The voice was very gentle and made everyone feel as though they were cleansed by the breeze of spring. However, the owner of this voice had a pretentious smile that was a little too obvious. The owner of this voice was none other than the Third Prince, Pei Wuchen.
"I never thought that I would meet Third Brother here." Pei Qingfeng looked at Pei Wuchen and maintained his courtesy.
"Second Brother has yet to answer me. Why are you interested in the fugitives?" Pei Wuchen pushed Pei Qingfeng for an answer. It seemed as though he wouldn"t give up until he got an answer.
Just as Pei Qingfeng wanted to say something, he was interrupted by Bai Luochu. "These fugitives are frank and magnanimous people. They are precisely the kind of people that I admire. I was moved and I pleaded for His Highness to rescue those people."
"Oh, does Second Brother think so as well?" Pei Wuchen was seemingly interested in Bai Luochu"s explanation as he turned to ask Pei Qingfeng.
"Precisely. Who doesn"t know that Divine Physician Bai and I address each other as brothers? It is exactly because our interests are aligned that we see things the same way." When Pei Qingfeng saw that Bai Luochu had already spoken up, he had no choice but to tactfully comply.
Pei Wuchen naturally knew about the rumors of Divine Physician Bai and Pei Qingfeng in the capital. He also understood that the reputation of Divine Physician Bai was like the sun in the midday sky due to Pei Qingfeng"s help.
When he saw the mutual understanding between the two of them, his curiosity was roused.
"I wonder what mistakes these two individuals made? Why would Third Brother and so many Phoenix King Valley disciples encircle them?" Taking the advantage that Pei Wuchen had yet to react, Pei Qingfeng spoke out first and changed from a pa.s.sive approach to an active approach.
Pei Qingfeng"s question drew Pei Wuchen out of his thoughts, placing his attention back on the matter at hand.
"This brother has been ordered to play the part of a host. I am supposed to show the Phoenix King Valley disciples around the city and when we were at the b.e.s.t.i.a.l Battle Arena, we saw these two individuals causing trouble. As a result, I led the members of the Phoenix King Valley to chase after them."
"Oh? I wonder what kind of trouble they caused?" Pei Qingfeng gently fanned himself and it seemed like he wanted to get to the bottom of the matter.
Pei Wuchen was at a loss for words for a moment. His mind spun rapidly and a brief moment later, he replied, "These two individuals were involved in a gamble at the b.e.s.t.i.a.l Battle Arena. They lost but weren"t able to pay up. In a moment of desperation, they beat up the supervisor of the b.e.s.t.i.a.l Battle Arena and fled."
This excuse was one that Pei Wuchen fabricated from the top of his head. He didn"t know that Pei Qingfeng would appear out of nowhere along with Divine Physician Bai. Neither did he expect that they would be so difficult to deal with. There was no way he could reveal the reason behind surrounding the two of them and he had no choice but to come up with an excuse.
But doing so made him fall into Pei Qingfeng"s scheme. Pei Qingfeng was silently snickering at Pei Wuchen who had been in the bureaucracy of the Cloud Water Nation for so many years but still unable to change his bad habit. He always paid attention to the beginning of his schemes but never the end. Right now, his explanation gave Pei Qingfeng an easy way to rescue the two individuals.
"So that is the case. Why don"t Third Brother tell me how much silver they owe you? I will help to pay for their debt. Oh, that"s right, I will provide a little more as compensation for the medical fees."
Pei Wuchen couldn"t help but curse silently. He felt as though he raised a rock to smash his feet. He was the one who came up with the excuse and it was going to be difficult to change his words now. He had no choice but to follow through in order not to embarra.s.s himself as he replied to Pei Qingfeng, "Since Second Brother is adamant about protecting them, your younger brother will no longer be stubborn. Second Brother can just take them away. Your younger brother will cover their bill."
"Hey, how can I do that? I am also trying to do Brother Bai a favor here. How about this? I didn"t bring too much money today and I only have one gold ingot. I will give it to Third Brother right now. If it isn"t enough, Third Brother can ask me for more." As Pei Qingfeng spoke, he stuffed the ingot into Pei Wuchen"s hand.
Pei Wuchen nearly vomited blood from anger. Who the h.e.l.l was Pei Qingfeng trying to humiliate here? In the end, he couldn"t show his anger and had no choice but to respond politely, "Many thanks to Second Brother"s kindness." With a fling of his sleeve, he indicated for the Phoenix King Valley disciples to withdraw as he led them towards the direction of a relay station.
As for Bai Luochu? She knew that now wasn"t the right time for her to speak with her subordinate. She simply took the chance when Pei Qingfeng and Pei Wuchen were having a showdown to leave a communication mark on the wall. It was one she used frequently in her previous life. She hoped that her subordinate would be able to see it and know to look for her after.
After seeing the members of the Phoenix King Valley leave, Pei Qingfeng didn"t try to detain those two individuals. He waved his hand to signify that he allowed them to leave.
The two individuals didn"t have any intention to stay behind either. It felt as though they were afraid that the Phoenix King Valley members might return again. In just an instant, they vanished without a trace.
"How are you going to repay me this time?" Pei Qingfeng was obviously addressing Bai Luochu.
Bai Luochu pondered for a moment and it seemed as though she made another important decision. "Diagnosis fee. I can give you another 10% discount."
This was really important to Bai Luochu! Heavens knew that she was hiding behind a false reputation now. She had no private funds of her own. The First Prince might have stated that he wouldn"t restrict her when it came to money, but it didn"t mean that she could use Pei Rumo"s money as her own, right?!
Furthermore, she would have to rebuild the temple in the future. It was natural for her to use up a large sum of money. Right now, she was willing to reduce the fee by another 10% and it was a huge loss!
When Pei Qingfeng heard her reply, his originally beaming expression cracked.
My goodness, this servant girl is truly incredible. I originally thought I could get her lovely "give you myself in exchange" statement. What in the world is going on now? After messing with Third Brother, I only got 10% off my fee?
Forget it, forget it. This servant girl is extremely insensitive. I should never expect her to take the initiative.
"Since there is nothing else, I will return to the residence." Bai Luochu spoke up and bade farewell to Pei Qingfeng.
Pei Qingfeng"s mood became even worse. By the time he returned to his residence, there wasn"t a trace of a smile on his face. It was completely different from the usual Pei Qingfeng!
After returning to his residence, Pei Qingfeng closed himself inside the study room. None of the servants inside the residence dared to approach him and it was only during lunch when Pei Qingfeng left the room. By then, his gentle and refined appearance returned.
Pei Qingfeng had shut himself inside the study room for an entire morning and finally understood something. Bai Luochu didn"t know how to express her affection! Putting aside the fact that she was always icy cold, she was especially insensitive.
In the end, he decided to never get angry about this matter again. He would be the only person getting angry. She would still treat it as though nothing happened. It wasn"t worth it, it truly wasn"t worth it.
As for those two individuals, who were they? Why did the la.s.s care so much about them?!
On the other side, Bai Luochu traveled out of the First Prince"s residence to draw a marking. It was rather secluded as she wanted to avoid alerting the patrols. After she finished everything, she went back to her room.