Chapter 7: Xue Pinggui’s Injury

Wang Baochuan covered her lips and laughed. He spoke with righteous indignation, and for a moment, she seemed to see the young man from her previous life, with his gentle and noble demeanor.

Such a man, after becoming the King of Xiliang, received her blood letter and rushed back to Wujiapo. His first reaction was not heartache or guilt, but to dress in fine clothes, ride a red-maned steed, and pretend to be a stranger to flirt with her.

The more Wang Baochuan laughed, the colder her eyes became. If he had wealth and glory, would he still be able to remain true to his heart and care for the people?

He couldn’t.

“Miss, why are you laughing?” he asked, slightly embarrassed.

Wang Baochuan remained calm, “Sir, you are absolutely right, I will keep your words in mind.”

She said this, but after he went downstairs, Wang Baochuan had another play changed. The reason she was so extravagant was to let Xue Pinggui know that they were worlds apart.

In her previous life, she had been raised in a sheltered environment and didn’t know the dangers of the outside world. Could it be that he, a man born in the common folk, didn’t know either?

If he truly loved someone, would he be willing to drag that person into the mud and suffer together? That wasn’t love!

If he truly loved her, would he leave her in the cold cave? She was a young, beautiful, and helpless woman, living in a desolate cold cave! What if she was eaten by wild animals? What if she was targeted by criminals? Or what if she starved to death?

He had never considered the consequences. After all, after he left, what hardship Wang Baochuan would suffer had nothing to do with him, Xue Pinggui!

Wang Baochuan sneered. If a person was struggling to make ends meet, barely able to eat a full meal, how could they have the time to think about love or not?

She thought, even if she, the third Miss of the Prime Minister’s mansion, were to take the initiative to marry him, even if she were a young lady from a wealthy family, Xue Pinggui would be overjoyed!

Because he had no choice!

Humph! Wang Baochuan clenched the pastry in her hand tightly, the pastry was crushed, but she didn’t even notice.

Xiaolian stood respectfully by her side. She had never seen her mistress’s eyes so cold and gloomy, she was scared…

At this time, in a teahouse on a corner of Chang’an Street, Bai Yu, dressed in a long robe of dark patterned silk, was drinking tea. His long, white hands held a coarse porcelain bowl, an incongruous sight.

Asong held his tea bowl and drank it down in one gulp, “Master, it’s a good thing you didn’t tell that woman your real name, otherwise, she would have caused you a lot of trouble.”

“Trouble?” Bai Yu looked at the long line of hungry refugees.

He hadn’t expected that Miss Wang would open a porridge stall in his name.

“Yes, Master, you are walking on thin ice in the palace now.  A few days ago, you were injured while chasing after horse bandits, but the Emperor still reprimanded you for meddling.” Asong was indignant, his master was just a little cold, and those dim-witted old officials in the court would say that his master was taciturn and unintelligent.

Bah! What a bunch of fools.

“If being reprimanded every day can make these refugees eat their fill, what does it matter.”

Bai Yu didn’t care.  He looked at Wo Yun Tower in the distance.  This Prime Minister Wang was always smooth in his official career, but he didn’t expect his daughter to be so kind-hearted and low-key.

Think about the wives and daughters of those high-ranking officials, when did they ever give out porridge without making it known to the whole city?

At that time, night fell.

Xue Pinggui was walking along the road, his mind full of worries.  He accidentally bumped into Wei Bao’s procession, he apologized but was slow, Wei Bao was furious and ordered his soldiers to beat Xue Pinggui.

Although Xue Pinggui was skilled in martial arts, he couldn’t fight against four hands.  He was beaten badly and left on the roadside.

It wasn’t until an hour later that a group of beggars saw him lying unconscious on the roadside and carried him back to the dilapidated temple.

The leader of the beggars was called Ge Da.  They pooled their money and bought some herbs from the pharmacy, and finally saved Xue Pinggui and helped his father detoxify.

Over time, Xue Pinggui became familiar with these loyal and righteous beggars.

Xue Pinggui had a grudge in his heart, he wanted to find the people who had beaten him up for no reason and get revenge.  Ge Da said that those high-ranking officials in the capital were not easy to deal with, and advised him not to act rashly.

Although Xue Ren had detoxified, his body was still weak and needed good ginseng to nourish his body.  Xue Qi insisted on going to the city with her brother to find a job to earn money.

Xue Ren couldn’t stop her, so he agreed.