Catching Bugs

She pretended to be sad. "Why? You're not even willing to do it for me, sister?"

It should be fine as long as she was sent away. Then, the Su Family would no longer have a young lady that brought them shame. 

Su Pingping showed a knowing smile. "Of course not. Even if you didn't say anything, I would have gone to see you off. Let's meet at the back entrance at midnight, sister."

"Alright".

After Su Pingping left, Cui Yan hurriedly entered. Su Anan knew what she was worried about so she told her what had just transpired. 

Cui Yan's eyes widened. "The Second Miss actually encouraged you to elope!"

"No, Miss, you definitely can't do that. If you leave, your reputation will be ruined and the consequences of that will be even worse than marrying into the Shen Family.

Cui Yan then hurriedly listed the dangers of eloping, which Su Anan expressively said that she understood before asking her to come closer. 

Cui Yan was stunned for a moment before her eyes revealed a trace of delight. However, still worried, she asked, "Will this be feasible, Miss?"

Su Anan smiled, "It is."

There wasn't anything else she needed to know.

When Cui Yan saw her young miss' determination, she didn't hesitate to leave immediately to handle her end of things. 

Midnight came and went, and the time was about to turn 35 minutes past the hour.

Su Pingping was punctual in appearing at the back door.

Oddly enough, the lanterns at the back entrance had all been extinguished and only the little light from the far corridor was present. For secrecy, Su Pingping had snuck out without a single servant girl in tow. At that moment, the darkness of the area would have made anyone a little uneasy. 

She looked around, but failed to see any movement. Just as she was starting to have wild thoughts, she suddenly heard the back door open. A man then came in and pulled her out without saying a word. As they were walking out, he said, "You've made me wait so long. But you're finally here. Let's hurry up and leave, because if we don't leave now, your father will find us."

Su Pingping was shocked. She was about to shout out loud when she realized that it was Liu Yiran's voice.

Her first deduction was that Liu Yiran had mistaken her for the wrong person.

And she also realized that Liu Yiran and Su Anan would not be able to make their escape if she made a fuss. So she suppressed her panic and shook him off her arm before whispering, "Liu Yiran, you've got the wrong person." But before she could say anything further, servants with lanterns suddenly came from all directions.

The surroundings were instantly illuminated.

Su Sheng's chest trembled with anger when he saw his second daughter being dragged away by a man with a bag in his hand.

'Good, god! Was this really his good daughter? To think that he still believed in her so much even after hearing the rumors.'

Su Sheng angrily stepped forward and slapped her, "How dare you rebel, girl!"

She had done such a scandalous thing, and if word got out, the Su Family would become the laughingstock of the entire Luo City. How could he then lift his head high?

Su Pingping saw stars from that slap and some blood seeped out from the corner of her mouth. After a brief moment, when she saw her father's furious face she finally reacted.

'What about Su Anan? Why is father here?!'

'Could it be?'

Her eyes widened in realization: 'That b*tch actually… actually turned the tables on me!' 

Liu Yiran saw that the situation had turned for the worse so he wanted to run away immediately. But before he could take his second step to flee, he was caught by another servant. Master Su then stepped forward and kicked him. "How dare you try to abduct my daughter! Who do you think you are?!"

Because Liu Yiran was rather thin, he couldn't help but cough after being kicked. He was also confused by the presence of the Second Miss. Wasn't he running away with Su Anan? Where was she?

Why was there such a trap formation waiting for him? Could it be that Su Pingping was there as a trap?

However, Su Pingping wasn't stupid enough to do so because she wouldn't be able to escape the consequences either.

In the ensuing chaos, even the servants went in to kick him. Liu Yiran couldn't analyze the situation too much as he had to beg for mercy. He was preoccupied in trying to come up with lame excuses, like he was there to give something to the Second Miss, or he somehow mistook her for another person. 

'Hehe. Meeting in the middle of the night to deliver something? It's even a big bag! And even trying to drag someone away in a hurry?! Did he think we're stupid?!'

Su Sheng flicked his sleeves and ordered his servants to send this man to the authorities on the grounds of attempted theft. 

Liu Yiran panicked when he heard this. How could he go to the capital to take the exam if he was in prison? So he hurriedly tried to explain, but Father Su wouldn't listen. In his anxiety, he turned and asked directly, "Su Pingping, what's going on? Didn't you say-"

"Father, you've wronged me."

Afraid that Liu Yiran would continue to say more, Su Pingping immediately knelt down and wailed, interrupting him from speaking further.

However, she cursed him in her heart. 'This Liu Yiran is really stupid! What's the point of questioning me at this point in time?! Shouldn't he have thought of a better excuse, this fool?!'

He was indeed useless.

As she couldn't count on Liu Yiran, she could only rely on herself. With that, her eyes filled with tears as she cried, "Father, Father, you've wronged me! Why would your Ping'er do such a thing? I don't even know this person well, so eloping with him is simply ridiculous!"

"I've only seen this person once before, at the poetry recital at Daming Lake. At that time, he was touring the lake with Elder Sister. And they were very intimate! You've always taught me, your daughter, to be dignified and virtuous, and at the time, I even advised Elder Sister to not get too close to unknown men."

"But Elder Sister didn't listen to me. So I came here tonight because I heard a rumor that she was intending to escape with someone tonight. I was afraid that this false rumor might alarm people, and if it was spread out, it would be detrimental to our Su Family. So I came here quietly to take a look, and if it turned out to be true, I was planning to stop her."

"If you don't believe me, you can ask my maidservant at that time to verify it. It was Elder Sister that had a secret relationship with this man, and not this dear daughter."

"I am here so late tonight to protect our Su Family's face."

Her words were sincere and didn't seem to be fake, so Su Sheng frowned while he weighed things out.

Su Pingping then hurriedly continued, "This Young Master, for you to appear here so late at night, weren't you waiting for my Elder Sister, so you could take her away?"

"You're wrong to do this. Even if you two were in love, you can't choose this method. Elder Sister's marriage has already been set, and sentimentality is useless. Quickly apologize to father. 

After that, she secretly gave Liu Yiran a look. 'Cooperate with me, you fool! You said that you and Su Anan were in love, right? To the point that you've made yourself pitifully affectionate. Weren't you trying to tie yourself and Su Anan together?'

After all, Su Anan was going to get married tomorrow, and her reputation could not be tarnished especially at this time. Her father would never hand her over to the government as well, so he would have no choice but to deal with this privately, and that way he could avoid going to prison.

At the same time, she could clear herself of her father's suspicion, only leaving Su Anan as the indecent one.

It could be said to be killing three birds with one stone.

It was a pity that all of Su Pingping's efforts were interpreted by Liu Yiran as her pushing all the blame on him, and that she only wanted him to admit that he had an affair with Su Anan. Given Master Su's attitude right now, he would have him beaten to death then and there.

He was someone who had never experienced scheming intrigues before, so how could he understand the twists and turns happening at that time? When he saw that Su Pingping was heavily hinting at him to admit it to save herself, his eyes immediately widened in anger. All he wanted to do was to f*cking bring her down with him.

"Su Pingping, you f*cking lied to me!" He roared.

Su Pingping was stunned. She had seen stupid people before, but she had never seen someone as stupid as him.