Chapter 375

Xiao Liangchen's expression stiffened, his hands under his sleeves trembling slightly, he forced a tug at the corner of his mouth, "I'm feeling a bit unwell, I'll go upstairs first..."

After saying that, he got up and staggered toward the stairs.

He almost tripped.

The scholars looked at each other, and in unison wiped off their smiles.

After a long while, someone timidly spoke: "Could it be... we went too far?"

Everyone remained silent.

If we're talking about going too far, we've made even more outrageous jokes at the academy before, and Xiao Liangchen never minded.

Why is his reaction so strange this time?

Or Bian Dou Dou tried to smooth things over: "Forget it, forget it, let's not talk about it anymore. It's all because of my big mouth. How about this: I'll treat everyone to a good meal at Muyun Pavilion at noon, as an apology."

The atmosphere then warmed up again.. z. br>

Upstairs, Xiao Liangchen entered his guest room in a daze, closed the door, and then weakly leaned against the wall.

He never expected that the person he saved that day would be Du Mingzhu.

That was Du Mingzhu, after all.

She is the woman I despise and hate the most in my life!

If Du Mingzhu hadn't poisoned A Man, A Man's face wouldn't have become like that, and he wouldn't have suffered for so many years.

If Du Mingzhu hadn't made things difficult for A Man and the Zheng Family, Mother wouldn't have threatened with her life, forcing him to cut ties with A Man.

Then I wouldn't have lost my true love, and spent a lifetime regretting it!

Du Mingzhu, she is the root of all this pain, an unforgivable culprit!!

And he…… actually……

Saved her?

Slap slap!

Xiao Liangchen raised his hand and gave himself two hard slaps.

Xiao Liangchen, you deserve to die!

No wonder A Man treated me so poorly that day, even telling me to fend for myself—turns out she already knew that person was Du Mingzhu.

A Man must hate me to death……

Thinking of this, Xiao Liangchen's eyes suddenly reddened; regret and guilt filled his heart, almost bringing him to tears.

"A Man, I'm sorry……"

Du Ruo didn't hear a single word of Xiao Liangchen's apology.

At this moment she was happily strolling along Wulin Street with her husband, buying anything she thought could be given as a gift—food, clothing, items, toys—she bought them all.

Jiang Li dutifully served as an attendant, responsible for carrying things.

In the end they bought so much that even four hands weren't enough, and only then did they stop.

They hired a carriage, bringing both people and goods back to the county inn.

Coincidentally, Bian Dou Dou was hosting a meal, so the couple went to mooch a dinner.

The food at Muyun Pavilion was indeed tasty; although it couldn't match Du Ruo's cooking, compared to the neighboring Duan Family's Zhuangyuan Lou, it was far better.

And it was affordable.

A dozen or so people ordered two full tables of the best, priciest dishes, and in the end they spent less than twenty taels of silver.

If the same dishes were served at Zhuangyuan Lou, you couldn't leave without spending at least a hundred taels.

After eating and drinking their fill, the group chatted and laughed as they left Muyun Pavilion, preparing to head home.

But just as they turned a corner, they bumped into two people head-on.

One of them looked rather familiar.

About twenty years old, with fair, tender skin, refined and genteel, the very image of a modest gentleman.

But his expression was gloomy, his complexion somewhat dark, as if he hadn't slept well.

If not Duan Xiu, who else could it be?

The two groups collided head-on, and both sides froze.

Duan Xiu quickly glanced at Jiang Zhan in the crowd, then hastily lowered his head, as if pretending not to know him, and walked on toward Zhuangyuan Lou.

His back showed a hint of panic.

Jiang Zhan also acted as if he hadn't seen him, his expression calm, not even turning his head.

Bian Dou Dou's eyes rolled, and he suddenly asked loudly: "A Zhan, weren't you betting with someone at Zhuangyuan Lou last time? Since you're now the Prefectural Top Scholar, shouldn't you collect the winnings? Better do it soon, lest they forget over time!"

Duan Xiu's body suddenly stiffened, his hands clenched tightly inside his sleeves.

The attendant beside him looked worried: "Young master, let's go inside, we don't need to pay him any mind……"

"If I'm not mistaken, the wager was a family heirloom jade pendant, right?" That annoying voice behind him spoke again: "Someone once swore solemnly, saying they'd accept loss and never go back on their word—what, you want to renege and not pay?"

Duan Xiu's face turned ashen, he gave a cold snort, and strode into Zhuangyuan Lou.

The attendant hurriedly followed.

"Pah, a faithless wretch!" Bian Dou Dou snorted disdainfully.

Master Yan pointed at him and sighed helplessly: "You, you, you just can't control that mouth. Although Duan Xiu has ruined his official career, he's still a son of the Duan Family, and the Duan Clan is powerful and deeply entrenched—not someone to provoke lightly."

Bian Dou Dou objected: "But I didn't say anything wrong either—the bet was his idea, the stake was his own; since he lost, he of course has to honor his promise."

Saying that, he turned to ask Jiang Zhan: "A Zhan, don't you think that's reasonable?"

Master Yan, "……"

"This fool, reason isn't used like that."

"Only when you hold power in your hands do your words become reason; otherwise, no matter how reasonable you are, others will treat your words as nonsense."

Forget it, forget it; as a teacher he can't plainly say these words, he only hopes the Duan family will be more broad-minded and not quarrel with a fool.

Jiang Zhan also didn't know what to say.

He actually had no intention of taking that jade pendant; the Duan family had already lost face and substance, and if they lost the pendant too, they might be driven to desperate extremes.

The Jiang family has not yet risen to prominence; with their current strength, they are still not enough to match the Duan family.

So the best approach is to leave it alone, pretend it never happened.

Never expected that Bian Dou Dou would break this balance.

Bian Dou Dou meant well; Jiang Zhan naturally wouldn't blame him, and subconsciously glanced at his own elder sister-in-law.

Du Ruo understood his worry, smiling to comfort him: "It's fine, don't worry—when the soldiers come, the generals will block them; when the flood comes, earth will dam it. What's there to fear?"

Seeing Du Ruo completely unfazed, Jiang Zhan's heart also settled considerably.

The group put aside this little incident and continued chatting and laughing as they headed toward the county inn.

Before they even reached the gate, the county inn's old shopkeeper hurried forward, calling out, "Divine Doctor Du, someone's looking for you!"

"Who is it?" Du Ruo asked doubtfully, "Could it be another patient seeking treatment?"

The shopkeeper choked up, "Still… really."

Du Ruo stepped inside, saying, "All right, I'll give him an appointment slip and tell him to come back after the Lantern Festival next year."