The Ger's Contract Marriage [BL]
Chapter 598: The Idiot

Chapter 598: The Idiot

In order for someone to have a degradation of character, one’s character would need to be whole to begin with.

Xu Feng had never truly believed himself to be righteous. He was pragmatic and adaptable—his moral compass had always been flexible, shifting to suit his needs. He didn’t take pleasure in hurting people, but if circumstances required it, he wouldn’t flinch.

Maybe he could rationalize this side of himself as something he had learned from Xuan Jian or Xuan Yang. Perhaps he could blame it on his status as a new father, a protector, someone who had to prioritize his family’s safety above all else.

But deep down, he knew.

This darkness had always been within him.

Now, he simply accepted it. He wasn’t a saint. He had people he treasured, but he had never been pure-hearted—not even in love. And that was okay.

The shadows didn’t frighten him anymore. He might have to play a role, maintain face for the sake of his brother’s future career and his family’s honor, but he didn’t crave admiration from strangers.

As Xu Zeng tightened his grip, making the woman whimper, Xu Feng felt nothing for her. No sympathy, no guilt—just the cold efficiency of a man sorting through a problem.

All that mattered now was who she was connected to, what she wanted, and how to deal with her as quickly and efficiently as possible—without resorting to murder.

Murder wasn’t beyond him. If she had been a zombie, she wouldn’t have made it past the doorstep. But she wasn’t. And so, for now, he would hear her out, insert air quotes here.

Xu Feng leaned against the table, crossing his arms. "Sooo..." he dragged out, his tone almost casual. He braced himself for the worst. Was she connected to the Xuan family in the capital? The Sun family? Or was she connected to someone entirely new they needed to worry about?

But before he could even begin his interrogation, Xu Zeng took the lead.

"If you want to leave in one piece..." Xu Zeng murmured, his voice smooth, almost lazy. Then, as if an afterthought, his gaze drifted toward the backyard. "Well, the soil could use some nourishing."

The woman made a strangled noise, her eyes widening in pure horror. Whatever nightmarish vision had formed in her mind was enough to drain the color from her face.

Xu Feng wasn’t even sure if she understood that his brother wanted to use her as fertilizer, and ruin their new shop!

Her mouth opened and closed, her throat working as if she were swallowing back bile. She shook her head rapidly, her body trembling as she stammered, "I-I’m... from the Sun family... Please, please don’t dispose of me—I swear, I—"

Xu Feng’s brows lifted slightly.

His gaze flickered toward his brother, who remained impassive. The fear in the woman’s eyes was genuine, raw. Her thoughts were racing, her mind tripping over itself as she tried to calculate what to say, what would keep her alive.

And yet, despite the terror, she was honest.

She had no choice.

Xu Zeng tilted his head, his expression unreadable. "Who sent you?"

She swallowed thickly. "Y-young mistress Sun—Sun Ming Hua. I was sent t-to... to observe..." Her eyes darted back to the backyard, then to Xu Feng, desperate and wild. "I swear, I meant no harm. I was just supposed to watch and report back! Please, I know what happened—I know what you did!"

Xu Feng narrowed his eyes. "What we did?"

"The Ning family—young Lady Ning! She’s close to the young mistress—Sun Ming Hua," the woman blurted out, the words spilling out in a rush. "She—she told me! The g-ger who was working with the Ning family, he... he disappeared. Just like the others. You—you killed them, didn’t you?"

She was shaking now, her knees barely holding her up as she imagined her end.

Xu Feng glanced at his brother.

Xu Zeng met his gaze, then shook his head. No, they hadn’t killed the three traitors from Nanshan Estate.

Xu Feng wasn’t relieved. He wasn’t upset either.

He simply accepted it as fact. Whether those spies were dead or not, it didn’t matter to him. What mattered was that this Ning lady believed they were.

The woman trembled, her wide eyes darting between the two silver-haired brothers, her breath coming in sharp gasps. Her lips parted, but no words came out—just small, panicked huffs of air. Even the once again newly unmasked Xu Zeng couldn’t hold her attention for long.

Xu Feng said nothing. He only looked at her, but it was enough; the coldness in his gaze was too pointed. It was like her life, her existence, meant nothing to him.

The realization that she would die here struck her like a hammer to the chest. Her body jerked forward as if instinct alone would carry her out of this situation. She didn’t even try to stand—Xu Zeng’s hold on her was too firm—but her mouth ran faster than her mind.

"I-It has nothing to do with me! I’m just a lowly servant! I don’t know anything!" she blurted out. "It’s my young mistress—he’s an idiot, a fool even, who grew up without a mother! That’s why he’s so easily manipulated by the mistress!"

Xu Feng tilted his head slightly, showing the first sign of interest.

The woman saw it and latched on, her voice rising as she rambled, desperate to steer the conversation away from herself.

"He—he was born cursed! A wretched omen! He killed his ger father(mother) in childbirth, and now he’s implicating me too—implicating himself with the young lady of the Xuan family—"

Her breath hitched, her eyes darting again toward the backyard as if she were calculating how deep a grave would need to be for her body. Would they bury her alive?

Then, as though a switch had flipped, her expression changed.

She plastered on an awkward smile, her voice suddenly trembling with forced reverence. "It—it’s a blessing that you can give birth, Master Xu Feng! Unlike what Lady Ning heard from that wretched thing that came from your home(the spy)! He swore you died in childbirth after seducing two men! That you couldn’t even birth a healthy child after all that! Not even a ger—"

The woman froze. The sound of skin against skin rang out as she slapped her own mouth.

Her entire body went rigid, eyes going impossibly wide. She looked like she had seen a ghost.

No. She looked like she was a ghost.

A suffocating silence followed.

Xu Zeng was the first to break it.

"So," he mused, his voice deceptively mild, "you look down on gers?"

The woman jolted as though struck. "N-no! No, I—"

"But your young mistress is a ger."

Her head snapped toward him so fast she nearly stumbled.

Xu Feng, standing to the side, could see the shift in his brother’s posture—his voice was warm, polite even, but the barely-contained killing intent was unmistakable.

The woman had no idea.

"I—I—" She wanted to deny it. She should deny it.

But for some reason, she couldn’t force the lie out.

Her mouth opened and closed soundlessly before her panic seized onto another thought entirely.

"Lady Ning hates gers!" she spat out, her words rapid and breathless. "Everyone knows that—except that idiot!"

Her voice cracked as she openly cursed her own master, a manic edge creeping into her tone.

"Everyone in their circle knows this! Even the gers at the Sun house are treated like second-class citizens! The lady of the house abhors them—just like she hated the young mistress’ birth mother!"

Xu Feng hummed softly. "His ger father?"

The woman nodded rapidly, her breath coming out in short pants. "That’s why he’s so stupid! All the idiot knows is that his brother favors him; he doesn’t see the bigger picture! There’s no way he’ll marry well or live a peaceful life. We all know it! I think even he knows—that’s why he’s always trying to get the young master’s friend to propose marriage, so the lady has no choice but to agree."

She giggled suddenly—a hysterical, breathless sound.

"Little does he know, a marriage is being arranged for him. And it won’t be an amicable one."

She panted through her giggles, her face now a twisted mask of emotions—fear, bitterness, resignation.

Xu Feng and Xu Zeng simply watched.

Then, as if something inside her snapped, she let out a shuddering breath.

"If I knew I would end up worse than them, I wouldn’t have done so many things..."

Xu Feng’s gaze sharpened. "What did you do to them?"

The woman flinched.

Her mouth parted, lips trembling. "I—I would help with—"

Then, just as suddenly as before, reason seemed to return to her eyes.

She clamped her mouth shut.

Her hands clenched into fists.

She looked up at them guiltily. "It wasn’t me. It was the lady of the house and Lady Ning."

And that was it.

She wouldn’t speak further.

Xu Feng’s lips curled slightly.

Ah.

So she did do something.

But she knew that whatever she had done, it wasn’t something she could talk her way out of.

He leaned back slightly, letting the silence settle.

It didn’t matter.

She had already given them more than they expected.

After another long pause, Xu Zeng let out a slow exhale. "Then tell me this—"

The woman flinched.

"Who spread the rumors exactly?"

She hesitated.

Then, in a quiet, almost reluctant voice, she admitted, "The young mistress."

Xu Feng arched a brow.

Sun Ming Hua. Just like they thought.

That part wasn’t surprising. The rumors about his appearance—his silver hair, the red mole at his forehead—those had always seemed petty. Something meant to discredit him.

But the other rumors—the crueler ones.

The ones that slurred him as barren. As a worthless ger who could only die in childbirth.

Those were different.

The woman swallowed thickly. "The young mistress forbade those rumors. But Lady Ning said they got out without her knowing and that the servants who spread them were punished."

"But everyone—everyone—knows the truth."

She met his gaze for the first time, a bitter, hollow look in her eyes.

"They were rewarded."