Chapter 35

After the heavy rain, the air was very fresh, with a scent of earth in every breath.

Ran Dong continued, “Just now, the servant girl was waiting outside for you. I don’t know why, but Li Yaoge came out and just wouldn’t leave, as if she was waiting for someone. Then, after a while, she came up and asked the servant girl about your relationship with someone named Yang Wenchuan.”

“The servant girl said she didn’t know, and she really didn’t know, but Li Yaoge must have thought she was lying.”

“…Then she instigated her men to come up and said they must give us a lesson to taste.”

So, in the pouring rain, a strong servant boy under Li Yaoge came up and shot something, which startled the horse. It dashed out, and the reins were directly broken.

The carriage almost overturned, and because of the heavy rain, after the incident, the inside of the carriage was wet again, now damp and torn, and it seemed impossible to sit in anymore.

Li Yaoge always acted like this. Most of the time, she couldn’t be bothered to look at people she didn’t think were important.

But occasionally, she would show some obvious malice.

For example, this time, Sang Yao guessed that perhaps her initial intention was not so much to know about her relationship with Yang Wenchuan, but just to sit there waiting for Xie Yun in the pouring rain, a bit bored.

So when she saw their carriage, she wanted to come up and ask, like Sang Yao, who never left the house, how she knew someone like Yang Wenchuan, who had just come from Jiangnan.

The two walked up to the carriage together. Sang Yao raised her hand and touched the broken reins, silent.

Ran Dong comforted, “It’s okay, Miss. Luckily, before we left, I brought some silver. The carriage workshop doesn’t seem far from here. We’ll go rent one later.”

Sang Yao looked at Li Yaoge, who was still standing in front of Xie Yun, looking cautious, speaking softly and kindly.

She was beautiful, with gentle features, a friendly demeanor, and a gentle tone when she spoke. This was also why Sang Yao had initially had a good impression of her.

This reminded her of a long time ago, when Li Yaoge publicly questioned her in front of everyone, asking why she deliberately approached her and then seduced Li Shangshu.

She defended herself and then tried to explain to her, but she became even more offensive.

If she didn’t speak, they would ask if she was guilty.

She tried to refute, tried to appear strong and not so easy to bully, but they would mock her even more.

Even her once thought-to-be close friends never spoke up for her at that time.

At first, she really thought it was because she was clumsy and looked easy to bully that they treated her like that.

But later, she probably understood that the root of all this was never her character, but the difference in status.

Even if she were a strong person, in that environment, besides being mocked obediently, there was no other choice.

She couldn’t change her status, so she couldn’t change their destined attitude of disdain.

In this seemingly dignified and courteous imperial city, in fact, everywhere was about stepping low and holding high, especially among the officials and nobles. It’s just that some people would disguise it, while others couldn’t be bothered to.

So in this environment, Sang Yao felt that how others saw her was not important. She didn’t want to prove herself, nor did she want to slap anyone’s face.

Since then, Sang Yao no longer wanted to associate with them. She no longer made friends, whether they were high and mighty or cautiously accommodating to her.

She didn’t want to be confined by these emotions anymore.

The best way to deal with resentment and the satisfaction gained from feeling superior to others is to not care.

Just like what her father taught her, when encountering people you can’t afford to offend, you must avoid them early.

After leaving their sight, Sang Yao felt much more comfortable. Li Yaoge wouldn’t give her any more looks, let alone deliberately come to pick a fight with her.

But today’s events told her that even if she hid, she might not be able to avoid it.

Li Yaoge came today specifically to wait for Xie Yun.

Her father had a close relationship with Xie Yun, and even when Xie Yun was young, her father had briefly taught him for a while. So unlike others, Xie Yun still had some face-saving measure for her.

After offending Xie Yun in the private garden last time, she hadn’t dared to approach him for a long time.

But she knew that Lady Xie had intended for her to get close to Xie Yun, which also meant that if she wanted to marry Xie Yun, at least Lady Xie would not object, so she had to seize the opportunity.

It didn’t matter if Xie Yun didn’t like her.

Anyway, he didn’t like her, and he wouldn’t like anyone else, but he would eventually marry someone, so she just needed to become his wife.

She bowed her head and apologized to him for last time.

“Last time, it wasn’t intentional. When I went there, I didn’t know you were there.”

“After I arrived, someone told me to wait in that room. When I saw that it was you who came in, I was also surprised. Maybe my father and the others arranged it on purpose without telling us.”

Xie Yun nodded and said, “Is that all?”

His indifferent tone made her somewhat frustrated. Li Yaoge bit her lip and continued, “Please don’t mind. At first, Lady Xie told me…”

Xie Yun frowned slightly, his patience exhausted.

Just as he was about to turn and leave directly, he saw Sang Yao, who should have left long ago, standing against the wall, looking dejectedly in their direction.

When their eyes met, she quietly lowered her head again.

The floor was damp, and the tips of the leaves were still dripping. She stood quietly against the wall, her clothes stained with mud, like a homeless kitten after the rain.

Xie Yun tilted his head slightly and asked Jing Lian, “Why hasn’t she left?”

Li Yaoge’s voice paused, asking, “What?”

She followed Xie Yun’s gaze.

Jing Lian had been paying attention to Sang Yao since just now and replied, “Master, it seems that Miss Sang has encountered some trouble.”

“Go and call her over.”

Jing Lian responded, “Yes.”

Li Yaoge’s face looked a bit unsightly, but she still maintained a smile. Just now, she saw Xie Yun and Sang Yao coming out one after another, but she didn’t pay attention at that time.

It was just a coincidence. No one would care, and no one would think too much about it.

The two of them were simply two people who had nothing to do with each other.

After a while, Sang Yao walked over with her head down, her tears from a moment ago still not wiped away, looking particularly pitiful.

Xie Yun looked at her and said lightly, “What’s wrong now?”

Sang Yao turned to look at her carriage. It was fine if Xie Yun didn’t ask, she would just feel uncomfortable for a while, and then she would go to the carriage workshop with Ran Dong to rent a carriage. But now that Xie Yun asked, she felt more and more wronged.

Her nose tingled, and she suppressed her voice and said aggrievedly, “The carriage was damaged.”

Li Yaoge didn’t know what she had seen.

。

What is Xie Yun doing?

Why would he care about Sang Yao? No, he’s not the kind of person who would talk to a woman on his own.

Although his tone was not gentle when talking to Sang Yao, and even somewhat helpless and teasing, this was even more strange. Xie Yun, this kind of person, how could he have the leisure to tease someone?

But these are not the most important things right now.

How Sang Yao’s carriage was damaged, she knew very well in her heart.

Li Yaoge smiled and affectionately grabbed Sang Yao’s arm, saying, “So, Yao Yao also knows Sir Xie.”

Sang Yao pulled her arm away without saying a word.

Li Yaoge’s heart was beating fast, and she quickly said, “I have known Yao Yao for some years now. It was just a misunderstanding not long ago, but now I have clarified it. It was my fault, Yao Yao, please don’t be angry.”

Her words contained a bit of goodwill.

She wanted to tell Sang Yao that she already knew Sang Yao was innocent, and she could pretend that the incident had never happened.

But Sang Yao was thinking, she had known all along that Li Yaoge knew she hadn’t done those things. The man asked casually, “Who did it?