The Origin of the Fight

Xue Yuan Shao was already accustomed to this and continued to calmly drink his tea with his head down. Madam Xu, both amused and curious, said to Xue Yuan Qing, "To be beaten and still be so happy, you truly are one of a kind in this world."

She then asked him, "Why exactly did you fight with him?"

Xue Yuan Qing explained the reason.

It turned out that today he had an appointment with friends to go archery. On the main road, he saw a woman clutching her stomach, lying on the ground and groaning in pain. Meng Rui was half-kneeling beside her, and nearby was a horse.

Hearing the whispers of the surrounding onlookers, he didn't quite catch everything, only assuming that Meng Rui had ridden his horse through the market and collided with this woman. A surge of righteous indignation rose within him, and he stepped forward to reason with Meng Rui.

Xue Yuan Qing was impulsive. Before two sentences were exchanged, he angrily threw a punch. Meng Rui was clearly not someone to be trifled with and immediately fought back.

Initially, Xue Yuan Qing relied on having studied martial arts with his master for several years, thinking he would beat Meng Rui into begging for forgiveness. Unexpectedly, his fists never even had a chance to touch Meng Rui's clothes, and instead, he was struck several times by Meng Rui.

Hearing this, Madam Xu was heartbroken, her voice tinged with blame for Meng Rui. Xue Yuan Qing, however, defended Meng Rui, "This cannot be blamed on him. That woman wasn't hit by him; she was pregnant and didn't know it, and carrying heavy objects caused her fetal qi to be disturbed, which is why she was lying on the ground clutching her stomach and groaning. At that time, Meng Rui was riding past, dismounted, and went to inquire about her. It's all my fault; I acted before understanding the whole story, so being hit a few times by him is what I deserved. Moreover, Mother, he had a flexible sword at his waist then. If he truly wanted to injure me, I might have lost my life there today."

Carrying a flexible sword at his waist?

Xue Qing Ning carefully recalled; Meng Rui indeed had a black leather belt at his waist, but at the time, she hadn't looked closely to see if it was a flexible sword. She had only glanced over, feeling that the young man's waist was very firm, and the leather belt accentuated his fine physique even more.

Madam Xu didn't know what to say to Xue Yuan Qing. She looked at her son with a pained expression.

Although she had just had someone boil a chicken egg and wrapped it in a handkerchief to roll over Xue Yuan Qing's left eye for a while to reduce bruising and swelling, the purplish-blue circle was still very clear and unsightly.

Even though she now knew that this matter was due to her son's impulsiveness and Meng Rui was not to blame, she still couldn't help but ask, "Who is that Meng Rui? When you couldn't beat him, didn't you tell him who you were?"

Although the Yongchang Bo Manor was no longer what it once was, it still held a noble title. How could this Meng Rui be so fearless as to beat Xue Yuan Qing into such a state?