Can a System Have Bad Intentions? - Chapter 107

Song Qingzhan’s carriage was parked nearby, and it had a set of clean spare clothes inside.

Although Lu Tang’s hands couldn’t even reach out of the sleeves when she put on the clothes, it was still better than staying wet.

After some fussing around in the carriage, she finally got dressed and stepped out. Song Qingzhan was waiting outside and burst into laughter when he saw her.

Lu Tang raised her sleeves dramatically like she was in an opera, embarrassed. “I’m too short.”

Song Qingzhan tilted his head, biting his lip to stop laughing, though his eyes still sparkled with amusement. “Not short, just thin. You need to put on some weight.”

Lu Tang grinned, baring her teeth. “Brother Zhan is so nice. If it were the Chief, I don’t know how much he’d mock me.”

Song Qingzhan chuckled. “How did you end up like this?”

Lu Tang lifted her chin proudly and recounted her heroic deeds.

Song Qingzhan’s brow furrowed slightly. “You saved someone?”

Lu Tang, seeing his reaction, felt a pang of worry. “Is there a problem?”

Song Qingzhan shook his head, smiling gently. “No problem, but the person you saved is the young master of the Laifu Inn where we’re staying. He was pushed into the water by someone, and now everyone on the boat is being taken to the yamen for questioning. You’ll probably need to go too.”

Lu Tang was dumbfounded.

Saving someone got her involved in trouble?

“How do you know this, Brother Zhan?”

Song Qingzhan smiled. “Everyone knows. The officials just took people away.”

Lu Tang: …

Only now did she realize, after worrying about exposing her secret, that people around her were discussing the incident.

The Flower Boat Festival was an annual grand event in Yuhang, and every year, the officials set up security on site.

When someone fell into the water, the ones who jumped in to save them alongside her were government officers.

Many people fell into the water every year, and the government had efficient rescue measures in place.

However, no one expected this year to involve an attempted murder, and the victim was the renowned young master of the Laifu Inn.

The incident spread rapidly.

Lu Tang listened to the discussions and got the gist of it, then turned to Song Qingzhan. “Should I go to the yamen now?”

“No rush, let’s go back to the inn first. They’ll come to the inn to find you. The questioning will take time, and you need to rest and recover.”

“Oh, right. Brother Zhan, why were you here?”

“After the Flower Boat Festival, it gets crowded and hard to leave, so I waited here to take you all back by a side path. But then this happened. The festival is canceled, so let’s go now. The others will return soon too.”

Lu Tang didn’t ask more and followed Song Qingzhan back to the inn by carriage.

Exhausted from swimming, Lu Tang sprawled on the bed as soon as she got back. Song Qingzhan ordered fish porridge for her.

Liang Cheng, having heard the news, hobbled over with his injured leg, looking worried. “What happened? How did you end up like this just from watching the festival?”

Lu Tang lay motionless on the bed. “Easy for you to say. Do you think I wanted this? Someone fell into the water, and as a model youth, my first reaction was to save them.”

Liang Cheng didn’t know what to say, glaring at her in frustration. “Get up and eat the porridge.”

Lu Tang rolled her eyes. “I can’t get up.”

Liang Cheng held the bowl and scooped a spoonful, feeding her. “Open your mouth!”

Lu Tang grinned. “Thanks, brother.”

Liang Cheng’s hand shook, almost spilling the porridge into her nose.

Just then, the sound of thunderous footsteps echoed from outside, shaking the inn. The door burst open, and Qin Mo rushed in, looking frantic.

He saw Lu Tang lying on the bed with Liang Cheng feeding her porridge, both laughing and chatting. A surge of anger filled him, making him freeze in place.

Behind him, Zhou Shu, Xu Shen, and Guo Dawei barreled in like a bunch of monkeys with their tails on fire, rushing past him to Lu Tang.

“Good grief, Tang! Next time, use your brain. You jumped in the wrong direction when you saved that person. We were shouting at you from the boat, but you just swam off.”

“Tang, you’re amazing. Not even the officers could keep up with you.”

“Don’t praise him too much. Lu Tang, next time think before you act. It’s great to help others, but remember you’re as skinny as a twig. Saving a burly man? We nearly had a heart attack watching you dive in. We knew you wouldn’t drown with all those officers around, but it was still terrifying. I’m young and haven’t married yet, don’t scare me to death.”

Lu Tang grinned. “I had it under control.”

Liang Cheng, unaware of the details, turned pale. He slapped Lu Tang on the back. “Were there officers? Why did you need to jump in?”

Lu Tang yelped. “Liang Cheng, you’re getting bold!”

Qin Mo found their noisy banter unbearable, clenching his fists before turning to leave.

Song Qingzhan followed him out.

“What’s wrong?”

Qin Mo, with a stern face, walked to his room silently.

Song Qingzhan, puzzled, asked, “You seem very concerned about Young Master Lu. Why not ask how he’s doing?”

Qin Mo replied coldly, “Does he need me?”

Song Qingzhan raised an eyebrow. “You sound jealous.”

Qin Mo sneered. “A bachelor for over twenty years, jealous?”

Song Qingzhan: …

There he goes again!

Looks like all those years of calm were building up to a rebellious phase.

Every man in the Qin family is eccentric!

Song Qingzhan decided not to argue with this madness. “Everything is set. Now we wait for Xie Fangzhu to make his move.”

Xie Fangzhu is Xie Chengnian’s son.

When Xie Yu was poisoned, Song Qingzhan and Qin Mo suspected his father, Xie Fangzhu.

Seeing Qin Mo remain silent, Song Qingzhan asked, “Why let Young Master Lu save someone? When I found him on the shore, he was so pale and shivering.”

Qin Mo, still upset, said nothing, only feeling more irritated by the noise coming from the other room.

Though he couldn’t actually hear anything.

After finishing the porridge, Lu Tang chatted with Zhou Shu and the others until the government officers arrived.

Despite his leg injury, Liang Cheng insisted on going with her, supported by Guo Dawei and Zhou Shu.

As they left, Lu Tang glanced towards Qin Mo’s room and asked Xu Shen, “Why didn’t we see Young Master Qin?”

Xu Shen, remembering the scene on the boat, hesitated. “He might be busy.”