Shocking

The next day, Mu Qing went to the Prince's residence again, but Princess Duanjing did not show up and told her to go directly to see the young prince.

It had rained at dawn, the air was still fresh, the ground glistened with water, and the vermilion pillars were adorned with gleaming gold paint. The courtyard was quiet and still, so Mu Qing couldn't help but slow her pace.

As they walked down the corridor, they suddenly heard a sound of things being smashed, accompanied by angry shouts.

"Get out!"

Having never heard the young prince get angry before, Mu Qing stood frozen in place.

The carved black lacquered door in front opened from the inside, and several servants came out in a line, bowing, all looking terrified.

Qi Sheng was the last to come out, his face also quite ashen. When he saw the maid leading Miss Lu to the door, he paused for a moment, then bowed and turned to say into the house, "Your Highness, Miss Lu has arrived." He spoke with a hint of eager anticipation.

After a moment of silence, a deep voice came from inside the room: "Please ask her to go back. I don't want to see anyone."

Qi Sheng closed the door, his tone becoming dejected: "Miss Lu, please go back."

"Why does Your Highness not want to see anyone?" Mu Qing didn't move an inch. She glanced at the carved doors and windows, but mindful of her composure, she didn't impulsively step forward.

She thought with a touch of compassion that it's understandable for a sick person to be irritable, but she was already here and couldn't just go back like this.

After waiting for a while, it was quiet inside, but the young prince must have heard the question. Mu Qing looked at Qi Sheng with certainty, signaling him to answer.

Qi Sheng lowered his head and said hurriedly, "I have other matters to attend to, so I will take my leave now."

After saying that, he turned and ran after the departing servants.

"How can you treat guests like this?" Mu Qing was stunned and speechless. She walked to the door and knocked, but received no response. She spoke again.

"Your Highness, as soon as I stepped out, I remembered the time the carriage went out of control, and I was filled with anxiety. But when I thought about how you were ill, I felt I had to come and see you no matter what. What's wrong with you?"

The gentle tone of voice carried into the room, subtly revealing a hint of dissatisfaction. If Xiao Yu had heard it in the past, he would have chuckled to himself and then teased the speaker a few times.

At this moment, he leaned against the soft pillow, gazing absently at the pale purple figure outside the latticed window on the door, her hair piled high and her hair ornaments swaying gently.

At first, he thought that she didn't match the name Qingxue at all, that she was simple-minded and lacked any cleverness. But as he called her that name, he felt that it was perfect. Her heart was as cold as ice and snow, and the longer she was kept hidden, the more she would warm people's hearts.

Even though he learned from Master Lu San more than two months ago that she was not actually a daughter of the Lu family, he found it hard to change his mind, and even did not want to.

If her name wasn't Lu Qingxue, what should it be? He originally planned to ask her in detail after marrying her into the household to avoid further trouble, but he never expected that a living Lu Qingxue would appear.

Xiao Yu's mind was in turmoil, just like the broken screen on the ground, with shattered porcelain scattered everywhere.

Mu Qing, who was outside the door, had no idea about any of this and was still trying to reason with him: "Why don't you want to see anyone? You also have a rash. You can still talk to people. Ignoring people like this will make them worry and barge in."

Upon hearing the reason for the intrusion, Xiao Yu replied from inside, "I'm fine, I just want to sleep."

"It's still early, I can wait until you wake up."

"No need, you go back first."

Mu Qing remained silent for a moment through the door, then said, "I'll come see you again tomorrow."

For the first time, Xiao Yu found her difficult to deal with, and his forehead twitched. He asked, "Aren't you afraid of encountering danger again on the road?"

A soft voice came from outside the door: "But I'm even more afraid of never seeing you again."

As Xiao Yu gazed at the figure speaking, a faint smile inadvertently appeared on his face.

But Mu Qing continued, "The prince is so unwilling to see anyone, it must be that he is very ill. If he doesn't get better, we won't be able to see him again, wouldn't that be a pity?"

Thinking back to what she had heard before, that the young prince had almost died of illness in his childhood, and that the third madam had instructed her not to talk about life and death, Mu Qing felt that the young prince might be very ill this time, and she couldn't help but picture him looking sickly.

"Come in, come in!"

Hearing these words coming from inside, spoken in a cold and somewhat exasperated tone, Mu Qing wondered if she had misheard. After all, the young prince had been urging people to leave just now. She glanced back and saw Ning Gu nodding with a smile before she was certain.

Pushing open the door to the young prince's bedroom, Mu Qing glanced around and, before anything seemed new or unusual, saw a brightly colored screen lying on the floor, shattered vases and porcelain pieces, a broken floor lamp stand lying sideways, and a piece of red candle rolling to the door.

"How angry must he be?" Mu Qing frowned and looked at the young prince on the bed. He was lying in the brocade quilt, leaning against the headboard, his face pale, staring at her with a half-smile.

Mu Qing's feet moved faster than her brain. She stepped over the mess and walked up to the young prince, only to find his less-than-friendly expression strange.

She felt she hadn't said anything wrong. Ning Gu hadn't warned her earlier, and besides, the young prince was already throwing a tantrum when she arrived; he was in a bad mood, so she couldn't be blamed.

His face was pale, almost transparent, his eyebrows and eyes looked serene, and his thin, pale red lips were as light as a touch of water. Although he was sickly, he was more dashing and handsome than usual.

Mu Qing looked him over, then feigned concern without a hint of guilt. "Your Highness, are you feeling unwell or in pain?"

She wasn't a naturally gentle person, but when she softened, her brows would lower, and a gentle demeanor would naturally emerge.

Xiao Yu initially wanted to scold her for talking nonsense, but seeing her like this, he felt a little awkward. He tightened the blankets around himself and mumbled, "I feel uncomfortable everywhere."

"No wonder you're so unhappy," Mu Qing said with a slight smile. "But His Highness already suffers from anemia; getting so angry will only make him weaker. What did Doctor Hua say?"

Xiao Yu looked away. "It's a bit troublesome, but marrying you and making you a widow shouldn't be a problem."

Mu Qing said with a troubled expression, "I was just saying it casually, but I didn't expect..." Before she could finish speaking, she saw a faint smile appear on the young prince's face.

She chuckled and nudged him, saying, "You're really scary."

The pale yellow brocade quilt slipped off Xiao Yu's shoulders, revealing his white undergarment underneath.

Mu Qing quickly pulled him up, and Xiao Yu smiled and looked up, helping her tuck the blankets around his neck.

She had only tucked it halfway in when Mu Qing stopped, looking at the red mark on his neck.

What happened here?

Xiao Yu's smile faded, and he pulled the corner of the blanket over his neck, saying, "It's nothing, just a mosquito bite."

Mu Qing glanced at his expression, but she was never good at reading people's expressions, so she couldn't tell anything. She nodded in agreement and followed the words she had prepared before coming, offering a few words of concern.

Even as she said goodbye and left, the red mark still lingered in her mind.

She had seen similar red marks before.

A man in the village got married, but when he found a red mark on the back of his wife's neck, he pointed out that it was a kiss mark and not his doing. Based on this, he made a big scene and discovered that she was having an affair.

But how could the young prince possibly have an affair?

Full of doubts, Mu Qing got into the Lu family's carriage. Just as he was about to leave the palace, he heard the sound of horses' hooves and wheels rolling ahead, as if someone had entered the palace.

Lifting a corner of the carriage curtain, Mu Qing noticed that the carriage passing by looked familiar. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the gilded patterns on the carriage wall were the same ones he had seen by the inner city moat the night before last.

As soon as the carriage entered the gate, the gatekeeper stepped forward to greet it: "Has Lu Qinshi arrived? Your Highness..."

The Lu family's carriage drove away at this point, and Mu Qing couldn't hear what happened next, but she clearly heard the words "Lu Qinshi".

In an instant, the images of the painted boats adorned with colorful lanterns on the river that night, and the intoxicating music, flooded her mind along with Zhong Linlan's suggestive words.

The young prince is a man of integrity, but he admires the musician Lu. He was not at the palace yesterday morning, and perhaps not just for that morning, but also the night before.

Thinking of this, Mu Qing wished she could go back immediately and ask for clarification, but what if the answer was yes? She sat on the cushion and blankly lowered the carriage curtain.

Upon hearing "Lu the Qin Master," Ning Gu immediately recalled the rumors circulating outside that the young prince had a close relationship with the Qin Master. Considering the young prince's character, she dismissed it as an exaggeration. Now that the rumored Qin Master Lu had actually entered the palace, she thought she should go back and talk to the Third Madam about it.

Each person in the carriage was preoccupied with their own thoughts. The carriage quietly made its way into the streets and alleys at a slow pace, with guards still accompanying it outside. When it reached East Street, it suddenly stopped.

The surrounding area was filled with noise, and dogs were howling.

"The dogs at the dog meat shop up ahead, for some reason, have all escaped from their cages," the guard in front of the car reported. "Those dogs are running around everywhere and even biting people."

Ning Gu lifted the curtain and saw the chaotic scene. She quickly said, "Hurry up and help catch the dog. Don't let it go too far."

The guards outside the carriage immediately agreed. Mu Qing looked out the window at the chaotic scene on the street: people chasing dogs, dogs chasing people, barking all around, stalls overturning one after another, and many people crying out in pain. For a moment, it was impossible to tell who was frightened, who had been bitten by dogs, or who was heartbroken over their belongings.

Just as she was terrified, the carriage suddenly lurched forward.

The horses pulling the cart were startled, kicking their hooves and neighing. The driver, more experienced than before, immediately disconnected the shaft, leaving the cart in place, and leaped onto the horse's back, attempting to control it.

The carriage tilted forward, and Mu Qing, Ning Gu, and Shi Yu helped each other up. Then they heard a dog barking coming from afar. Through the gap in the curtain, they could see a large black dog, driven by something, running straight toward the carriage.

Startled, Aunt Ning froze. Mu Qing pulled her back, saying, "Aunt Ning, go hide in the back!"

She could handle wolves with glowing green eyes when she hunted in the mountains, and she wasn't afraid of her pet dogs. After saying this, she jumped out of the carriage.

The big black dog darted in front of her, and she gave it a feint kick, causing it to jump back, baring its teeth and howling.

Having nothing to deal with, Mu Qing glanced around, disregarding the crowd, and slipped into a narrow alley.

Enraged by her, the dog chased after her relentlessly, until it reached the alleyway where it saw her climb over the wall and bark and jump around at its base.

Mu Qing breathed a sigh of relief and was about to throw a tile at it to make it run away in pain, but she noticed that someone was watching her from not far away.

The man squatted by the roof ridge, dressed in a dark, tight-fitting outfit. His face was backlit, and his expression was more gloomy than melancholy. His eyes flashed with a cold, sharp light that was unsettling.

Mu Qing glanced at him and recognized him as Song Baixuan, whom she had met before.