Chapter 64

Chapter 64: The Playboy Regretted It

“Hmph! Did you think Young Master was the same as you people from the Duke Qi Residence? You spent Princess Qing Ning’s silver, and you still coveted Princess Qing Ning’s dowry. Young Master only pretended to be afraid back then. That was strategy. Heir Apparent Qi has been on the battlefield, so Heir Apparent Qi surely understood even that, right?”

“Exactly!”

“We quietly followed after them. We meant to wipe out that gang of Mountain Bandits!”

When Ye Rong said that, Ye Rong remembered how fierce Ye Rong had looked last night, cutting down Mountain Bandits one by one. Ye Rong raised his voice.

“You didn’t see it. That bunch of Mountain Bandits were so scared they almost pissed themselves. They were one step away from kneeling in front of Young Master and calling Young Master ‘Grandfather’ just to beg Young Master to spare them.”

“But when Young Master thought about how those people squatted there and didn’t know how many commoner they had kidnapped and harmed, Young Master didn’t hesitate. Young Master killed the bandit right in front of him!”

“Those bandits saw how clean Young Master was about it, and they said Young Master didn’t fight fair. All of them rushed us at once. Young Master and the others charged left and dodged right, punching and kicking. We didn’t even waste much ‘blow-flying effort’ before we sliced, sliced, sliced and finished off more than two hundred Mountain Bandits!”

Ye Rong did not feel guilty at all saying this. In Ye Rong’s eyes, Ye Rong only polished it a little, and it was not that different from the truth.

In the end, Ye Rong and the others really had wiped out that gang of Mountain Bandits like fearless heroes. Still, when other people heard it, the whole thing sounded hard to describe.

A Servant from an Official family connected to the Ye Family looked at Ye Rong’s proud face and covered his own face in shame. [What ‘blow-flying effort’? It was ‘blow-ash effort’! Young Master Ye, just listen to yourself. How did that sound like something a normal person would say? Did Young Master Ye really think beating up a few Guards made Young Master Ye the strongest fighter under heaven? Forget it. I needed to hurry back and report to Master. Master had to find Minister Ye and drag Young Master Ye away, so Young Master Ye stopped embarrassing himself here.]

“I know him. He was the one who knocked over my stall a few days ago. Young Master couldn’t even swing a riding whip properly, and he killed Mountain Bandits?”

“I know the fat one too. Last time he ate four platters of braised pork elbows at a tavern. Then he fell down the stairs and still demanded the shopkeeper apologize to him.”

“Right, right. That one who looked all proper with a fan – his surname seemed to be Pei. He went drinking in a brothel without bringing silver, and the Miss scratched two long marks on his neck.”

“That handsome one was even worse. I heard he asked for five Miss at once.”

The crowd talked over each other, one line after another. Ye Rong turned around in anger, but there were too many people. Ye Rong had no idea who had said what.

Pei Yu An lifted the fan to cover his face.

Chen Bao Jing’s face flushed red.

Zhou Yu Zheng wanted to crawl into a crack in the ground. At least Zhou Yu Zheng had not done anything that memorable.

Then Zhou Yu Zheng glanced at the calm Shang Xing Yu beside him and clicked his tongue. Shang Xing Yu really deserved to be their Boss. Shang Xing Yu did not even change expression.

“Heh! Young Master Ye, listen to yourself. Did you really believe your own words?” Qi Shu Xian’s eyes were full of mockery.

Ye Rong was so angry his face and neck turned red. Ye Rong never expected that because of the things Ye Rong had done in the past, no one believed Ye Rong now, even when Ye Rong was telling the truth.

“Heir Apparent Qi would rather believe Princess was taken by Mountain Bandits than believe we saved Princess?” Shang Xing Yu suddenly spoke.

Shang Xing Yu’s lazy voice made Qi Shu Xian freeze for a moment. Their eyes met.

Qi Shu Xian’s gaze was cold and contemptuous. People like these young masters accomplished nothing. They only acted arrogant because their ancestors had left them protection. Qi Shu Xian felt it was a waste of time to even look at them.

“Second Young Master Shang, those words are truly laughable,” Qi Shu Xian said. “If what you said was not so ridiculous, this Heir Apparent would be willing to believe it. But with your character and your abilities, what right do you have to ask this Heir Apparent to believe you?”

“This Heir Apparent also knows you fear retaliation from the Duke Residence, and this Heir Apparent truly hates you. Still, since it was Zhi Wan’s choice, this Heir Apparent would not do anything as filthy as taking revenge afterward.”

Qi Shu Xian lifted his chin in disdain. “Besides, even if you had fought with your lives, you still would not have been a match for those Mountain Bandits. You would only have died for nothing.”

“Alright, Shu Xian,” Madam Cui finally stepped out. Madam Cui looked at Ye Rong and the others with a gentle face. “I know you young masters do not want Zhi Wan to carry the name of losing her chastity, but the Duke Residence does not care about that.”

“The Duke Residence only does not want the people who humiliated her to get away. Since those Mountain Bandits are already dead, then this matter is over.”

“After all, whether Zhi Wan truly lost her chastity or not, our Duke Residence will never look down on her because of it.”

Madam Cui sounded nice, but if Sheng Zhi Wan could not prove herself, other people’s spit could still drown Sheng Zhi Wan. If Madam Cui wanted to shut everyone’s mouths, Madam Cui only had one option – make Sheng Zhi Wan copy Madam Dong, so even if people looked down in their hearts, they would not dare say it out loud.

“You… you are shameless…” Ye Rong was furious.

But Ye Rong could not find a single sentence to refute them. Everything the crowd said about Ye Rong and the others was true.

If Ye Rong had known those past deeds would make everyone see them like this, and even make it impossible for them to prove Princess Qing Ning’s innocence, Ye Rong regretted it for the first time.

Princess Qing Ning had saved them without caring about danger. Now, just because their reputations were bad, Princess Qing Ning could not be proven innocent at all.