Free Web NovelChapter 1022: Chapter 743: Love Given to the Wrong Person
Everyone knows that Pei Xingyuan is a free-spirited and unrestrained person, and he doesn’t spare others with his words. However, when he’s injured and still says he "asked for it," you can see how guilty he feels. His face turns red even before he starts speaking.
At this point, Yu Wenye also returned to his seat, indicated to the seat next to him, and said in a deep voice, "Sit down and explain yourself."
Pei Xingyuan silently walked over and sat down. He looked up at the three of them and then spoke softly, "Actually, I didn’t mean it. That day, I was coming back from handling things at the Ministry of Revenue. The weather was nice, and the news of your great victory arrived. I was happy and decided not to take a carriage, thought I’d take a walk on my own..."
Shen Wuzheng said, "Get to the point."
Pei Xingyuan said, "I’m getting there, almost there."
Then he coughed lightly and continued, "So, I strolled into a restaurant and coincidentally, two people upstairs looked familiar. I went up to take a look and then I saw—"
He glanced at Shang Ruyi, his face a bit flushed: "I saw Doctor Su."
Upon hearing "Doctor Su," Yu Wenye and Shen Wuzheng hadn’t reacted yet, but Shang Ruyi reacted quickly, the delicate figure immediately flashed in her mind, and she said, "Su Qinglan?"
The other two snapped back to attention.
Yu Wenye said, "Medical Minister Su Qinglan... what were you doing following her?"
Pei Xingyuan immediately widened his eyes and said solemnly, "What do you mean following her? I just happened to run into her."
Yu Wenye said nothing, but on the side, Shen Wuzheng said impassively, "One was upstairs, and one was downstairs, and you happened to run into each other."
"Yes."
"..."
Shen Wuzheng seemed too lazy to deal with him anymore.
Shang Ruyi suppressed a smile and asked, "Mr. Pei, didn’t you see two familiar people? Who was the other one?"
Pei Xingyuan pursed his lips and said, "The other one is that kid named Jiang something, who broke into Changle Square and injured several of us. His skills are just average, but he’s quite bold..."
He kept mumbling, but Shang Ruyi gradually pieced it together in her mind.
The person meeting Su Qinglan was Jiang Xian.
In fact, she had noticed this before. Although they hadn’t spent much time together, given the extreme and difficult circumstances, people easily develop feelings for those they can rely on. Especially on the day Changle Square was unsealed, she clearly sensed the reluctance and attachment between Su Qinglan and Jiang Xian, to the point that even though Pei Xingyuan wanted to explain his past actions to Su Qinglan, he gave up.
Sometimes, timing is everything.
She could tell Pei Xingyuan might be a little disappointed, but nothing significant had happened, so it wasn’t too big of a loss. Seeing Su Qinglan and Jiang Xian probably didn’t mean he intended to do anything; it was just in his nature to be curious and watch the excitement.
At this moment, Shang Ruyi’s mind drifted away.
She thought of Lei Yu, far away in the Western Turks, whose status and position had drastically changed from before.
Lei Yu and Pei Xingyuan were not exactly lovers; at most, it was a fleeting affection that Pei Xingyuan never got to express. Everything had long since changed due to the vicissitudes of life. Looking at it this way, his past and present seem to constantly miss out on things and people for some inexplicable reasons.
Why is he always so unfortunate?
Thinking this, a wave of sympathy surged in Shang Ruyi’s heart for Pei Xingyuan. When she looked at him again, her eyes held more pity, although thankfully Pei Xingyuan did not notice. After listening to him ramble for a while, Yu Wenye frowned and said, "Those two are fine. Why did you follow them? Is this something a court official should be doing?"
"We were going the same way. They were going home after drinking, and so was I."
"Going the same way into an alley?"
"I, I got lost..."
Yu Wenye couldn’t be bothered to say anything more.
On the side, Shen Wuzheng frowned and said, "So, your injury, was it caused by Jiang Xian?"
Hearing this, Yu Wenye and Shang Ruyi immediately widened their eyes and looked at Pei Xingyuan.
Right, they came today to ask about Pei Xingyuan’s injury. Since he followed along, with Jiang Xian’s skills, injuring him wouldn’t be too difficult. However, Pei Xingyuan is not the type to swallow his grievances. If Jiang Xian really injured him, how could he let it go so easily? Even if he didn’t want to draw attention due to Su Qinglan also being an official in the court and wanted to avoid Jiang Xian being punished, complaining to them about it would be only natural. freewebnøvel.com
Why was he hesitating?
Sure enough, when this was mentioned, Pei Xingyuan stammered again. After hesitating for a long time, he finally said, "No, it wasn’t him."
Yu Wenye stared at him, "Then who?"
Pei Xingyuan hesitated for a while longer and finally seemed to make a decision, then said, "It was a woman who suddenly rushed at me and knocked me over without a word."
"What?!"
The three of them were stunned. Yu Wenye and Shen Wuzheng exchanged glances, momentarily speechless, while Shang Ruyi looked incredulously at Pei Xingyuan with wide eyes, "A woman injured you?"
Pei Xingyuan’s face immediately turned red.
Obviously, he did not expect such an embarrassing question to come from Shang Ruyi, with whom he had the best relationship, rather than from Shen Wuzheng or Yu Wenye. So he looked at Shang Ruyi with a wronged expression, as if accusing her of not living up to expectations, "Why, does the Princess look down on women?"
Shang Ruyi immediately realized her words had made it awkward.
She couldn’t help but want to laugh, but seeing Pei Xingyuan’s indignant expression, she could only bite her tongue to hold back. Meanwhile, both Yu Wenye and Shen Wuzheng were obviously trying to suppress their laughter. After a while, it was Shen Wuzheng who first composed himself, lightly coughed and asked, "Who was this formidable woman, and why did she attack you?"
Pei Xingyuan shot him a resentful glance.
Just then, there was the sound of footsteps outside the reception hall. Everyone looked up to see the doorman walking in cautiously, reporting, "Master, Doctor Su is here."
"...!"
Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback.
Three pairs of eyes immediately turned to Pei Xingyuan, who jumped up like he had been pricked, "They hurt me, and I’m supposed to fetch a doctor myself?"
"..."
He had a point.
So, Su Qinglan must have been treating his injuries these past few days.
Yu Wenye thought for a moment, then said, "Well, aren’t you going to invite her in?"
