The loafers strode toward Qin Wenyuan with the wind at their heels.

As for breaking their word and turning on him? Don’t be ridiculous—the other party had paid ten times the money. If they kept faith with the original employer, they’d be letting down all those purses they’d stolen over the years.

Weaving through the passersby, the loafers walked up to Qin Wenyuan.

Qin Wenyuan frowned slightly.

There hadn’t been any commotion—why had these loafers come over?

Could it be that Second Miss Lin and her group had slipped away?

Qin Wenyuan was full of questions but didn’t intend to speak much with these loafers.

While he did want to use these ruffians to strike at Second Miss Lin and First Miss Chen, he didn’t want to get himself dirty in the process.

Qin Wenyuan lifted his foot to leave, only to see the loafer at the front break into a beaming smile. “Oh my, if it isn’t Young Master Qin!”

The overly enthusiastic smile and intimate tone immediately drew frequent sidelong glances.

Qin Wenyuan’s heart sank as he turned to leave.

“Young Master Qin, don’t go! Didn’t we have such a good time playing together last time?”

Following the lead loafer’s teasing call, the other loafers worked in perfect coordination to block Qin Wenyuan’s path.

“Please let me pass. I don’t know you.”

The lead loafer clutched his chest with a heartbroken expression and loudly accused, “Young Master Qin, I never thought you were this kind of person! You were so happy when we were playing together, but now you turn around and don’t recognize us!”

What was going on?

People immediately stopped walking.

Blood rushed to Qin Wenyuan’s head, and his face instantly turned the color of liver.

“Stop spouting nonsense!” He flicked his sleeve, trying to break through the loafers’ encirclement, knowing that continuing this entanglement would be disastrous.

The lead loafer grabbed him. “Young Master Qin, if you’re going to pretend not to know us and abandon us after your fun, then we’ll need to have a proper chat.”

Abandon them after his fun?

The onlookers couldn’t help but perk up their ears.

A man abandoning other men after his fun—what did that mean?

Someone in the crowd exclaimed, “Ah! This Young Master Qin is close friends with the Heir of Marquis Pingjia!”

People weren’t immediately clear who Young Master Qin was, but everyone knew the gossip about the Heir of Marquis Pingjia.

“The Heir of Marquis Pingjia likes men!”

“No wonder!” Someone had a sudden realization.

People’s gazes toward Qin Wenyuan grew subtle.

“Let go!” Qin Wenyuan’s ears were buzzing. He tried forcefully to shake off the loafer’s hand but couldn’t. “If you keep pestering and spouting nonsense, you’ll regret it!”

The loafers naturally knew Qin Wenyuan’s status wasn’t simple, but people die for wealth as birds die for food—the two hundred taels in banknotes were already in hand, and they would leave the capital immediately to avoid trouble.

After laying low for a year or so before returning to the capital, who would still remember these insignificant figures?

The lead loafer called out grievously, “Young Master Qin, when we were playing together before, you said you didn’t care about our different social statuses. How is it that now you’ve had your fill of fun, you want us to regret it?”

“You!” Qin Wenyuan’s vision darkened in waves, nearly coughing up blood.

“It’s inconvenient with so many people watching. Come, come, come, let’s go somewhere private to have a good chat.” The lead loafer dragged Qin Wenyuan outward, and with a ripping sound, tore off half a sleeve.

Qin Wenyuan began shouting loudly for help.

“What’s going on here?” An official’s stern voice came from not too far away.

“Go!” The lead loafer made a hand signal, and the loafers vanished into the crowd in an instant.

By the time several patrolling officials arrived, only Qin Wenyuan remained, clutching his half-torn sleeve and trembling all over.

As it happened, the lead official coincidentally recognized Qin Wenyuan.

“Young Master Qin, what happened? Were you robbed by petty thieves?”

Qin Wenyuan pushed past the belatedly arriving officials and left swiftly.

The officials were thoroughly confused.

The lead official, with the intention of currying favor with the Qin household, very responsibly asked about the situation.

“Sir, you’re asking about just now? Young Master Qin seemed to have been harassed by several men…”

Hearing this, the officials quickly dispersed.

Was this something they should be listening to?

The onlookers were still unsatisfied, hotly discussing what had just happened.

“What’s that Young Master Qin’s status?”

“He’s the nephew of the Crown Prince’s Junior Preceptor.” Someone said.

When gossiping, who spoke didn’t matter—what mattered was what they said.

Hearing this, quite a few people gasped. “Good heavens, no wonder he’s close friends with the Heir of Marquis Pingjia!”

“Tsk tsk, these noble young masters have such different preferences from us common folk.”

In the crowd, Lin Hao and her companions listened quietly, their expressions varied.

“Does this count as karmic retribution…” Zhu Jiayu spoke frankly, murmuring.

Chen Yi wanted to smile, but her eyes grew teary.

She had thought her luck was always this bad—having finally escaped the marriage arrangement with the Heir of Marquis Pingjia, she’d drawn the hostility of the Crown Prince’s Junior Preceptor’s nephew.

It turned out that wasn’t the case.

People with ill intentions truly did receive karmic retribution. Having caused such a scandal, Qin Wenyuan probably wouldn’t show his face for quite some time.

Lin Hao’s gaze searched through the crowd.

Heaven might punish evildoers, but she believed it was more likely through human hands rather than by luck.

Her gaze sharpened as she spotted Yang Zhe in the crowd.

Yang Zhe seemed to sense something and looked in her direction. Meeting Lin Hao’s eyes, he smiled and nodded.

Lin Hao returned the smile.

Could it have been the top scholar Yang?

The thought flashed through her mind, but Lin Hao secretly shook her head.

Although the top scholar Yang had spoken up to help, to say he’d bribed loafers to embarrass Qin Wenyuan seemed rather unlikely.

It wasn’t meant in any particular way—she’d heard the top scholar Yang came from a humble background and didn’t have that much silver, right?

Lin Hao’s gaze wandered and landed on a certain spot.

The Heir of Prince Jing was also here.

Could it have been him—

Lin Hao still shook her head.

The Heir of Prince Jing had money, but it was hard to connect the sickly, gentle young prince with street ruffians and loafers.

Lin Hao gave up guessing.

Whether someone had secretly helped or it was pure luck, in any case, the next period of time should be peaceful.

At this moment, even more confused than Lin Hao was the servant Qingyan.

He waited bitterly under the osmanthus tree but never saw the loafers arrive.

Could those men not have done the job and run off with the two taels deposit?

That couldn’t be—it was only two taels!

Even so, the young master who had been watching should have come to find him.

Qingyan was afraid of missing the loafers and didn’t dare leave, waiting until there were fewer and fewer people strolling the streets, fewer and fewer…

He even saw Second Miss Lin in her bright red pomegranate skirt walking past not far away with light steps.

Qingyan rubbed his eyes.

He hadn’t seen wrong—First Miss Chen was beside her too!

He pulled himself together and ran to the riverside, where visitors had long since thinned out, leaving only a river of clear water gently caressing the small wooden boats and their lanterns.

What on earth had happened?

Gazing at the long river adorned with lantern lights, Qingyan had the feeling he was dreaming.

Young Master!

Qingyan snapped alert with a start and took off running toward the Qin estate.

Though the night of Qixi was deep, there were quite a few pedestrians on the streets, most with joy written on their faces.

Qingyan swept past these people like a gust of wind, running back to the Qin estate in one breath, where he discovered Qin Wenyuan leaning against a wall.

“Young Master, why are you here—” Before he could finish speaking, his lower abdomen took a kick.

Qin Wenyuan grabbed Qingyan’s collar, his gaze as if it could devour a person. “You useless wretch, just how did you handle this matter!”

Qingyan endured the pain and asked, “Young Master, what on earth happened? This servant is completely confused.”

Qin Wenyuan released his grip and leaned back against the cold wall, his face ashen as death.