"Shang Luoshu has been here?"
Facing her mother's query, Lu Yinxi was also utterly confused. She hadn't even seen Shang Luoshu's face today.
"His Highness the Prince of Jing came right after court," Lady Lu explained. "After talking with your father, he came to look for you. But you hadn't returned home yet, so I told him where you were. After hearing that, he left immediately."
So Lady Lu naturally assumed that Shang Luoshu had gone to Anguo Temple to look for her daughter.
"But I didn't see him on my way back."
The young girl looked at the two maids behind her. Hongmei and Hongrui both shook their heads.
Seeing the obvious disappointment on her daughter's face, Lady Lu quickly comforted her, "It's all right. I'll send someone to look for him right away."
"No need," without a moment's hesitation, Lu Yinxi suddenly lifted her skirt and stood up. "Mother, I'll go look for him myself."
Before Lady Lu could say anything, the young girl had already dashed to the door, and the two maids followed closely behind.
Seeing this, Lady Lu sighed and immediately instructed Liusu beside her, "Find a few people to go to the Prince of Jing's Mansion and see if His Highness has returned."
Liusu immediately took the order and withdrew. Now let's talk about Lu Yinxi who had already run out of the yamen.
She actually had no idea where to find Shang Luoshu, but there was a voice in her heart telling her that she wanted to see him. So she followed her heart and rushed out of the house without any hesitation.
"Miss, the capital is so big. Can we find the prince?"
"Yes."
Staring at the end of the long street, Lu Yinxi murmured, "I will definitely find him, no matter where he is."
After determining her goal, she began to make arrangements.
"Hongmei, you go to the prince's mansion first and wait there. If Shang Luoshu returns, ask him to wait."
"As for me and Hongrui," the young girl looked at the maid beside her and said firmly, "we'll go to the North City Gate!"
It was the nearest city gate to the Prime Minister Lu's Mansion. If Shang Luoshu wanted to go out of the city to look for her, he must pass by there.
They rushed to the bustling market and quickly bought two horses. Then the mistress and the maid rushed towards the city gate without a moment's delay. The horses were much faster than the carriage. In just a quarter of an hour, the North City Gate was right in front of Lu Yinxi.
She dismounted and walked quickly towards the guarding soldiers. Holding the Lu family's token in her hand, she bombarded them with a series of questions.
"Have you seen His Highness the Prince of Jing go out of the city today? When did he go out?"
Seeing the Lu family's token, the guarding soldiers didn't dare to hide anything and replied respectfully, "An hour ago, His Highness the Prince of Jing did intend to go out of the city, but after asking this little one a question, he turned back."
"Turned back?" Lu Yinxi frowned and continued, "Could you tell me what question His Highness the Prince of Jing asked?"
"His Highness the Prince of Jing asked when the carriage from the Prime Minister Lu's Mansion entered the city gate."
So Shang Luoshu already knew that she had returned?!
"Miss?"
Just as Hongrui had settled the two horses, she saw her young mistress striding towards her angrily.
"Hongrui, let's go back to the mansion."
What?!
No way, Miss!
Hongrui sighed resignedly and led the horses back. After all, the other was the master.
Once again, they galloped on their horses. Just as the gatekeeper of the Prime Minister's Mansion was about to close the main gate, he saw the fourth young lady pull up her horse at the door.
"Fourth Young Lady?"
The gatekeeper quickly trotted over to greet her. "Are you looking for the Prince of Jing?"
Lu Yinxi was overjoyed. "You've seen him?"
"Yes. The prince came here just now to ask if you had returned. After learning that you had gone to look for him, he left. He must have returned to his mansion by now."
With a tug on the reins, before the gatekeeper could finish speaking, the young girl had already galloped away and disappeared from his sight.
The Prime Minister Lu's Mansion and the Prince of Jing's Mansion were on two different streets. Even so, Lu Yinxi still reached there as fast as she could.
The main gate of the Prince of Jing's Mansion was closed. This was her last hope.
She dismounted again and climbed the steps in front of the door nervously. Almost at the same moment, the heavy gate in front of her suddenly creaked and slowly opened before her.
With a jade crown on his head and a slightly loose official robe with many obvious dust stains on the hem, he hadn't even changed his clothes since he left court. But Lu Yinxi's restless heart was soothed by his appearance.
She finally found him!
"Xier?!"
As the gate opened, Shang Luoshu gradually recognized the young girl standing at the door. It was his beloved whom he had been looking for!
Not caring about the etiquette and dogma of the Great Qi and not wanting to care about the gazes of everyone around, the man stared deeply at her, then stepped forward and hugged her in his arms.
"Xier, I miss you so much."
This time, Lu Yinxi didn't hide her feelings. She frankly grabbed the clothes on Shang Luoshu's back, buried her head in his arms, and said with a choking voice, "Shang Luoshu, I miss you too!"
Even though there were a lot of things they wanted to say, it was not appropriate at this moment and place. So they just stayed in each other's arms for a while and then entered the mansion.
Shang Luoshu first sent someone to inform the Prime Minister's Mansion, and then asked Hongmei and Hongrui to change Lu Yinxi into a new set of clothes. The clothes she was wearing had already been stained during her back-and-forth rush.
When they met again an hour later, they had both changed their clothes, looking like a talented scholar and a beautiful lady.
The servants in the mansion were very discerning. After serving the tea and snacks, they immediately slipped out of the room and even kindly closed the door to ensure that no one would disturb them.
Only Shang Luoshu and Lu Yinxi were left in the room, but neither of them spoke first.
Before they met, Lu Yinxi always felt that she had a lot to say to him, but when they actually met, she didn't know what to say.
However, this silence had to be broken by someone.
"I will leave the capital tomorrow."
Shang Luoshu was the first to speak, but the content he mentioned was exactly what the young girl least wanted to hear at the moment.
Noticing her expression, the man walked up to her and apologized in a low voice, "I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you earlier, but..."
"You don't need to say sorry," Lu Yinxi interrupted him, twisting her neck and looking at the wooden door of the room. "A good man should defend his country. You've done nothing wrong!"
"Xier..."
"But Shang Luoshu," she interrupted him again. When she turned back, her face was already covered with tears. "Shang Luoshu, I hope you can come back alive."
"I don't understand the schemes in your court, nor can I see clearly the rivalry between you and Shang Mozheng. I only hope that you can come back safely."
Looking into Shang Luoshu's eyes, another tear rolled down from the young girl's glistening eyes. "So Shang Luoshu, can you... Mmm..."
All her words were forced back by a kiss.
Her lips and teeth were forcefully pried open, and the man's scorching breath came like a mountain collapsing and the sea roaring, almost engulfing her completely.
Lu Yinxi was a little scared. She wanted to struggle, but the arm around her waist made it almost impossible for her to move, and the big hand on the back of her head forced her to accept the deeper kiss.
At this moment, she had fallen into Shang Luoshu's control.