Page 174 of He Is My Bride

Hanjun shrugged. “You are more important. We will figure everything out.”

“But—”

“There’s no undoing the damage Wang Guosheng has caused,” Hanjun said. “The only way for us to marry in China legally now is for you to get surgery and officially change your sex.”

“Well, that’s true. And it’s what we should say if this becomes a criminal case: that I was due to start that process, but that we didn’t want to wait until then. That’ll not save you much face, I’m afraid, but it will make it more palatable to the public, to think I was going to become a woman eventually, and possibly save us from more serious legal punishment, who knows. As for what we’ll do if it becomes apparent you bribed the doctor, how much trouble do you think you’ll be in?”

“…I should call Uncle Yiheng.”

Li Ying sighed. He lowered the sunglasses back on. “I’m getting another drink.”

He left to ask the crew for another Mai-Tai while Hanjun dialed his uncle.

“Hanjun?!” Wu Yiheng immediately answered the phone.

“Hello, Uncle.”

“Thank heavens…Whereare you?!”

“Hawai?i.” Hanjun sipped his Mai-Tai and fixed the blue-tinted Police sunglasses on his nose, leaning back on his sun lounger.

“Enjoying your ‘honeymoon?!’” Wu Yiheng didn’t sound exactly pleased.

“Mm. I saw that I’m on administrative leave?”

“We made the decision two days ago, to be effective while the investigations are going on.”

“How are things going?”

“Our lawyer said it’s unlikely to be deemed criminal on your part, if Li Ying is…Whatis Li Ying?”

“Li Ying is a man.”

“What were you thinking, Hanjun?!”

“Uncle, did you tell the lawyer what I told you before, that I bribed the clinic’s chief physician to give the order to forgo Li Ying’s pelvic examination, in order to conceal his sex?”

“No, I didn’t disclose everything initially, and for the better: the man came to me the next day, and I bought him off again. Both us and him now have doubly the reason to keep that part under wraps. He would also face charges, since he accepted your bribe and essentially blackmailed me. He won’t talk.”

“There’s more that I wanted to tell you. As you know, Wang Yan confessed it to me personally that Wang Guosheng had her come to the clinic on his orders, to gather evidence of Li Ying’s sex.”

“What about it?”

“I believe she wouldn’t have exposed us willingly. She would have been loyal to me, if Wang Guosheng hadn’t threatened to hurt her partner. She revealed this at the wedding. If you get Wang Yan to come clean, it might get Wang Guosheng in some trouble. There’s a risk involved that her confession will reveal my bribery, but I don’t believe she would willingly hurt our case.”

“Wang Yan has already told everything,” Wu Yiheng revealed. “She also told our lawyers that her statement on Li Ying’s health certificate was her own moral decision, that she was not bribed or coerced to write Li Ying off as a woman, although she knew.”

“I see.”She’s still protecting us,Hanjun realized.

“Wang Guosheng is about to face problems of his own because of her confession,” Wu Yiheng continued. “Coercive extortion by threat of violence is a serious accusation, but it’s left to be seen how that ends for him. I doubt he’s out for good.”

“Will Wang Yan be safe?”

“She has witness protection. Although she did write a false medical statement, so I expect her to face fines and possibly lose her license. However, thanks to Wang Yan’s courage to speak against her family head, the Wangs are in disarray and in a considerably less powerful position, so I will consider lending her a hand. I’ll make sure she can pay off any fines and make a living, in case she has to wait to get her license back.”

“I think we should help Wang Yan,” Hanjun said. “She’s actively protecting me with her statement. She’s on our side.”

“Noted.”