The cold wind of early summer whistled past her ears. The soaring flames and the commotion faded away behind them. The row upon row of houses were strung together before her eyes. Lu Yinxi was held tightly in Shang Luoshu's arms as they sped through the night.
It was her first taste of the magic of ancient light - body skills. The life - hanging moment in the Mansion of the Assistant Regent just now seemed like a hallucination.
The two of them had sneaked out while all the servants and guards in the Mansion of the Assistant Regent were distracted by the fire in the study. Otherwise, the young girl wouldn't have had the time to notice these things.
"We're here."
Her feet touched the ground again, and the warmth around her body vanished in an instant. The wind still blew, making Lu Yinxi shiver. But colder than the wind was Shang Luoshu's expression.
He was angry!
The young girl realized this instantly, and she even knew the reason for his anger.
To be fair, she had indeed acted wrongly tonight.
Taking small steps towards him, Lu Yinxi stole a glance at the man from the corner of her eye and asked timidly, "Are you angry?"
With a flick of his wide sleeve, Shang Luoshu deliberately put some distance between them and snorted, "The Fourth Miss Lu dares to break into the Mansion of the Assistant Regent. Would she care if this king is angry?"
The sarcastic words and the sudden distance left the young girl at a loss. Finally, she could only stand there helplessly.
"Sorry, I was wrong. I was out of line tonight."
Actually, as soon as she realized her own impulsiveness, she should have turned back instead of stubbornly charging forward.
At that time, if Shang Luoshu hadn't arrived in time to create a commotion, she feared she would have died in the Mansion of the Assistant Regent. Moreover, it might have affected Prime Minister Lu, and Lady Lu would have had to endure the pain of losing her youngest daughter again.
Just thinking about it made Lu Yinxi feel terrified. A shiver ran up her spine and into her head.
Almost instinctively, she reached out and grabbed the man's sleeve, her voice choking with sobs.
"Sorry, sorry. I know I was wrong. I won't be so impulsive again."
Tears streamed down her cheeks. Shang Luoshu looked down at her as she hung her head in apology, as she showed her fear, and as she shed tears. His once - cold heart softened by seven parts.
The words of reproach he had prepared earlier were all stuck in his throat, and he couldn't utter a single word. His heart even ached densely.
In the end, he could only close his eyes to suppress his chaotic emotions and pretended to be cold, "It's good that you know you're wrong. It's very late. I'll ask Hongrui to send you back."
It was thanks to Hongrui's timely message that he had been able to arrive in time.
Although it was Hongmei's turn to keep watch tonight, out of the natural vigilance of a killer, Hongrui still went to the Fourth Miss's room when she got up in the middle of the night.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she went there, she saw through the little trick on the bed at a glance. Immediately, she realized that the Fourth Miss might have sneaked out.
Hongrui didn't dare to delay. After waking up Hongmei, she immediately went to the Prince Jing's Mansion and told Shang Luoshu the news, which allowed the man to appear in the Mansion of the Assistant Regent at the critical moment.
When Hongmei had paced back and forth in the room for thousands of times, a familiar figure finally appeared in her sight. She immediately rushed forward with tears in her eyes.
"Fourth Miss, you're finally back."
Even though she was Shang Luoshu's person, her concern for Lu Yinxi was genuine.
Seeing the tears in her eyes, the young girl felt even more guilty, "Sorry for making you worry."
"Don't talk about this for now," Hongrui interrupted the conversation between the mistress and the maid after looking at the sky, "It will be dawn soon. Fourth Miss, you'd better have a good rest first."
Lu Yinxi didn't object to her suggestion. Instead, she obediently agreed and lay down on the bed with her eyes closed.
"I'll keep watch tonight!"
After leaving the inner room, Hongrui was about to send Hongmei back to her own room.
"Although it's unlikely that the Fourth Miss will go out again, we still need to be on guard just in case."
Hongmei thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. After all, what she said was true.
The door was closed gently, and Lu Yinxi opened her clear eyes again.
She silently turned over and lay flat on the bed. Scenes from tonight and even after she came to this world flashed through her mind.
To be honest, she wasn't like her former self tonight.
Compared with now, her former self was calmer but also colder.
At that time, she lived in the last days, and the only person she cared about was a close friend.
After her friend's death, there was nothing in the world that could threaten her. So she could always stay calm. But now...
The faces of Lady Lu and Prime Minister Lu flashed through her mind one by one, followed by a blurry figure.
She had people she cared about, so she would be impulsive, unable to stay calm, and even act recklessly relying on her words.
In the end, it was all her fault tonight.
Fortunately, there was still room for redemption.
She would never let this happen again.
Thinking like this, Lu Yinxi slowly fell into a dream.
In the Prince Jing's Mansion, Shang Luoshu hadn't gone to bed yet. Chen Guang, who usually liked to joke around in front of him, had a straight face at this moment.
"Your Highness, you shouldn't have gone to the Mansion of the Assistant Regent tonight."
Chen Guang said this without any courtesy. In this era with strict hierarchical systems, he could easily be charged with disrespect.
But Shang Luoshu knew that he was thinking about the great cause, so he didn't blame him for his offensive words.
"I know what I'm doing."
"Your Highness, please forgive this subordinate for being blunt. If you really knew what you were doing, you wouldn't have used the hidden agents buried in the mansion for the Fourth Miss."
"Presumptuous!"
The tea set on the table was swept to the ground. The broken porcelain pieces scratched a cut on Chen Guang's face, but he didn't seem to notice. His gaze was still fixed firmly on Shang Luoshu.
"Your Highness, even if you want to punish this subordinate, this subordinate must say this. Beauty is a hero's tomb. Are you really going to abandon your years - long plan for a woman?"
"Enough!" Anger burned in his heart. The man supported the edge of the table and tried his best to suppress his emotions.
"I'm tired. Leave."
"Your Highness!"
"Leave!"
The next day, as soon as it dawned, the news of the fire in the Mansion of the Assistant Regent spread like wildfire throughout the capital, reaching every street and alley.
The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review even asked for leave from the morning court and rushed to the mansion early in the morning.
"Your Highness, please rest assured. This official will do his best to catch the arsonist."
"Is what Lord Hu said true?" Because of the arson incident, Shang Mozheng didn't go to the morning court either.
"As the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, it's this official's duty to enforce the law impartially."
"That's good," Shang Mozheng raised the right amount of a smile at the corner of his mouth, "I happen to have a suspect."
"May I ask who Your Highness suspects?"
"Prince Jing, Shang Luoshu!"
No one but Hongrui and Hongmei knew that Lu Yinxi had sneaked out of the Prime Minister's Mansion last night. So the morning in the Prime Minister's Mansion was no different from usual, except that the two maids beside the Fourth Miss always looked sleepy.
After a night of mental adjustment, Lu Yinxi had calmed down a lot. After having breakfast with Lady Lu, she started her embroidery work.
But after only a few stitches, her mood was spoiled.
"Have you heard? There was a fire in the Mansion of the Assistant Regent last night!"
"I haven't heard of this. It's already spread all over the capital."
"I heard someone set the fire on purpose."
"Not only that, it's said that the suspect has been found!"
"Ouch!"
She missed the stitch, and a small drop of blood immediately appeared on her index finger.
The little maids outside the window immediately shut up when they realized that their mistress had heard their chat and didn't dare to say another word.
"Hongmei, is what they said true?"
Putting away the embroidery frame, Lu Yinxi called Hongmei over and asked about what she had just heard in detail.
If the Assistant Regent had really caught the suspect, wouldn't Shang Luoshu...
In response, Hongmei just shook her head, "This servant doesn't know either. His Highness hasn't sent any news today."
So, it's really possible...
She gently bit her fingertip, and a faint taste of blood filled her mouth. The young girl lowered her head, and her gaze fell on a non - existent point.
A moment later, she suddenly stood up.
"Hongrui, tell the servants to prepare the carriage. We're going to the Prince Jing's Mansion!"