The Ger's Contract Marriage [BL]
Chapter 600: When the Rats Start Talking

Chapter 600: When the Rats Start Talking

Both men were as different as night and day—like their stallions? Xu Feng’s brows furrowed at the thought, something tickling at the edge of his consciousness...

But in many ways, they were so similar—both loving him wholeheartedly and making space for him to just be himself. It was one of many things Xu Feng appreciated about them.

Still, he needed something tangible to grasp before diving into the mess inside the store. He crossed his arms, shifting the conversation. "The carpenter?"

Xuan Jian nodded. "He’ll come to the Estate tomorrow evening. He wants to get the full details on the furniture you have in mind, but he’ll start with the basics I shared."

That was good news. The second floor of the shop would finally start taking shape.

"And the stove?"

Xuan Yang smirked slightly. "The specialist has never made anything quite like what you asked for, but he’s confident. He said it reminded him of a kiln. He’ll get started on the design and send word when he’s ready for testing."

Xu Feng let that settle in his mind. The progress was steady, moving at a reasonable pace. These weren’t things he could afford to rush too much, but knowing they were being handled allowed him to let go of at least one or two things rattling around in his head.

His husbands weren’t in a hurry. They were giving him space, but he could feel their patience—waiting for him to share what was keeping the shop closed, why the doors were locked, and who was inside with Xu Zeng. The unfamiliar breath was difficult to keep from Xuan Jian.

Xu Feng exhaled slowly.

There was no point in keeping them in the dark indefinitely. He had enough weighing on him already. And so, as the evening light stretched across the backyard, he began to tell them everything he knew so far.

...

Xu Feng immediately noticed Xuan Yang’s expression—sharp, cold, but burning with something unmistakable. Anger. It wasn’t the composed frustration he usually carried when dealing with his family’s "bureaucracy" or "oh-so-noble politics."

Xu Feng wasn’t entirely sure who the snake’s fury was directed at—Sun Ming Hua, Sun Ming’s mother, or the Sun brother’s father. But before he could ask, Xuan Yang spoke, his voice like ice cutting through the heavy air.

"Will you be handling it, or can I?"

Xuan Jian, who had been silent up until now, finally moved, the tension in his stance unreadable at first.

But then he exhaled, slowly, and Xu Feng felt a shift. It was subtle—no visible change, no outward emotion—but something in the air felt colder.

And then Xuan Jian spoke.

"I should have handled it more thoroughly."

Xu Feng blinked.

The words were simple, but the meaning beneath them was anything but.

Xuan Jian wasn’t simply displeased. He was seething.

The iceberg was cracking.

Xu Feng knew that Xuan Jian had been overseeing the removal of the spies from Nanshan Estate—or, at least, his men were. He had meticulously dealt with the Xuan family’s interference, ensuring that Xu Feng’s name was cleared and that the Ning family’s slander was rendered powerless for the most part.

But the Sun family?

They had been an afterthought.

It wasn’t because Xuan Jian had underestimated them, but because there had been no obvious connection at the time. Most of the leaks had come from the smaller Ning family, and Xuan Jian had been thorough in eliminating their influence related to Xu Feng.

But now, seeing the extent of the rot within the Sun household, he regretted not digging deeper. He had focused on preparing their escape routes out of the continent, securing their power in other places. Because leaving Dongzhou was most important to him...

That was a mistake. Even if he eventually planned to leave, they were still living on the continent for the time being.

The dark energy rolling off of Xuan Jian was palpable, and even Xuan Yang found himself resisting the urge to comfort him in spite of his own anger. This wasn’t a man who needed comforting.

This was a man who was already preparing to clean up his own mess.

Xu Feng sighed. He didn’t blame either of them. Not at all. He wanted to blame himself, but that was also absurd. His husbands had already done so much in the last three months despite their grief.

If anything, Xu Feng was frustrated at the sheer lengths people were willing to go just to make others miserable. Life was already difficult. Why did some people thrive on making it worse?

The quiet moment didn’t last long.

Xu Zeng entered the backyard next, followed closely by Xu Hu Zhe.

Xu Feng was momentarily caught off guard. "What about Tao—" he paused, almost forgetting the woman’s name.

"She’s with Liu," Xu Zeng answered, his tone clipped. But the fact that he called Liu by his name instead of "The Torann’s man" or something similar showed how much he trusted him. "Hu Zhe and Liu returned some time ago."

That was enough of an answer. If Xu Hu Zhe was here, then Liu would have already taken over dealing with Chun Tao.

But Xu Feng barely had time to process that thought before he felt something else.

Xu Zeng was in a mood.

Not just irritated, not just frustrated—he was seething. The day had started off so well, but now everyone was in a foul state.

Much like Xuan Jian, his anger was carefully contained, but Xu Feng could feel it beneath the surface.

Xu Zeng wasn’t reckless. He didn’t explode like some others might. But that made his fury all the more unsettling.

Xu Zeng met his brother’s gaze, unbothered by the presence of Xuan Yang and Xuan Jian. Over the past three months, he had come to trust them, at least to the extent that he no longer felt the need to hold back in front of them.

He exhaled once, slow and controlled, then spoke.

"She gave me more after you left," he said simply, as if he hadn’t just cracked a woman’s entire foundation within an hour.

Xu Feng lifted a brow, waiting.

"She kept trying to wash her hands of everything, like she had no place in any of it, but in doing so, she revealed more than she meant to." Xu Zeng’s fingers flexed slightly as if resisting the urge to clench his fists. "The Sun family is worse than we thought."

Xu Feng exhaled through his nose. "How much worse?"

Xu Zeng’s jaw tightened. "The Lady Ning has a wealthy uncle in the south. He’s visiting in the spring."

Xu Feng’s brows furrowed. "And?"

"He’s coming for Sun Ming Hua."

A silence fell between them.

Xuan Yang’s expression darkened. Xuan Jian, still eerily quiet, finally shifted his gaze toward Xu Zeng.

Xu Zeng continued, voice dropping lower. "Sun Ming Hua’s stepmother has been planning to marry him off to this man for a while now. And it won’t be an amicable arrangement."

Xu Feng felt his stomach turn slightly. This was almost Xu Zeng’s story...

He had no love for Sun Ming Hua. The ger had caused problems for him and had tried to slander him before realizing the consequences. But this?

There was a difference between distaste and outright cruelty.

Xu Zeng wasn’t done.

"The worst part?" His voice was colder now. "They’ve already tested an aphrodisiac on their own servants... only the gers of course. They know exactly how much to give him."

Xu Feng felt a wave of nausea.

That was it, then.

Chun Tao wasn’t leaving.

He had been planning to let her go, thinking that perhaps she was just another unfortunate cog in a cruel machine. But now?

Now, she was a liability.

Xu Feng’s fingers curled against his palm. This Lady Ning had already spread the worst of the rumors about him. She had taken personal delight in trying to tarnish his reputation beyond just his appearance.

And he had never even met this woman before!

But this?

This was another level of cruelty.

His voice was quieter than usual when he finally spoke. "So she was definitely the one who started the rumors about my death?"

Xu Zeng nodded. "Completely. Sun Ming Hua was responsible for the rumors about your appearance, but Lady Ning took it further. The slander about the cubs? The slander about your worth as a ger? That was all her. She seems to dislike gers as much as the witch of the Sun family."

A cold smile tugged at the edge of Xu Feng’s lips, which was a fitting title for both of them. The slander seemed like a stab on its own, but he wasn’t completely sure about that.

Xu Feng barely registered the way Xuan Yang’s fingers tightened into a fist or the way Xuan Jian’s expression remained eerily blank. His focus was on his brother, who was delivering more information in an even, almost detached tone.

She had revealed something else unexpected—recently, Sun Ming Hua had been shocked when a servant returned with confirmation that Xu Feng’s silver hair was real and that he had safely given birth. He had expected lies, trickery, something fabricated to maintain a false reputation. But the reality had shaken him.

"When one of his servants tried to slander Xu Feng again, he slapped her across the face," Xu Zeng relayed, his lips curling slightly in something that wasn’t quite amusement. "Now, even more servants look down on him."

Xu Feng scoffed lightly.

Sun Ming Hua hadn’t been the one actively spreading rumors then. He had been trying to discredit Xu Feng, believing the rumors were true—only to be faced with the undeniable truth.

Now, it was too late.

It didn’t change the damage that had been done.