The most foolish in the world

Chapter 72

Fan Qingbo's expression turned serious, and he suddenly said earnestly, "Actually, this matter really can't be blamed on me."

Jie Dongfeng raised an eyebrow. Fan Qingbo stared at him for a long time, sighed, poured a cup of tea for each of them, and then slowly said, "You knew about writing about my brother's love history beforehand, and you were happy to see it happen. Although I was unhappy that you tricked me in my marriage, I never thought I would go this far."

Speaking of which, both of her husbands were masters at stirring up hatred. "You know how many people you've cheated over the years, how many people wish they could tear you apart alive, so why would I go out of my way to hand over your dirt? From the day you took me away from the Ochre Palace, I've considered you family. I've even thought that if we never met someone we could spend our lives with, then being husband and wife for life would be just fine."

"So you had such wicked thoughts about me." Xie Dongfeng muttered, his voice much softer, turning his face away, his ears turning red.

Fan Qingbo's eyes warmed, and she smiled from the bottom of her heart. Actually, this stingy minister, whom everyone feared, was quite childish. When he was upset, he always liked to call himself "I," all because someone had spoiled him. She went along with what he said: "Yes, back then I thought you had power and money, didn't like to cause trouble, and most importantly, you weren't good-looking and had a bad personality, so basically no one would compete with me for you."

"Hmph." Xie Dongfeng's voice rose again, "Xiao Fan, this won't do! You're just being a sour grapes!"

Pfft, he started shaking after being told a few words. Fan Qingbo's smile deepened, and he continued, "Well, you're such a sweet grape, so sweet that someone stayed at your house for a whole month, making it clear even to a blind man that the grape has an owner."

"What do you mean someone's taken? I'm a golden bachelor!" Xie Dongfeng stared with his small eyes and stammered, a rare occurrence for him.

Fan Qingbo stopped there, then brought the topic back, "Before I started writing the book, didn't I talk to Brother Meiren a few times? When I asked him about the people and things he had encountered, you were the one he talked about the most. I tentatively asked some suggestive questions about you, and I found that he answered them all without reservation, as if he was deliberately guiding me in a certain direction. Brother Meiren couldn't possibly be unaware of the impact my writing would have, but he still did it anyway. So I'm guessing, is something happening in the court? Is he making some kind of move?"

Xie Dongfeng's expression grew increasingly grave as she listened, until her brows were furrowed into a knot by the time she finished speaking. She suddenly stood up, took a few quick steps, and seeing the two still fighting, she remembered something and turned back to instruct, "Remember to make them pay for the broken things."

His figure disappeared through the doorway. Fan Qingbo wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief, only to suddenly hear footsteps again.

"Your husband seems to love kicking doors?" Xie Dongfeng, who had turned back halfway, kicked the broken door of the side room on the ground and did some quick calculations. "Including the door I broke last time, it's a total of one hundred and fifty taels. I'll deduct it from your royalties."

Seeing Fan Qingbo's stunned and incredulous expression, Xie Dongfeng chuckled, "You think I'll forget about your past just because you said so many cheesy and sentimental things? Not a chance! I'm not buying it!"

After speaking, he sniffed and walked away arrogantly.

This time he's really gone. Fan Qingbo was stunned for a moment before laughing, leaning on the table. He said he wouldn't fall for that, that he always demanded double the price, but this time he only asked for the depreciated value. For someone as stingy as him, this is what it means to not fall for that?

After laughing, she turned around and saw the two still playing tag. She coughed a few times, then raised her voice and said, "Fifth Sister, my original surname is Zhang. I lost both my parents when I was young and was raised by my uncle. My uncle was poor and forced to sell me into a brothel when I was only eleven years old..."

I paused here, lost in thought.

"And then what? Sold into a brothel and then what? Was she bullied? Which brothel?" The painter Jin, who had stopped fighting as soon as he heard Fifth Sister's name, now leaned in front of Fan Qingbo and kept asking questions, looking like he was about to smash up the brothel.

Fan Qingbo didn't keep him in suspense. He pulled out a stack of papers from his sleeve and handed them to him. "Here, don't say I didn't help you. This is everything I know about Fifth Sister. I didn't do this to you on purpose. I just wanted to see how sincere you are towards my Fifth Sister."

The painter snatched the paper, glanced through it briefly, and asked suspiciously, "Are you sure what's written here is true?"

"I guarantee that every word I say is true."

"Hmph, if I find out even a single lie, just wait and see if I spread the word that your man possesses a map to a treasure from the previous dynasty!" the painter said, folding the stack of papers and stuffing them into his robes before swaggering away.

Still somewhat confused, the scholar thought for a moment, then turned and said in the direction the man had left, "Remember to see a renowned doctor; don't be afraid to seek medical help!"

Bang! A loud thud echoed as someone stumbled and slammed against the door.

The scholar silently withdrew his gaze, still somewhat reluctant to say, "For someone as dashing and romantic as Brother Jin to have such a hidden ailment, his inner pain must be even deeper than that of ordinary people."

Fan Qingbo nodded in agreement, "Anyone who encounters you will always suffer a bit."

"Huh?" The scholar blinked in confusion.

"It's nothing, I was just praising you," Fan Qingbo replied casually, then turned around and started packing his things to go home.

The scholar's eyes twitched slightly, and he said with a straight face, "My wife, you're starting to subconsciously think that your husband can't understand human language again."

"Oh, so my husband can understand human speech? That's amazing." Fan Qingbo continued to be perfunctory, pulling the bag the scholar was carrying across his shoulder and stuffing the things he wanted to take home inside. Suddenly, she noticed a very familiar book. "What's this?"

The scholar finally remembered why he had come to see her. His expression brightened, and he hurriedly turned to the page with the note tucked inside, asking, "My lady, this girl in the book is clearly in love with Young Master Qin, so why does she always speak well of Young Master Li in front of him?"

...This idiot has started studying romance novels? Was he scared by her unusual attitude yesterday? Fan Qingbo's lips and eyebrows were full of smiles. Although she didn't expect him to gain any insights, she found his serious look incredibly cute.

"Because Young Master Qin is a bit silly, the young lady is deliberately trying to make him jealous."

"Why?" the scholar still didn't understand.

Fan Qingbo led him out through the side door, carefully locked it, and answered as they walked along the alley: "Because women like to see the men they like jealous of them, and by the way, they test how important they are to the men."

The scholar remained silent. Although he was often jealous, he racked his brains but couldn't recall Fan Qingbo ever praising anyone in front of him, and dejectedly concluded once again that his wife was indeed not in love with him. Unwilling to give up, he asked again, "Wife, do you think it's possible for a woman who wasn't initially very fond of a man to change her mind?"

“Of course it’s possible.” Fan Qingbo thought they were still talking about novels. “Stories usually labeled ‘married life,’ ‘love at first sight,’ or ‘realizing it later’ are all like this. They’re very common. I also prefer these kinds of stories. I always feel that love at first sight is not very reliable.”

"I didn't fall in love with you at first sight, my wife." He couldn't remember which meeting he had fallen in love with, but he decided to deny anything his wife found unreliable first.

To everyone's surprise, Fan Qingbo didn't grasp this meaning and was even a little hurt by his quick and resolute denial. Then, something she had been deliberately trying to forget resurfaced in her mind: Tao Jinjin.

She didn't consider herself an unreasonable person who would cause trouble for no reason, but the scene of the scholar and Tao Jinjin in court kept haunting her.

Although Tao Jinjin repeatedly claimed that she had no memory of interacting with people from the Central Plains, and when she casually asked the scholar, he also said that he had never seen Tao Jinjin before, her intuition told her that this Tao Jinjin was very likely the Miao girl who had used a spell on the scholar back then.

When I first heard the scholar's story, I only felt sympathy, after all, he had been raped, and his young heart must have been traumatized. But after seeing Tao Jinjin, that feeling gradually changed. Although Tao Jinjin is no longer young, she still retains her charm, and you can tell how stunningly beautiful she was seven or eight years ago. So, my initial sympathy gradually turned into concern.

Tao Jinjin's breasts are bigger than hers, Tao Jinjin's figure is more supple, and Tao Jinjin's voice is more charming.

She couldn't help but care, yet she couldn't lash out either. She knew the scholar wasn't wrong; she'd always believed that dwelling on a man's past was utterly foolish, and in terms of past lives combined, hers was far richer than his. The only difference was that she'd never gone all the way. But even though she understood the logic, she still felt uneasy.

Even she herself felt she was being pretentious, so she didn't want the scholar to know, which is why she was so conflicted last night.

"My wife."

A tap on the shoulder jolted Fan Qingbo out of her self-inflicted troubles. She looked up, puzzled, to see the scholar staring intently at her, his face flushed, as if both embarrassed and having mustered his courage. He stammered several times before finally managing to say, "My wife, although I have no power, I am not without wealth. I don't engage in any shady dealings. Although I am beautiful and have a good personality, no one is trying to steal me away. So, my wife, you…"

Fan Qingbo was initially a little stunned, but when he heard that she was good-looking and had a good personality, he finally burst out laughing.

"You were eavesdropping on my conversation with that stingy guy?"

"No!" the scholar retorted, vehemently denying it. "They ran into my ears on their own."