The days spent waiting for their next secret rendezvous felt especially long.
Both Ouyang Xinxi and Nan Wusi were eager to get started.
However, something happened in the capital recently that piqued Nan Wusi's interest.
During the afternoon tea party, Mrs. Ann suddenly brought up something that attracted the attention of everyone present.
"There has been some unrest in the capital recently. I never expected that a flower thief would appear. Everyone should be careful and strengthen the defenses in the mansion," Madam An reminded.
“Yes, yes, I’ve heard about it too,” another lady added, vividly recounting what she had heard that day.
"I've heard that this womanizer specializes in stealing women's undergarments, regardless of age or appearance. I've never seen such a tasteless womanizer before," the lady said with obvious disdain.
"..." Nanwu thought that this lady might have missed the point.
"I've heard about this too, but so far the news is only coming from ordinary people. It seems that no such news has come from the residences of officials," Song Jingxue said calmly.
"Perhaps the flower thief was also worried about being caught after breaking into the mansion, since there are guards in the mansion," another young lady said somewhat uncertainly.
“But what if this flower thief is just practicing? I have a feeling there’s more to come.” Another young lady, who was less timid, was frightened after hearing about this.
For a young lady in her boudoir, if her mansion were to be visited by a lecherous thief, it would certainly be a major event. Not only would it ruin her reputation, but it would also undoubtedly affect her lifelong happiness.
“Don’t underestimate this flower thief. He must be highly skilled and daring, otherwise he wouldn’t dare to provoke the Jingzhao Prefecture. You know, this morning there was a row of women’s underwear displayed at the entrance of the Jingzhao Prefecture, attracting countless people to stop and watch,” Madam An said at the right moment.
"Has the government sent anyone to arrest that flower thief?"
“Of course we sent people, but where can we catch them in broad daylight? We can only send people to keep watch every night,” Madam An replied.
"But this flower thief wouldn't be stupid enough to stay in one place, he would definitely move around and commit crimes."
"That's why it's so difficult to catch the shopkeepers. I only advised you to strengthen the guards in the mansion because I consider you all my own sisters." Madam An looked at the unsuspecting people present with a serious expression, and some of the ladies felt uneasy under her gaze.
"But this flower thief is really strange. Usually, people would hide these things after stealing them, so why would he deliberately place them at the entrance of the Jingzhao Prefecture?" Song Jingxue asked, voicing her doubts.
The others all looked at Madam An. Everyone present knew that she was the wife of the Prefect of the Capital. They all wondered if the Prefect of the Capital had recently offended someone and was being targeted.
But Madam An slowly shook her head. She could tell what everyone was thinking just by looking at their eyes, but her first reaction was the same, though her husband had rejected it.
Seeing Madam An shake her head, the group was somewhat disappointed; they had hoped to hear some untold gossip.
“I think this flower thief is deliberately trying to attract the attention of the Jingzhao Prefecture, hoping they will send someone to arrest him,” Song Jingxue once again offered her reasoning, drawing surprised looks from everyone.
No one expected that Miss Song, who seemed so quiet and reserved, would repeatedly make such surprising remarks.
Upon hearing this, Madam An's eyes lit up, and she inwardly marveled at the little girl's intelligence and keen insight.
“Even if he deliberately provoked the Jingzhao Prefecture to send people to arrest him, the Jingzhao Prefecture still has to go,” Madam An sighed.
The impact of this matter is gradually expanding. If the Jingzhao Prefecture fails to catch the person sooner or later, it will arouse public anger, and the Emperor may even punish him for incompetence.
In the end, the topic was dropped, since the flower thief hadn't affected them at all, and that wasn't what interested everyone.
Nan Wusi didn't participate in the discussion at all, simply listening quietly. However, when she heard Song Jingxue's analysis, she couldn't help but glance at her a few times. Truly a clever woman, what a pity.
However, the matter did not gradually subside after today's discussion. Instead, just as Madam An had predicted, the impact of the matter slowly expanded, and the Jingzhao Prefecture continued to send more people to try to catch this flower thief and avenge his previous disgrace.
What's most surprising is that news has spread from the Prime Minister's residence that a flower thief had been there, supposedly heading towards the second young lady of the Prime Minister's residence, Ouyang Jiangli. Many servants in the residence have reportedly seen him there.
Although the flower thief ultimately failed and returned empty-handed, the second young lady of the Prime Minister's mansion seemed to be quite frightened.
This incident alarmed even the Emperor, who ordered the Prefect of the Capital to arrest the perpetrator within three days, or else he would lose his position.
As a result, the soldiers and officials in the capital city strengthened their defenses.
Nan Wusi had been calculating the exact time, and the day Xiao Mu and Ouyang Jiangli met in secret was today!
However, chaos erupted in the capital today. The flower thief dared to break into the residence of the Prefect of the Capital in broad daylight, disturbing several of the concubines in the house. He only managed to escape in haste after encountering the First Madam.
This infuriated the Prefect of Jingzhao, who immediately mobilized the city's soldiers to conduct a massive search and arrest operation.
As the villain fled, he attracted shouts and curses from many civilians, and several relatives of the victims followed the soldiers to surround the flower thief.
The operation was incredibly large, with more and more people joining the manhunt. The flower thief was quite formidable, managing to escape despite being surrounded by so many people.
However, the turmoil outside did not affect the two sweethearts.
Ouyang Jiangli kept whining, saying that she had been terrified by a lecherous thief a few days ago. Although the thief hadn't even entered her room, she wondered if it would affect her reputation. Would His Highness the Crown Prince dislike her because of it?
Xiao Mu naturally said he wouldn't mind, but deep down he felt a little uncomfortable.
Even knowing that his woman hadn't actually been seduce, the rumors still made him feel a little uncomfortable.
Xiao Mu, who has always maintained his image as a deeply affectionate and warm-hearted man, naturally wouldn't show it on his face. Now that he had a beauty in his arms, he was naturally enjoying the moment.
If Xiao Mu could have any woman he wanted, only Ouyang Jiangli could match him in both looks and talent. The only problem was her status; she was, after all, a concubine's daughter.
What Xiao Mu liked most was that Ouyang Jiangli appeared aloof and innocent in front of outsiders, but was quite unrestrained in bed, which suited his taste perfectly.
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