The sudden pain on his lips jolted Shang Luoshu back to his senses. Then the woman beneath him pushed him aside and quickly got up, fleeing from his reach.
“For teasing me last time!”
With that, Lu Yinxi opened the door and darted out.
As for Shang Luoshu, he stood there in a daze for a moment before understanding the meaning behind her words.
Last time?
That wasn't teasing last time. He had clearly exercised self - restraint!
Surrounded by men, that fleeting kiss had already been a violation of propriety on his part!
So this time, was it her revenge?
Shang Luoshu belatedly thought of this.
But it didn't seem so bad?!
After leaving the room, Lu Yinxi resumed her timid rural woman act, but her mind was racing. They only had three days, so they had to gather more information before then.
With this thought in mind, she took “timid” steps forward.
Shang Luoze hadn't been alone with Shang Mozheng in a long time. In the vast imperial study, only he and the Regent Prince were present. All the maids and eunuchs had been sent out.
He had complicated feelings towards this uncle.
Before the late emperor's death, he had truly regarded this uncle as a family member. Although he and the late emperor weren't born of the same mother, they still shared the same blood.
Everything changed after that almost - successful palace coup.
He had seen him as an uncle, but his uncle had only wanted to kill him and take his throne.
All his past emotions had been misplaced. The young Shang Luoze was forced to grow up overnight and watched helplessly as those who had been kind to him were gradually eliminated.
Qian Ming, the Commander of the Capital Guard who had once held the imperial jade seal to protect him, died in a drunken horse - riding accident. Xu Zhengdao was constantly oppressed in the court and became a grand preceptor without real power.
In the end, only Prime Minister Lu and his adopted brother, who appeared later, remained by his side.
This was the power of authority!
Even though Shang Mozheng wasn't the emperor.
Suppressing the rising hatred in his heart, Shang Luoze endured his emotions and said, “I wonder what important matter the imperial uncle has to see me about?”
As if he didn't notice the disgust in the emperor's eyes, the Regent Prince smiled amiably.
“There's actually no important matter. I'm here just to tell Your Majesty that you don't need to send people to watch my mansion every night. I won't do anything until Shang Luoshu returns.”
The young emperor's eyebrows twitched, and his eyes flitted away a bit. “What does the imperial uncle mean? I don't understand.”
“Whether Your Majesty understands or not, all you need to know is that the only person qualified to be my opponent is your adopted brother.”
With that, disregarding Shang Luoze's embarrassed expression, Shang Mozheng flicked his sleeve and left, his smile still on his face.
“Who does he think he is to look down on me?!”
The brush washer, inkstone, and memorials were all thrown to the ground. Even the table wasn't spared. Shang Luoze stared fixedly at the disappearing back of the Regent Prince, his chest heaving, and the darkness in his pupils deepening.
What did he mean by only Shang Luoshu being qualified?
He was the emperor of this country!
The noise in the imperial study continued, and those outside were trembling in fear. After a long while, the eunuch heard the emperor's somewhat calmer voice.
“Summon Chen Guang into the palace!”
“What did you find out?”
In the dilapidated thatched cottage, Shang Luoshu was about to go out when he saw Lu Yinxi push the door open. Before coming, they had divided their tasks. Lu Yinxi was to gather information first, and then they would discuss it.
Hearing this, the girl looked a bit dejected. “They're very tight - lipped. I didn't get much information.”
As a woman who appeared timid and cowardly, Lu Yinxi thought it would be easy to get people to let their guard down, but it turned out these people were very secretive.
Shang Luoshu had anticipated this outcome, so he could accept it.
“Tell me what you've got.”
Closing the door, Lu Yinxi sat down beside the man voluntarily and lowered her voice.
“Based on the information I've gathered, there are a few suspicious points.”
“First, the military equipment in Yangxian.”
Shang Luoshu had thought about this problem before coming.
Every city in the Great Qi had a certain amount of armed forces. Logically, it should have been easy to deal with an uprising of Wang Dali's scale. For example, the magistrate of Pingqiang had suppressed the uprising of those who had robbed the granary.
But Yangxian hadn't. Instead, they had exaggerated the situation as if Yangxian had been occupied. That was why the capital had allocated 50,000 troops for him to suppress the rebellion.
Although it could be explained that Shang Mozheng had done this to get him away, Shang Luoshu still felt that there must be a deeper secret behind it.
This was also the reason he hadn't returned to the capital immediately.
Seeing that the man understood her meaning, Lu Yinxi continued, “Among Wang Dali's group, many of their family members were imprisoned in the jail by Magistrate Xia.”
“But Xia Shouzheng never used these people to threaten Wang Dali.”
To put it bluntly, even if the military equipment in Yangxian was really useless, as long as he had these relatives in hand, Xia Shouzheng could have captured the rebels at the north gate.
But he didn't!
“The last suspicious point involves Pingqiang.”
Both in Pingqiang and Yangxian, the people's suffering was partly due to natural disasters, but more because of man - made disasters.
The current situation was largely the fault of the local magistrates.
But strangely, they didn't seem to have any intention of blocking the news. Instead, they allowed the people in the city to leave freely.
Just looking at Pingqiang, Lu Yinxi had heard from those people that they had seen many people from Pingqiang in recent days.
This behavior was really puzzling.
Didn't the magistrates of the two places fear that the news would spread outside, reach the capital, and be known by the emperor?
Saying this, Lu Yinxi couldn't help but knock on her head. Her spirit slumped for a moment. “Now, all I know is that this matter may be related to Shang Mozheng. My mind is in a complete mess, and I can't sort it out.”
Rubbing the place where she had knocked, Shang Luoshu smiled indulgently.
“Leave these brain - racking things to me. You just stay by my side safely, Xi'er.”
Lu Yinxi nodded. These complicated matters were indeed not her forte.
“By the way, I just heard some people whispering,” the girl's expression suddenly became serious, and her voice dropped even lower.
“Their food may be running out.”
Even after robbing the granary, it could only last for a while. Moreover, Wang Dali's group wasn't a small one, and it was only a matter of time before the food was eaten up.
So the question now was, once the food was gone, where would these people go?
Thinking deeper, what was the purpose of these people staying at the north gate?
Wouldn't it be better to just grab the food and run? After all, they weren't the only ones robbing. It would be difficult for the government to investigate. Why did they have to put on a show of opposing the court?
If it was because of their imprisoned relatives, it could be explained, but Shang Luoshu always felt there was a hidden secret.
The more he thought, the more questions he had. Even Shang Luoshu, at this moment, felt annoyed as if he was trapped in a game and didn't know how to break free.
Just then, a knock on the door interrupted his train of thought.