Framed

Yang Chen carried Ji Ran toward Area Four, but he never caught up with Zhu Xi and the other person along the way. When he carried her to the Area Four residential district, he found himself in a bind—he had no idea where Ji Ran lived.

"Senior Sister, wake up! Where do you live?"

"Senior Sister! Senior Sister?"

He shook her for quite a while, but Ji Ran on his back gave no response whatsoever.

Yang Chen cursed inwardly, swept his gaze around, and picked a direction at random. After turning two corners, he spotted someone ahead and immediately jogged over.

"Senior Brother, please wait!"

A male disciple with an indifferent expression turned back, his gaze drifting between Yang Chen and Ji Ran.

Yang Chen immediately said, "Sorry to trouble you, Senior Brother. Do you know this Senior Sister? Could you tell me where she lives?"

The indifferent male disciple said flatly, "Room Seventy-Eight!"

"Thank you, Senior Brother!"

After thanking him, Yang Chen immediately began searching Area Four with Ji Ran. Before long, he arrived outside Room Seventy-Eight. After confirming several times that no one was inside, he pushed open the door and entered.

He tossed Ji Ran onto the bed and was about to leave when he found one of his hands gripped by her. He finally managed to pull free, only to hear several hurried sets of footsteps outside.

He shook his head and walked toward the door.

At that moment, a sudden change erupted.

The wooden door was violently kicked open. Three men and one woman filed inside, led by a broad-shouldered, thick-waisted man. His eyes seemed ready to spit fire as he glared fiercely at Yang Chen. "You dog, how dare you molest Junior Sister Ji!"

Yang Chen looked left and right, thinking, I don't see any dog around here.

But he quickly came to his senses and inwardly cried, This is bad. They're talking about me!

With that thought, he carefully examined the people approaching. One of them was unmistakably the indifferent man who had shown him the way.

"I think there must be some misunderstanding here." Yang Chen raised both hands to his chest and patiently explained, "She got drunk. I was only bringing her back. Please believe me."

After explaining himself once, he clasped his hands with an apologetic smile and moved to leave through the door.

In his mind, this was merely a well-intentioned misunderstanding. But he had thought too simply. The four people who had entered blocked the doorway, giving him no chance to leave. Every one of them wore an unfriendly expression, as though he had committed some monstrous crime.

Yang Chen smiled and said, "What do you Senior Brothers mean by blocking the door?"

"What do we mean?" The broad-shouldered man laughed in rage. "When you were seducing Senior Sister, did you not find out whether she already had someone?"

"Ji Ran is my woman! Who gave you the dog's gall to touch her?"

"What?" Yang Chen felt as though he had been struck by lightning. He had kindly brought her back—who could have imagined this sort of rotten mess would be tangled up in it?

"A misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding!"

"I have absolutely no improper designs on Senior Sister Ji. Once she wakes up, she can prove it."

The broad-shouldered man looked furious, like a man whose home had been robbed. The hostility in his eyes was barely concealed.

Yang Chen's heart sank slightly. He took out the Sound Transmission Bamboo. "Zhu Xi, where are you?"

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"Me, me... Junior Brother..."

Zhu Xi stammered, while indecent sounds came from within the Sound Transmission Bamboo. "Old Yang, I've got something going on here. Talk later!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the voice inside the Sound Transmission Bamboo vanished. A faint trace of anger appeared on Yang Chen's face.

"Senior Brothers, my name is Yang Chen, and I'm a new disciple from this year. I can swear to the heavens that none of this is what you think it is!"

"Whether it is or not isn't up to you. Until this matter is explained clearly, you're not allowed to go anywhere!" The broad-shouldered man snorted coldly, then said to the female disciple beside him, "Junior Sister, go wake Ji Ran!"

The female disciple walked toward the bed, but before she could try anything, Ji Ran had already groggily opened her eyes.

"Junior Sister Ji is awake."

Hearing that, Yang Chen breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that she was awake. Now the misunderstanding could be cleared up.

"Ji Ran, explain this to me. What is going on?" The broad-shouldered man pointed angrily at Yang Chen. "Why is he in your room?"

Yang Chen shrugged and helplessly reminded her, "Senior Sister Ji, you got drunk earlier and asked me to carry you back. You remember that, right? Please explain it."

Ji Ran looked bewildered, as though she had only just awakened from a drunken stupor. But upon seeing the broad-shouldered man, she immediately brightened. "Senior Brother Lei, why are you here?"

As she spoke, she seemed to notice everyone in the room only then. Her brows furrowed slightly. "What are you doing? Why have you all come to my place?"

Senior Brother Lei's face darkened as he pointed at Yang Chen again. "You ask me? I want to ask you—who is he? Why is he in your room?"

Yang Chen pointed at himself. "You got drunk. I brought you back."

"Senior Brother Lei, have you misunderstood something?" Ji Ran frowned at Yang Chen and said without the slightest hesitation, "I don't know him. Didn't he come here with you?"

The expression on Yang Chen's face froze. They had been so familiar while eating at the restaurant earlier, yet now she denied it outright. Wasn't this pushing him straight into trouble?

"You don't know him?" Senior Brother Lei clearly did not believe her. Hearing this, he laughed in fury. "If you don't know him, why would he carry you back? Why would he enter your room? Ji Ran! Do you have some shameful affair with him?"

"Hey, wait!" Knowing this was no joking matter, Yang Chen cut in. "Senior Sister Ji may be drunk, so her memory is a little muddled. But I have someone who can prove it. You know Senior Sister Wu Menglan, right? I can ask her to testify. There really is nothing between us!"

"Shut up!" Senior Brother Lei's eyes widened in fury. After coldly sweeping Yang Chen a glance, he looked back at Ji Ran. "Speak! Who is he?"

"Senior Brother Lei, do you not believe me?" Ji Ran anxiously rose from the bed. "I truly don't know him. I only remember drinking with Menglan, then losing consciousness. Besides, if I really had something improper with him, I could have made up a far more reasonable excuse!"

"I don't know why he appeared here, and I don't know who he is at all. You have to believe me!"

"Really?"

Lei Wu questioned her coldly.

"I can swear to the heavens!"

Seeing Ji Ran so decisive, more than half the anger in Senior Brother Lei's eyes dissipated. He turned to Yang Chen, his face frosty as he spoke. "Breaking into a female disciple's room with improper intentions—do you know what crime that is?"

"How did I break in... Forget it. I can't be bothered explaining any more to you people. Just wait, I'll call someone to testify right now."

Yang Chen was in an extremely foul mood. He had kindly brought Ji Ran back, only to be inexplicably dragged into this bullshit. He truly had a hundred mouths and still could not clear himself.

He glanced at Ji Ran. She wore a pitiful, delicate expression, and he could not help letting out a cold laugh. He took the Sound Transmission Bamboo from his robes again, preparing to contact Zhu Xi.

But his face quickly turned livid. That bastard Zhu Xi had actually shut off his Sound Transmission Bamboo. His voice could not get through at all.

"What else do you have to say now?" Senior Brother Lei glared at him viciously, then said to the others, "Junior Brothers and Junior Sister, help me seize this man and escort him to the steward's office. A person with such a corrupt heart must not be let off lightly!"