Hu Xiaotian had already retreated to a safe distance. Baobao rushed forward to chase him down and hit him, but when she saw Ma Liangpeng and Wang Ren approaching from the side, she hastily lowered her pretty head. "Safe travels, Eunuch Hu." The girl's acting skills were exceptional, too. Even after being taken advantage of, with a thousand grievances weighing on her heart, she had to swallow her knocked-out teeth along with her bitterness and behave properly in front of others.
"No need to see me off," Hu Xiaotian said. "I'll head back myself."
Ma Liangpeng and Wang Ren came over and bowed to Hu Xiaotian. "Are you heading back, Eunuch Hu?"
Hu Xiaotian nodded. "Lady Wen understands how much work I have at the Palace Gardens Bureau and has allowed me to return there to stay."
Ma Liangpeng said quietly, "Eunuch Hu, there's something I'm not sure I ought to say."
"Stop hemming and hawing. Whatever it is, just say it." Hu Xiaotian sounded somewhat impatient. He really had been left unsatisfied tonight. Wen Ya had set him burning with desire; otherwise, he would not have acted so impulsively with Baobao just now and forced himself on her.
Behind Hu Xiaotian, Baobao spat again. It was not that she had any particular complaint against him; she still had not recovered from the shadow of that forced kiss.
The two Little Eunuchs, unaware of what had happened, both looked taken aback. They thought Baobao's behavior was terribly inappropriate—spitting at a moment like this.
"Eunuch Hu," Ma Liangpeng said, "Lady Wen told all of us to wait in the outer courtyard."
Hu Xiaotian frowned. Wen Ya's actions clearly betrayed her distrust of them. That meant she had sent him back to the Palace Gardens Bureau not out of consideration for his