Chapter 2821: The Stand-in Was Forcefully Taken by the Mountain Bandit's Wife 27

Ruan Sutong's face turned pale.

He slowly rose to his feet, his posture straight; on that face that resembled Jin Chen too closely, there was only incomprehension and heartache—the resentment and stubbornness that only a proud person feels when slandered.

"Gu Dage, I really… know nothing about it."

"I, Ruan Sutong, met you three years ago at the Black Mountain Stronghold; I respect your character, admire your bearing, and have never held the slightest contempt. I have come to repay kindness, to catch up on old times, and, more importantly, to warn you of the dangers in the court."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, then finally settled again on Gu Fanghe's face, open and shocking to behold.

"I don't know why Chu Yi and Chu Ming would do such a thing; perhaps they were deceived, perhaps they had unavoidable difficulties. But I swear on the hundred-year pure reputation of the Ruan Clan that I know nothing of this, and I never ordered them to harm anyone!"

Ruan Sutong suddenly turned to Jin Chen, bowed deeply, his posture extremely low, his tone utterly sincere.

"Young Master Jin, regardless of the reason, since Chu Yi and Chu Ming are members of my Ruan Clan, their offense against you is my failure to discipline them strictly. I am here to offer you a solemn apology."

"However you wish to punish me, however you wish me to compensate, if I, Ruan Suton, am able to do it, there will be no second thought."

Jin Chen held a hot water bottle, watching his performance; hearing this, he let out a soft hum, as if truly considering it.

Then he lifted his eyes to look at Ruan Sutong, without a hint of hesitation: "Five thousand taels of silver."

Ruan Sutong: "……"

This Jin Chen really dares to speak up.

Ruan Sutong forced a more apologetic smile, nodded and agreed: "Fine, five thousand taels of silver, as a token of apology."

His move failed, and instead he was outmaneuvered. Ruan Sutong took a deep breath, suppressed the surging hatred in his chest, lifted his head again, and looked at Jin Chen.

"I heard Young Master Jin was just looking for a snake?"

Jin Chen raised his brows, noncommittal: "Hmm."

Ruan Sutong drew a slight breath, lifted his hand, and rolled up the sleeve of his left arm, which was wrapped in several layers of clean white cloth.

"Funny enough, just this morning a poisonous snake slipped into the courtyard, nearly biting me; I've feared snakes since childhood, and in my panic I used my hand to block it, thus getting bitten on the arm… Fortunately the snake's venom doesn't seem extremely potent, and I treated it promptly, so it's no serious injury."

Ruan Sutong's eyes reddened slightly: "The snake Young Master Jin keeps mysteriously went missing, and the side courtyard where I live just happened to let a poisonous snake slip in…"

"Is this truly just a coincidence?"

The people in the hall exchanged glances, looking at Ruan Sutong's arm wound, then at Jin Chen.

Jin Chen, however, suddenly laughed, his smile mocking, and retorted: "Otherwise what?"

He tilted his head, as if genuinely curious: "Or do you think my snakes understand human speech, know whom I dislike, and deliberately go bite those people?"

"Or perhaps you have done something that invites heaven's wrath and human resentment, something for which I must kill you, forcing me to resort to such a roundabout method?"

These questions were extremely sharp, leaving no room for mercy.

Ruan Sutong didn't expect him to be so shameless; he was momentarily lost for words.

Jin Chen turned to Gu Fanghe, his tone returning to its usual languid ease: "You judge for yourself—snakes aren't people, they have no brains; they crawl wherever they like, and whether they bite someone has nothing to do with me."

"Or if I were bitten by two dogs, would I have to blame the dog owner for not fastening the leash properly?"

Gu Fanghe swept his gaze over Ruan Sutong's ashen face: "Poisonous snakes act purely on instinct; where they go has nothing to do with Xiao Chen."

"Xiao Chen is pure-hearted; even wild beasts in the mountains are fond of him—how could he engage in such covertly harmful deeds? Master Ruan, you're probably overreacting, worrying too much."

Ruan Sutong: "……"

He shut his eyes tightly, suddenly realizing the situation had completely slipped out of control.

Jin Chen was far more difficult to deal with than he had imagined—deeply scheming, his methods unfathomable.

And the scheme he had painstakingly set up over three years began to crumble bit by bit as Gu Fanghe turned against him.

He had to… do something quickly, could wait no longer, could delay no further.

——

Inside the Warm Pavilion, the charcoal fire burned brightly, dispelling the damp chill after the rain and warming the interior to a spring-like comfort.

Gu Fanghe bolted the door from inside, turned to look at Jin Chen, who was untying the sash of his cloak; his black hair fell loose, making his neck appear slender and his collarbone delicate.

"You today…" Gu Fanghe spoke, his heart still palpitant: "If you want to look for snakes, you could send subordinates, or tell me and I'll accompany you—why go alone into danger?"

He walked over, took the cloak Jin Chen had removed, casually draped it over the screen, his gaze never leaving Jin Chen's face, full of lingering fear and worry.

Jin Chen turned his head to glance at him, didn't answer Gu Fanghe's question, instead gave a soft laugh, reached out his hand to Gu Fanghe, palm up, fingertips slightly curled.

Gu Fanghe furrowed his brow, allowed Jin Chen to pull him to sit on the bedside, and drew him into an embrace.

Jin Chen raised his hand, began to untie the sash of Gu Fanghe's outer garment, doing so calmly and as a matter of course.

Gu Fanghe lowered his eyes, watching the agilely moving, distinct-knuckled fingers between the collar; the outer garment was undone, slipped off, revealing the inner middle garment of the same texture, black.