Chapter 41.1 â Ask For Marriage (1)
When Lu Qipei returned to the Lu Mansion, Qi Bo had been waiting for her for a long time.
As per her guess, Qi Bo had already known about what happened to her last night. But he wasnât told by the coachman like she thought â she had people secretly following her, and they were the ones who found out about the incident early and sent the news back.
Yes, even now, Lu Qipei was still being monitored. But after what happened to Lu Qicheng, these surveillance personnel had another more important responsibility; protection. If Qi Yang had not come out of the palace to fetch Lu Qipei last night, the carriage arranged by Liu Chen would still not take her to the Spring Breeze Pavilion. Even if she had gotten on the carriage, it would have probably been cut-off midway.
Lu Qipei didnât know about these things, but Qi Yang was vaguely aware of it. However, she wouldnât leave Lu Qipeiâs safety to people she didnât trust. Then again, Qi Yang didnât feel wronged for having to take a trip out of the palace last night, she even felt a bit like she hadnât had enough of her fill yetâ¦
Well, there were always two sides to the story. Qi Bo also had some mixed feelings when he learned that Qi Yang had picked up Lu Qipei.
It was great that the two were close; that meant that things would naturally come in place once they wanted to take the relationship a step further. But at the same time, he was worried since Lu Qipei was drunk. What if her identity was exposed in front of Qi Yang?
Fortunately, for the whole night Her Royal Highness The Princess did not throw Lu Qipei out of the courtyard.
After waiting for a whole day, the person he waited for finally came back. Qi Bo hurriedly greeted her and asked, âYoung Master didnât return last night, are you alright?â
Lu Qipei nodded. It was rare to see a sincere concern in Qi Boâs eyes. After thinking about it, she told him what happened last night. Then, she asked about the news that she heard in Qi Yangâs courtyard this morning, âThe incident where Liu Chen got thrown out of the Spring Breeze Pavilion caused quite a stir. Is this your doing, Qi Bo?â
Qi Bo wasnât surprised at all that Lu Qipei would ask this question. She was naturally smart, and her aptitude had always been better than Lu Qicheng. But the latter took advantage of his gender, so no one had ever thought of supporting her, even intentionally raising her to be pure and indifferent to fame and wealth.
But a smart mind could always find out more than others; even though Qi Bo and the others had not told her everything yet, she could still make some guesses from the clues.
There was nothing wrong with that; it was better to have a smart leader than following a fool. But the current Lu Qipei had not been recognized by everyone yet, and she was still far away from the leaderâs position. Qi Bo would not take the initiative to tell her.
But right now, Qi Bo didnât hide it. He nodded and said, âSince he dared to scheme, he should be aware of the consequences of his own doing.â
Lu Qipei was surprised when she heard that. What Liu Chen experienced this morning was probably what he had planned for her, right? Getting in and out of a brothel was easy â if you keep a low profile, no one would find out about it. But if you were thrown out directly by the Spring Breeze Pavilion, everyone would definitely find out.
It would probably not destroy your reputation completely, but it would inevitably be tarnished somewhat.
Lu Qipei thought back to Qi Yangâs look of disdain and disgust when Liu Chen was mentioned. Iâm afraid Her Royal Highness The Princessâs revenge had not even begun yet. Liu Chen really outsmarted himself this time, and kicked an iron plate!
At this time, Lu Qipei didnât know that Qi Boâs revenge was much more vicious than Her Highnessâs. Lu Qipei was still immersed in joy from being protected by her beloved, and just listened to Qi Boâs following lecture.
Qi Bo was worried. If he knew today would come, he wouldnât have cultivated such a disposition in her.
Lu Qipei took a day off and returned to Hanlin Academy the next day. She deliberately passed by Liu Chenâs room, wanting to see what had happened to the unlucky bastard, but his place was unexpectedly empty.
Later on, Lu Qipei learned that Liu Chen had taken a long leave.
But compared to Liu Chenâs leave, Lu Qipei was more surprised by the attitude of the people in Hanlin Academy today. Liu Chen had just had a mishap yesterday and shouldâve been at the center of gossip, but just as Lu Qipei stepped into Hanlin Academy, she found that there were even more eyes focused on her!
When she returned to her office, there seemed to be even more people looking at her. Even with her indifferent nature, she still became somewhat uneasy.
She secretly pulled over a colleague that she had good relationship with and asked, âWhatâs wrong with everyone today? Why are they looking at me with such a strange look?â
The colleague laughed and patted her on the shoulder, saying, âDonât worry, Lord Lu. Theyâre just curious.â
Curious about what? After asking around, Lu Qipei found out that when Qi Yang hurriedly went to pick her up that day, her carriageâs emblem had been clearly seen. Grabbing people from the street was such a big act, and it had attracted a lot of attention.
There was no shortage of high-ranking officials and nobles in a place like the House of Happiness, so the news of Her Royal Highness The Princess âkidnappingâ someone on the street spread very quickly. As the person being âkidnappedâ, Lu Qipei naturally also became famous.
There were already rumors about her and Princess Qi Yang in Hanlin Academy, and what happened this time seemed to confirm those rumors. Naturally, everyone became even more eager to gossip.
As for Liu Chen? Him being thrown out of a brothel wasnât a big deal anyways. He probably just went to Spring Breeze Pavilion to play but didnât bring enough silver.
Lu Qipei was thoroughly dumbfounded by the outcome â should she feel amused that she ended up shielding Liu Chen from the disaster, or be worried about the commotion Qi Yang had caused for her sake?
But causing such a ruckus like this, wouldnât it make the Emperorâs impression of her become even worse?