Chapter 1197: Fate's Cruel Irony
"Ah?" Shen Da was stunned for a moment, then whispered, "Ye Qing treated Qingyi like that, should we... should we still treat him this way?"
"What do you think?" Shen Tianjun said, "No matter what, Ye Qing saved your lives before. Are you just going to sit there and do nothing for him?"
Everyone looked at each other, and in the Shen Family, Shen Qingyi was the most beloved person. Everyone present treated Shen Qingyi as a precious treasure, and no one wanted her to suffer the slightest grievance.
Just now, seeing Shen Qingyi and Ye Qing like that, everyone thought Ye Qing had done something to Shen Qingyi, so they put all the responsibility on Ye Qing, and their attitude towards him was, of course, not very good. Actually, this attitude was also because Ye Qing had saved them before. Otherwise, they might have already strung up Ye Qing by now.
Shen Da and Shen Er hurried over to place Ye Qing in a nearby room and helped to clean and bandage his wounds. Since Shen Tianjun had spoken, of course, they wouldn't go against his words.
Shen Si looked at the situation and couldn't help but ask softly, "Father, if it really was Ye Qing who harmed Qingyi, then what?"
"Then what else can we do!" Shen Tianjun shot him a glance and said, "Ye Qing must marry Qingyi!"
"Ah?" Once again, everyone looked at Shen Tianjun, and Shen Da also turned his head back urgently, "Father, you... you must think this through, do you really want Ye Qing to marry Qingyi?"
"Then what do you think?" Shen Tianjun said, "If something really happened, then the matchmaking can be canceled. If Ye Qing did such a thing, he must take responsibility; only then is he a man!"
Shen Si whispered, "But... what about Zi Yu?"
Shen Tianjun was suddenly taken aback. He had just been focused on the matter with Shen Qingyi and forgot about Huangfu Ziyu. The affair between Huangfu Ziyu and Ye Qing had been more or less settled before. It was precisely for this reason that Shen Tianjun decided to hold a matchmaking event for Qingyi, hoping to make her forget Ye Qing.
But he hadn't expected Ding Lianshun to pull such a trick, orchestrating this drama. Now, Ye Qing must take responsibility for Shen Qingyi and must also be responsible for Huangfu Ziyu. How should he choose between these two girls?
Shen Tianjun wasn't Ye Qing, he didn't have to make a choice, but just thinking about this matter gave him a headache. If he left it to Ye Qing to decide, Ye Qing would probably have an even bigger headache.
"Why is it so coincidental?" Shen Er sighed, "Qingyi and Zi Yu, both are such outstanding girls, but they both happened to fall for one person. If this were in ancient times, it would be easily solved by marrying both. But in this age, such things, alas!"
"It's not about marrying two or not marrying two, even in ancient times, you can't make Qingyi share a man with another woman!" Shen Si said solemnly.
This immediately plunged everyone into a discussion, and Shen Tianjun watched the Shen family members express their different opinions, feeling his own conflicts. Even he didn't know how to choose, let alone Ye Qing?
While everyone was engaged in the difficult discussion, the door to Shen Qingyi's room suddenly opened. Old Madame Shen walked out, her face full of excitement, and she said urgently, "Nothing... nothing happened..."
"What do you mean by nothing happened?" Everyone immediately looked over, and Shen Tianjun's eyes widened, filled with disbelief. The Southern Fist King Shen Tianjun was usually majestic, calm, and hardly ever showed any expression. But this time, because it involved his granddaughter, he was worried to the point of losing his composure.
"Qingyi... Qingyi is fine..." Old Madame Shen said, "I just checked, Qingyi... Qingyi is still a virgin!"
Upon hearing this, the room was momentarily silent, then burst into a tumultuous buzz of discussion. Everyone was shocked by what Old Madame Shen had said. Just moments ago, everyone was certain something had happened between Ye Qing and Shen Qingyi. Who would have imagined that Shen Qingyi was still a maiden? Had nothing really happened between Ye Qing and Shen Qingyi?
"Really... really?" Shen Tianjun's voice was also trembling a bit. Shen Qingyi was still a virgin, meaning nothing had happened between her and Ye Qing. This meant the matchmaking could continue, and they didn't have to worry about whom Ye Qing should choose anymore, as no one had decided yet. With Old Madame Shen's words, there wouldn't be a need to choose after all.
"Really! Of course, it's true!" Old Madame Shen paused and said, "However, it seems Qingyi ingested some medicine that induced desire. I just used Inner Strength to force most of it out, but there are still remnants in her system."
"Desire-inducing medicine?" Shen Tianjun's expression changed immediately, and he turned to look at the unconscious Ye Qing with furrowed brows. After a moment's silence, he suddenly stepped to Ye Qing's side, grabbed his arm, and carefully checked his pulse.
"He has the same kind of medicine in his system!" After a moment, Shen Tianjun said sternly, "This is Ning Qianshu's exclusive secret medicine. I didn't expect Ding Lianshun to make them take such a drug, truly despicable!"
"What kind of medicine is this?" Shen Da asked in surprise.
"It's a secret concoction by Ning Qianshu that can arouse human desire." Shen Tianjun looked at Ye Qing and said solemnly, "For him to have taken such a drug and still not lay a finger on Qingyi is quite remarkable. It seems that even I misunderstood him. Ye Qing truly is a gentleman of integrity!"
Upon hearing that Shen Qingyi was still untouched, the Shen family members were delighted. Especially Shen Si, who nodded repeatedly and said, "Ye Qing, indeed, is a real man. I am thoroughly convinced by him!"
"Then how did he and Qingyi end up fainting?" Shen Er asked curiously.
Shen Tianjun was also puzzled by this matter and shrugged, "It seems we'll have to wait until they wake up to find out."
As he spoke, Shen Tianjun grabbed Ye Qing's wrist and used his own powerful inner strength to expel the drug's effects from Ye Qing's body. The drug was indeed tenacious, but it still couldn't withstand Shen Tianjun's astonishing inner strength. Before long, the drug was completely expelled from Ye Qing's body.
At this moment, Shen Qingyi also slowly regained consciousness inside the room. Hearing her wake up, everyone rushed into the inner chamber, asking eagerly about what had just happened.
Shen Qingyi couldn't quite remember clearly either. She only remembered Ye Qing giving a deep shout, lunging forward, and hitting his head against a nearby stone wall, knocking himself out immediately. Shen Qingyi hurried over to check on him, but for some reason, when her hands touched Ye Qing's body, her consciousness began to blur, and unconsciously, she took off her clothes and got entangled with Ye Qing. However, her consciousness faded completely after that, and she had no idea what happened afterward.
Hearing Shen Qingyi's account, everyone admired Ye Qing even more. Who would have thought that in such a situation, Ye Qing would rather knock himself out than harm Shen Qingyi in the slightest, truly the act of a gentleman.
It seems that the scenes in the cave just now were all the result of Shen Qingyi's own actions. Fortunately, Shen Qingyi was still a virgin and didn't understand these matters. Despite her struggles for quite some time, nothing specific happened; she merely clung tightly to Ye Qing. The Mu Ling also fell from her mouth amidst her struggles, and the drug's effects caused her to gradually fall into a coma. So, when everyone arrived, what they saw was that scene.
After recounting these events, the first thing Shen Qingyi did was inquire about Ye Qing's condition. Although she didn't know what exactly happened, her intuition told her that Ye Qing had knocked himself out for her sake, which made her admire him even more.
Ye Qing was still unconscious, having been overwhelmed by the secret medicine for too long. The internal energy and blood flow in his body were continuously surging, and the depletion was considerable. Coupled with the head injury and significant blood loss, even though the drug's effects had been completely expelled, he would need some time to wake up.
Knowing all that Ye Qing had done in this matter, the Shen family members were even more grateful and admiring of Ye Qing. After all, Ye Qing's actions in preserving Shen Qingyi's reputation were as good as preserving the entire Shen family's honor.
"You all, take good care of Ye Qing!" Shen Tianjun stood up and said, "I'll go upfront to entertain the guests."
Upon learning that Shen Qingyi was still untouched, Shen Tianjun was excited at heart and prepared to go and tell the guests that they would continue with the marriage arrangements.
"Grandfather..." Shen Qingyi quickly tugged at Shen Tianjun's sleeve and said softly, "I... I don't want to be matched, I don't... don't want to marry..."
Shen Tianjun looked at Shen Qingyi, sighed gently, and stroked her hair, saying softly, "Qingyi, I know you don't want to marry. But if you don't, what will you do in the future? A girl must eventually marry!"
"I'm different!" Shen Qingyi shook her head and said, "I don't need to marry; being alone like this is fine. I simply don't need to marry."
"I know there is only one person in your heart. But don't forget, he is already betrothed to someone else." Shen Tianjun said softly, "Qingyi, it's impossible between you and him!"
"Even if it's impossible, I won't marry!" Shen Qingyi's eyes reddened, and she said, "Even if I just watch him be happy, that is enough!"
Old Madam Shen gently patted Shen Qingyi on the shoulder and said, "Silly girl, sacrificing your happiness to watch someone else be happy will make you very sad!"
"I don't care." Shen Qingyi said, "Anyway, I won't marry anyone else. Grandpa, let's not continue with the marriage arrangements, alright?"
"Fate is playing tricks on us! Fate is playing tricks!" Shen Tianjun sighed with melancholy and said, "If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have let you get so close to him in the first place. Now it's too late; the seeds of love are deeply sown and hard to uproot."
"If he has already met Zi Yu, then why did he need to know Qingyi?" Old Madam Shen also sighed and said, "Fate truly is playing tricks on us!"