"How do you want to be friends with me?"
"If Young Master Xie wants to go anywhere or do anything, just send someone to call me, and I guarantee I'll be there whenever you need me."
"Oh, I see."
"So, Young Master Xie, are we friends from now on?"
"I suppose so."
"I'm so happy! Am I dreaming? Young Master Xie, hit me, I want to see if it's real."
Ruan Ziji was so excited he was dancing, and he pushed his face towards Xie Jiang.
He felt that heaven had been too good to him, actually sending a Young Master Xie into his life. Everything today felt so unreal.
However, Ruan Ziji never expected that Xie Jiang would swing a palm at him, sending him flying, only to crash heavily onto the ground.
Xu Hengyi clutched his jaw, his teeth aching just watching.
He had never seen someone so eager to be beaten. Xie Jiang, that black-hearted and ruthless fellow, would just hit without any hesitation.
If Ruan Ziji was scared away by this, it would be his good fortune.
Xu Hengyan quietly advised Xie Jiang, "It's fine to play around, but don't go too far. Ruan Ziji comes from the Marquis of Anyuan's estate, and his mother is Princess Yuning."
"Oh."
Imperial relatives were everywhere, and marquises, earls, and barons were as common as dogs.
Xie Jiang was not surprised by Ruan Ziji's background at all.
Those who could be friends with the Xu Hengyi brothers couldn't have a low status.
Ruan Ziji finally managed to pull himself out of the ground, sat there in a daze for a while, and then got up and ran towards Xie Jiang.
"Young Master Xie, your hands are so strong..."
Ruan Ziji's once handsome face was swollen on one side, with the vivid red palm print looking as if it had been branded on. He spoke with a lisp, his words slurred.
Young Master Xie smiled amiably, kindly, and considerately, "Do you need me to make it symmetrical?"
Ruan Ziji shook his head, "No need, Young Master Xie. I think I feel it. I'm not dreaming..."
Xu Hengyi found it strange that Ruan Ziji, after being beaten so badly, wasn't angry at all!
He glanced back at Xie Jiang's face.
Xu Hengyi seemed to understand something.
He was completely dominated by Xie Jiang. Several times he had been so angry he was about to explode, but in the end, he decided not to dwell on it.
If Young Master Xie didn't find it painful to hit someone, how could the one who was hit have the nerve to be angry?!
That would be ungrateful!
Deserving of death!
"Oh ho ho ho... ho ho ho..." Ruan Ziji laughed happily, but dared not make a facial expression. "Young Master Xie, don't forget, my name is Ruan Ziji. I'll go back today, and we'll play together another day."
Ruan Ziji certainly wasn't willing to leave just like that. He hadn't had enough time to chat with Young Master Xie, but if he showed up in front of Young Master Xie looking like this, what kind of good impression would he leave?
He needed to disappear from Young Master Xie's sight quickly, so that Young Master Xie would forget his current appearance.
He would return when he was as handsome and dashing as a jade tree!
Xie Jiang waved goodbye to him.
Ruan Ziji happily ran off.
Xu Hengyi was speechless.
He felt like he no longer recognized Ruan Ziji.
Xu Hengyan also just learned that the ruthless Ruan Ziji could also be like this in front of Xie Jiang.
...It was as if his brain had suddenly gone on strike.
Xie Jiang asked curiously, "What kind of wicked scoundrel is this? Worthy of your initial nervousness?"
Xu Hengyi glanced at his second brother. Seeing that his second brother didn't object, he said awkwardly, "Ruan Ziji likes, uh, he likes men."
"Huh?"
This was even an issue?
Xu Hengyi emphasized, "None of the concubines in his estate are women!" Wasn't this still an issue?!
Xie Jiang looked at them with a confused expression and asked, "What's wrong with liking men?"
Xu Hengyan was shocked.
His worst fear had come true!
"No, it's not wrong for women to like men! But Ruan Ziji is a man! A man! Shouldn't men like women!"
"..."
Xie Jiang looked at Xu Hengyan.
Is that how it is?
Did he even need to ask his second brother about this!
The love between men and women was the natural order of things!
Xu Hengyi had always felt that Xie Jiang's mind was different from theirs.
He hadn't expected it to be like this in this matter too...
"You'll have to have children in the future, won't you? How will you have children without marrying a wife? Can men give you children?"
"Why do I need to have children?"
"To continue the family line!"
"My elder brother can marry and have children."
"You have an elder brother?!"
"What's so strange about that? Why can't I have an elder brother?"
That made so much sense, he also had an elder...
Uh, his elder brother was devoted to becoming an immortal, so he probably wouldn't marry and have children.
But he still had his second brother.
Xu Hengyi's gaze drifted past Xie Jiang, looking towards Xu Hengyan on Xie Jiang's other side.
So, could he also...
Meeting Xu Hengyi's furtive gaze, Xu Hengyan's eyes suddenly sharpened.
Xu Hengyi was so startled that he quickly dismissed his inappropriate thoughts.
Xie Jiang was still looking at Xu Hengyan.
Xu Hengyan had always refused to marry and have children, and he didn't like interacting with girls. Could it be that he too...
Xu Hengyan: "No, don't think nonsense!"
Xie Jiang raised an eyebrow.
Really?
This kind of thing wasn't that scary. Although it might not be easily accepted, Ruan Ziji was fine, wasn't he?
Xu Hengyan was certain he would never like men!
Xie Jiang: Alright, alright, I believe you.
Xu Hengyan rubbed his temples with a headache, "You should interact less with Ruan Ziji in the future."
He already had little understanding of matters between men and women, and he could easily be led astray by Ruan Ziji.
"Did he seize it by force, or did he force a good woman into concubinage?"
"Not exactly, at most he used his power to oppress people."
"Then he's not a bad person."
She couldn't get through to him on this issue.
"Seeing how nervous you were, I thought he had done something incredibly heinous, but it's just this?"
Xu Hengyan teased, "Couldn't eliminate evil for the people, so no place to display your skills?"
"Didn't you see the way Ruan Ziji looked at you? His eyes were wrong." In any case, Xu Hengyi was almost scared to death.
Ruan Ziji, who had a preference for men, saw Xie Jiang's stunning beauty. If Ruan Ziji didn't suddenly turn straight, he wouldn't let go.
Wasn't he scared?
But then he suddenly thought, who was Xie Jiang? How could she suffer at Ruan Ziji's hands!
Ruan Ziji should pray for himself.
His second brother was probably the same, standing firmly in front of Xie Jiang, fearing that Ruan Ziji was seeking his own death.
"I'm so good-looking, it's normal for him to be stunned, isn't it?"
Even though it was the truth, could she be a little more modest?
"Anyway, be careful yourself. Ruan Ziji definitely has a crush on you. Don't be fooled by his sweet talk."
"If I manage to turn him straight, how will Marquis Anyuan and Princess Yuning thank me?" Xie Jiang said, gesturing with her hands.
Xu Hengyan's eyes ached, and he quickly turned his head away.
Xu Hengyi was stunned, thinking she was being fantastically imaginative.
"Are you dreaming? Ruan Ziji has been incurably ill for a long time. If he could be straightened, Marquis Anyuan and Princess Yuning would have done it long ago."
"If others can't do it, does that mean I can't?"
"Ah? This?"
Xu Hengyi looked at her proud demeanor and thought that she was the world-renowned poison doctor, perhaps she had special methods?
"You can't really straighten Ruan Ziji, can you? If you can truly straighten him, then there's no need to say it, the Marquis and his wife will surely be very grateful to you!"
Xu Hengyan was also a little curious.
Xie Jiang said irresponsibly, "I was just saying."