emotional debts come knocking
"Is Miss Qiu Qingye sitting in the car?" The man's voice was deep and resonant, sounding very energetic.
Lin Yi, however, sensed a hint of accusation in his tone. She thought to herself, "Could it be that they've come seeking revenge?" In the original story, Qiu Qing also courted death everywhere, making countless enemies both openly and secretly. If he truly came seeking malicious revenge, things would likely not end well.
She remained seated in the carriage for a moment. Then she heard another weak voice urgently call out, "Miss Qiu, I know you're in the carriage! Come down, come down and see me!"
Why does this sound so familiar to Lin Yi?
No sooner had the words been spoken than the owner of the voice couldn't wait any longer and took two or three steps to lift the carriage curtain.
Cang Xie moved with lightning speed, blocking the person in front of the car, and asked sternly, "What are you doing?"
The one with the strong voice must have been his servant. Seeing his master being blocked, he stepped forward and grabbed Cang Xie's clothes, saying, "Who do you think you are, talking to my young master like that? My young master is here to see Miss Qiu. Get out of my way."
Cang Xie naturally wouldn't let anyone in, and stood motionless in front of the car.
The situation outside was at a stalemate, and it sounded like a fight had broken out. Lin Yi sighed deeply, slowly lifted the carriage curtain, and told Xueya not to go out before leaving.
The two people opposite, master and servant, were of unknown background, but their intentions were clearly hostile. Cang Xie called out worriedly, "Miss Qiu..."
Lin Yi patted his shoulder to indicate that he was alright. Then he faced the so-called "young master" who had openly blocked the carriage in broad daylight with a serious expression.
When the young master saw her, his eyes lit up, and he called out "Qingye" in a friendly and ingratiating tone. His voice was weak and greasy, which gave Lin Yi goosebumps.
"What business does the young master have with me?"
The young master took a step back in shock, saying incredulously, "You've really forgotten me?"
"I'm sorry, I haven't been resting well these days, my head is foggy, and I can't remember some things clearly." Although Lin Yi apologized, his expression and tone were neither humble nor arrogant, showing little remorse.
The burly servant who followed the young master said, "Young master, you've been fooled by her. She doesn't mean she doesn't remember; she just wants to get rid of you!"
Upon hearing this, the young master's eyes widened in terror.
Lin Yimei's eyes narrowed, a hint of sarcasm in them, and she scolded, "I'm talking to your young master, what right do you have to interrupt?"
Just a moment ago, the young master looked like a wilted eggplant, but after hearing this proud rebuke, his eyes revealed a deep and infatuated affection.
Seeing his sleazy appearance, Lin Yi seemed to know who he was. In the original book, Qiu Qingye didn't have many admirers, and among them, the only one who could make people feel disgusted at first glance was Zhao Binglin, the son of Zhao Taifu.
This man was an idle and incompetent man who lusted after beautiful women. He spoke in a boastful manner, walked unsteadily, and looked like he had kidney deficiency. He was cowardly, yet he constantly harassed Qiu Qing. Finally, Qiu Qing could no longer tolerate him and poisoned him to death.
Lin Yi seemed to recognize him just now, his eyes widening slightly as he exclaimed in surprise, "Young Master Zhao!"
Zhao Binglin said excitedly, "I knew you wouldn't forget me, Qingye."
"Indeed, I haven't forgotten. Young master, what brings you here to stop my carriage with such a large entourage?"
Zhao Binglin sensed the reproach in her words. He scolded the servant, "I told you to be quiet, don't scare Qingye! Look what you've done!"
Although he looked frivolous, he could be quite stern and impatient when he reprimanded someone, and the fat servant lowered his head and stammered, not daring to answer.
After reprimanding the person, Zhao Binglin smiled sheepishly, his hands clasped together, looking extremely awkward.
Lin Yi couldn't stand men acting coy and pretentious, so he turned to get back into the car, saying, "If there's nothing else, I'll head back home."
Zhao Binglin quickly called out to her, "Qingye!" He looked around, clearly concerned about something, "Could I invite you to dinner? We can talk while we eat."
"Miss Qiu." Cang Xie stepped aside to shield her behind him.
"No need, let's just talk here."
Zhao Binglin seemed to finally be unable to hold back any longer and asked her, "Qingye, are you really married to Xie Chengnan?"
Lin nodded: "Yes."
"How could you! Didn't you promise me that you would meet me as long as I arranged for people to stop that person outside the pass? You said you loved me, and now that I've done what I promised, you've married someone else?!"
He was excited and, without any regard for the crowd at the street corner, asked the question without any hesitation.
Lin Yi's head was pounding. Could "that person" be referring to Zhan Xian, the female lead of the original book and the crown prince's sweetheart...?
The revelation in Zhao Binglin's words was quite significant. Cang Xie turned to look at her in astonishment, and passersby also cast scrutinizing and pointing glances at her.
At the crucial moment, Xueya became quick-witted, lifted the curtain and slipped out of the carriage, hands on her hips, her aura sharp and arrogant: "What nonsense are you talking about! Our young lady is of noble birth, would she look at you? It's probably because you've been pestering our young lady and haven't been able to win her over, so you've made up this baseless story to slander her!"
The burly young servant rolled up his sleeves and was about to grab her: "How dare you talk like that, you little brat? Our young master is a dragon among men; it's his good fortune to have taken a liking to your young lady!"
"Pah!"
Xueya was about to go forward without showing any weakness, but Lin Yi grabbed her hand and pulled her aside, gently shaking his head at her.
Cang Xie took a step forward and blocked the two of them, grabbed the servant's hand, and with a burst of strength, his knuckles cracked.
The servant cried out in pain and squatted down, clutching his arms.
"My God!" Xueya exclaimed in surprise, clearly not expecting that the usually gentle and taciturn Guard Cang would have such skills.
The servant was also trained; even in excruciating pain, he could still use the momentum to attack, sweeping his leg across with the force of his crouching stance, aiming straight for Cang Xie's base.
Cang Xie easily dodged, but deviated from his original position. Zhao Binglin took the opportunity to come in front of Lin Yi and reached out to pull her.
Cang Xie hurriedly returned to help, blocking with his elbow. Zhao Binglin staggered back a few steps, barely managing to regain his footing.
Taking on two opponents at once would have been no problem for Cang Xie, but he was mindful of Zhao Binglin's status as a young master from a prestigious family and dared not actually harm them. He also had to be constantly on guard against the two of them suddenly attacking Qiu Qingye.
For a time, the situation remained deadlocked.
Xueya also joined in, shouting loudly and making a show of force, but it was all just a sham. The fat servant pushed her hard, and she fell to the ground. The fall was so hard that she couldn't get up for a while.
Lin Yi used all her strength to help the person up. She, a delicate and fragile student of this era, had no martial arts skills whatsoever, and Qiu Qingye's body was even more delicate. She couldn't help at all and could only worry anxiously.
Although Zhao Binglin was weak and incompetent, he fought without any strategy, intending to die with his opponent. He was both weak and difficult to deal with.
He showed none of the demeanor of a noble scion, grabbing Cang Xie by the waist and shoving him against the wall, shouting to the servant, "Hulu, beat him up!"
Cang Xie kicked the fat gourd that was lunging at him, then tore Zhao Binglin off his body and threw him aside.
He was so engrossed in the fight that he didn't hold back, and Zhao Binglin was about to fall straight down, headfirst. If he really hit that hard, he would be stunned even if he wasn't stupid.
Just before the person touched the ground, Cang Xie reached out and caught them.
Zhao Binglin suddenly launched an attack, punching him squarely in the face.
Despite being the strength of an adult man, Cang Xie's face instantly turned red. Just then, Fatty Hulu locked his neck from behind.
Seeing this, Lin Yi disregarded her delicate and frail health. She didn't believe that the two from the Zhao family would actually dare to hit her; at most, she would just be taken advantage of.
She ran over and shoved Zhao Binglin aside, but someone grabbed her wrist.
Although Zhao Binglin looked weak, he was much stronger than Lin Yi. Lin Yi couldn't break free, and his hand, which was being held tightly by Zhao Binglin, was already aching.
When Cang Xie saw that the young lady of the enemy family was being restrained, he no longer cared about keeping his secrets. He bent down and threw the fat gourd hanging on his back from back to front to the ground, making the gourd see stars.
He moved swiftly, aiming straight for Zhao Binglin's right wrist, but another hand was even faster.
The hand was fair-skinned and slender, with well-proportioned bones and flesh. It appeared in Lin Yi's line of sight unexpectedly, and the wrist was nimbly turned, with two fingers gently striking the wrist that was holding Lin Yi.
Lin Yijue quickly loosened his grip on Zhao Binglin's hand, and then saw Zhao Binglin squatting on the ground, clutching his hand and groaning in pain.
"When did your kung fu deteriorate so much?" Xie Chengnan said indifferently.
"Young Master!"
"I told you to call me Lord Marquis." After saying that, he kicked Zhao Binglin against the wall again, then braced himself with his toe.
“You attacked and injured my men right at the gate of my Xie residence. Have you thought about how you want to die?”
That entrance and those lines were really cool, Lin Yi thought to himself.
His kick looked fierce, but he actually controlled the force, only fixing the person to the wall to prevent escape, without causing any serious injury.
Zhao Binglin still had the strength to kick him, accusingly saying, "Qingye clearly likes me, she promised to meet me!"
"Oh?" Xie Chengnan seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. "You mean my new wife doesn't like me, but likes you? You should really take a good look at yourself before you say that to me." He tilted his head, as if he was really puzzled. "What do you think is better than me?"
Zhao Binglin was so angry with him that he could barely speak, pointing at him and saying, "You, you—"
"What do you mean, 'you'? You attacked and injured someone at my doorstep, leered at a married woman, and were so disrespectful to my wife. If you know what's good for you, get out of here now, or I'll have to report Zhao Taifu to the Emperor!"
He spoke sternly and made it sound very convincing.
As soon as Xie Chengnan lifted his foot, Zhao Binglin hurriedly got up and ran away, not even bothering to take the servant boy named Hulu with him.
Seeing that his master had run away, Hulu hurriedly limped after him.
The farce finally ended, and Lin Yi felt a little guilty. After all, it was truly dishonorable to agree to meet someone in private and then go back on your word, requiring your current husband to bail you out.
Xie Chengnan, unusually, did not make any sarcastic remarks, but simply said, "Let's go."
"Wait a minute," Lin Yi called out to him. "I brought some things, and they're a bit heavy. I might need you to find someone to help me carry them in."
Xie Chengnan lifted the carriage curtain, intending to see what good things she had brought back from her parents' home. Then his hand froze in the motion of lifting the curtain.
Lin Yi touched his nose guiltily, "There's a lot, let's call someone."
Xie Chengnan withdrew his hand, looked at her with a complicated expression, and finally resigned himself to his fate, saying, "Where did these people come from? Move them."
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