Chapter 272
Chapter 272
Outside the door, Jiang Yunsui listened to the eunuch berate the others in his shrill voice for a long time.
“Wow. He’s obviously very good at cursing people himself.”
So why was he afraid of Ji Yan’an?
Curious, Jiang Yunsui decided to ask Ji Yan’an after she returned.
Another voice came from inside.
“Hmph. If His Majesty and the princess weren’t too busy to spare the time, Ji Yan’an wouldn’t still be alive, even if he is only clinging to his last breath.”
One of the subordinates immediately flattered him. “You’re absolutely right, Eunuch. How could that sickly wretch from the Ji Family possibly be a match for His Majesty and Princess Huiling? Those two esteemed personages simply can’t be bothered with him.”
The servants were skilled flatterers. Their compliments soon soothed the eunuch’s temper.
Jiang Yunsui clenched her little fists, her face puffing up with anger.
She wondered whether she should poison the people inside or release Little Pink to frighten them.
A waiter approached the room.
“Guests, shall I serve the food now?”
A voice answered from inside. “Bring it in.”
Watching the waiter leave, Jiang Yunsui ultimately abandoned the idea.
If she poisoned them or released a snake, they would never find the true culprit and might take their anger out on innocent people in the restaurant.
But she was definitely going home to tell on them!
Once the people inside began eating, their conversation devolved into nothing but fawning compliments. Jiang Yunsui scratched her ear and left with Huohuo.
It had not been easy for Huohuo to behave for so long.
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than Huohuo leaped from her arms. Its spindly legs carried it across the cement road and through the crowd.
Jiang Yunsui’s eyes widened.
“Huohuo!”
The little thing truly could not withstand a single word of praise.
Jiang Yunsui hurried after it.
“Excuse me! Please let me through.”
“Huohuo, stop! Don’t run around!”
Several times she saw someone nearly step on Huohuo, and each time she shrieked in terror.
The already-bustling street became even more chaotic.
“Whose child is that? Watch where you’re going!”
“Good heavens, why is that chick red?”
Jiang Yunsui finally caught up. She lunged and managed to seize one of Huohuo’s skinny legs.
“Chirp, chirp, chirp…”
Huohuo continued to struggle.
Furious, Jiang Yunsui lifted it by the leg and smacked its bottom several times.
“You scared me to death! What if someone stepped on you? Why won’t you listen?”
Huohuo chirped pitifully after being spanked.
“What are you two doing?”
A familiar voice sounded overhead. Jiang Yunsui looked up and saw Shen Qingzhu.
Tears of anger filled her eyes as she pointed at Huohuo.
“It’s awful! It ran into the road by itself and nearly got stepped on several times. I couldn’t catch it!”
Shen Qingzhu crouched halfway down, and Huohuo chirped at him.
“How are you even naughtier than Little Yunsui?”
Huohuo was only a young chick, simple and ignorant, with more courage than sense. From head to tail, it possessed the fearlessness of a newborn calf confronting a tiger.
“Did it notice me and come looking for me?” Shen Qingzhu guessed from its behavior.
Shen Qingzhu was the third person with whom Huohuo shared a close relationship.
Fascinated by Phoenix-Mimic Birds, he was fond of Huohuo and experimented with new foods the chick might enjoy whenever he visited.
Huohuo had indeed rushed over because it sensed Shen Qingzhu’s presence.
It simply had not spared a thought for Jiang Yunsui.
“Chirp, chirp…”
Food. Food…
Very well. In its mind, Shen Qingzhu was now inseparable from delicious food.
Jiang Yunsui remained angry and pinched its little beak.
“Eat, eat, eat. Food is all you think about! You frightened me today, so you’re not allowed to eat.”
She stuffed Huohuo into a little embroidered pouch, leaving only its fluffy head exposed, then tied the opening securely.
“Let’s see you run now!”
“Chirp, chirp, chirp…”
Huohuo protested loudly.
Jiang Yunsui carried the pouch and continued lecturing it.
“Don’t expect me to soften. I’m telling you, my heart is very hard. Acting pitiful won’t work.”
Shen Qingzhu followed behind the little girl, a gentle smile in his eyes as he watched her.
He was already handsome, and when he smiled, he seemed as warm and pleasant as a spring breeze.
“Doctor Shen!”
A woman’s voice suddenly called out.
At first, Jiang Yunsui did not realize the woman was calling Shen Qingzhu.
Then a young woman in a teal-green dress blocked their way.
More precisely, she blocked Shen Qingzhu’s way.
Jiang Yunsui immediately forgot about scolding Huohuo. Her large, lively eyes darted from the woman to Shen Qingzhu and back again.
Oh? What was this?
The smile on Shen Qingzhu’s face faded somewhat as he politely greeted the person before him.
“Doctor Shen, is she your daughter? I admire you, and I don’t mind.”
Her opening declaration was astonishing.
Jiang Yunsui stared at her in confusion.
Shen Qingzhu’s expression darkened further.
The woman, Wang Yunzhu, gazed lovingly at him, her eyes brimming with affection.
“You saved me, so my life belongs to you. Isn’t that what all the storybooks say? When someone saves your life, you should repay them by marrying them.”
Shen Qingzhu could not help reminding her, “Miss Wang, two other people helped save you besides me. I also told you that I’m married and have a child. Why must you keep pursuing me?”
Back at the Black River Stronghold, Shen Qingzhu had used the same excuse to ward off a woman’s advances. He was doing so again now.
Would it damage his reputation? He did not care. Until he had taken his revenge, he had no intention of starting a family.
“But I chose you the moment I saw you.”
Shen Qingzhu’s head ached. “Miss Wang, isn’t this rather like repaying kindness with enmity?”
He turned and discovered Jiang Yunsui watching the spectacle with great enthusiasm. She had even begun cracking sunflower seeds. He promptly glared at her.
Jiang Yunsui gave him a cheeky smile. She was considering whether to hug his leg and call him Father to rescue him from the situation.
Then a stocky man approached.
“So you’re the man my sister likes? I hear you’re a physician. In that case, choose a day to bring over the betrothal gifts.”
Shen Qingzhu fell silent.
So did Jiang Yunsui.
What kind of people were these? The man had arrived and rattled off his demands without pause. In the blink of an eye, he was already specifying the betrothal gifts.
Shen Qingzhu’s expression turned completely cold.
“When did I ever say I would marry her?”
The man immediately grew furious. “What? You refuse to take responsibility?”
“My sister said that when you saved her, you had intimate physical contact with her. If you don’t marry her, who will?”
Shen Qingzhu looked at Wang Yunzhu. Her gaze darted away guiltily, but she offered no denial.
“Miss Wang, would you care to explain?”
“This so-called intimate contact consisted solely of me taking your pulse. Does that mean I must take responsibility for you?”
Did she truly think he was easy to bully?
Jiang Yunsui’s little face fell as well.
Watching drama was fine. Bullying her friend was not!
“But you-you touched my hand, and you put your arm around my waist,” Wang Yunzhu insisted.
Shen Qingzhu laughed in anger.
Wang Yunzhu had indeed been held around the waist when criminals chased her, but Shen Qingzhu had not done it. The man who caught her had been another burly fellow with a dark complexion.
It was obvious that Wang Yunzhu had begun slandering Shen Qingzhu in her determination to marry him.