Chapter 24 Meng Rui looked at the two with satisfaction…

Meng Rui glanced with satisfaction at the "sincere" gazes of his two underlings, but then, a moment later, he rested his chin on his hand and said listlessly:

"It will take some time before the guests leave, so the three of us will have to stay here for a while."

Meng Rui listlessly scanned the other two people, but when his gaze fell on Xie Baoqiong again, it suddenly lit up:

"Ah-Jung, what were you trying to do by taking me out just now?"

Before an incense stick had burned, Xie Baoqiong pulled Meng Rui away, intending to find out news about Princess Huayang from him. However, after being disturbed by the "haunted" incident in the bamboo forest, it might not be a good time to bring it up now.

Xie Baoqiong hesitated slightly before glancing at Qi Gui, then met his anxious eyes as she looked expectantly at him and Meng Rui.

It wouldn't be a problem if more people knew about this; who knows, Qi Gui might know something about it too.

After thinking it through, he realized that what Xie Baoqiong mentioned had nothing to do with Princess Huayang. Having spent so much time in the mortal world, especially after listening to Xie Zhuo's lessons for so long, he had made a lot of progress.

He responded to Meng Rui's question first: "I wanted to play with you in that spacious area of ​​the bamboo forest, but I didn't expect there to be so many mosquitoes at this time of year."

Meng Rui truly didn't see anything wrong with it, and even echoed his words.

Xie Baoqiong took the opportunity to bring up his reaction when they first met at the Mengrui Marquis's residence:

"Meng Rui, why were you so afraid of me before?"

The air suddenly fell silent. Meng Rui glanced at Xie Baoqiong, whose face remained calm, and Qi Gui, who was silently listening to their conversation. A blush rose on her ears and cheeks: "I'm not scared at all!"

Xie Baoqiong maintained a calm and composed expression. "Yes, you're not afraid."

Meng Rui, unsure whether he believed Xie Baoqiong's words, covered his reddened earlobes and said with a hint of resignation:

"I just believed the rumors in the capital and mistook you for..." Meng Rui's voice trailed off, the last two words almost inaudible, but then he said righteously, "Who told you to appear and disappear without a sound when we first met? Oh, right, you also lied to me and said your father was the head of the Ministry of Rites."

"Young Master Xie didn't lie to you. You mistakenly thought Young Master Xie was the son of the Minister of Rites." Before Xie Baoqiong could speak, Qi Gui, who had been silent since earlier, suddenly spoke up to refute her.

Xie Baoqiong didn't think anything was wrong, assuming that Qi Gui was one of the young masters present that day and just happened to overhear his conversation with Meng Rui.

Meng Rui was speechless at Qi Gui's words. His cheeks puffed up and then deflated, and he crossed his arms, showing no sign of wanting to talk to the two of them anymore.

Xie Baoqiong's attention was quickly drawn to Meng Rui's first words, and she had no time to divert her attention to the question between Meng Rui and Qi Gui. She asked:

"What rumors are circulating in the capital? And they have something to do with me?" Xie Baoqiong hadn't expected that his casual question would elicit such a pleasant surprise.

"You don't know?" Meng Rui turned his head back, which he had turned to the side, and stared at the person who made the rumor.

"Should I know?"

Meng Rui scanned Xie Baoqiong's face, which was as white as paper, and felt a guilty sense of having caused trouble. The rumor had been circulating in the capital for more than two months. After all, it was a rumor about a noble person. Although it was not widely publicized, anyone who wanted to find out would know a thing or two.

Xie Baoqiong's astonished expression clearly indicated that someone didn't want him to know. As for who that person was, it was most likely the owner of the mansion beneath his feet.

Meng Rui remained silent for a while before adding, "Ah Qiong, the rumors in the capital shouldn't be taken seriously."

Xie Baoqiong did not answer, but stared silently at Meng Rui.

The two remained locked in a stalemate, and even the air around them seemed to freeze.

The one who broke the silence wasn't either of the two, but rather Qi Gui, who had previously shown timidity:

"Young Master Xie, I have also heard some rumors."

Xie Baoqiong withdrew her gaze from the stalemate with Meng Rui and turned towards the direction of the sound. Qi Gui's eyes were still red from crying in the bamboo forest. He shrank back, his hands clenched into fists in front of his chest. When he saw Xie Baoqiong looking over, he looked down again.

After spending some time together, Xie Baoqiong had grown accustomed to Qi Gui's cautious manner. She calmly withdrew her overly direct gaze and reassured him:

"You can call me A-Qiong, just like Meng Rui does."

Qi Gui, like a quail with its head down, cautiously took a step forward, his voice barely audible: "Ah Qiong."

Xie Baoqiong responded and continued to guide the conversation: "What have you heard?"

Behind Xie Baoqiong, Meng Rui kept giving Qi Gui meaningful glances.

But even as his eye twitched, Qi Gui didn't spare a single glance in his direction.

With a sigh, Meng Rui made no further move, calming himself and waiting for Qi Gui to speak.

"Three months ago, there was a rumor in the capital that Minister Xie did not love the princess as much as he appeared to. Although he had not married since the princess passed away, he had been keeping a mistress for a long time. Now that the mistress's son is a little older, he couldn't help but bring him back to his residence."

Even more shockingly, rumors circulated that Lord Xie was behind the princess's disappearance.

As he spoke, Qi Gui secretly glanced at Xie Baoqiong's reaction.

Meng Rui, who had been listening intently, secretly breathed a sigh of relief. This version of the rumor was outdated and had been overturned by later rumors.

Therefore, he openly looked at Xie Baoqiong's face, but the latter showed no anger, so the rumors were indeed false.

As another protagonist mentioned in the rumors, Xie Baoqiong knew more than Xie Zhuo, such as that Xie Zhuo, as a human being, could never give birth to a stone.

Therefore, he certainly couldn't get angry at all.

But this rumor seemed unrelated to Meng Rui treating him like a ghost, so Xie Baoqiong pressed for details:

Are there any others?

Qi Gui's eyes reddened, and he spoke with a hint of guilt:

“Ah-Jung, I…I only overheard a couple of sentences during the servants’ casual conversation at the manor.”

The implication is that this is all they know.

It seemed he was just like him, a pitiful person whose ears were covered and who couldn't hear what was happening outside. Xie Baoqiong looked at Qi Gui's flushed face with sympathy and comforted him:

"You know more than I do."

As he spoke, the blush that had been lingering on Qi Guiben's cheeks began to creep down, soon covering his entire face.

Xie Baoqiong twitched her fingers a few times, resisting the urge to poke Qi Gui's face, which had turned redder again. It turned out that a person's face could be redder than a fox's fur.

His gaze shifted from Qi Gui, who was about to burst into smoke, and turned to another person behind the screen.

Meng Rui shrank his neck, looked away, and tried to pretend nothing had happened.

"Good Rui'er."

As soon as he finished speaking, Meng Rui shuddered, couldn't help but rub the hairs standing on end on his arms, and said spinelessly:

"Don't call me that. I'll talk. I'll tell you everything."

Xie Baoqiong tilted his head and looked at Meng Rui with a puzzled expression. He was still thinking of using his words to persuade him, but how come the latter was willing to speak after he only said a few nice words? When Xie Zhu praised him like that, was he so generous?

Before he could recall, Meng Rui's words spilled out:

"Let me make this clear first: what I'm about to tell you today cannot be told to anyone else that I'm talking to you."

Xie Baoqiong was unaware of Meng Rui's concerns, but in order to find out more, she simply agreed.

Meng Rui, of course, hadn't forgotten Qi Gui standing to the side. After receiving their assurances, he still didn't rush to speak, instead calmly keeping them in suspense:

Do you guys still remember the competition on the first day of the spring search?

"I remember." But Xie Baoqiong couldn't figure out how this had anything to do with the rumors. He hadn't competed with anyone that day. If anyone had seen him, it would have been on the third day of the Spring Festival.

Meng Rui seemed to see through his thoughts: "When you appeared beside the Princess that night, many people saw you, but at that time they only speculated about your identity in their hearts, and no one knew about your relationship with Lord Xie."

Later, something unexpected happened. When Lord Xie rushed to protect you, it was witnessed by everyone present. After the spring search ended, the rumors intensified.

After going around in circles for a while, he still hadn't gotten to the point. Fortunately, his patience had been nurtured when he was still a tombstone. Xie Baoqiong shifted to a more comfortable position, leaning against the screen to wait for the key part of Meng Rui's words.

"Rumors say that you are the child of Lord Xie and the Princess, otherwise why would the Princess treat you so intimately?"

"This seems to have nothing to do with you being scared by me?"

Meng Rui glanced at Xie Baoqiong, who had interrupted him, leaned closer, lowered his voice, and said mysteriously, "Here comes the important part: you are the only one who has returned to the Marquis's mansion this time. Rumors have it that the princess may have had an accident after leaving the capital, and you are the child born from the princess's obsession after her death."

"..." Xie Baoqiong fell silent, a rare occurrence, struggling to understand why the last sentence of the rumor was so inconsistent with the preceding tone.

Meng Rui concluded by defending himself: "I didn't make these up, and I didn't mean to speak ill of others behind their backs." But then, with a gossipy look in his eyes, he turned his gaze to the person at the center of the storm:

"Ah Qiong." The implication, coupled with Meng Rui's expectant expression, made even the stunned Xie Baoqiong understand what he wanted to say.

But he simply retorted righteously, "Rumors should not be taken seriously."

Startled, Meng Rui froze for a moment, then, as if playing, lunged at Xie Baoqiong.

Unexpectedly, Xie Baoqiong was leaning against the low screen, and she hadn't anticipated Meng Rui's strong reaction, so she was caught off guard.

The screen could not withstand the sudden impact, creaked twice, and collapsed to the ground with a loud bang.

Qi Gui squatted on the spot, staring blankly at the sudden change in front of him, completely unable to react, but he knew that Meng Rui's original plan should have fallen through.

Before Meng Rui could even prop himself up on the screen, he felt his previously loose collar suddenly tighten, as if a hand was choking him.

Looking up with that force, Meng Rui saw Meng Si's face, which was smiling in the sunlight with a sinister look. For a moment, it was somewhat expected, but it didn't stop Meng Rui from shivering on this warm day.

"Hehe, big brother, let go of your little brother first."

Meng Si glanced at the empty screen after Xie Baoqiong was helped up by Xie Rongjing, moved it slightly, and let go. Meng Rui fell solidly onto the grass with a thud.

Xie Rongjing's voice drifted from the side above: "Qiong'er, where did you fall?"

Meng Rui rubbed his face as he got up from the ground, grabbed Meng Si's robe and stood up, muttering to himself, "Big brother, you should learn how to be a good older brother."

Meng Si stared at the grass clippings that had suddenly appeared on her robe, and said with a forced smile, "Let's wait and see when you stop causing trouble."