Chapter 138 "I'll do it!" Zhu Ming...

"Let me do it!" Zhu Mingyue took the medicine.

Xie Pei's wound was still bleeding, and he shouldn't move. Zhu Mingyue blew on the medicine to cool it down before carefully feeding it to him.

After the doctor left, Zhu Mingyue sniffed and asked with a thick nasal voice, "Does it hurt?"

Xie Pei instinctively wanted to say it didn't hurt, but the words suddenly changed his mind: "It hurts."

Zhu Mingyue felt even more distressed. She put down the empty bowl, raised her hand to wipe away her tears, and said, "Since he tried to hurt you with a knife, couldn't you have dodged it? You have two perfectly healthy legs, surely you can't outrun someone with a broken leg lying in bed?"

Is it worth it?

Even if it's an eye for an eye, this method of atonement is far too severe.

Xie Pei lowered his eyes, a dark glint flashing in them briefly before he looked up, his face serious: "It's worth it."

Zhu Mingyue stared in disbelief, opened her mouth, but ultimately remained speechless.

"Ah Yue, I'm a little hungry."

Zhu Mingyue quickly got up: "I'll go out and find someone to make you some liquid food."

After saying that, he ran out, and after a while he ran back, searched through the clothes he had taken off, found two taels of silver, and ran out again.

He was in such a hurry that he forgot to bring his money.

Xie Pei watched his retreating figure until it disappeared from sight, the smile on her lips gradually faded, all the tenderness that belonged to Zhu Mingyue vanished, and her face turned as cold as frost.

A guard came in from outside and said, "General, the message has already been sent to the army."

Xie Pei nodded.

The guard looked up: "He Dayong was making a scene just now, demanding to see you."

Xie Pei said coldly, "I won't see you."

The bodyguard said, "He keeps insisting on taking revenge himself, and I don't know what to do."

"Revenge?" Then there probably won't be another chance. Xie Pei never intended to apologize from the very beginning.

He wants him to apologize? Does He Dayong even deserve it?

The wound in his abdomen throbbed with pain, but Xie Pei paid it no mind. He turned and ordered, "Tell him that I am now seriously injured and bedridden."

"Yes!" The guard received the order and immediately left.

The peace and quiet didn't last long before a commotion came from outside, and Zhu Mingyue came in, panting, carrying a food box.

Despite the lingering chill of early spring, Zhu Mingyue's forehead was beaded with sweat. He casually wiped it away with his arm and pulled out a bowl of rice porridge. "I bought this ready-made from a nearby eatery. You can't eat anything else right now, so have some porridge to tide you over."

Xie Pei didn't mind at all; he would even gladly accept Zhu Mingyue feeding him swill.

Although Xie Pei was injured, his appetite was the same as usual, and he finished the porridge in no time.

As Zhu Mingyue was clearing away the dishes, a sudden shout came from outside. It was so sudden that his hand trembled, and the dishes almost fell to the ground.

He Dayong was going crazy, smashing everything around him, leaving the room in a mess.

Zhu Mingyue peeked out and saw a soldier standing at the door, hesitant to go in. He seemed to notice Zhu Mingyue's gaze, turned his head to look at her, and his face was full of embarrassment.

Zhu Mingyue could see that the soldier had a wound on his face, with a bloodstain running down from his brow and almost disappearing into the corner of his eye.

"Are you alright? Shouldn't you get a doctor to treat your wound?" Zhu Mingyue took a few steps closer to him and asked in a low voice, pointing to her eye socket in case he couldn't hear her.

The soldier shut his mouth, shook his head, and touched his eyebrow. His hand was stained with blood. He stared at his palm, lost in thought.

"What are you standing there for! Come in and serve me!"

Angri curses rang out again from inside the house.

The soldier trembled, daring not to hesitate any longer, and hurriedly stepped into the house.

It seems that He Dayong not only treated him, a complete stranger, badly, but was also extremely harsh on his subordinates.

Zhu Mingyue saw this and felt some sympathy. If he had a boss like that, he definitely wouldn't be able to handle it and would try every means to switch jobs.

The sound of galloping hooves could be heard outside the clinic.

Guan Shao stormed into the clinic, but his murderous aura subsided slightly when he saw Zhu Mingyue. "Mingyue, where is Xie Pei?"

"General... Uncle, please come with me."

When the guards arrived at the military camp without stopping, Guan Shao was having a meal and was in a stable mood.

Xie Pei was clever, so he was convinced that even if someone suffered a loss in this apology, it would be He Dayong. That's why he came up with the idea of ​​having his personal guards keep an eye on Xie Pei to prevent him from doing anything reckless.

While eating, he pondered how to quell the rumors and gossip circulating among the soldiers that were detrimental to Xie Pei after this matter had subsided.

The arrival of his bodyguards completely disrupted his thoughts.

As for the apology, based on his understanding of Xie Pei, it would most likely be just verbal, but he didn't care. As long as Xie Pei was willing to do a superficial job, he would have his own way of resolving the matter, regardless of whether He Dayong was satisfied or not.

But he never expected Xie Pei to do it in such an extreme way.

No matter how angry Guan Shao was, he was only angry that Xie Pei didn't cherish his reputation. But now, let alone his reputation, his body was also injured.

He immediately dropped his chopsticks and rushed to the clinic himself.

"How do you feel? Is it a serious injury?" Guan Shao frowned upon seeing Xie Pei's abdominal wound.

Xie Pei shook his head: "It didn't damage the foundation."

Guan Shao breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, those of them who went to war needed to have a strong physique. If Xie Pei was unable to go to the battlefield due to his injury, it would be a huge loss for the Jizhou army and even the entire Li Dynasty.

"Mingyue, go out and check if the horse is properly led," Guan Shao said gently.

Zhu Mingyue knew that looking at the horses was just an excuse he made to get rid of people, so she wisely withdrew and closed the door before leaving.

Guan Shao waited for a while, until the footsteps outside the door gradually faded away, before gritting his teeth and angrily shouting, "Xie Pei, I think you've gone mad."

Xie Pei remained silent, his expression indifferent.

Guan Shao was truly furious: "I thought you were finally behaving yourself this time, willing to swallow your pride and apologize to settle this matter for the sake of your future."

"And yet you don't even care about your own body. What are you trying to do?!"

Guan Shao was panting heavily, extremely angry, and paced back and forth in front of the bed.

After pacing for a long time, probably having no other choice but to give in to Xie Pei, he finally stopped and reluctantly compromised.

“I know you’re still angry. I don’t care how you want to get revenge on him, but don’t use your body. If there’s a next time, I’ll tell Mingyue everything you’ve done.”

Upon hearing Zhu Mingyue's name, Xie Pei finally reacted, lifting his eyelids to look at Guan Shao: "It won't happen again." Once is enough.

"There will be no future!" Guan Shao said decisively, scolding in a low voice, "Isn't the strategy of killing two birds with one stone very useful?"

Xie Pei wanted to nod, but secretly felt that Zhu Mingyue shouldn't be associated with birds, so he didn't express his opinion.

Guan Shaoqi smiled. He had watched Xie Pei get to where he was today, so he knew exactly what Xie Pei was thinking.

By stabbing himself, he appeared to those who didn't know the situation as both apologizing and framing He Dayong.

After all, such a brutal method of apology was carried out "personally" by He Dayong, which, when it got back to the military, made He Dayong seem like a vindictive and malicious person.

Most importantly, he also won Zhu Mingyue's sympathy.

Did he really not know that Xie Pei was putting pressure on Zhu Mingyue?

He glanced at her sideways and snorted, "I can see that Mingyue likes you a lot, what more could you want?"

Xie Pei clenched his fists, his voice low and hoarse: "I want to marry A-Yue."

Guan Shao suddenly realized: "Just because Mingyue didn't take your relationship further, you're going to put yourself through all this trouble?"

He had seen people use sob stories to force marriage, but this was the first time he had ever seen someone use sob stories to force marriage. He was afraid only Xie Pei would do such a thing.

"How can you be so sure he'll fall for your act?" He blurted out without thinking, then pondered it for a moment and realized that Zhu Mingyue might actually be susceptible to it.

If he doesn't understand Zhu Mingyue, how could he not understand Xie Pei?

This guy never fights a battle unprepared; if he's using such a risky tactic, it must be because he has a well-thought-out plan.

After Guan Shao figured it out, his expression finally softened, and he muttered under his breath, "Why didn't you just stab his kidneys?"

Xie Pei froze, and remained silent.

Guan Shao only scolded him a few times, told him to rest well, and then went to He Dayong's place.

Zhu Mingyue had been watching from outside. Seeing that Guan Shao had left, he quickly ran back into the room and knelt down beside the bed, asking, "Did General Guan say anything?" He had just noticed that Guan Shao's expression was extremely bad, and he was frightened by it.

Xie Pei reassured her, "He didn't say anything."

"Does the wound still hurt?"

"Um."

Zhu Mingyue stood up. "I'll find a doctor to take another look at you."

Xie Pei raised his hand and pulled the person back: "No need."

"Then what should we do?"

"It's enough that you're here with me."

Zhu Mingyue's ears turned red, but she couldn't bear to pull her hand away. She leaned back down, her eyes still red and swollen, her eyelashes stuck together, fluttering as she stared at Xie Pei's profile.

After a long silence, he spoke softly, "Xie Pei, you had a fight with He Dayong because of me, didn't you?"

Zhu Mingyue's voice was soft and pitiful, and Xie Pei's heart seemed to be struck. He swallowed hard and finally denied it, saying, "Not entirely."

Zhu Mingyue pursed her lips: "Actually, I know everything. There are rumors circulating in the army about the relationship between the two of us. It's He Dayong who's behind it, right? You beat him up for that reason, didn't you?"

Xie Pei and He Dayong were completely unrelated. Xie Pei looked down on him and would never beat someone up in the central army camp for no reason. After thinking it over, he could only think of this reason.

Xie Pei turned her head to meet his gaze, her expression incredibly gentle. "Don't overthink it, he just deserves a beating."

There are many ways to deal with He Dayong discreetly; there's no need to act so impulsively.

However, He Dayong crossed his bottom line after meeting Zhu Mingyue.

He couldn't believe how heartbroken and upset Zhu Mingyue would be if those vile words eventually reached her ears.

Zhu Mingyue is pure and innocent, and will not tolerate anyone using filthy words to tarnish her.

After learning about He Dayong's actions, he considered the man utterly worthless.

But this is just the beginning; everything is just getting started.

Zhu Mingyue noticed Xie Pei's ambiguous response.

He suddenly stretched out his head and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Xie Pei, let's get married. I want to be with you openly and honestly."

Xie Pei seemed frozen in place. After a long while, he nervously gripped Zhu Mingyue's hand and asked, "What did you say?"

Zhu Mingyue's expression was more serious than ever: "Xie Pei, let's get married!"

He no longer wanted to secretly date Xie Pei, lest someone catch him red-handed and gossip about him behind his back.

He didn't want Xie Pei to get into conflicts with others over such matters, have to abandon his self-respect to apologize, and suffer such torment.

The moment he saw Xie Pei injured, he understood.

Xie Pei's love for him was bright and passionate.

However, he remained hidden within the protective network that Xie Pei had provided for him.

Xie Pei wanted to be with him openly and honestly, so he would give him an open and honest reason.

Xie Pei closed his eyes, his chest pounding like drums, as if all the muscles in his body were trembling uncontrollably, overwhelmed with excitement.

"Xie Pei?"

A slight itch came from Zhu Mingyue's palm as she gently scratched it with her fingertips.

Xie Pei opened his eyes, his gaze filled with an unprecedented brilliance. "Alright, let's get married."