Send a generous gift?

Haha!

Someone immediately chimed in, “What gift? Miss Tang herself is the best gift for him—whatever we send can’t compare.”

“Yes, yes, you’re absolutely right.”

……

The excitement grew with each comment.

As the head of the guards, Lang Bo naturally had to say something too. He clasped his hands together, “Congratulations in advance, Young Master Mu. May you have a house full of children and grandchildren, and may your family be filled with joy.”

Rough men would always be rough men—even their congratulatory words were so crude.

Muruo’s face turned ashen as he looked at Jingrong. “Are you going to do something about this or not?”

Jingrong smiled and picked up a wooden stick, poking at the fire pile and sending sparks flying.

“This prince thinks they’re not wrong.” He raised an eyebrow. “Let me congratulate you in advance. When we return to the capital, this prince will send you a few jugs of fine wine. May you immerse yourself well on your wedding night.”

Bah!

Muruo shot him a glare.

Were they still brothers or not? Hadn’t they grown up together wearing split-pants as children?

Jingrong completely ignored the look directed at him and continued stirring up the sparks.

Muruo then shifted his gaze to Ji Yinshu, asking, “Are you going to do something about this man?”

As expected, even lying down, one could still get shot!

The corner of Ji Yinshu’s mouth twitched slightly as she spread her hands. “I’m afraid I’m powerless to help.”

“Ah!”

Muruo was about to explode with anger and simply scooted his bottom another fist’s width to the side.

But Tang Si followed him and moved along. She had been teased by everyone until her face was completely flushed. She pressed her lips together delicately, rubbing her hands together, then stole a glance at Muruo from the corner of her eye. But all she got in return was an eye roll. Her delicate demeanor instantly vanished as she snatched the fire stick from Jingrong’s hand and threw it toward his feet.

“Hmph!”

She got up angrily and walked deeper into the forest.

The fire stick landed by his feet, with the sparks just touching the hem of Muruo’s robe, which immediately caught fire.

Whoosh!

Ah!

He jumped up, frantically waving his sleeve to put out the fire. A large hole was burned in his clothes, the edges all blackened. His face had also turned pale with fright—it would be truly unjust if he wasn’t killed by anyone but burned to death like this.

Jingrong looked at him with what seemed like regret and sympathy, making Muruo think he was about to say something caring.

But instead—

“Really, Miss Tang shouldn’t have done that. With so many fire sticks available, why did she have to grab the one in this prince’s hand? Look at that wooden stick—it was perfectly straight before, and now it’s burned to ashes. What a waste.”

Pfft—

Muruo nearly coughed up blood.

He glared around at everyone. “Are you all doing this on purpose?”

The group laughed openly without any attempt to hide it!

But Ji Yinshu suddenly reminded him, “You should go check on Miss Tang quickly. She ran into the forest alone—what if something happens?”

“I’m not going.” Muruo plopped back down. “Didn’t she say she grew up in the mountains? She’s not even afraid of wolves—would she be afraid of ghosts?”

He wasn’t going. It would be best if that woman got lost in the forest and starved for a few days.

Jingrong stopped teasing him and kicked him with his foot. “Go check on her quickly. We’re not far from the capital now—we can’t have any more incidents.”

For the sake of face, Muruo held out for quite a while before reluctantly getting up to chase after her.

Before leaving, he didn’t forget to complain, “What rotten luck have I stumbled into!”

The group burst into laughter again.

“That Miss Tang is really interesting. She may be a bit wild and has quite a temper, but she’s just right for controlling Young Master Mu, don’t you think?”

“They’ve found the right match, though Young Master Mu will have his hands full for the rest of his life.”

“You can’t say it like that. Women change after marriage—she’ll definitely warm Young Master Mu’s heart by then.”

“But women need to be managed. You can’t just let them do as they please. Sometimes you have to give them some sweetness—that way, women will be devoted to you.”

“The women you’re talking about aren’t like Miss Tang. Look, who dares to offend her? Even after marriage, she may not necessarily be a dutiful wife and mother.”

A bunch of unmarried men who hadn’t yet established themselves were discussing married life as if it were real, as though they had actually experienced it themselves.

“Anyway, I’m betting with you all that in the future, Young Master Mu will definitely suffer losses.”

“I bet Miss Tang will be the one to suffer.”

“What are we betting?”

“Silver.”

“Come, come, come, place your bets!”

So someone became the banker, and everyone took out silver to place their bets.

Hey, hey, hey, were they treating Jingrong as if he were dead?

But Jingrong wasn’t annoyed. Instead, he watched everyone place their bets with great interest and asked, “Who has more bets?”

The banker counted and replied, “More people bet that Miss Tang is more formidable than Young Master Mu.”

Jingrong nodded and silently pulled out several pieces of broken silver from his clothes and handed them over.

“This prince bets that Muruo is more formidable than Miss Tang.”

Everyone was dumbfounded.

The banker took the silver and asked again for confirmation, “Your Highness, are you sure?”

“Muruo grew up with this prince after all. I should at least help him save some face so he doesn’t lose too badly.”

Pfft—

Everyone felt as if they’d been punched hard, blood spurting out. Quick, quick, quick, bring a basin to collect the blood.

This prince had such a poisonous tongue!

Jingrong was unfazed. He was a prince but also a person—if his hands were itching to gamble, so what? Who said princes couldn’t gamble?

Really!

A moment later, Ji Yinshu also pulled out a tael of silver from her clothes and handed it to the banker.

The banker asked, “Master Ji, who are you betting will win?”

She thought for a moment.

“Hmm… I’ll bet on the leopard.”

Leopard?

The guards’ eyes went blank. Where did a leopard come from?

“Master Ji, there’s no leopard option!”

“How can there be no leopard? If I say there is, then there is.”

They were utterly confused, and even Jingrong looked at her with bewilderment.

She said, “I’m betting that if the two of them really do get married, they’ll live in harmony in the future. Isn’t that the leopard?”

Oh my, it really is!

Everyone caught on, and so several people changed their bets to follow her and bet on the leopard.

They busied themselves with great enthusiasm.

But Jingrong gazed at her intently.

Ji Yinshu asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“These past few days, I haven’t seen you this happy.”

She smiled. “I’m just worried about Wei Yi. Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to me.”

Jingrong nodded.

Meanwhile, Muruo was busy chasing after Tang Si.

That girl didn’t know what she was made of—she disappeared in a flash and couldn’t be found anywhere.

In the dead of night, apart from the sound of wind and occasional wolf howls in the forest, there was basically no other sound.

Muruo was a martial artist who walked on his toes, so he made no sound.

Holding a fire starter in his hand, he looked around—there were only large trees and low weeds everywhere.

“Where did she go? She wouldn’t really have been eaten by wolves, would she? I was just speaking casually—nothing better actually happen.”

He became increasingly worried and quickened his pace in his search.