"What happened to you?" Ye Wanmian sized him up and asked curiously.
At the mention of this, Qi Wen got excited. He had a whole bellyful of grievances to pour out. But when he saw Li Zhao opposite Ye Wanmian, he hesitated.
"This..."
Ye Wanmian saw his hesitation and said to him, "Don't worry about Uncle Li. He's one of us now."
One of them? When did Lady Jiang get another "one of us"?
Qi Wen was puzzled, but he trusted Ye Wanmian. Being extremely aggrieved, he immediately poured out his story to Ye Wanmian.
"You don't know. Gou Dan he—"
Half a cup of tea ago.
Qi Wen was mercilessly driven back to the backyard by Ye Wanmian. He mumbled his dissatisfaction and yawned sleepily a few times.
In the past few days, in order to watch over the three lamps, he hadn't had a single good night's sleep. Once he accidentally fell asleep, he would wake up startled within half an hour. It was really torture.
Just thinking about going back to sit like an old monk made him reluctant. So when he got back to the backyard, he didn't rush into the house. Instead, he fetched a basin of well - water to wash his face to wake himself up.
After washing his face, he shuffled over to the stove, fished out two still - warm sweet potatoes from the pot, crossed his legs, and leisurely ate them in the sun.
After finishing the food in his hands, he let out a long sigh and then planned to go back into the house to continue guarding.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he pushed the door open, he saw a big man curled up and squatting on the ground. Behind him, on the bed, all three life - lamps were extinguished, and the bed was empty!
Qi Wen was both surprised and delighted. He exclaimed, "Your Highness, you're awake! Why are you squatting on the ground? Get up quickly!"
He rushed forward to help Xiao Jingcheng, but the man squatting there bared his teeth at him with a fierce look in his eyes and let out a "growl" from his throat as a threat.
Just as Qi Wen's fingers were about to touch him, the man let out a "howl" and pounced on him, biting his hand!
Qi Wen reacted quickly and withdrew his hand in time, but his face was scratched by Xiao Jingcheng unexpectedly. Finally, he came to his senses and turned around to run.
"Your Highness, it was Lady Jiang and I who saved you. I'm a good man!" he shouted while running.
Xiao Jingcheng chased after him on all fours, as fierce as a vicious dog. Although he had been in a coma for a long time and his physical functions were not as good as ordinary people's, he had practiced martial arts and had long limbs. He caught up with Qi Wen in a few steps, grabbed his clothes, as if he wanted to tear him to pieces.
Qi Wen was almost scared to death. He tore off the curtain and covered Xiao Jingcheng's head with it. Taking advantage of his distraction, he ran out of the house and locked the door from the outside before he could finally escape.
Leaning against the wall out of breath, after catching his breath, Qi Wen noticed something was wrong.
His Highness the Crown Prince was awake, but, but he didn't look right!
Regardless of his disheveled clothes and the wound on his face, he hurriedly ran to the front hall to look for Ye Wanmian.
"That's exactly how things happened." Qi Wen was full of grievances. "I was almost scared to death. Lady Jiang, that Taoist priest wouldn't have been playing tricks on us, would he?"
"I said he was unreliable. You even gave him a hundred taels. Even员外 Chen isn't as generous as you."
In front of Li Zhao, Qi Wen didn't reveal too much. He still referred to Xiao Jingcheng as "Gou Dan".
However, Li Zhao had already sensed something.
He looked at Ye Wanmian and asked, "Is this the secret you wanted me to help cover up?"
Ye Wanmian was also quite shocked by Xiao Jingcheng's reaction. Coming back to her senses, she nodded guiltily. "Uncle Li is perceptive. That's right."
Li Zhao offered voluntarily, "Since it's such a coincidence today, why don't you take me over to have a look? Maybe there'll be a solution."
"That would be great!" Ye Wanmian couldn't have wished for more.
She told Qi Wen to temporarily close the medical clinic and hang a sign saying "Out on business" outside. Then she and Qi Wen led Li Zhao to the backyard.
Ye Wanmian and Qi Wen walked in front. Hearing the footsteps behind them, Qi Wen grabbed Ye Wanmian and asked, "Lady Jiang, when did you get so close to that beggar? How does he know we have a secret in the backyard? Can this man be trusted?"
He asked three questions in a row. Besides being really confused, he was also a bit jealous.
He knew Ye Wanmian had saved the man for her own use, but seeing how they got along just now, their relationship was obviously very harmonious. The atmosphere somehow made it impossible for others to interrupt.
Wasn't he the one Lady Jiang trusted the most? What was going on with this man!
Ye Wanmian didn't know Qi Wen's petty thoughts. She just said, "This man has a remarkable background. For us, he's an ally, not an enemy. You should be more polite to him."
Qi Wen pouted.
When they reached the door that Qi Wen had locked, Ye Wanmian stopped, listened carefully, and there was complete silence inside. Not a single strange sound could be heard.
She held out her hand to Qi Wen. Qi Wen took out the key and placed it in her palm. Then he unlocked the door.
Pushing the door open, Xiao Jingcheng was sitting on the torn and wrinkled curtain, looking at Ye Wanmian pitifully with his face darkened and yellowed by Tianli vine.
Behind him, the tables and chairs that had been neatly placed were overturned, and the teacups on them were smashed into pieces on the ground. Presumably, this was the masterpiece of his chasing after Qi Wen.
At the sight of this scene, Ye Wanmian immediately felt a headache.
When she was there just now, he was just a bit out of line in his behavior. Who would have thought he could be so destructive?
Li Zhao stood behind Ye Wanmian. His gaze passed over the top of her head and landed on Xiao Jingcheng's little yellow face in the room, which was as yellow as hers. He squinted his eyes slightly.
Ye Wanmian took a deep breath and stepped into the room. Xiao Jingcheng moved. He wanted to greet her, but unexpectedly, Dahuang suddenly sprang out from behind Ye Wanmian and pounced on Xiao Jingcheng!
Ye Wanmian was startled and quickly shouted, "Dahuang, come back!"
Xiao Jingcheng sensed the danger and assumed a defensive posture, baring his teeth and growling at Dahuang. Dahuang also lowered his body, bared his teeth, and barked loudly at Xiao Jingcheng.
One person and one dog barked at each other. The room was filled with the sound of barking, as if they were in a competition. The scene was strange yet a bit comical.
Qi Wen recalled the experience of being chased by Xiao Jingcheng just now. He swallowed hard and said nervously, "Lady Jiang, wouldn't that Taoist priest have summoned the wrong soul and let the soul of a dog possess His Highness the Crown Prince?"
Ye Wanmian helplessly supported her forehead.
She really hadn't expected things to turn out like this!
"Enough! Sit down, both of you!"
She roared at the person and the dog that were barking at each other.
The next moment, the barking stopped abruptly. Dahuang and Xiao Jingcheng squatted down on the ground at the same time.
This scene amazed Qi Wen. If someone didn't know, they'd think Lady Jiang had raised two dogs.