“He did save my life, but he’s also the one who stole my marriage prospect. If not for him, perhaps you would be my child today. What a pity.”

He shook his head, rather sadly touching his lower abdomen. “I was injured when I fell into the water and lost my ability. Otherwise, how could your father have snatched her away from me!”

Meng Tan’er listened in shock, making muffled sounds. Just from his eyes, it was clear he wasn’t saying anything nice. The actor wasn’t angered, just smiling foolishly. “Once she sees the miserable state of her legitimate son with her own eyes, how do you think she will easily let your father off?”

He raised his hand to summon the young servant waiting at his side, whispering a few words in his ear. The young servant understood and pushed open the door to leave.

In the second-floor corridor, sleeves cast shadows.

The young servant was already short in stature, and wore the attire of a lower servant in the theater. Now he stood at the door of the box holding a pot of tea, and no one found it suspicious.

From the box directly facing the stage came some unusual sounds. The quick-witted young servant put his ear to the door to listen, then his short legs strode over to another box instead.

“Young master, this servant has brought tea.” He called out respectfully, waiting for a response from inside before pushing open the door to enter.

According to the theater’s rules, payment must be made first for tea service and meals.

The young servant brought the tea, knelt down and kowtowed once, then raised both hands. A string of coins heavily fell into his palms.

He immediately broke into a joyful smile. “Many thanks for the young master’s reward, many thanks for the young master’s reward.”

“Young Master Meng?” The man who had just tossed the coins turned his face. Though he was smiling, his tone was extremely cold as he kicked the young servant right in the chest. “You’re truly blind!”

“Young master, please spare me!” Unable to withstand the force, the young servant’s eyes brimmed with unshed tears as he kowtowed repeatedly. The thumping sounds were like the gongs and drums on stage. “This servant was blind and ignorant. It’s my first day working here, which is why I made this mistake. Please be magnanimous and forgive this lowly one.”

“Young master, from what this child is saying, it seems that Meng fellow has also come to the theater.” The servant at Qi Yun’s side pondered for a moment before hurriedly lowering his voice to report.

Qi Yun raised an eyebrow, gesturing for his servant to help up the young servant who was still kowtowing in apology. His expression softened as he smiled and asked, “If you were bringing tea to Young Master Meng’s box, how did you end up coming to mine?”

The young servant’s forehead was already red and swollen. He knelt perfectly straight and replied, “In response to the young master’s question, this servant clearly remembered that Young Master Meng’s box was the one directly facing the stage. But when I went there just now, I heard constant cries of ‘darling’ and ‘sweetheart’ from inside.”

“When Young Master Meng entered the box, there were two men. But now there was suddenly a woman’s voice, so this servant thought I had remembered the wrong box.”

He cried and wiped his tears. “Young master, please forgive this servant. Please don’t report this to our theater owner.”

“Alright.” Qi Yun waved his hand impatiently. His servant immediately understood and stuffed another string of coins into the young servant’s hand. “Go on now. My young master is kind-hearted and won’t hold this against you.”

The young servant retreated from the room with profuse thanks.

Sitting by the window, Qi Yun could no longer focus on watching the play. He glanced at the servant who had come to serve tea and asked, “What did the people watching the Shu Qin Wang’s mansion say today?”

“Young master, Lady Li entered the palace early this morning and has been in the residence since then.”

Qi Yun lowered his eyes, pondering silently: That is to say, the one in Meng Jun’s box definitely wasn’t Li Ruantang. Although his marriage to Wei Yunruo had already been decreed by imperial edict and was set in stone, he also understood that Meng Jun meant something different to Li Ruantang.

Long-accumulated jealousy instantly overwhelmed all reason.

Qi Yun suddenly stood up. He smiled at his servant who looked puzzled and said, “The drama downstairs can’t compare to next door.”

In the corridor.

The servant who knew Qi Yun’s intentions raised his voice, holding a new pot of tea in his hand. He knocked heavily on the door of the neighboring room with one hand. “Young Master Meng, we accidentally sent an extra pot of fragrant tea to our box just now. Our young master specially ordered me to order a new one to send over. Young Master Meng?”

He pushed with some force, and creeak—

The door suddenly opened. Tightly entwined together, the woman and man on the soft couch were still swaying passionately. A strong fragrance wafted out from the room.

The servant was stunned for a moment. He awkwardly glanced at Qi Yun beside him, who was covering his eyes with a fan, and hurriedly raised his voice, “Please forgive this servant, Young Master Meng. It was not intentional. Young Master Meng, this servant will close the door for you right away.”

His shout, mixed with the oblivious sounds from the woman and man, caused the doors of the second-floor boxes to open one after another, revealing cracks. Some married men who unintentionally caught sight of the scene frowned, privately discussing this shameless pair.

Just as the servant was closing the door, whether due to nervousness or the theater being old, the perfectly fine door suddenly crashed to the ground with a bang.

The onlookers fell silent, only hearing the man inside making ambiguous low groans incessantly.

Qi Yun turned his back and knocked on the door frame with the handle of his folding fan, but the woman and man were at the height of their passion and couldn’t separate. The lady still had some clarity, barely managing to pick up her clothes to cover herself.

Qi Yun understood that Meng Jun must have been drugged. He “kindly” ordered his servant to block the doorway, and cupped his hands to address the surrounding people, “The Meng Jun inside is Young Master Meng, who was once among the Eight Talents of Ruifeng with me. He is absolutely not the kind of man who would behave so indecently. There must be some misunderstanding here. I ask everyone not to say too much.”

“Young Master Qi?” A familiar clear voice sounded from the crowd. Meng Jun stepped forward, with an older gentleman standing beside him, exuding an air of wealth and nobility. With just a turn of his eyes, several servants came forward to block the way.

“Why are you here?” Qi Yun was shocked and didn’t dare to look closely into the room again.