Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Meng Shu-ping was walking down the street when he heard someone call out, "Fifth Brother?"

He looked up and saw Meng Shu-qi approaching him with several young men who looked like scholars. Meng Shu-ping was puzzled, [What’s wrong with him? Is he out of his mind? We’re not exactly close enough to be greeting each other on the street, are we?]

[Hiss…]

[Could it be that he heard I’m going to work for Prince Zhao and is now trying to butter me up?]

[No need, really no need. Even if he tries to suck up to me, I won’t give him any advantages! He should just give up on that idea!]

"Heh—" Jiang Ci-he’s lips curled slightly, and his entire demeanor visibly brightened. Indeed, seeing Meng Shu-ping made it impossible for him not to feel happy.

He paused for a moment, then turned and sat down at a nearby tea stall. He wondered what outrageous comments Meng Shu-ping would come up with next.

Meng Shu-qi’s face twisted briefly before quickly returning to normal. He put on a friendly tone and said, "Fifth Brother, what a coincidence running into you here! At first, I thought I’d mistaken you for someone else!"

Would he suck up to Meng Shu-ping? What a ridiculous thought! A mere personal guard wasn’t even worth his attention. Only someone as inexperienced as Meng Shu-ping would find such a position impressive.

Of course, he did feel a twinge of jealousy over Prince Zhao’s appreciation for Meng Shu-ping. The thought made him uncomfortable—why should someone like Meng Shu-ping have such luck!

Meng Shu-ping grunted "Oh," and thought, [Coincidence, my ass! How thick-skinned can he be? Does he think pretending nothing happened will make me forget what kind of person he is? Don’t take others for fools!]

Meng Shu-qi’s smile faltered, almost crumbling. Sometimes he felt that rather than pretending to be magnanimous, it would be more satisfying to just punch Meng Shu-ping.

But remembering the people around him, Meng Shu-qi quickly held back. He continued amiably, "What brings you out today, Fifth Brother?"

Meng Shu-ping gave him a puzzled look. "Why do you care?"

Though dissed, Meng Shu-qi showed no embarrassment. His smile remained unchanged as he said, "Well, if you need any help, just say the word. I’m more familiar with this area than you are."

Meng Shu-ping found this even stranger. He replied stiffly, "No need. Is there anything else? If not, I’ll be on my way."

[Why is he so annoying? Blabbering on and on, and worst of all, he has no clue about himself. Doesn’t he remember what he’s done? Why is he still trying to kiss up to me when I’ve made it clear I want nothing to do with him?]

[Ugh, is Prince Zhao such a temptation for him? Is he that obsessed with getting close to Prince Zhao?]

Jiang Ci-he’s expression turned cold. Why should he care?

Meng Shu-qi’s face darkened. Who was trying to cozy up to anyone? Meng Shu-ping was being far too full of himself!

Just then, one of the men behind Meng Shu-qi could no longer stand it. He stepped forward with a displeased expression and said, "I say, young master, Brother Meng is just showing concern for you. Even if you don’t appreciate it, must you speak to him like that? Such disrespect for an elder brother!"

Others chimed in, "Yeah, how can you act like this?"

"Brother Meng means well. You’re being ungrateful!"

"Brother Meng even spoke up for you earlier. He wasted his breath!"

Meng Shu-qi faked a hurt look. "Brother Pan, don’t say that. He might just have some misunderstanding about me."

Pan Shao-xuan was highly dissatisfied with Meng Shu-ping’s attitude. "What misunderstanding? We’ve been here the whole time and saw exactly how he treated you! Brother Meng, you’re too soft, which is why he doesn’t take you seriously at all!"

As they took turns criticizing him, Meng Shu-ping grew increasingly irritated. But since they outnumbered him and they were in a public place, he felt too self-conscious to raise his voice. He could only mumble a retort under his breath.

Pan Shao-xuan didn’t catch what he said. "What was that? Can you speak up?"

Steeling his courage, Meng Shu-ping said loudly, "I said, do you love lecturing people so much that you’d even preach to a stray dog?"

His voice broke from nervousness and the effort of speaking loudly. As soon as the words were out, he seemed to deflate, as if all his energy had been drained.

"Hahahaha!" Jiang Ci-he tried to keep his laughter quiet to avoid drawing attention, but Meng Shu-ping’s remark was just too hilarious.

A crowd quickly gathered, crowding around to watch. Under their eager gazes, Meng Shu-ping grew tense and panicked internally. [Ahhh! Help me! Help me! Don’t come any closer!]

Jiang Ci-he jumped up. Was Meng Shu-ping in danger? But when he saw Meng Shu-ping looking cornered and helpless, surrounded by the crowd, he let out a sigh that was both amused and exasperated. So that was the kind of danger it was. Tsk, should he go rescue him?

Pan Shao-xuan and the others were red with anger, their faces turning pale. Pan frowned at Meng Shu-ping and said, "Fifth Young Master Meng, we were merely just talking sense with you. When did we ever lecture you? Isn’t it going too far to say that?"

Meng Shu-ping was speechless. [Now you think I’ve gone too far? But when all of you were ganging up on me just now, you didn’t think you were going too far? I’ve never seen such goddamn hypocrites! How shameless!]

[Do they think they’re the only ones with a mouth? Watch me shut them down!]

Jiang Ci-he had just reached the edge of the crowd when he heard Meng Shu-ping’s words. He paused and stood still.

Pan Shao-xuan and the others were first confused—where had that voice come from? Was it ventriloquism?

A moment later, they grew angry. Who was shameless? They wanted to see what else this guy had to say!

Mustering his courage, Meng Shu-ping stuttered, "Th-there was a turtle that lived for two hundred years, but it died at twenty. Do you know wh-why?"

By the end of his sentence, his ears were red, his voice grew faint, and it even began to tremble.

Before Pan Shao-xuan could respond, someone in the crowd jumped in asking, "Why?"

Jiang Ci-he was also curious. Why bring up a turtle out of the blue? He listened closely and heard Meng Shu-ping say in a timid, small voice, "Because it stuck its nose where it didn’t belong."

"Pfft—Hahaha!"

The crowd burst into laughter. They chimed in, "Yeah, young master, you’re meddling too much. This is between brothers—why should you butt in?"

"Have you even sorted out your own family affairs before sticking your nose into others’?"

"Nothing’s more annoying than busybodies, especially those who jump to conclusions without knowing the full story!"

Pan Shao-xuan trembled with rage. Biting back anger, he said as calmly as possible, "Everyone, we only spoke up because we couldn’t stand seeing him show such disrespect to his caring elder brother. Besides, you don’t know that this young master has beaten his cousins, driven tutors away, and even caused his father constant distress, leaving him sighing in frustration at home."

The crowd fell silent upon hearing this. Was this young master really such a person? He didn’t look like it!

Meng Shu-ping couldn’t help but retort, [Does he have nothing better to do? If he loves prying into other people’s business so much, he should change his name to Nosy Parker!]

Curious, he asked Pan Shao-xuan, "Do you—"

Seeing Meng Shu-ping’s fake-flustered expression, Pan Shao-xuan grew even more convinced he was right. "What? Did I say something incorrect?"

Meng Shu-ping stayed quiet for a full five seconds before racking his brain for a comeback. "Do you enjoy eavesdropping?"

"Pfft—Hahaha!"

The crowd had expected Meng Shu-ping to either refute Pan Shao-xuan or lose his temper. They never anticipated this reaction and couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

"You!" Pan Shao-xuan’s face turned red. "Who enjoys eavesdropping? Don’t change the subject! Hmph, I’ve never seen someone as rude as you. Truly a backwater hick, crude and uncivilized!"

"I think it’s you who’s being rude," Jiang Ci-he finally stepped out from the crowd, unable to watch any longer. "Cornering someone and refusing to let them leave—is this what you call reasoning? It’s nothing but ganging up on someone."

Meng Shu-ping instantly dove behind Jiang Ci-he, moving so fast that Jiang Ci-he almost didn’t react. [Yeah, yeah! Can’t you see you’re messing with the vendors’ hustle? How inconsiderate! You may have time to waste, but they need to earn a living. How can you be so selfish?]

Jiang Ci-he: "..." Fine, he’d handle Meng Shu-ping later.

Upon seeing Jiang Ci-he appear, Meng Shu-qi was startled and nearly blurted out, "Prin—"

Jiang Ci-he shot him a sharp glance, instantly cutting off his next words, so he could only say respectfully, "Young Master Wang."

However, the others were unaware of Jiang Ci-he's identity. Pan Shao-xuan said displeasedly, "This gentleman, you probably don’t even know what he has done, do you? He—"

Jiang Ci-he interrupted him, "I have no interest in others' family matters. But since this gentleman knows so much detail about someone else’s household affairs, did you hear it from others, just parroting what was said, or did you sneak into their home to eavesdrop?"

Meng Shu-ping analyzed with great interest, [I’d guess he heard it from Meng Shu-qi; after all, infiltrating the Count’s mansion is no small feat. If that’s the case, they’re really foolish—being used as tools without even realizing it, all while thinking they’re helping.]

[But Meng Shu-qi is no good either. A grown man, always hiding behind others to stir up trouble—is he even a man? Those who hang around with him definitely aren’t good people either. Serves them right for getting played!]

Meng Shu-qi was so angry his fists clenched. He wanted to ask Meng Shu-ping, "Why don’t you look where you’re hiding right now? How dare you criticize others?"

Pan Shao-xuan and the others were furious. Who was foolish? Clearly, they had spoken up because they couldn’t stand Meng Shu-ping’s rude behavior—what did it have to do with Brother Meng? Besides, Brother Meng had always wanted to settle things peacefully!

His face stiff, Pan Shao-xuan said, "Even if these matters are just hearsay, didn’t I personally hear him insulting others just now?"

Jiang Ci-he retorted, "Didn’t he have it coming?"

Hiding behind Jiang Ci-he, Meng Shu-ping couldn’t help but agree inwardly, [Exactly, exactly! He was asking for it. If I didn’t scold him, wouldn’t I be disrespecting him? I gave him what he wanted—why isn’t he happy?]

Pan Shao-xuan hadn’t expected Jiang Ci-he to react this way. His veins popped as he fumed, "You—!"

Meng Shu-ping watched excitedly, [Wow, is it turning into a clash? Hahaha, I advise him not to push it further. Do you know who the person in front of me is? He’s a prince of the court! Offend him, and you’ll be in for a world of trouble!]

[No wonder Meng Shu-qi is such a scoundrel. He knew the prince’s identity but didn’t tell them, letting them keep fighting his battles. What a piece of work!]

Pan Shao-xuan choked on his words, unable to continue. This person is a prince?

Seeing Jiang Ci-he side with Meng Shu-ping without hesitation, Meng Shu-qi was fit to burst. What kind of magic had Meng Shu-ping cast on Prince Zhao? How could Prince Zhao treat him so well?

But the urgent matter was to prevent Pan Shao-xuan from confronting Prince Zhao. Otherwise, once Pan Shao-xuan learned Prince Zhao’s identity, it would surely create a rift between them.

Thinking this, Meng Shu-qi pulled Pan Shao-xuan’s sleeve and said, "Brother Pan, let it go. We shouldn’t cause a scene here any longer."

Pan Shao-xuan had already decided not to oppose Jiang Ci-he further. Seeing an opportunity to back down, he quickly said, "Brother Meng is right. I just remembered I have other matters to attend to. Let’s go."

So the group hastily bowed and quickly left. Meng Shu-ping felt it was very strange, [Huh? Why did they leave so abruptly? Were they intimidated by Prince Zhao’s royal presence? Tsk tsk tsk, quite the imposing presence!]

[Sigh, but I need to make a run for it now! Otherwise—]

Just as he turned to leave, he felt someone grab the back of his collar. Then, Jiang Ci-he appeared before him with a smile, "You numbskull, where are you off to?"

Meng Shu-ping glared at him angrily, [You’re the numbskull! Your whole family is full of numbskulls!]

He struggled to free himself from the grip on his collar but failed, so he started cursing inwardly, [This jerk! Couldn’t he grab my collar more gently? Why so rough? He’s chafing my neck!]

Jiang Ci-he loosened his hand and quickly switched to gripping Meng Shu-ping’s wrist instead. Meng Shu-ping stared in shock at his tightly held wrist, [We’re in the middle of the street! What’s the idea of two men tugging and pulling like this? Does he have some dishonorable intentions toward me? Tsk, I’m just a kid! What a beast, what a beast!]

Jiang Ci-he narrowed his eyes, "Since you’re well enough to stroll around, I suppose you’re not sick anymore. In that case, the silver—"

Meng Shu-ping immediately burst into a fit of coughing, "Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough! Who said that? Don’t be fooled by how I look—I’m actually very weak, a mere gust of wind could knock me over!"

"Oh?" Jiang Ci-he said leisurely, "But you seemed quite lively just now when you were running away."

Meng Shu-ping fell silent for a moment, then whispered, "How about you hit me again?"

[Laughable. If he dares lay a hand on me, I’ll immediately drop to the ground. I refuse to believe he’d dare hit me in front of so many people!]

Jiang Ci-he said with a faint smile, "I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare. Punching you costs a fortune—I can’t bear to spend the money."

Meng Shu-ping stared at him expressionlessly, [Why is he imitating the way I talk?]