Wei Nanxun was, of course, extremely frightened. She had been raised in a sheltered environment since she was a child. Although she was neglected by her family, she had grown up pampered. The most ferocious thing she had ever seen was the hunting dog raised by Pei Yuyan.
But that was also seen from a distance, restrained by a feeding eunuch, and she had never been so close before.
Her face was pale with fright, and seeing the scarlet tongue sticking out, and the bits of flesh mixed between the sharp teeth, made her tremble uncontrollably and almost vomit.
Even so, she didn’t dare to back down, fearing that if she revealed even a hint of fear, the man would become even more arrogant. Today was the opening of the shop, and if she gave in now and made an exception for him, wouldn’t everyone follow suit? How could she do business in the future?
She thought so in her heart, but when the dog leash was released and the ferocious mastiff pounced on her, she still felt fear.
This was a person’s instinctive reaction when facing danger. Besides, her thin arms and legs were not enough for it to bite!
“Young master, run quickly, this, this servant will block it for you…”
Zhi Xia’s voice trembled with fear, but she still stood in front of her, stretching out her arms like an old hen protecting her chicks, tightly protecting her.
Wei Nanxun’s hands and feet were also trembling. She also wanted to run, but Zhi Xia was still there, so how could she let Zhi Xia block everything for her?
She didn’t know where the strength came from, but she forcefully pushed the person in front of her aside, and she herself had no time to run.
The waiters in the shop wanted to help, but they were blocked by the tables and couldn’t get out in time. The passersby were unwilling to sacrifice themselves, so they could only watch as the vicious dog opened its bloody mouth and pounced towards the weak young master’s legs.
The surrounding onlookers turned their eyes away, fearing that they would see too bloody a scene.
But they waited and waited, and the scream of the young man that they had imagined did not sound. Instead, a miserable and earth-shattering dog bark rang out.
The crowd looked through their parted fingers and saw the beautiful young master standing there, his arms raised, looking embarrassed but unharmed. On the contrary, a short blade as long as an arm was inserted into the back of the vicious dog.
The cold short blade had sunk into the thick flesh, and the mastiff was rolling on the ground in pain, and blood flowed everywhere in an instant.
The accident came suddenly, and everyone was caught off guard.
It was the rogue named Chen Er who was the first to recover. He widened his eyes and cried out as he rushed towards the mastiff.
“Wangcai, Wangcai, who dares to hurt my young master’s Wangcai.”
But the vicious dog looked like it was dying on the ground, but it didn’t stop breathing and was going crazy with pain. It didn’t even recognize its own master, and when Chen Er approached, it bit him fiercely as an enemy.
Its teeth were extremely sharp, and biting on the body was like tearing off flesh. For a time, the screams of the dog and the man were mixed together, alarming the people in the shop.
As soon as Steward Qiu came out, he saw Wei Nanxun with a pale face, and was so frightened that he quickly pushed the table away and ran out.
“Young master, are you alright, young master?” He checked her for injuries while asking the shopkeeper and waiters to pull the man and the vicious dog away. He also sent someone to report to the government.
Wei Nanxun quickly calmed down. She stiffly shook her head and said, “Uncle Qiu, I’m fine. You should first let the shopkeeper appease the surrounding people, otherwise, after such a thing, many people will be affected and will not dare to come again tomorrow.”
Steward Qiu repeatedly confirmed that she was unharmed, and had to agree and go back to discuss with the shopkeeper.
Soon, the shopkeeper came out to appease the guests: “A small accident happened and frightened everyone. In any case, it is our responsibility. Therefore, I have decided! For the next three days, everyone who comes can receive free pastries again, one serving per person, first come first served. And I have already reported to the government, and officials will soon come to arrest this troublemaking villain. Don’t worry, everyone, such a thing will never happen again today.”
The people present were originally frightened and cursing, but when they heard that the officials would come soon after reporting to the government, and that they could also receive free pastries, they immediately changed their expressions.
“Shopkeeper Xia did a good job. I’ve long seen Chen Er as an eyesore. He eats and drinks on this street every day without paying. He should be arrested and sent to jail as soon as possible.”
“That’s right, that’s right, arresting Chen Er is simply eliminating harm for the people.”
“This shopkeeper cares so much about the guests, even if it’s not free, I will come to buy pastries. I feel at ease buying things here.”
“I also want to buy…”
There were more and more voices like this, and Wei Nanxun’s heart, which had been hanging, finally fell a little.
The matter seemed to have settled down, but her gaze passed through the crowd and looked at a carriage parked on the side of the street. The carriage looked very ordinary, but she had been paying attention to it for a long time.
She had felt it from the moment she was in line. A gaze had been falling on her, sometimes there, sometimes not, but she had looked around and couldn’t find it.
It wasn’t until the mastiff pounced on her that she saw with her own eyes that the short blade that saved her was shot from that carriage.
Otherwise, the person lying on the ground with serious injuries would have been her.
Although she didn’t know who was in the carriage, whether it was simply to save her, or for some other reason, she should thank them.
Wei Nanxun calmed her mind, tidied up her headdress and clothes, and then strode over.
She stopped half a person’s distance away from the carriage window, bowed and clasped her hands in a salute: “Thank you, sir, for the kindness of saving my life.”
She had tried her best to cover up her voice and make herself look like a young man, respectful and polite.
But after waiting for a while, there was no response from inside. It seemed that they didn’t want to show their face. She paused, still maintaining her bowing posture and said, “Sir, don’t worry, I’m just here to thank you for your kindness, and I don’t intend to curry favor or make friends.”
This time, a voice finally came from inside, the tone of an ordinary middle-aged man: “It’s just a small effort, don’t take it to heart.”
Wei Nanxun actually had a guess in her heart. The gaze just now had a familiar feeling, which made her unconsciously associate it with that time in the palace, but she felt that it wouldn’t be so coincidental.
She stayed at home every day, cut off from the outside world, and didn’t even know if the Princess Royal had left the capital, it was just a simple intuition.
Now that she heard a completely unfamiliar middle-aged man, the doubts in her heart suddenly disappeared. She was thinking too much after all.
How could the young master of the Princess Royal’s residence be so free, and so coincidentally, run into her most embarrassing moments every time.
She breathed a sigh of relief, and was about to get up and say goodbye, when she thought of returning the favor for the thank you.
But she didn’t bring anything when she went out, and giving gold and silver was too vulgar. After thinking about it, she said, “Sir, wait for me a moment.”
After speaking, she ran back quickly, and before the person inside could respond, she ran back panting again.
This time, she got very close to the carriage. She raised her hands and handed over a box of food that was particularly exquisitely packaged.
“Sir, this is the pastry I got in line for just now, the last box. If you don’t mind, you can try it.”
The person inside seemed stunned, not expecting her to go back to get pastries, and there was no sound.
Wei Nanxun ran too fast and felt a surge of blood, making the face smeared with gray powder show a faint blush. Seeing that the other party didn’t take it, she couldn’t help but feel annoyed. It seemed a little disrespectful to give free things as a gift.
She quickly explained: “I saw your carriage had been waiting here for a long time, thinking that you might also be here to buy pastries, so I took the liberty of doing so.”
“This pastry is very delicious, I have tasted it and it is really delicious… No, this box is new and has not been opened…”
The more she explained, the more she felt that something was wrong. How would she know if the things she got in line for were delicious or not? For the first time, she felt that she was so tongue-tied.
Her cheeks were flushed, and even the tip of her nose was red. Her eyes were full of annoyance, looking a little comical, but the way she held up her hands had a bit of clumsy stubbornness.
Just as her arms were stiff and she was about to take the things back, a hand lifted the curtain, and before she could react, the food box had been steadily placed in the carriage.
She only had time to see the swaying curtain and a touch of stone blue sleeves.
Then, before she could say anything, the coachman cracked his whip, and the carriage swayed forward, leaving her watching the carriage disappear completely at the street corner.
“Sir, your sleeve blade has been sent to be retrieved.”
Pei Ji leaned against the carriage wall, crossing his arms and closing his eyes to rest. After a while, he gave a faint “hmm”.
“Sir, this pastry looks quite delicious. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be worth it for people to snatch it on the street. Aren’t you curious about the taste?”
The person who responded to Wei Nanxun just now was the middle-aged man. He fiddled with the food box in his hand, wanting to open it and take a look.
Hearing this, the other person said: “Boss, you don’t know, our master hates sweet things the most. He will definitely not touch these pastries…”
Before he could finish speaking, he saw that the person with his eyes closed had opened his eyes at some point. His ink-colored pupils were deep and cold, and he turned his arm and deftly picked up the food box.
“Get out, you’re too noisy.”
The two of them shrank their necks, and no one dared to act recklessly again. With a “yes”, they quickly lifted the curtain and rolled down nimbly, regardless of the galloping carriage.
After this accident, Wei Nanxun didn’t dare to stay any longer and hurried back to the mansion.
The following days returned to the usual calm. The follow-up effect of the free pastries at the pastry shop was very good, and the pastries were sold out for several days in a row.
The other shops were also progressing in an orderly manner, and the wedding date of Wei Mingzhao and Pei Yuyan was also set, on the fifteenth of next month.
She didn’t know what method Pei Yuyan used to persuade the emperor, but it was a full half a year earlier than in her previous life.
But she didn’t care about this, but was secretly delighted. Once Wei Mingzhao’s wedding was over, she could completely cut ties with these two people in the palace and the Wei mansion!
But unexpectedly, on the day Pei Yuyan came to give the betrothal gifts, he didn’t go to see Wang Shi and her husband, or Wei Mingzhao, but blocked her in the courtyard.