The differing personalities of the two determined their completely different attitudes towards this matter.
Xiao Hong stopped Shen Yun and directly asked him what he needed to do to repay his kindness.
Shen Yun smiled faintly, waved his hand, and said it was a small matter and he shouldn't take it to heart.
Xiao Hong thought he didn't want to say it in front of so many people, so he asked if they could speak in private.
"No need, I can hear it, and so can my wife." Shen Yun was starting to get impatient with Xiao Hong.
Didn't he see that he hadn't seen his wife for a long time and was now eager to spend time with her?
Didn't his conscience hurt him for delaying his time with his wife like this?
"The grace of saving a life is greater than the heavens, how can I not take it to heart?" Xiao Hong thought Shen Yun looked down on him.
"Although I am being hunted by the Misty Rain Pavilion now, I will eventually have a day to kill my way back.
The Misty Rain Pavilion will be mine sooner or later, and I will not fail to repay your kindness." Xiao Hong tried his best to keep his tone from being too emotional.
Shen Yun frowned, "I said you don't need to repay me."
"You look down on me?" Xiao Hong was furious.
He had already said that he would take back the Misty Rain Pavilion, why didn't he believe him?
The two said nothing, yet their tempers flared up more and more.
Su Xiaoqi leaned against the carriage, watching this scene, and couldn't help but feel a mix of laughter and tears.
Neither of these two men had bad intentions, and they were both sharp-tongued individuals, but when it came to discussing this matter, they always failed to get to the point, which was very absurd.
Su Xiaoqi, fearing that the two of them would really start a fight, had no choice but to step forward and say:
"Young Master Xiao, my husband doesn't mean anything else. He actually wants to tell you that he didn't find his way here for you, but to find me.
Bringing you out was just a casual act, so please don't take it to heart."
Shen Yun nodded, his face full of agreement, that was exactly what he meant.
He just didn't want to say it in front of Xiao Hong.
Although Su Xiaoqi's words were not very pleasant, Xiao Hong felt much better after hearing them.
He had already experienced how good the relationship between these two was.
They were the type to show affection at the drop of a hat.
His appearance here was naturally for his woman.
Saving him was just a casual act.
This was a fact, and there was nothing to dwell on.
It was just that couldn't the couple speak more directly?
He was, after all, the young master of the Misty Rain Pavilion—though he was currently in a bit of a sorry state from being chased, this was only temporary.
He would repay the kindness owed to him, and the grudges held against him.
"Alright, Brother Xiao, you are a man of the martial world, why are you so conflicted?
Speaking of which, Sister Xiao Qi is my sister, and I have to address the Crown Prince's eldest cousin as brother and sister. You and my eldest cousin are also sworn brothers and sisters from childhood, so in a roundabout way, aren't you also siblings?"
At the crucial moment, Du Yiyi's words of sibling affection moved Xiao Hong.
Moreover, he had indeed seen it clearly.
Shen Yun was not as complicated as he thought.
And he was originally a straightforward person; the reason he had become like this was all due to that person called Zhao Something Little Something Flower before.
If it weren't for her coming with her act of demanding repayment for a favor, he wouldn't have thought so much.
Su Xiaoqi didn't want these two to continue talking. If they started arguing again over another topic, she couldn't be bothered to mediate, so she simply said:
"It's almost戌时 (xū shí, 7-9 PM), the city gates have long been closed. I have a hot spring manor in the southern suburbs. If it's convenient, Young Master Xiao can stay there temporarily."
Xiao Hong hesitated for a moment, then stopped dwelling on it.
He truly had nowhere else to go at the moment.
All the manors and residences under his name would surely have been staked out by Xiao Xin's men. If he went there, he would likely be caught by Xiao Xin's people.
Moreover, he was injured and urgently needed a place to recuperate.
"Then it's settled." Shen Yun arranged for Zhang Lei to escort Xiao Hong there, while they, their group, drove with wind-blown lanterns on the night road towards Ganspring Temple.
Shen Yun knew a small path that could lead up, unseen and unheard, without alarming anyone.
The group hurried on their way under the cover of night, unaware that in a dark corner, a pair of eyes had been watching them all along.
Her eyes were almost spitting fire.
She had painstakingly planned, and the entire plan was so perfect.
Not a single link in all the checkpoints had broken.
She was almost successful.
But in the end, she failed.
Was this God's will, that what was not hers would never be hers?
No, it was impossible.
Zhao Xiaohua looked at Jia Sanyu. Clearly, in her previous life, Aunt Jia had followed Shen Yun, and in this life, she was still following her.
The failure was not related to fate, but mainly to the person who messed things up.
Zhao Xiaohua clenched her fist, and her right index finger forcefully scratched a name on her thigh.
It was all her. Everyone else had appeared in her previous life, only she was an anomaly. If not for her, if not for her, she would have succeeded.
"Miss, let's go back," Jia Sanyu said softly.
"No, we can't go back just like this. If I can't have him, then others shouldn't expect to be his helpers."
Zhao Xiaohua, holding the torch, turned and headed back into the Devil Stone Forest. She wanted to find the people from the Misty Rain Pavilion and bring them out, so they could continue to fulfill their duties.
Jia Sanyu saw the malice in Zhao Xiaohua's eyes through the torchlight and frowned.
She felt that Zhao Xiaohua had changed, unlike the kind Zhao Xiaohua she had first met.
Meanwhile, Su Xiaoqi and her group successfully returned to Ganspring Temple.
They returned to their respective residences to report their safety.
Du Yiyi lived a little further out. Su Xiaoqi escorted her, and Shen Yun escorted her further towards Luoxia Courtyard.
As they passed a courtyard, Su Xiaoqi suddenly stopped.
She pulled Shen Yun, gently "shushed" him, and looked at him with a serious expression.
Shen Yun was initially confused but quickly understood.
On the other side of a gray wall, a man and a woman were whispering.
Unfortunately, he knew the man, and they had only met recently.
"Ru'er, believe me, I will definitely marry you." The man was endlessly affectionate, constantly making promises.
"My Lord Prince, you, you are the Crown Prince of Prince Duan, of noble status. I, a mere daughter of a merchant, with only mediocre looks, how could I dare to hope to marry you?
I think, let's just forget it. After leaving this door, after tonight, let's pretend we never knew each other." The woman's voice was mournful and desolate, heartbreaking.
Su Xiaoqi's eyebrows moved slightly, and she exchanged a knowing glance with Shen Yun, mouthing: "Is that Su Yurou?"
Shen Yun nodded.
Su Xiaoqi's eyes widened, and her uncontrollable gossip instincts screamed to break free.
Didn't Su Yurou like Shen Yun?
With such deep affection in the past, why did she turn around and throw herself into another man's arms?
And that Prince, how did these two people, whose statuses were worlds apart and had no connection whatsoever, get entangled?
And they were acting so affectionate, so in love.
Su Xiaoqi tugged at Shen Yun, and the two retreated from the wall, continuing to walk forward. After ensuring that the other side of the wall could not hear them, Su Xiaoqi said, "Was that the Crown Prince of Prince Duan?"
Shen Yun nodded, genuinely so.