Oops! My Inner Thoughts Are Ruining The Plot

Chapter 77: Chapter

Back at the main courtyard of the Xi estate, chaos had already broken out. Word of the forest ambush had reached the family, and everyone had rushed out toward the open horse fields in a panic.

The family physicians stood ready, clutching their medical bags as everyone watched the forest path with tense, anxious eyes.

A loud murmur went through the crowd of gathered relatives and servants as heavy footsteps finally approached.

Emerging from the shadow of the trees was Wenzhe. His face was dark and tense. His clothes were stained with blood both from the slice on his own arm and the heavy red stains from the girl he held tightly. He was carrying Li Mei in a classic bridal style, her pale face resting weakly against his shoulder as she whimpered in pain.

His younger brother blinked, looking completely confused as he turned to the rest of the family.

"Why is Brother carrying that maid?" he asked out loud, his brow furrowing. "And... where is Sister-in-law?"

Just on cue, a soft trotting sound echoed from the dark forest path.

Everyone turned their heads. Right behind them, Su Yueqing rode out of the trees. She was sitting proudly atop her magnificent, snow-white horse. She didn’t look injured at all. Instead, she had her chin held high, looking as regal, cold, and untouched as ever.

Because she was still terrible at riding, a brave guard was walking right next to the beast, carefully holding the horse’s rope and leading them directly into the courtyard.

Su Yueqing looked down at the gathered family with a bored, aristocratic sigh, completely ignoring the bleeding maid in her husband’s arms.

[Phew, we made it back safely,] her inner voice muttered, sounding incredibly relieved in Wenzhe’s mind. [And more importantly, not a single hair on this gorgeous horse was harmed. Look at how her coat shines in the monlight! Truly a masterpiece of an animal. As for the husband... well, he found his precious white lotus, so he can stop glaring at me now.]

Wenzhe’s jaw tightened as her thoughts echoed in his head. Even while carrying a bleeding woman in front of his entire family, his wife was still only thinking about her horse.

At Wenzhe’s sharp command, the estate guards and the family physicians quickly rushed forward, carefully taking the bleeding Li Mei from his arms. They placed her on a wooden stretcher and hurried her away toward the medical pavilion to treat her deep shoulder wound.

Once his arms were empty, Wenzhe stood in the center of the courtyard, his chest rising and falling as he tried to calm his breathing.

Madame Xi, rushed to his side immediately. She grabbed his uninjured arm, her face pale with worry as she looked at the blood on his clothes. "Wenzhe! What on earth is going on?" she demanded, her voice trembling. "Who would dare ambush you on our own family lands? And why were you carrying that maid?"

Before Wenzhe could answer, his sisters, Xi Lanyin and Xi Qianqian, bypassed him completely. They ran straight toward the white horse where Su Yueqing was still sitting.

"Sister-in-law! Are you alright?" Xi Qianqian asked, her eyes wide with fear as she reached up toward the saddle.

"Did they hurt you?" Xi Lanyin added, looking her over for any signs of struggle.

Right behind them, little Anran toddled forward. The little child’s eyes were completely red, big tears pooling at the edges of his lashes as he looked up at Su Yueqing, her tiny hands clutching the hem of Lanyin’s skirt. He looked like he was about to burst into tears at any second.

Su Yueqing, still sitting regally on the horse, looked down at the fussing girls and the crying child.

[Oh, great. Now the kid is crying,] her inner voice sighed, her thoughts drifting effortlessly into Wenzhe’s mind. [And the sisters are looking at me like I’m a fragile glass doll. I literally just sat on a horse and watched a martial arts show. If anyone should be crying, it’s the poor horse who had to carry my dead weight all the way back.]

Outwardly, Su Yueqing maintained her cold, unbothered expression. She gracefully cleared her throat and looked down at them. "Calm yourselves," she said smoothly, waving a hand. "I am perfectly fine. Not a single thread of my robe was touched."

Su Yueqing casually adjusted her cuffs, maintaining her perfectly calm, unbothered posture on top of the white horse. She tilted her chin down and spoke in a clear, carrying voice.

"The person you all should be worried about is Li Mei," she said, waving a careless hand toward the direction the physicians had gone. "She got hit by an arrow meant for me."

She paused, a cold, mocking smile playing on her lips. "Yet, I truly wonder... how on earth did a maid who was supposed to be locked securely in the damp woodshed suddenly appear in the deep forest at the exact second a bow was drawn? What a miraculous coincidence."

Hearing her words, a sudden silence fell over the courtyard.

The family members who could all secretly hear Su Yueqing’s inner thoughts instantly caught her drift. Her spoken words were sharp, but her unspoken thoughts were practically screaming the truth.

[Exactly! There’s no way it’s a coincidence!] Su Yueqing’s inner voice grumbled, her mental sigh echoing loudly in the minds of the entire Xi family.

[She definitely escaped on purpose to stage a tragic rescue! She wanted to play the self-sacrificing hero so Wenzhe would forget all about her being suspected of theft! She’s playing a deep game, and now Wenzhe is falling for it hook, line, and sinker!]

Yunchen, immediately narrowed his eyes, his hand tightening on his sword hilt. "Indeed. The woodshed of our estate is heavily guarded. For a mere maid to slip out unnoticed and happen to wander right into an assassin ambush... it defies all logic."

Yunhao nodded in agreement, his expression hardening. "A simple servant doesn’t have the skills to track anyone into the deep forest, let alone arrive at the perfect moment to take an arrow. There must be an accomplice inside the manor."

Aunt Ronghua stepped forward, her brow furrowing with deep suspicion. "If she has the ability to wander our grounds and the surrounding forests so freely while under lock and key, then she is a massive security threat to this entire household. We must interrogate her the moment she wakes!"

Hearing his family instantly turn against the bleeding maid, Wenzhe’s chest tightened. He still had lingering feelings for Li Mei, and seeing her take a poisoned arrow for his wife had shaken him. He couldn’t just stand by and let everyone brand her a traitor when she was currently fighting for her life.

"Enough!" Wenzhe snapped, stepping forward to shield the path to the medical pavilion. He glared up at Su Yueqing, his voice dropping into a low, defensive growl. "Yueqing, she took a poisoned arrow straight to the shoulder for you! If she hadn’t thrown herself in front of you, you would be the one bleeding out right now. She saved your life, yet you stand there questioning her loyalty?"

Su Yueqing merely raised an eyebrow, looking down at him from her high saddle with complete indifference, while her inner voice let out a massive scoff that vibrated through Wenzhe’s skull.