"You are so arrogant that you even want me to personally invite you out."
Yu Shu never thought that Xue Rui would personally come to the prison. A few months ago, the two of them parted on bad terms in Yiyang City. Although it was not to say that they had broken off their relationship, it was not far from being strangers. Even if he helped her out of consideration for the past, it would be enough if he found a reason to let her out of the prison. There was no reason for him to get close to her.
But now that he was in front of her, it was not up to her whether she believed him or not.
Xue Rui's eyesight was good. With the help of the light from the torches in the corridor of the prison, he could clearly see the confusion and bewilderment on Yu Shu's face. He laughed to himself. This little girl was usually shrewd and sly. It was not an easy thing to see her silly look.
"Why are you still lying down? Hurry up and get up. Do you want to spend the night in prison?" Xue Rui stood up and teased. He took two steps back and walked to the outside of the prison door. He waved at her.
It was already like this. If she continued to stay, it would be pretentious. Yu Shu muttered and got up from the ground. She patted the dust off her body and followed behind him.
They didn't speak a single word all along the way. After exiting the prison cell, they passed through two prison doors and left the prison unobstructed. Yu Shu heard a few jailers respectfully addressing Xue Rui as' Sir ', and she wondered what official position he held now. He had such an imposing manner in the Spring Fragrance Brothel during the day.
The imperial court examination was in February. At that time, he was still in Yiyang City. It seemed that this official position was not a normal one. It was because of his family's influence. It was said that this Xue family had a very high status in Anling City. Otherwise, when a housekeeper came to Yiyang City, the masters of the Ji family would not have to personally pay their respects and bow to him.
Yu Shu looked at the back of Xue Rui's head and secretly curled her lips. Other people were the children of officials. She did not know which generation this brat was.
After all, the prison door was a place where prisoners were locked up. There was a remote street outside the door, and it was very deserted. A single carriage was parked at the side of the road, and the Jailer sent them to the door before asking for permission to return. Yu Shu watched Xue Rui get on the carriage, and she hesitated as she didn't know how to speak and bid farewell to him. Although this would be suspected of burning the bridge after crossing it, she really did not want to coexist with him.
As soon as Xue Rui got into the car, he opened the window and looked at Yu Shu, who was standing there motionlessly. He knew exactly what she was thinking. His finger tapped on the windowsill. Without waiting for her to say anything, he said, "Come on up. It's late. I'll send you back first."
It was so dark that Yu Shu really wanted to go home alone. She might get lost, but she heard him say that he wanted to take her home instead of somewhere else. He heaved a sigh of relief, got on the carriage, and told the coachman the name of a place.
But as soon as the carriage started moving, she regretted it.
"Tell me, why did you come to Anling?" Xue Rui crossed his long legs and looked at Yu Shu calmly. He said that he wanted to send her to the hospital, but he didn't say that he wouldn't chat with her for a while in the car.
“.....”
Xue Rui waited for a long time, but Yu Shu did not reply. She lowered her head and played with her fingers as if she did not hear his question. In reality, she was pretending to be mute. If it was any other time, he would patiently wait for her to speak. But not today. The road was so long. After sending her there, he had other things to do at night.
"Alright, let's not ask about this. Let's talk about what happened today." Xue Rui changed the topic. There was a hint of mockery in his tone. "I thought you were smarter than anyone. Today, I know that there are times when you are dumber than others. You went to the Evergreen Gang's territory to gamble. Do you know how much you are worth? You don't even know when you are being sold."
Hearing this, Yu Shu raised her head and looked at him with a frown. She felt that something was amiss, so she didn't mind his teasing. She turned her head back and thought back to this morning at the Spring Fragrance Brothel's casino. Just by thinking about it for a moment, she felt that something was amiss.
There were thirty people gambling together. Why did the person who spent money to pick the numbers choose her? He bet four hundred taels on four questions. It was not because he was confident in the questions, but because he thought she was a weakling.
Even if the gambler who came up with the question wasn't a member of the Evergreen Gang, he was definitely related to the Evergreen Gang. He probably planned to pick a newbie to scam, so he tampered with the card selection part.
She had thought that she was just a blind cat bumping into a dead mouse. She wanted to win their money, but it turned out that she had already been cheated by them. No wonder the two judges were not willing to help her solve the problem. This group of people were all in cahoots. She just didn't know how many of the thirty people had been cheated like her.
Xue Rui looked at the annoyed expression on her face and said, "Nine out of ten gambles are scams. As long as the word 'gamble' is involved, there is no such thing as a scam. Why do you think gambling is banned in the south of the city? Gambling was originally a game for traders to compete with each other in their free time. Occasionally, there would be some bets, and later, it was used for profit. Anling is the capital of the world. People from all walks of life come here. Since they can't go to the north of the city, they gather in the south. Because they are hidden in the market, it is difficult to control them. Thus, gambling and harming people are common. In recent years, there have been people using gambling as a pretext to trap traders and use gambling debts to threaten them. What you encountered today is exactly such a scheme. Among the thirty gamblers, other than you, there are two others who came to the capital for the Dayan Festival. If you are caught by them, you will have to work for them in the future and it will be difficult for you to escape. "
After listening to his detailed explanation, Yu Shu felt a little scared. Then she remembered that it was because of him that she was able to get out of trouble this time. She didn't want to owe him a favor, but it was too late. She felt depressed, but still thanked him. "Fortunately, you led people to that place, otherwise I would have been in trouble again. Thank you."
Xue Rui's smile changed. He clasped his hands on his knees and said, "Now, can you tell me how you came to the capital?"
Yu Shu sighed. This was why she hated owing people favors. She couldn't refuse him confidently, so she could only answer honestly, "I offended the Ji family and couldn't stay in Yiyang City. I was afraid that I would cause trouble for others, so I left Shangjing to make a living."
Xue Rui certainly knew about the grudge between Yu Shu and the Ji family. He also knew how she offended the Ji family and had to leave. A few months ago, in Yiyang City, he was there when she went to the county yamen to beat the drum and complain about her grievances. He saw with his own eyes how she viciously accused the Ji family. Even now, it was still vivid in his mind. It made him realize that this fake young man in front of him was not as kind and honest as he looked.
Yu Shu saw that Xue Rui didn't say anything and only looked at her. She felt a little uncomfortable. She shifted her body and coughed. She looked up at the swaying orange lampshade on the roof of the car and expressionlessly said, "At that time, I'm sorry."
Xue Rui hesitated for a moment and asked, "At that time? When? "
Yu Shu didn't know if he was deliberately playing dumb or if he really didn't remember. She pursed her lips and dryly said, "At Yiyang Guesthouse, when I hit you."
"Oh." Xue Rui's eyes moved. He narrowed his eyes and looked at her. "Why are you saying you're sorry?"
He thought that when they met again, he should be the one apologizing for his excessive behavior that day. He didn't think that they would meet again after that, so he didn't expect such a scene. He should be happy that she pointed it out first. At least she didn't misunderstand his intentions at that time.
But when he heard her say it so directly, without the shyness and fuss of a normal girl, he felt a little strange.
Yu Shu thought that he was pretending to be confused. She snorted and touched her ear. She said a little awkwardly, "That day, you deliberately said those strange things to provoke me. You even … cough, I didn't see it at that time. I thought you really wanted me to be your concubine. I even … accidentally hit your head. I'm sorry."
Honestly speaking, when he said "follow me", it really scared her. That serious talk about wanting her to be his concubine caused her to misunderstand. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been unable to see that he was putting on an act. She angrily gave him a hard slap.
After Xue Rui heard what she said, he knew what was strange. When he saw her apologizing in all seriousness and didn't take his words seriously in the slightest, he didn't know whether he should cry or laugh. He held his forehead with one hand and couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Ha, ha, ha."
What he said and did that day was indeed to provoke her. But this didn't mean that he was lying. This girl, when she was smart, she could kill him. When she was stupid, how could she be so stupid?
He bumped into her on the street the day before yesterday. Because he was worried that she would avoid him, he didn't dare to pretend to be her. It turned out that she didn't take his words seriously.
When Yu Shu saw him laughing for no reason, she didn't think that what she said was funny. She was puzzled and asked, "What are you laughing at?"
Xue Rui put down his hand and gently shook his head. He held back the smile on his lips and raised his dark eyes to look at her, "It's nothing. It's good that you don't hate me."
When Yu Shu heard this, seeing that he didn't care, her heart was a little happy. Her words and actions became a little more relaxed. She raised her eyebrows and said, "It's not like I don't know what's right and wrong. What's there to hate? You think too much of me."
Xue Rui looked at her with a smile that wasn't a smile, "I don't know who it was. Because I teased her for being slippery, she secretly drew a turtle on the back of my account book and wrote my name on the shell."
When these words came out, Yu Shu choked on her saliva. She was thinking about how to reply when she suddenly froze.
This matter was referring to the time when she was still working at Mianzhai and he was still shopkeeper Cao.
In Yiyang, he had never personally admitted that he was Cao Zixin. But now he suddenly mentioned the past. Was it a slip of the tongue, or …
Xue Rui looked at her in a daze and roughly knew what she was thinking. He lightly sighed and apologized, "Ah Shu, at that time, I'm sorry."
When Yu Shu heard him call her name, she came back to her senses. Her heart couldn't help but feel a little sour. She imitated him and pretended to be stupid and asked, "What are you sorry about?"
Xue Rui sternly said, "Because of some difficulties, I had to pretend not to know you in Yiyang. I didn't deliberately tease you and make you feel uncomfortable. I'm sorry."
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