance she had been mesmerized. Even the most powerful illusion arts left some traces; there was no way such techniques could have no flaws.

Zhang Ji’s expression turned cold when she finished explaining everything to them. She turned around to leave. After all, she was sure the other man was her husband, and yet the two men continued to say he wasn’t.

Would she really let herself be fooled by an unfamiliar man? It wasn’t as if she was blind.

Everything from the previous night had been so real. When she recalled what had happened then, she felt her legs suddenly become weak, and her body felt somewhat uncomfortably sticky too. She left to take a bath and change her clothes before seeking out the duke again.

…

After Zhang Ji left, Jian Taiding and Uncle Ming looked at each other in dismay.

“What does second master think?”

“Do you think she was bribed by Yu Yanluo?”

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

“That is impossible. We know everything about Zhang Ji, and she has always remained under our control in this time, so when would Madam Yu even have a chance to contact her? Furthermore, if she really had been bribed, she definitely would not have said such stupid words in front of us.” Uncle Ming shook his head after thinking to himself for a bit.

“What you say makes sense.” Jian Taiding’s expression suddenly changed. He continued, “If what Zhang Ji says is true, this person’s appearance, behavior, and even bedroom preferences are exactly the same as those of my older brother. Do you think there is a chance that he really is my older brother?”

Uncle Ming harrumphed and replied,. “What are you getting all flustered for? He has clearly already died.”

“But he had such high cultivation. What if he had some trump card? Perhaps some miraculous revival is not completely impossible… Otherwise, how do you explain this man in our manor right now?” Jian Taiding asked, swallowing with great difficulty.

Uncle Ming’s expression was also overcast. He didn’t object as firmly as he had before.

“How about we go and investigate this ourselves?” Jian Taiding suggested. Even his voice was starting to tremble.

Uncle Ming remained silent for a while. In the end, he nodded and replied, “Fine!”