Chapter 25: Chapter 25 Guilt

Half an hour later.

The Drunken Moon Pavilion, second floor.

Inside the private room.

Xie Jingchen, Su Chong, and Su Jin were sitting around a rosewood table, with Xing’er standing behind Su Jin.

Su Jin held her forehead, with a twitch at the corner of her mouth.

Only then did she understand what had really happened, why Su Chong didn’t call her sister, and why Mrs. Tang instructed Xing’er to act like they didn’t know Su Chong if they encountered him on the street.

This time, when Su Jin got married, it made Marquis Dongxiang and Mrs. Tang deeply understand how difficult it is to arrange a marriage with a bandit’s identity.

If it was so challenging for Su Jin to marry, who would want to send their daughter into a bandit’s lair when it came to Su Chong marrying?

Setting aside the Young Master’s title of Feihu Village on Qingyun Mountain, Su Chong was handsome and dignified, standing out in a crowd.

If he returned to the Dongxiang Marquis Mansion, he would only drag himself down.

And so, Su Jin’s parents, with their unconventional thinking, sent a letter to Su Chong, telling him not to return to the Dongxiang Marquis Mansion for the time being, and if they met him on the street, he should pretend not to know his parents. Only after winning the favor of the in-laws and willing to give their daughter to him could he return to the Dongxiang Marquis Mansion.

The identity of the in-laws was none of their concern; if he couldn’t marry within a year, they would consider him a useless son.

Besides marrying, he also needed to make a name for himself. The more outstanding he was, the more the Dongxiang Marquis could hold his head high in the future.

As it happened, after the letter reached Su Chong, everyone thought the Marquis’s decision was correct and firmly adhered to the Marquis’s instructions. That very evening, at the inn, they clarified the boundaries with Su Chong.

After entering the capital, the people and things brought from Qingyun Mountain, even the dog Su Jin used to keep, entered the Dongxiang Marquis Mansion. Meanwhile, he, the eldest son, wandered the streets…

Life was a bit bleak.

But what could Su Chong do? His parents decided it, and everyone agreed it was right.

He rode his horse around the streets, looking for a place to settle, but before he could find one, he unexpectedly ran into Su Jin.

In the letter, Marquis Dongxiang was furious because of the embarrassment from preparing Su Jin’s dowry on credit, which caused the shop stewards to lose face at the Duke Zhen Country Mansion. Losing his face was one thing, but the Marquis feared Su Jin might become upset. He instructed Su Chong to always carry more money to let people see the generosity of the Young Master of Feihu Village.

If you lose face, you must find a way to regain it.

Su Chong knew neither Dongxiang Marquis Mansion nor Su Jin had money, and felt bad as he watched Su Jin pick out hair accessories at a street stall.

He forced himself to walk away but couldn’t help looking back.

As a result!

Su Jin didn’t recognize him!

Su Chong assumed that Marquis Dongxiang instructed her, so he wasn’t angry, wanting to speak a few words with Su Jin alone and give her some silver notes to keep with her. However, Su Jin flatly ignored him.

And then——

He got punched by Xie Jingchen.

After asking a young shop assistant for a copper mirror, Su Chong looked at himself in the mirror, his eye bruised, unable to blink without pain.

And his mouth, he couldn’t even open it, chest and back…

His whole body was in pain.

Su Chong glanced sideways at Xie Jingchen and said, “On the way here, I was wondering, since I can’t return to Dongxiang Marquis Mansion, in what manner I would meet my brother-in-law. I didn’t expect that at our first meeting, my brother-in-law would give me such a substantial welcome gift. It’s fortunate you didn’t use all your strength, or I would’ve lost an eye to you.”

Xie Jingchen saw him grinning in pain and silently looked at Su Jin.

He actually felt a bit of sympathy for Su Chong.

Marquis Dongxiang and Mrs. Tang were willing to move opposite the Duke Mansion for their daughter, yet wouldn’t let Su Chong come home…

Su Jin looked embarrassed.

The fact that her brother got beaten up doesn’t seem to be Xie Jingchen’s fault…

Xing’er stood off to the side, shaking her shoulders and said, “Didn’t the eldest young master often say that the Marquis needs to cover one eye to have an imposing presence?”

Su Chong moved his eyes away from the copper mirror and looked at the maid, “When I was getting beaten, where did you run off to? If you had been any later, I’d have been taken back to Dongxiang Marquis Mansion on a stretcher.”

Xing’er scratched her head.

Su Jin then asked, “I almost forgot, who did you go to see as an acquaintance?”

Xing’er blinked and said, “It was Mr. Song, he still remembers me, and he even became the top scholar.”

Su Chong picked at his food and said, “Your master doesn’t even remember me, her own brother, how would she remember a top scholar.”

However, he didn’t remember either.

“How come I’ve never heard of someone becoming the top scholar in Qingcheng?” Su Chong asked.

Xing’er raised her face and said, “I don’t know where he’s from either, but he was the first person the young lady robbed when coming down the mountain, a scholarly man who wasn’t timid.”

Poof!

Su Jin spat her tea out entirely.

Xie Jingchen’s eye twitched uncontrollably.

Not just because of Xing’er’s words, but also because of the tea Su Jin sprayed on his face.

Is this the acquaintance Xing’er spoke about?

“You robbed him and instead of hiding far away when you saw him, you went to seek kinship?” Su Jin held her forehead and said.

This kind of thinking…

Su Jin was thoroughly convinced.

She felt she could no longer take the word ’acquaintance’ seriously from Xing’er’s mouth. Best not to let her meet acquaintances easily in the future.

Xing’er looked puzzled and said, “The Marquis said, if fate brings us together, being robbed is also a connection from the past life. Those who were robbed owed us money and didn’t repay in their past lives. Robbing them was predestined, and by repaying in this life, they would become good friends in the next.”

Su Jin, “…”

Xie Jingchen, “…”

Listening carefully, it actually made a bit of sense.

Su Jin felt she was almost convinced.

She turned her head to look at Xie Jingchen. Xie Jingchen could already guess what she wanted to say and quickly changed the subject, “Tell us, how did you rob Song Zhaogong?”

Xingxing started recounting the tale.

Two years ago, on a sunny day.

Su Jin, who had always wanted to go down the mountain to rob but was held back by Mrs. Tang, after relentless efforts and making Mrs. Tang dizzy, finally got the permission. Before going down, Mrs. Tang instructed her not to rob the elderly, weak, sick, or disabled.

Su Jin, accompanied by Xingxing, hid in the bamboo forest waiting all morning.

Her stomach was growling, yet no one showed up. Su Jin, being face-conscious, couldn’t let this rare opportunity pass without any gain.

No matter what, she had to succeed today, even if it meant only getting one or two copper coins, just to save face.

As her mouth was getting dry, a man, pale and looking scholarly, approached on a donkey cart.

Su Jin’s patience ran out. She decided to rob him. Xingxing thought scholars were all frail, and Madam had instructed not to rob the elderly, weak, sick, or disabled. Scholars couldn’t be robbed.

Su Jin thought some scholars might not be frail, weren’t there those who were both literary and martial?

Then Su Jin rushed out and stopped the donkey cart.

Her first question was, “Are you elderly, weak, sick, or disabled?”

The man with a dark face replied, “No, I’m not.”

Su Jin was overjoyed and told Xingxing, “He said he’s not elderly, weak, sick, or disabled, let’s rob him and head back to the village for dinner.”

The next second, Xingxing shouted, “Robbery!”

The driver, seeing they were bandits from Qingyun Mountain, abandoned the donkey cart and ran off directly.

Su Jin and Xingxing tied up the man, took two taels of silver, and swaggered away.

It was their first time robbing. Inexperienced, they left the man tied up, returned excitedly to the mountain, and only realized they hadn’t released him after the sun had set.

It was Xingxing who got someone to accompany her downhill in the dark to release the man, saying some words that almost angered him to death. Xingxing said, “My lady wants me to ask your name. You’re the first person she has robbed, and she wants to know who she robbed.”

The man gritted his teeth and said, “My name is Song Xian.”

“Song Xian? I’ll remember that,” Xingxing turned to leave, then looked back and said, “Don’t forget my lady either.”

“… Rest assured, I’ll never forget even in death.”

“You’re so nice.”

The scholar almost died on the spot.

After recounting the past, Xingxing said, “He really didn’t forget. He recognized me at a glance.”

With a look of joy.

Su Jin, “…”

Xie Jingchen, “…”

Su Chong, full and satisfied, said, “To be robbed by my sister, he had good fortune. Otherwise, how could he have become the top scholar?”

Su Jin, “…”

Xie Jingchen, “…”

Is there a necessary connection between being robbed and passing as the top scholar?

“Of course, when it comes to fortune, no one can compare to my brother-in-law. Our Qingyun Mountain never engages in romance, you’re the first.”

Xie Jingchen, “…”

Su Jin felt a bit restless, saying, “It’s getting late, elder brother should return to the Marquis Mansion.”

The commotion on the street just now let many people know Su Chong is her elder brother, making the plan of Marquis Dongxiang fail before it even started.

Su Chong stood up, and Xie Jingchen asked someone to settle the bill.

Su Chong hooked his arm around Xie Jingchen’s shoulder as they went out, touching his own swollen eye corner, he said, “I haven’t heard you say a word, are you still feeling guilty about punching me before, feeling too ashamed to face me?”

Xie Jingchen, “…”

It’s just a punch, does he need to feel so guilty?

Not speaking, it’s simply because there’s no common ground to chat about!

But if he shakes his head, that won’t do, after all, he punched the man—

“A little,” he said.

Su Chong laughed, “Isn’t it just a punch? What a big deal.”

Xingxing blinked from the back, since when did the eldest young master become so easy-going?

She found it unusual.

The thought just flashed.

Xie Jingchen’s eye received a punch, causing him to let out a gasping breath of pain.

Xingxing looked forward and saw Su Chong patting Xie Jingchen’s shoulder, satisfied, “Alright, you don’t have to feel guilty anymore.”

Su Jin was stunned.

Xie Jingchen’s face darkened like a pot bottom, certainly no darker than his newly injured eye.

Su Chong looked at Su Jin and said, “You two head home early and have a good rest. I’ll go first.”

Watching Su Chong walk away, Su Jin silently glanced at Xie Jingchen, who was taking deep breaths, and she said, “Do you want me to bring you some writing tools?”

Xie Jingchen, with a dark face, said, “Don’t even think about causing more trouble for others!”

Su Jin, “…”

He still doesn’t agree to divorce?

Damn!

Could he possibly be a masochist?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep