TTTQF Chapter 49

Social Death Scene

“Your friends seemed a little strange.” On the ride back to the outer city, Pei Che says he has something to do here, so he doesn’t return to the Duke’s mansion and instead rides back with him. Jiang Miao, recalling the behavior of those people just now, suddenly speaks up.

Pei Che freezes and says guiltily, “It’s my fault, I didn’t expect them to deliberately snub you. But don’t worry, I’ve already made it clear to them, it won’t happen again next time.”

“Huh?” Jiang Miao looks confused. “Did they do that?” He thinks carefully and doesn’t realize that he had been snubbed.

“…Then why did you say they were strange?” Pei Che’s eyes twitch.

Jiang Miao replies confidently, “Isn’t it strange? They say they’ll ask you to compose a poem, but not a single poem is made. Instead, they keep asking me all sorts of questions. If I hadn’t been cautious, they might have pried out all my secrets. And at the meal, they keep toasting me, so I end up drinking a belly full of alcohol and don’t even get to properly taste the dishes they serve.”

At noon, they have lunch at Lanyue Tower. The Lanyue Tower is the tall building they see when boating on the lake earlier, with seven floors. It’s said that the higher the floor, the more expensive the private rooms.

As the host, Han Qin naturally goes to the topmost private room, where the dishes are usually randomly selected, all considered gourmet. Jiang Miao is very satisfied after tasting them, thinking this is the true standard of ancient chefs, even more delicious than the longevity banquet he had at the Zhu residence last time. Unfortunately, those people keep toasting him, preventing him from enjoying the meal fully.

Hearing what Jiang Miao holds a grudge about, Pei Che can’t help but sigh, ‘so that’s why you found it strange. If you still want to eat there, I’ll take you again next time.”

Jiang Miao shakes his head, “Forget it, the ingredients inside are not simple, and a table must cost a lot. Today your friend treated us, but it’s not worth going by ourselves.” With that money, he might as well buy the ingredients and cook himself.

“By the way, what did you mean when you said they snubbed me?” Jiang Miao suddenly remembers and looks up at Pei Che. He hasn’t done anything wrong, so why would they snub him?

Pei Che coughs lightly, “Sorry, my friends heard a lot of rumors and mistakenly thought that you used tricks to control me. They wanted to make you back off.”

Jiang Miao laughs out loud, “Did they take me for some male vixen?” He never imagined that one day he would be given such a persona.”

“Though not accurate, it is not far off,” Pei Che says, quite helpless. It’s only after asking them that he realizes how many speculations have arisen about the imperial marriage decree.

“What other rumors are there? Tell me, I want to hear them,” Jiang Miao says, looking gossipy. He doesn’t mind at all that he is one of the subjects of these rumors.

Seeing Jiang Miao’s eyes shining with curiosity, Pei Che has no choice but to tell him a few of the less outrageous rumors. Even these make Jiang Miao laugh so hard that he can’t straighten up.

“Haha, I never thought you rich people could be so bored. You’re quite imaginative—why not go write some novels?” Jiang Miao wipes the tears of laughter from his eyes and rubs his slightly sore face.

Pei Che says, “It’s only them who are bored.” He doesn’t like Jiang Miao’s use of “you rich people,” which makes him feel as if Jiang Miao is putting a distance between them.

“Let them guess whatever they want. Besides you and me, no one else will know the true nature of our relationship. By the way, is the emperor still paying attention to this matter?” He leans closer to Pei Che and asks in a whisper.

The soft breath on Pei Che’s cheek makes his ears heat up a bit. He leans back slightly and says, “It seems so. These past few days, I’ve often felt like someone was watching me secretly when I went out.”

Jiang Miao is shocked and looks around nervously through the gap in the car window, only to breathe a sigh of relief when he sees no suspicious characters: “Why don’t I feel anything like that?”

“You’re not trained in martial arts, so it’s naturally hard for you to notice.” Just like when they leave the plum garden earlier, he pretends to look around casually and spots a figure quickly hiding in a corner.

Jiang Miao quickly shifts his focus: “You also learned martial arts?” He scrutinizes Pei Che, who looks cultured and refined, with a skeptical gaze. “You don’t look like it. If you said that cold-faced guy knew martial arts, I’d believe it a bit more.” He’s referring to Su Jin, who has an imposing presence.

“The cold-faced guy? Are you talking about Ah Jin?” Pei Che laughs. “He is indeed skilled in martial arts, but I have also been practicing since I was a child.”

“What kind of martial arts do you practice? Which school or style? Can you really injure someone by throwing leaves and flowers?” Jiang Miao asks with interest. When he used to read martial arts novels under the covers with a flashlight, he most longed for the thrill of sword fights and the carefree life of a martial artist.

“Does such martial arts exist in the world?” Pei Che is puzzled. “The martial arts master hired by my family taught me swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat, and there is no school.”

“Then, aren’t there any martial arts leaders or demonic cult leaders in the jianghu?” Jiang Miao persists.

Pei Che shakes his head. “How could the court tolerate such heretical cults? If they appear, the court sends people to eliminate them immediately.”

Jiang Miao is a bit disappointed. “Then you definitely can’t walk on walls and roofs, right?” The idea of lightness skills is really cool!

“That’s not difficult,” Pei Che says. After practicing martial arts for a long time, climbing walls and trees is quite simple.

Jiang Miao’s eyes light up. “Can you show me?” His face is full of anticipation, making it hard to refuse.

Pei Che hesitates for a moment. Seeing hope, Jiang Miao pleads earnestly, and finally, Pei Che relents. He instructs the coachman to stop by the roadside and then leads Jiang Miao into an alley.

The alley is flanked by high walls. Pei Che steadies his breath, gathers his inner strength, leaps up, kicks off the wall, and stands on top of it.

Jiang Miao is stunned. The wall is at least four or five meters high, and he climbs it so easily!

Before he can praise Pei Che, a woman’s scream comes from inside the wall, followed by an angry shout of “scoundrel!” A broom flies towards Pei Che, who dodges and jumps down the wall, grabbing Jiang Miao and rushing out of the alley.

At first, Jiang Miao didn’t react. Once outside, he bursts into laughter. Pei Che, with a grim face, walks towards the carriage, making the coachman anxious, not knowing what happened inside.

“Stop laughing!” Pei Che says through gritted teeth, unable to bear it any longer. Jiang Miao is still laughing as he gets into the carriage. If it wasn’t for this peddler who wanted to see his wall-climbing skills, how could he have ended up in this situation? He has never been so embarrassed in his life! He was actually mistaken for a lecher lurking in the backyard!

Jiang Miao covers his mouth, trying to stifle his laughter, but his twinkling eyes betray his true emotions. When he finally stops laughing, Pei Che is already sitting with his eyes closed, ignoring him.

Jiang Miao finally realizes that he has gone too far. How could such a noble person like Young Master Pei tolerate this? If he doesn’t make amends, he won’t get to see him climb walls again.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have laughed at you. It’s all my fault!” he begins to apologize, but Pei Che doesn’t respond at all.

“It’s my fault. Please forgive me, Young Master Pei? Pei Che? Ah Che? Liangjing’s number one handsome man?” He tries different forms of address, calling out softly. When he says the last one, Pei Che opens his eyes and frowns at him.

“What did you call me?”

“The most handsome man in Liangjing! Wait, don’t glare at me. It’s not a title I gave you; it’s what the people of Liangjing believe. You don’t know this, but the last time at the Buddhist Festival, I went just to see you. When the Duke of Zhongguo’s carriage arrives, I try my best to squeeze in to catch a glimpse of you. Who knew I’ll get pushed aside and miss seeing you? I was so disappointed then!” Jiang Miao tries hard to flatter him and adds, “If I had known you sent someone to buy my buns, I would have delivered them to the carriage myself.”

“…You obviously went there to sell buns,” Pei Che doesn’t believe it. If it was really for him, why did Jiang Miao give him a cold shoulder at the Duke’s residence over a few silver coins? If he hadn’t bought the longevity peaches later, he probably wouldn’t have treated him well.

“Hehe, that’s not important.” Jiang Miao isn’t the least bit embarrassed to be exposed, and seeing that Pei Che is paying attention to him, he immediately apologizes, “I did go too far just now, but don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about this. Besides, you had your back to the courtyard just now, so the people below couldn’t have seen your face clearly. It won’t tarnish your reputation!”

At the mention of this incident again, Pei Che’s just-improved expression turns dark again. Sensing trouble, Jiang Miao quickly changes the subject.

“Ah Che, how many years have you been practicing martial arts? Do you think someone like me can learn martial arts?” Jiang Miao has been fascinated by a movie called Shaolin Temple when he was young, and he dreamt of shaving his head and becoming a martial arts apprentice. Unfortunately, his grandmother shattered that dream with a chicken feather duster.

Pei Che smiles knowingly, looks Jiang Miao up and down, and says, “With your physique, I’m afraid it’s impossible.”

“Don’t underestimate me. Did you not see how I fought those thugs last time? I drove them away in just a few moves!” Jiang Miao is not convinced. He is quite good at fighting.

At this, Pei Che chuckles, “All I saw was your bruised face.”

“…In the rivers and lakes, who doesn’t face a blade?” Jiang Miao retorts with suppressed anger. In a fight, he isn’t afraid of getting hurt; as long as others are hurt worse than him, it doesn’t count as losing.

The two banter all the way until they reach Xiao Shitou’s private school. As soon as Jiang Miao gets off the carriage, Xiao Shitou comes out; it is an early dismissal today because of tomorrow’s rest day.

Xiao Shitou stands by the door with his school bag, looking around but not seeing the familiar figure. He wonders if his brother has forgotten because he is busy, when suddenly he feels someone approaching.

“Brother?!” Xiao Shitou looks up in surprise. “Why are you dressed like this?” His brother, dressed like this, looks even better than those wealthy young gentlemen.

Jiang Miao proudly says, “How do I look? Is big brother handsome?”

Xiao Shitou nods vigorously, looking at Jiang Miao with bright eyes.

“In the future, big brother will also make you an outfit like this, and we’ll wear them together when we go out,” Jiang Miao says as he walks towards the carriage, leading Xiao Shitou along.

When they arrive at the carriage, he picks Xiao Shitou up and helps him onto it. Xiao Shitou, who has already been in the carriage twice, skillfully pulls back the curtain and crawls inside. When he sees who is sitting inside the carriage, he freezes.

“Big…sister-in-law?” He stutters, tentatively calling out. Brother’s wife, it’s right to call him sister-in-law, right?

“Big sister-in-law?” Pei Che also freezes, then smirks, teasingly looking at Jiang Miao. “Did you teach him to call me that?”

Jiang Miao shows a polite yet embarrassed smile, mentally tapping away on the keyboard in his heart.

Please ask: Which flight is the closest to leaving the Earth? Someone here wants to immigrate to Mars to escape social death!

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