The Marquis Is Innocent

When she heard these words come out of Mrs. Xu’s mouth, Xiao Qiao subconsciously lowered her eyes.

She knew this should only be a lament from Mrs. Xu for that scene just now.

But she suddenly did not dare to look at Wei Shao or even Wei Yan’s expression.

Not to mention dared to look at Mrs. Xu’s one eye that showed a joyful color at this moment.

Although, until this moment, she remained unclear about what exactly happened between the two brothers, Wei Shao and Wei Yan.

But she knew these two people must be sick in their hearts, and the disease was severe. And the reason was probably related to her.

Honestly, even if Wei Yan did have thoughts about her that he shouldn’t have and then angered Wei Shao, she didn’t feel it was her fault. That night, Wei Shao humiliated her, but she was innocent.

But at this moment, she suddenly felt panic.

It was not because she was proud of her face but because she was afraid.

The words of Mrs. Xu just now suddenly reminded her.

If, in case, these two brothers, surnamed Wei, turned against each other because of her, and the matter reached Mrs. Xu, what would Mrs. Xu think of her? How could she continue to gain a foothold in the Wei family?

To put it in a more pretentious way, from the first time she married into the Wei family on thin ice and came to see Mrs. Xu in Yuyang, Mrs. Xu had treated her well. How would she feel if she knew the two brothers were at odds with each other because of her?

Brothers are like hands and feet, and women are like clothes. This ancient saying should have been despised and spat on.

But now she wished for it. She would rather have Wei Shao see her as a piece of clothing than have Mrs. Xu misunderstand or feel sad and upset because of it. If Wei Shao made things worse for her because another man was interested in her, even if that man was his brother, she couldn’t think of anything else to say except for he was brainless.

In the past two days, about this matter, she felt aggrieved by the erratic and bad treatment shown by Wei Shao and even accumulated anger in her heart.

But suddenly, in this instant, her mind cleared up.

If not handled properly, the severity of the matter would lead to consequences she could not afford.

Between the thoughts, Xiao Qiao quickly raised her eyes and looked at Wei Shao.

She hoped he could see her eyes at this moment.

But at this moment, Wei Shao did not look at her.

He looked at Mrs. Xu beside her flatly, looking respectful and calm.

He said, “Grandmother has worked hard early in the morning. I will send you back to the city.”

There will be a big feast for Lu Li Conference. The camp feast in the four barracks of the east, west, north, and south gates will begin and probably will not disperse until late at night.

Mrs. Xu knew he and Wei Yan would be busy for the rest of the day, so she didn’t want the two brothers to send her back. Like in the morning, the two of them and many guardians left the Green Dragon Gate to see each other off.

Qiao Ci was also standing outside with the crowd. The wound on his arm was wrapped, and he looked fine.

Xiao Qiao put her heart down. She saw him looking at her through the wall of people and nodded slightly toward him.

Mrs. Xu saw Qiao Ci and beckoned him over. The crowd made way for him.

Mrs. Xu asked him about his injuries.

Qiao Ci bowed: ” I am fine. Thank you for your care, Grandmother.”

Mrs. Xu said, “I saw it all. Heroes are born young. As for being neutral and pure, it is even rarer.” She turned to Xiao Qiao, “Your brother is good, which shows the family’s spirit.”

The rest of the group echoed.

Qiao Ci’s handsome face reddened slightly, showing a coy look, and bowing again, saying respectfully, “I am ashamed to accept your praise, Grandmother.”

Mrs. Xu nodded with a smile.

Xiao Qiao thanked Mrs. Xu, and together with Mrs. Zhu, they assisted her to the carriage.

Xiao Qiao could not say much to him alone on such an occasion.

When she bent down to get into the carriage, she turned around and looked at Wei Shao again. This time she saw he was also looking at her.

They looked at each other, and she entered the carriage.

She decided to talk to him in the evening when he returned.

On the way back, Xiao Qiao thought to herself.

……

Wei Shao watched the carriage carrying the women of the family fade away. He talked to the nearby guards, asking them to enter the city first, where they held the feast.

Li Dian brought Qiao Ci, who was leaping forward, and after a military salute, smiled and said: “I am here to borrow someone from the Lord. Young Master Qiao has made a name for himself in the arena, and all the brothers want to drink with him and make friends. I wonder if the Lord will let him go?”

Li Dian was one of the top three generals in that era. Qiao Ci knew his name from his days in Yanzhou. When he saw he had come to pick him up personally, he was happy and willing to be close to him, and his eyes filled with anticipation.

Wei Shao glanced at him and said, “With such an appreciation from the great general, why don’t you say thank you?”

Qiao Ci expressed his gratitude to Li Dian.

Li Dian laughed and led him away.

Wei Shao looked at the two men’s backs and turned his attention to his older brother, Wei Yan.

After coming down from the ring, he was silent. Although he had sent Mrs. Xu here with him, he did not say a word from the beginning to the end.

He had left alone.

Outside the Green Dragon Gate, there were people everywhere.

His figure soon disappeared in the crowd.

……

This day, inside and outside Yuyang City, the bustle continued until dark.

Wei Shao finally got away from the ongoing feast, rode alone on a horse, and headed west of the city.

To avoid disturbing the people, if it is not an urgent military situation, no horse may run on the streets, and violators are subject to flogging.

The order was issued by Wei Shao himself several years ago. A general violated the order by walking through the city on horseback and was beaten with 30 military truncheons by his order at the government office. Since then, nobody dared to break the rule.

But this time, he broke it.

He galloped his horse, nailing the iron palm of the horses’ hooves like raindrops fell sharply on the flat and wide stone street, startling the late passers-by.

Passers-by have not encountered such a scene for a long time. They stopped to watch a man and a horse through the distant night.

It was already dark, and the passers-by did not see the man’s appearance on the horse, complained a few times.

Wei Shao could not hear the complaints from behind him.

At this moment, he did not care about this.

During the day, he hardly ate anything and only drank a lot of wine. His stomach was full of wine.

He felt burning, and even his feet began to stagger.

But his consciousness remained very clear.

The more wine he drank, the clearer his consciousness became, and the dark fire ignited in his chest burned louder.

Without a pause, he rode faster and finally reached the gloriously lit gate of Luo Zhong Fang, turned off his horse, and stepped inside.

The gatekeeper saw Marquis riding into the city on the street and was impressed by his appearance, not to mention the clothes he was wearing now. He recognized him as soon as he saw him and hurriedly greeted him. But the Marquis smelled of alcohol and seemed to be drunk. Moreover, he looked unpleasant, so he panicked. Wei Shao grabbed his lapel: ” Is Wei Yan here?”

” County Lord?”

The gatekeeper immediately reacted and nodded in panic, leading Wei Shao toward the building.

The courtesans in the hall were surprised, did not dare to play anymore, and stopped to look. The gatekeeper was frightened when climbing the ladder, stepped on one foot, and fell. But ignoring the pain, he climbed the stairs on his hands and knees, stopped in front of a door, and bowed and whispered, “The County Lord is inside.”

The doors were tightly closed. Vaguely can hear the sound of the flute inside, interspersed with the laughter of women’s whispers.

Wei Shao stood at the door for a moment, suddenly lifted his foot, and ‘bang’ kicked open the door. The two courtesans sitting by the door were startled. The courtesan screamed, holding the pipa in her arms and backing away, looking in horror at the handsome young man who suddenly appeared at the door. He looked extremely gloomy. His eyes are on the noble guest on the couch in the room.

Wei Yan leaned on the couch, fully clothed, his eyes closed, and seems to be in a drunken sleep. A wine case in front of him, with cups, plates, and a few empty wine bottles on the floor. Two beautiful girls on the left and right accompany him. The girls wear red and yellow clothes. Their breasts were half exposed, cheeks flushed, with a spring in their eyes. They talked and laughed, and suddenly heard the door was broken open. They turned around, and their eyes widened. The noise in the room then stopped.

Wei Yan opened his eyes, glanced at Wei Shao, and looked unsurprised. He slowly sat up and said: “There are a lot of things to be done today. How can Second Brother come to me?”

Wei Shao coldly said: “Come with me.” He turned around and went away.

Wei Yan was lost in thought for a moment, pushed away the two girls on the left and right, and stood up from the couch. When he got off the couch, his feet stumbled slightly, and the woman in red hurriedly came over to support him.

Wei Yan shoved her away and walked out by holding the wall himself.

Wei Shao and Wei Yan went out of Luo Zhong Fang. One after the other, and each got on his horse. Wei Shao in the front, heading east of the city. Wei Yan in the rear, leaving the city gates and continuing to go about ten miles, leaving behind the Queen Mother Hall, and finally stopped at a wilderness.

In the distance, the night sky in the west slowly rises a round of faint winding moon. The wilderness remained quiet in all directions. Only the grass at the foot was blown by the night breeze, emitting a slight rustling sound.

Wei Shao dismounted from his horse and stood at the edge of the wilderness. His back was unmoved.

Wei Yan also followed and got off his horse, stopped behind him for a moment, walked towards him, and said, “Second brother asked me to come here for ……”

Wei Yan did not finish his words. Wei Shao suddenly turned around, clenched his fist, and viciously swung toward his face.

Wei Yan was caught off guard. His face punched hard, blood gushed out from his nose, and his whole body fell backward to the ground. His ears buzzed for a while and slowly recovered.

He opened his eyes and saw Wei Shao kneeling on one knee in front of him. His face was full of anger, gritting his teeth and saying: “I have always regarded you as my elder brother, and you are indeed my elder brother. There are many women in the world. Why do you have to be disrespectful to her?”

Wei Yan closed his eyes and raised his hand to wipe away the blood gushed from his nose.

Wei Shao sneered: “I thought about it all day and finally figured it out a bit. Although you and I are brothers, you should be discontent with me, right? This is why I called you out. What do you have to say? Say it! If you want to fight, then let’s fight!”

He stared at Wei Yan.

They stared at each other. Wei Yan’s breathing gradually became heavy, and suddenly roared. Just as Wei Shao hit him earlier, his fist swung toward Wei Shao.

Wei Shao knocked to the ground, wiping away the blood from the corner of his mouth, leaped up, and pounced like a tiger toward Wei Yan.

At first, the two men went back and forth, but in the end, it became an angry scuffle with no mercy, and soon each was injured.

Wei Yan pinned down Wei Shao. His abdomen heavily ate two of his punches and his lungs were painful as they were displaced. He roared, turned over, and clipped Wei Yan’s hands behind his back, firmly pinned under his body.

They have been fighting for a long time. The two are panting like cattle and exhausted.

But at this moment, Wei Yan felt the painful sensation of his arms folded by him on the verge of breaking bones.

Wei Shao’s eyes are red. He bent his elbow, smashing towards Wei Yan’s temple heavily, but suddenly halted and stopped at a distance of just one inch above the spot.

Wei Yan sensed the harsh killing aura from Wei Shao but could not avoid it. He was held in place by Wei Shao and felt the strength in his body slowly draining away with the pain.

He smelled the scent of death approaching.

But strangely, at this moment, he did not have any fear. Instead, he felt unusually calm inside, relieved.

He closed his eyes and waited to receive the final strike with great anger from his brother, who was also his sovereign lord.

But the strike did not come as expected.

He opened his eyes. He saw Wei Shao slowly withdraw his arm and suddenly let go of him.

He immediately flung himself to the ground.

“This matter is closed, and I will not mention it or worry about it again. I mean what I say. Twenty years of brotherhood, whether or not you want to do it again in the future is all up to you.”

Wei Shao breathed heavily, stood up, and turned to leave.

His steps were a bit hobbled at first, but the more he walked, the faster he went and finally came to the horses. He turned on his horse and went away. His figure soon disappeared at the end of the wilderness.

Wei Yan lay on top of the grass, looking at the dark blue night sky decorated with stars overhead. Motionless.

……

After returning home during the day, Xiao Qiao waits for Wei Shao to return.

She knew he was busy today, and even if he came back, he would be very late.

To her surprise, he came back just before midnight.

Even more surprising, he came back wounded. The corners of his forehead and lips broke. The blood flowing out had dried up a bit, and the back of his hand was also wounded. As for his body, she hadn’t noticed it yet.

Xiao Qiao had never seen him in such a sorry state. She startled. She hurriedly went to him and asked, “What happened to you? How can you look like this?”

Wei Shao looked at her steadily and did not speak for a moment. His eyes were strange.

Xiao Qiao panicked at his look. She settled down and took another step toward him: “Who beat you up like this?”

Wei Shao finally said: ” He beat me up.”

A sentence without a head. Xiao Qiao froze and understood. Her heart suddenly went cold.

“However, I beat him up even worse.”

Wei Shao faintly smiled, looked at her, and said slowly.