Rong Qiu was still managing the matter near the lake when he felt that someone was coming. He turned around and saw a stunningly handsome man which he had already guessed what the man"s ident.i.ty was. However, he still pretended to be oblivious to the handsome man"s presence.
After all, they had never officially met yet.
His indifferent reaction made the esteemed guest flare up, but he knew that he wasn"t in his own kingdom and he should restrain himself for a little bit. Besides, he always stayed inside his courtyard and he couldn"t blame Uncle Qiu because of that.
The esteemed guest pasted a smile on his face and greeted Uncle Qiu, "Good morning, Uncle Qiu."
Rong Qiu couldn"t pretend that he didn"t hear him, thus, he turned around and smiled to the esteemed guest, "Good morning! You are...?" He deliberately trailed off at the last part.
"My name is Bai Bing Wen and I"m a guest here," The esteemed guest answered while pointing at the place where he had stayed for the past few weeks.
He finally revealed his own name, after all, Rong Qiu has tried to inquire his name for several times --- but failed. He also didn"t know this man"s ident.i.ty in the Qin Kingdom. Bai Bing Wen --- he would take note of this name and find out more about him.
Rong Qiu pretended to be surprised and he quickly bowed politely at Bai Bing Wen. "Ah... so you are our Emperor"s esteemed guest," he said politely.
"No need to be so polite..." Bai Bing Wen said leisurely while waving his hand to show his superiority.
Rong Qiu knew Bai Bing Wen just talked for the sake of it, because he could see how arrogant the latter was. However, he was still able to maintain his calmness. He pretty much had guessed why the esteemed guest tried to meet him.
Fortunately, he had just sent away the last batch of servants and maidservants that he chased away. He had to let go of a total of thirteen people. At least, he hoped that those servants would be safe from this man"s clutches --- he could see how wicked this Bai Bing Wen was.
Bai Bing Wen squinted his eyes when he looked at the back of those scared servants. He asked, "What happened? Why did you chase them away?" It might look like harmless questions, but Rong Qiu could see the ruthless glint inside his eyes --- indeed, this man was dangerous. It was better not to fight head on with him.
Rong Qiu explained, "These servants had done so many wrongdoings over time and I used to turn a blind eye. However, after I checked what they did one by one, I realized that there is a possibility that their wrongdoings could be the reason why Aunt Yue was kidnapped. Their negligences were pretty severe."
After that, Rong Qiu pretended to sigh in defeat, "If only I paid attention to this beforehand... Aunt Yue wouldn"t be easily kidnapped. I already searched for her everywhere, but couldn"t find her trace!"
Bai Bing Wen furrowed his eyebrows and asked, "You have never paid attention to this, so why do you suddenly change your mind?"
Rong Qiu answered with a face full of anger, "Not to lie to you. I had a good relations.h.i.+p with Aunt Yue and always spent two or three days a week to chat with her. I"ve felt the injustice for her disappearance... That"s why I want to check everything until it"s clear! I"m worried about her safety ah~!"
Bai Bing Wen looked doubtfully at him. Of course, he knew about their good relations.h.i.+p from his spy. However, why did he seem to be care a lot about Aunt Yue? Bai Bing Wen asked without filtering his words, "What kind of relations.h.i.+p that you have with Aunt Yue?"
Rong Qiu"s face darkened. He thought to himself in anger, "What does he mean with that statement?! Does he imply that I have an illicit relations.h.i.+p with Aunt Yue?!" He really wanted to kill the arrogant man in front him --- after all, he was smearing his name and Aunt Yue"s name at the same time.
Rong Qiu asked, "Da Ren, what do you mean?" Rong Qiu didn"t know his official position in the Qin Kingdom, thus, he decided to call Bai Bing Wen as Da Ren.
"Why do you care so much? Isn"t she just a prisoner... and an old one?!" Bai Beng Wen asked without beating around the bush. He didn"t even bother to correct the way Rong Qiu addressed him.
Rong Qiu tried to maintain his calmness, but what he said really made Rong Qiu mad. How could Bai Bing Wen not see Rong Qiu"s livid expression? He paid attention to Rong Qiu"s face and there was no guilty expression in there. Knowing this, he felt relieved. It seemed like there was nothing going on between them.
Yes, he talked rudely just to test Rong Jiu.
If Rong Qiu knew what inside Bai Bing Wen"s mind was, he would certainly vomit blood in anger.
Rong Qiu gritted his teeth in vexation but he still needed to give Bai Bing Wen a face and it really killed him inwardly. After all, the man had just insulted his mother! "Da Ren... there are a lot of relations.h.i.+p in this world and it doesn"t have to be amorous. I treated her as a friend because my life here is boring, even though I like the calmness that this Crescent Lake has offered, I have no friend!" Rong Qiu explained in displeasure.
"Ah... I see..." Bai Bing Wen answered without feeling guilty. Then he apologized, "I"m sorry for offending you, Uncle Qiu. I will pay attention to my words next time."
Rong Qiu realized that this man had the ability to choke him to death with his words! Rong Qiu could only laugh awkwardly while being forced to receive his apology.
"What else happened?" Bai Bing Wen tried to inquire more information from Uncle Qiu.
Rong Qiu looked at him in hesitation, not knowing whether he should tell him the truth or not. Bai Bing Wen noticed this and knew that Uncle Qiu had something to say, "Just tell me! I won"t get angry or blame you."
Rong Qiu rolled his eyes inwardl. Why should he bother even if Bai Bing Wen got angry ah~?!
Rong Qiu didn"t hide it from Bai Bing Wen, after all, he knew that the latter"s spies must have gotten the news too. If this came out from Rong Qiu"s mouth, Bai Bing Wen wouldn"t feel suspicious of him --- he needed to play the good guy here.
"There"s a rumor that saying you are involved in this matter..." Rong Qiu trailed off at the last part, pretending that he was afarid to let Bai Bing Wen know the truth.
"Hmmm...? Me?" Bai Bing Wen laughed out loud after saying that. He laughed until he cried, thus, he wiped his eyes before talking once more, "How funny! What kind of benefits that I will get ah~?"
Rong Qiu harrumphed inwardly. This man was really good at pretending that he knew nothing, however, Rong Qiu could do nothing about it. Besides, he didn"t really need to do anything --- Hong Wen would help him with this matter. His job would be finished after this conversation ended...
Rong Qiu helplessly said. "I have no idea too... That"s why I"m trying to get the bottom of it."
Bai Bing Wen asked in a chilling voice, "Have you found the perpetrator who tried to smear my name?"
Rong Qiu shook his head. "No... that"s why I"m also confused. I"ve investigated slowly but the one who spread the words couldn"t be found."
Bai Bing Wen furrowed his eyebrows. What Rong Qiu said was in line with what his own subordinates had just said. However, he still felt that something wasn"t right.