Chapter 72 - 71: Group Pet Changying, Loyal Subject
Chapter 72: Chapter 71: Group Pet Changying, Loyal Subject
Hearing him state Lu Qingyuan’s name so accurately, Housekeeper Pei was surprised. "Young Master, you actually know her?"
Their Young Master truly didn’t seem like a wealthy young heir. He never had any women around him and disliked attending banquets. He was practically a living ascetic. Oh, wait, no. When it came to squandering the family fortune, their Young Master was unmatched. He could easily drop hundreds of millions on an antique on a whim.
"Are those really the two characters of her name?" Pei Xuan was somewhat surprised. "Then it makes sense that she’s pretty."
Housekeeper Pei’s eyes instantly lit up. "If you like her, Young Master, I’ll go tell Mr. Pei right now—"
His words were abruptly cut off before he could finish, silenced by Pei Xuan’s murderous glare.
"Why is your head full of this romantic nonsense all day long? Don’t let my grandfather corrupt you." Pei Xuan gazed into the distance and said lightly, "I just thought of an old friend."
He remembered that little girl. Qingyuan. Qu Xian among the Twelve Masters of Mingjing. She was exceptional at singing opera. She didn’t sing of the sorrowful laments of women in their boudoirs, but rather of the majestic rivers and mountains of the homeland.
Pei Xuan had no intention of investigating whether the superstar Lu Qingyuan was actually Qu Xian Qing Yuan. It was simply because Young Master Pei of Jianghuai was too arrogant by nature. The only people who could make him search in earnest were the King he served and his sister, Pei Jiang. But after all this time, he still hadn’t found the two of them.
At this thought, Pei Xuan’s eyes grew slightly cold. Could it be that only he and Xie Qingshi, that bewitching seductress who beguiled the sovereign, had arrived in this era four hundred years in the future? That really wouldn’t be a wonderful thing at all.
Seeing Pei Xuan’s face suddenly turn frosty, Housekeeper Pei shivered. "Young Master, did I say something wrong?"
Pei Xuan didn’t answer. He took the elevator up to the VIP ward.
In the hospital bed, Mr. Pei was wearing reading glasses and reading the daily news. Hearing the noise, he looked up. "Xuan’er, why are you here so early this morning?"
"Wasn’t I afraid you’d be lonely and cold all by yourself? So, I came to keep you company as soon as I finished my work." Pei Xuan sat down beside him. "Grandpa, what are you looking at?"
"Such a perfectly fine young girl, yet someone actually schemed to make her fall into a lake while filming." Mr. Pei slapped his thigh and said angrily, "I don’t know who did it, but they are absolutely despicable!"
Pei Xuan tilted his head and saw the news headline. "Lu Qingyuan?"
"Yes! Your grandfather hasn’t watched her TV dramas, but I’ve listened to all the operas she has sung. She sings exceptionally well!" Mr. Pei praised her profusely. "It’s truly not easy for a young person nowadays to settle down and learn the traditional arts of our ancestors."
Housekeeper Pei beamed. "Mr. Pei, I definitely saw Lu Qingyuan just now. She must be staying right here in the First Hospital."
"Really?" Mr. Pei’s expression lifted. "Xuan’er, hurry, find out which ward she’s in and get me an autograph. I want to keep it as a treasure."
Pei Xuan didn’t even bat an eyelid and said lazily, "There’s no need. I can just sign our ancestor’s name for you. You can hang the autograph in the ancestral hall and bow to it every day."
Hearing this, Housekeeper Pei felt incredibly worried. Their Young Master really considered himself to be the ancestor!
"You bastard!" Mr. Pei was so furious he glared and blew his beard out. "Don’t think that just because you share the exact same first and last name as our ancestor, your signature becomes his! Our ancestor didn’t just have a given name, he also had a courtesy name—Youning!"
Pei Xuan shrugged. "You didn’t give me a courtesy name, so what can I do?"
Mr. Pei was enraged. "Get out!"
"Fine, I’ll leave so I’m not an eyesore." Pei Xuan took a couple of steps and stopped. "By the way, Grandpa, your grandson has already paid off the favor you owed the Meng Family. If the Meng Family tries to use the Pei Family’s name to do anything in the future, I won’t let them off easily."
Mr. Pei was completely baffled. "What favor did I owe the Meng Family?"
Housekeeper Pei reminded him, "You once asked the old master of the Meng Family to help you deliver a love letter to the prettiest girl in their class."
"Bah, bah, bah! Shut up!" Mr. Pei clamped a hand over Housekeeper Pei’s mouth. "How many years has it been? Why are you bringing that up? If the younger generation hears this, where am I supposed to put my face?"
Housekeeper Pei made muffled noises, wailing internally, "Young Master, take me with you!"
After Shi Changying finished the second meal Shaoyuan fed her, Qingyuan arrived. There was a thin layer of sweat on her forehead, and a flush had crept up both sides of her cheeks. She had clearly rushed over in a hurry.
"Teacher Lu?" Xu Shuangqiao stepped forward to support her and asked worriedly, "What did the company want with you? Why the rush?"
Qingyuan waved her hand. "It’s nothing major. They just told me not to pursue accountability against the person who sabotaged me."
"What? Has Xingyi gone mad?" Xu Shuangqiao was furious. "How much money have you made for Xingyi? And they won’t even protect your basic rights? You almost drowned to death!"
"Discarding people once they’ve outlived their usefulness is exactly what they love doing most." Qingyuan smiled faintly. "However, I won’t let them have their way."
Hearing this, Shi Changying raised her head.
"You’re obviously the one who had an accident, yet Xingyi told you not to look into it. Could it be..." Xu Shuangqiao’s mind worked quickly. "Does this have something to do with Bai Shuyi?"
Qingyuan said in surprise, "Miss Shuangqiao is indeed unparalleled in intelligence."
"That’s despicable!" Xu Shuangqiao grew even angrier. "Teacher Lu, if there’s anything you need my help with, just ask. I can’t stand seeing Xingyi act like this."
"Then I will thank Miss Shuangqiao in advance." Qingyuan coughed softly. "I’d like to have a private word with Miss Changying. Is that alright?"
"Of course, no problem," Xu Shuangqiao agreed readily.
Shaoyuan took out a tissue and methodically wiped Shi Changying’s face clean. Qingyuan stared at his actions. Shaoyuan only stood up after he finished wiping.
Qingyuan’s gaze fell on Ming Chengli. "Uncle Ming, could you step out too, please?"
Ming Chengli pointed at himself and asked uncertainly, "M-me?"
Qingyuan smiled. "Yes."
Ming Chengli fell silent.
Xu Shuangqiao grabbed Ming Chengli by the arm. "Mr. Ming, the youngsters are talking. Don’t crowd the room."
The door closed, leaving only Shi Changying and Qingyuan alone in the ward.
"Lu Qingyuan, graduated from the Mingjing Drama Academy, twenty-five years old this year. I’ve won Best TV Actress three times and Best Movie Actress once." Qingyuan broke the silence. "I have eighty million fans, and I plan to break into the international film and television industry next year."
Hearing this highly detailed self-introduction, Shi Changying raised an eyebrow. She didn’t know much about today’s entertainment industry, but Xu Shuangqiao had mentioned that Lu Qingyuan’s popularity was in a league of its own, so she said, "Miss Lu, you’re very impressive."
Qingyuan gazed deeply into this face where she couldn’t find a single trace of familiarity, yet those eyes were incredibly familiar to her.
"You said that the ’Yuan’ in my name was the hawk soaring to the heavens. You also said that my future would be a vast, boundless world, and that no one could dictate my destiny, not even you." Moisture crept up the corners of Qingyuan’s eyes again, and she asked softly, "So look at me now. Am I flying high enough?"