Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Meng Shuping froze, then immediately turned to flee. "Ahhh! What is she trying to do?!"

But he had barely taken a few steps when he stumbled over something, lost his footing, and fell with a thud.

Meng Shuping couldn't help but curse, "Ahhh! Who's so inconsiderate, littering like this? Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

He scrambled to his feet, ready to continue running, but that brief delay allowed Qu Qi to catch up. Before he could take another step, she grabbed his clothes.

He quickly tried to pull his clothes back, simultaneously screaming at the top of his lungs, "Help! Assault! There's a female pervert here!"

"Ahhh! Help, help, help! This is terrifying!"

Qu Qi's expression twisted in fury. How dare this brat call her a female pervert? If he hadn't been so stubbornly uncooperative, would she have had to resort to grabbing his clothes? Did he think she *wanted* to be this rough?

The thought alone filled Qu Qi with humiliation. Being beautiful, she had never encountered anyone who ignored her so thoroughly her entire life! Was this Meng Shuping even a man?

And this guy was far too cunning, wasn't he? Not only had he refused to take the bait before, but now that he finally did, he was still so wary. Did he think she was going to devour him or something?

Jiang Cihe was passing by nearby when he was suddenly startled by the frantic screams. He paused for a moment, then quickly ran toward the source of the sound. What was going on? Was Meng Shuping nearby? What "female pervert"?

But by the time he arrived, he saw that, besides himself, two other groups had also appeared: one consisted of several constables and two or three people of unknown identity, while the other was a group of tall, burly men.

The protagonist of the incident, Meng Shuping, was clutching his clothes while scrambling toward them, "Help, help, help! Sh-she assaulted me!"

"In broad daylight, right under the Emperor's nose, is there no justice left? Are the female perverts here really this brazen?"

Although he felt a pang of sympathy for Meng Shuping, Jiang Cihe couldn't help but want to laugh at the scene before him. Why did everything involving Meng Shuping always turn out so bizarre?

At that moment, Meng Shuping also spotted Jiang Cihe. He darted behind him, gripping Jiang Cihe's clothes tightly, and said in a trembling voice, "Y-your Royal Highness, save me!"

"If Xing Lai and the others hadn't arrived quickly, my innocence might have been ruined by her!"

"Ahhh! Why did I have to be curious about her intentions? Wouldn't it have been better to just walk away? Why did I try to turn the tables on her? Why did I try to lure the snake out of its hole? With my brain, can I even play these games? Now look what happened—I got assaulted!"

"But how could I have known that girls here could be so fierce? I thought she was up to some sinister scheme, but who knew she just had the hots for me? Ugh, so scary!"

Several burly men, upon hearing someone shout "assault," had excitedly rushed over. But when they arrived, they were surprised to find, *hey, it's a familiar face!*

Seeing Meng Shuping looking disheveled and shaken, one of the big men chuckled, "Hey, little brother, what injustice have you suffered? Tell us big brothers, and we'll stand up for you!"

"Exactly, it's outrageous! How can someone just assault others because they're good-looking? Where's the modesty?"

"Don't be afraid, little brother. We're right under the Emperor's nose—the constables will surely uphold justice for you!"

"Hahaha! Don't worry, little brother. With us here, no one will assault you again, hahaha!"

Tsk, tsk, tsk. In all their years, this was the first time they'd seen a young man get assaulted. But given how fair-skinned, red-lipped, shy, and timid this little brother looked, such an incident wasn't entirely surprising.

The constables had initially thought it was a case of a girl being harassed when they heard someone was being assaulted. But when they arrived, they were shocked to see a young man shouting about assault and running toward them. They were left questioning reality—since when did things become like this? Had they just seen too little of the world?

Of course, what surprised them even more was that Prince Zhao was also here. Although they were just low-ranking officers in the yamen, they had occasionally seen Jiang Cihe before.

So they all bowed to Jiang Cihe, "Greetings, Your Royal Highness!"

Jiang Cihe nodded, "Handle your matters first."

The constables exchanged subtle glances and said, "Yes."

Although the current situation was a bit strange, this young master was acquainted with His Royal Highness Prince Zhao. Should they handle it impartially, or play it by ear?

The moment the crowd arrived, Qu Qi quickly adjusted her posture and expression. Yet, despite pretending to sob for a long time, no one paid her any attention. To make matters worse, those burly men actually started comforting Meng Shuping instead.

She was so mad her chest felt tight. In the past, hadn't people always rushed to care for a weak woman like her in such situations? Was it because Meng Shuping had cried out first? Or was it because he clearly had a close relationship with that so-called prince?

She secretly gritted her teeth, realizing the situation was extremely tricky. But there was no turning back now—since she had started this, she couldn’t just stop. So, tears instantly welled up in her eyes, and she stepped forward, pleading, "Your Honor, please, you must uphold justice for this humble woman! He... he assaulted me!"

Xing Lai and Jia Yue immediately stepped in front of her, alert and ready to block her from rushing forward again. Given how bold she had been earlier, who knew what else she might do!

Meng Shuping was shocked. "Whoa! How does she have the nerve to turn the tables and accuse me?"

"Ohhh, I get it now! This must have been her plan all along! Just because I didn’t help her when she asked before, she held a grudge and came up with this method to frame me!"

"How vicious! I knew there was something off about her! She really had this in mind!"

"But she’s been crying for so long, how come her nose isn't running? And her makeup isn’t even smudged. An ordinary person crying this much would surely struggle to maintain their appearance, right? Seriously, has she practiced this? If so, that’s impressive!"

Jiang Cihe couldn't help but chuckle. Even at a time like this, he still had the presence of mind to observe whether she had a runny nose. He truly was carefree.

Qu Qi was so furious she almost lost the tears. But after Meng Shuping’s remarks, she found it hard to keep crying.

The tough guys widened their eyes in disbelief. Who would have thought this seemingly decent girl could lie without batting an eye!

Though they didn’t know why Meng Shuping and this girl were together in this alley, they were certain their young friend wouldn't do such a thing!

Perhaps this girl had tried to force herself on him, but the young man refused to comply. Now that people had arrived, she felt embarrassed and accused Meng Shuping of assaulting her instead.

*Yikes, what a venomous beauty!*

One of the men thumped his chest in relief, thinking he was whispering, "Phew! Good thing it wasn’t me who got accused, or I’d never be able to clear my name!"

The others looked at him, then at Meng Shuping’s fair and delicate face, and nodded in agreement. "Exactly! But don’t worry, with faces like ours, something like this would never happen to us."

Another man questioned Qu Qi, "Young lady, if I hadn’t seen you before, I might have believed you! I bet you’ve had your eye on this young man for a while, right? Did you approach him intentionally, and when he ignored you, you decided to force the issue? Haha, if you can’t have him, don’t force it!"

"How can a girl be so pushy? Who taught you to lay hands on someone like that?"

Meng Shuping couldn’t hold back his indignation. "Exactly! Why is she so fixated on me? There are plenty of handsome young men in the world—why does she have to chase after me?"

"If she were just pestering me, it’d be annoying, but I could handle it. But how could she resort to force? And for a girl to try to ruin someone just because she can’t have them—how twisted is that?"

Qu Qi was enraged. What did Meng Shuping know? Did he really think she was the type to chase after anyone good-looking without a second thought? He shouldn’t be so full of himself!

She mustered up her emotions again, putting on a pitiful act. "Gentlemen, have I offended you in some way? Why are you slandering me like this? Or are you acquaintances with this rude man, which is why you’re taking his side?"

The two people who had brought the constables were initially confused by the unexpected turn of events. After a moment, they regained their composure and chimed in, "Yeah, why are you all siding with him?"

"I clearly heard this girl crying for help, which is why I went to get the constables. How did it turn into him being assaulted in your version? Hmph, he’s a man—could he really not even fight off a woman?"

"What kind of men gang up to bully a young girl?"

Hearing this, the tough guys immediately protested. "Who’s bullying her? We’re just speaking the truth. We haven’t threatened or hit her—what evidence do you have that we’ve done anything to her?"

"I think you’re the ones lying! I was nearby when this happened, and I didn’t hear this girl cry out—only this young man shouting!"

"Are you two in cahoots with her?"

The constables looked back and forth between the two sides, feeling utterly headache. Both sides seemed to make sense—so which one should they believe?

Torn between options, the leader of the constables glanced at Jiang Cihe and asked, "Your Royal Highness, what do you think?"

Jiang Cihe never believed Meng Shuping would do such a thing, especially since he could hear Meng Shuping's inner thoughts. Without even needing an investigation, he already knew who was in the right and who was in the wrong.

After a moment of contemplation, he said, "I was not far away when this incident occurred, so I can confirm directly that these two are lying. Take these two liars and this woman to the yamen and hand them over to Lord Peng for questioning."

The constables were delighted and immediately responded, "Yes."

Qu Qi and the other two panicked, exclaiming, "You can't do this! We've been wronged!"

But despite their cries of injustice, they were still taken away under guard. Jiang Cihe then turned to the constables and said, "If you have nothing else to do, could I trouble you to make a trip to the yamen and provide your account of the situation?"

The men readily agreed, "No problem!"

After the matter was settled, Meng Shuping returned to the earl's manor, feeling mentally drained. *Sigh, what a mess!*

To his dismay, what left him even more speechless was the next day. Before he had even woken up properly, he was summoned again. Meng Shuping angrily asked, "What is it now?"

Miao Bi, uncertain of how to feel, mainly conveyed, "Young master, another accusation has been made against you. His Majesty has sent someone to summon you to court."