“A scholar may be killed but not humiliated?” Luo Sheng laughed and raised her hand to tap the youth’s head. “Did they beat you silly?”

The youth’s expression changed drastically. Covering his forehead, he retreated to the wall corner, his tone cold and hard but tinged with panic: “I, I’ve heard about you!”

If he was going to be snatched by Miss Luo to be her male consort, he’d rather have been beaten to death by those guys just now!

Luo Sheng was getting a bit angry too.

Not because her nephew was wary of her, but because he completely didn’t know how to protect himself. When there were clearly better options available, he insisted on choosing the one that put him at the greatest disadvantage.

He was even ungrateful and ignorant of human feelings.

To Xu Xi, Miss Luo was a complete stranger. Having been rescued by her, this foolish boy not only didn’t know to say thank you, but directly positioned their relationship as adversarial with a single sentence.

This wasn’t being foolish—could it be having backbone?

Luo Sheng’s tone was flat: “I’ll send you home.”

“No need!” The youth refused without thinking, his eyes full of wariness as he stared at Luo Sheng.

Luo Sheng sighed and asked: “Xu Xi, I just saved you, didn’t I?”

“I didn’t need—”

Luo Sheng interrupted him: “Regardless of whether you think you needed it or not, the fact is that someone saved you. Before the other party has used this favor to demand something excessive, shouldn’t you at least say thank you?”

And in fact, when truly in desperate straits, how many people wouldn’t yearn for a savior to appear? Saying you don’t need one is just inexplicable and laughable pride at work.

A young noble, especially a marquis household’s young master without his birth mother’s protection—with such a temperament, who knew how many hidden losses he would suffer.

Xu Xi was stumped by the question. Embarrassment flashed across his face, followed by humiliated anger: “But you were willing to do it yourself. So what if I don’t say thank you?”

Luo Sheng lifted her skirt hem and walked toward the alley entrance, her tone casual: “Will you lose a piece of flesh by saying thank you?”

Xu Xi pressed his lips together and said nothing.

Of course saying thank you wouldn’t cost him anything, but what if she had ill intentions toward him?

Luo Sheng raised her eyebrows: “Looks like you also know saying thank you won’t cost you anything, so what’s the problem with saying it?”

Her gaze locked on the youth’s face, mockery hanging at the corner of her mouth: “Does saying it make you lose face?”

“I—” Xu Xi wanted to say that wasn’t the issue, but felt that explaining would be playing into her hands.

That would seem even more face-losing.

Luo Sheng continued walking forward, the light getting brighter and brighter.

“Whether or not a person has face doesn’t depend on this.” Luo Sheng stopped and turned to look at the stubbornly defiant youth.

Xu Xi raised his hand to shield his eyes.

The sudden brightness left him somewhat at a loss, along with feeling vexed.

He’d unknowingly followed this girl out of the alley.

Luo Sheng waited for Xu Xi to lower his hand, then smiled faintly: “All right, I don’t want to waste more words. Sending you home or coming home with me—choose one.”

The youth’s face showed shock and anger: “You really are, really are—”

Really do want to snatch him as a male consort!

Luo Sheng’s tone grew colder: “Decide quickly.”

Xu Xi looked at the frost-faced young lady, then at the leisurely man, and finally at the fierce-looking maidservant, and decisively said: “I want to go back!”

Luo Sheng nodded slightly.

Not completely hopeless yet.

“Then let’s go.”

Xu Xi’s nerves were taut the entire way. Only when he discovered they were indeed heading toward the Marquis of Changchun’s residence did he relax slightly.

“Do they often gang up on you like that?”

Perhaps because the young lady’s tone was too conversational, Xu Xi had already spoken before he could react: “So what if they do?”

“If they do, they do. If they don’t, they don’t. Why must you answer with a question? Does provoking others and antagonizing them make you feel like you have face?”

Xu Xi froze.

He’d never seriously thought about this question, but then, did being obedient to others give one face?

“You provoke others and can make them swallow their anger—that barely counts as having face.”

The youth couldn’t help murmuring: “Barely?”

Luo Sheng nodded: “Right. Perhaps they’re angry but dare not speak out because of your background. For instance, I’m the Grand Commander’s daughter, so even though I beat those guys until they had lumps all over their heads, they didn’t dare do anything—that’s called barely having face, and it’s still short of truly having face.”

“What does it mean to truly have face?” Xu Xi asked reflexively.

Luo Sheng looked at the youth and smiled: “Using your own abilities to make others genuinely convinced—that’s called truly having face. Your way isn’t called having face, it’s called being stubborn as a dead duck, having a hole in your head, being stupid…”

This time, the youth fell silent.

Luo Sheng seemed to forget the previous topic and asked casually: “Since they often bully you, why not let the adults know?”

“How could I do that!”

Luo Sheng stopped and looked the youth in the eye: “Why not?”

The youth felt an insulted anger: “Even kids a few years old know not to be a tattletale. Am I even worse than a few-year-old child?”

“Kids a few years old?” Luo Sheng looked at the youth with a half-smile. “And from which little kid’s mouth did you hear such words?”

“My two younger brothers said this years ago.” Xu Xi blurted out.

Luo Sheng’s eyelashes fluttered, her eyes frosting over.

The Marquis of Changchun’s household was really something.

Elder Sister’s pair of children—Xu Fang still hadn’t been betrothed and spent most of her time living in other residences, while Xu Xi had developed such a stubborn and unreasonable temperament.

And what about the Marquis of Changchun’s second wife’s one daughter and two sons?

The daughter at only twelve already had a small reputation for talent. The two sons, though still young and without much said about them outside, already knew to say such things to their elder brother years ago.

Those two boys were still under ten now, so a few years ago they would have been just a few years old.

Kids a few years old telling their elder brother that he couldn’t tell on them for getting beaten, and the elder brother really didn’t tell—then became the target of arbitrary beatings from young masters of similar age from various households.

The Marquis of Changchun’s household didn’t know, or rather, officially didn’t know, so naturally no one stood up for Xu Xi, and outsiders wouldn’t accuse the Marquis of Changchun’s household of being cold toward the original wife’s son.

Such underhanded and vicious methods—if this didn’t bear the mark of the Marquis of Changchun’s second wife, then she wasn’t Princess Imperial Qingyang.

Of course, that scumbag trash Marquis of Changchun Xu Li need not be mentioned—she would have her day of settling accounts with him.

So now, she’d collect some interest first.

“Have your two younger brothers ever been surrounded and beaten by a bunch of people?”

Xu Xi was startled and instinctively shook his head.

Luo Sheng sneered: “If that’s the case, how can you take seriously what two kids that small say? Isn’t that just talking without considering the consequences?”

“But—”

“But what? Do you think you’re not as smart as your two younger brothers?”

Xu Xi fell silent.

He couldn’t do anything well—sometimes he really did feel this way.

Especially when he saw his younger sister at such a young age already famous for her talent, praised by everyone, and then thought of himself and his equally mediocre elder sister, this feeling became even more profound.

Seeing the youth acquiesce, Luo Sheng’s nose nearly twisted with anger.

He actually really thought this way?

They all had the same father—didn’t this mean his birth mother wasn’t as smart as the other one?

Which meant her elder sister was stupid.

She and Elder Sister were birth sisters, which meant she was stupid!

Saying she was stupid?

With a cold expression on her face, Luo Sheng ordered Shi Yan: “Pick up Xu Xi and carry him. Back to the residence!”