"Of course he came too." Seeing signs that Dugu Yan might relent, Xue Qinghe hurriedly rose and beckoned outside the shop, calling in Baers, who had been waiting there.
"After Baers learned that he had offended Senior Poison Douluo, he was filled with anxiety. But with what had just happened, he didn't dare rashly visit your residence to apologize, so he could only ask me to introduce him."
"I was indeed reckless yesterday, but I truly had no intention of offending Poison Douluo. Please forgive me, Miss Dugu." Baers nervously adopted the humblest attitude he could.
Dugu Yan remained unmoved, her expression still cold. She could not even be bothered to acknowledge him.
Seeing this, Xue Qinghe could only speak again. "Yanzi, Baers is also a cousin of mine. I bear some responsibility for him coming to Heaven Dou City and doing such a thing. Please accept my apology."
As he spoke, Xue Qinghe solemnly bowed.
"First Prince, you..." Dugu Yan hesitated.
After all, Xue Qinghe had stepped in to help them yesterday. Otherwise, there was no telling how much worse things might have become.
But to let this fellow off just like that-she simply could not swallow her anger!
"Yanzi, I'm not trying to excuse Baers. He was wrong, and that is that. Whether you beat him or punish him today is entirely up to you. I only ask that, for my sake, you spare his life and don't tell Poison Douluo about this," Xue Qinghe pleaded.
He could still intercede with Dugu Yan, but if this reached Dugu Bo, everything would be utterly finished!
Everyone knew what sort of man Dugu Bo was. Once he learned that someone had bullied Dugu Yan and even nearly caused something to happen to her, Baers would have absolutely no chance of survival!
"Well..." Dugu Yan hesitated, then turned to Xuan Ming.
"What do you think we should do?"
Xuan Ming froze. "I actually get a say in this?"
"Of course. Yesterday was a fright, but I escaped unharmed. At most, I was scared. This idiot didn't know my grandfather's title, so it doesn't count as deliberate offense. The First Prince saved us, so for his sake, I can let it go," Dugu Yan said.
"But you suffered such serious injuries yesterday, and it was all because of this fellow."
"Tell me, how should we deal with him?"
At those words, Baers, who had only just breathed a sigh of relief, grew nervous again.
Xue Qinghe had nothing more to say now either. Asking Dugu Yan to do him this favor was already his limit. Saying anything more would be going too far.
"Are you sure you want me to speak?" Xuan Ming asked.
"What I have to say is very unpleasant."
"No matter how unpleasant it is, he'll have to listen." Dugu Yan glanced at Baers.
The latter hurriedly lowered his head.
"All right. I wouldn't presume to decide his punishment. I just have a question," Xuan Ming said.
"Just now, the First Prince and His Highness here kept saying that, at its root, what happened yesterday was because he failed to recognize the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul and didn't know Poison Douluo's title."
"They're apologizing because of Poison Douluo, because you're Poison Douluo's granddaughter, not because of what happened yesterday itself."
"They think they were wrong to provoke you, the granddaughter of a Titled Douluo, not that what they did yesterday was wrong."
"If it had been two children from ordinary families yesterday, then it would have been right. Is that it?"
"Well..." Dugu Yan froze.
Ye Lan and the others in the shop were also left speechless for a moment.
After all, unpleasant as those words were, they were the truth.
"In that case, I have neither noble birth nor any connection to Poison Douluo. My status is lowly, and it wouldn't matter even if I were beaten to death. Why ask me something like this?" Xuan Ming said.
"What say do I have here?"
"That's not what I meant," Dugu Yan hurriedly said.
"But it's what they mean," Xuan Ming said.
"They came for you and Poison Douluo, not me, yet you're asking me to decide his punishment."
"You've already said you won't pursue it. What can I say? What would I dare say?"
"Although I nearly died, what can I say other than generously forgive His Highness?"
"Surely I can't kill him?"
"I..." Dugu Yan grew anxious, yet did not know what to say.
"Miss Dugu has already agreed to let it go. Who the hell are you to keep pressing the issue here?" Baers could not help saying.
"You're just a slave. Don't think so highly of-"
"Baers!" Xue Qinghe sharply cut him off.
"Apologize to this young brother."
"Me, apologize to him?" Baers looked incredulous.
"Qinghe, are you serious?"
"Apologize!" Xue Qinghe could barely hold back a curse.
Still calling him a slave?
Do you have a pig's brain?!
Whether it was that strange domain yesterday or Dugu Yan's troubled attitude now, both showed that this boy could not possibly be a slave!
Moreover, Dugu Yan had always been in Heaven Dou City, with no record of leaving recently. Yet this child who had suddenly appeared shared a close relationship with her. That meant he was very likely someone Dugu Bo had brought back!
Even if he thought nothing of this boy, he still had to give Dugu Bo every bit of due respect!
"Fine." Baers looked at Xuan Ming with extreme reluctance.
"I..."
"Enough." Dugu Yan's expression turned utterly cold.
"First Prince, you've seen it yourself. With that attitude of his, I don't think there's any need to continue."
"I'll remember that you saved us."
"And my grandfather will also learn what he did."
Chapter 20: Without Benevolence or Righteousness
With his pig of a teammate simply too difficult to carry, Xue Qinghe could only send Baers outside and queue solo.
"First Prince, don't say any more. With that attitude of his, there's no way I'll let him off," Dugu Yan said.
Xue Qinghe sighed. The tailor shop's proprietress beside them tactfully left the front of the shop, calling all the employees away as well.
"Yanzi, I know you and this young brother are angry about yesterday. I also know that fellow Baers isn't sincerely admitting his fault. But we truly cannot let this matter escalate," Xue Qinghe said solemnly.
"What do you mean?" Dugu Yan asked in confusion.
He was just a brainless prince. Would the king of Barak really oppose her grandfather over an idiot like that?
"There's something you don't know. Senior Poison Douluo is now a guest elder of our Heaven Dou Imperial Family," Xue Qinghe said.
"You must have heard about the Star Luo Empire's army massing at the border recently. The armies on both sides of the border have yet to disperse."
"If Poison Douluo attacks Baers at a time like this, and outsiders see it as the Heaven Dou Imperial Family suppressing the Balak Kingdom..."
Xue Qinghe sighed. "What happens to Baers is a minor matter. But if this affects relations between the Heaven Dou Imperial Family and the Balak Kingdom, we'll be in trouble."
"The Star Luo Empire's army has yet to withdraw. If a rift forms between the Heaven Dou Imperial Family and the Balak Kingdom now and unsettles military morale, that army might just come charging in!"
Emperor Xue Ye did not care that this cousin's son of his had offended Dugu Yan. It would not matter even if Baers died, but the fellow could not die now, much less at Dugu Bo's hands!
Dugu Bo had only just become a guest elder of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, only to turn around and kill the Balak Kingdom's prince in Heaven Dou City. What would that amount to?
What would the other kingdoms think?
Would they believe it was merely because Baers had been stupid enough to offend Dugu Yan?
Normally, it would have been fine, just a warning to keep them in line. But these were exceptional circumstances. They could not strike now!
The emperor had sent him to handle this precisely so he could suppress the matter as much as possible. Even if he truly could not resolve it, every day he could stall was another day gained. At the very least, Baers could not die before the Star Luo Empire's army had fully withdrawn!
"Well..."
Hearing Xue Qinghe explain the current situation, Dugu Yan hesitated again.
If this matter triggered a war between the two empires, plunging countless lives into misery...
"Xuan Ming, how about... we set this aside for now?" Dugu Yan said.
"If nothing else works, once this period passes, I'll ask Grandfather to avenge you."
Xue Qinghe and the others watched in silence.
Just what was the relationship between these two? Dugu Yan was actually asking this boy's opinion even on something this important?
"You're the one who gets to decide this. Why are you asking me?" Xuan Ming could not quite understand either.
He had only just met Dugu Yan. Even counting every moment since their first meeting yesterday, they had known each other for less than a day.
When Dugu Yan had passed the question to him earlier, he had merely handed it back.
After all, when all was said and done, he had no say in this.
"But you were the one who got hurt," Dugu Yan said.
"You could have run away on your own back then. And later, when you risked trying to kill Baers, all the danger fell on you. I..."
Back at home, Xuan Ming had already told her that going out in his condition would be inconvenient. She had insisted on taking him out, which had led to everything that followed.
If she had not insisted on dragging Xuan Ming out to eat, none of this would have happened.
She still could not help feeling guilty.
"But I have no say in this," Xuan Ming said.
"I can't magnanimously say to let him go, nor can I insist on revenge knowing full well that whether he lives or dies could affect a war."
"It's wartime now. A rift between the Heaven Dou Imperial Family and the Balak Kingdom would undermine the army's stability and could trigger a war."
"But if we wait until some time has passed and both armies withdraw before taking revenge, wouldn't that be killing the donkey once it's done turning the mill, as far as the Balak Kingdom is concerned?"
"If war breaks out again in the future, will the Balak Kingdom still do its utmost to resist the Star Luo Empire's army?"
"And if the Balak Kingdom bears a grudge and starts a war to retaliate against the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, what then?"
"Wouldn't I, the one who caused Poison Douluo to attack Baers, become the chief culprit behind all of it?"
"To plunge countless lives into misery over a personal matter would be without benevolence. To drag Poison Douluo into it would be without righteousness."
"Wouldn't that make me a petty man without benevolence or righteousness?"
"Well..." Dugu Yan froze.
Xue Qinghe and the others were also stunned by Xuan Ming's words.
Although what Xuan Ming said was true, was this something a six-year-old child could think of?
What did a child know of benevolence and righteousness?
"I nearly died because of that fellow. I'm not that magnanimous, and I couldn't pretend to be even if I tried," Xuan Ming said.
"But Poison Douluo's position is special, and I wouldn't want him to avenge me either. So I can't answer that question."
"You don't need to feel guilty because I was hurt, either. In this matter, you did nothing wrong, and neither did I."
"In the minds of the First Prince and His Highness outside, they did nothing wrong either."
"Since no one did anything wrong, all that remains is to return to the most basic rule."
Xue Qinghe smiled helplessly. "Young brother, I never said Baers was right. Please don't misunderstand me."
"But you don't think he was wrong either," Xuan Ming said.
"None of you do, do you?"
He did not expect to speak of equality for everyone in a world like this. Even the world he had once lived in had possessed no such thing.
The strong bullied the weak, and people trampled those below while fawning over those above. It was everywhere.
It was just that the world he had once lived in had hidden these things rather than exposing them so nakedly.
In this world, however, these things were all out in the open.