"Get up. Is your young general in the study?"
"Young general... he..."
Lu Shi lowered his head, hesitating. His eyes darted towards the study every now and then, the words he wanted to say stuck in his throat, unsure how to voice them.
"Speak quickly, is the young general in the study?"
Feng Jin raised her voice, her tone questioning and leaving no room for refusal.
"The young general is indeed in the study, but he has ordered that no one is to enter."
He forced himself to say it, Lu Shi lowering his head and not daring to look at Feng Jin. When did this gatekeeping job become so difficult?
"You dare to block even the young madam? Hurry and move aside!" Chu Qing reprimanded Lu Shi, telling him to move.
Cai Qing stood silently beside him, her lowered eyes concealing her emotions.
"Please forgive me, young madam. The young general gave his orders first, and I truly dare not disobey!"
Lu Shi was on the verge of tears from his predicament. He dared not offend either of them, and he was always the one caught in the middle.
He vowed that he would never take on this gatekeeping duty again.
"Today, I must go in and see. You two, stop him!"
The more Lu Shi tried to block her, the more curious Feng Jin became about what Ling Mo Han was doing inside. She directly ordered Chu Qing and Cai Qing to hold Lu Shi back.
She, seizing the opportunity, turned and walked towards the study.
"Young madam... the young general truly ordered that no one else enter... young madam..."
Blocked by Cai Qing and Chu Qing, Lu Shi dared not take a single step forward and could only shout from behind.
"Lord Lu, stop shouting. The young madam has already gone in. Shouting until your throat breaks is useless."
Chu Qing kindly reminded Lu Shi that he could close his mouth and rest for a while.
"You two..." Lu Shi helplessly waved his sleeve. "By blocking me like this, you will ruin the young general's important plans once the young madam enters. You truly are... alas..."
"Ruin the young general's plans? Are you really helping the young general find a girl to send in?"
When Chu Qing first said this, Cai Qing didn't believe it. But after witnessing Lu Shi's frantic appearance, Cai Qing became even more suspicious, now at least sixty to seventy percent convinced.
"After all the kindness the young madam has shown you, you would actually help the young general do something like this that betrays the young madam? Have you forgotten that the last time you were injured and almost died, it was the young madam who saved your life against everyone's wishes? How can you treat the young madam like this? Can your conscience be at peace?"
Anger surged in Cai Qing's heart as she pointed at Lu Shi's nose and scolded him relentlessly.
She considered herself blind for mistaking him. She never expected that Lu Shi, who seemed like a gentleman on the outside, would do such things behind her back.
"It's not... it's not what you think..." Lu Shi immediately became flustered and hurriedly explained, "That person is..."
"Stop explaining. I don't want to hear you speak now, and I don't want to see you!" Cai Qing flatly refused to listen to Lu Shi's explanation. The deed was done, and any further explanation would be in vain.
She would consider the past events a dream, that she had been blind to mistake him, and there was no need to linger any longer. Cai Qing made up her mind and spoke resolutely, "Pretend that what happened before never happened. Lord Lu, if we meet again in the future, we should act as if we don't know each other."
With that, Cai Qing turned and left without looking back, leaving a bewildered Lu Shi, who still didn't know what had happened.
What was going on? They were fine just a moment ago, and now she wanted to cut ties and never see him again.
Lu Shi, dazed, scratched the back of his head and looked at the only person who knew what was happening. "Tell me what's going on. Why is Cai Qing so angry?"
"You know best what you've done. It's right for Sister Cai Qing to see your true colors sooner and distance herself from you. A hypocritical and ungrateful person like you is not worthy of Sister Cai Qing's affection!"
Chu Qing also couldn't stand it, her anger burning. She scolded Lu Shi, "After all the kindness the young madam has shown you, you still helped the young general find another woman? Are you worthy of my young madam's kindness by doing this?"
"When did I help the young general find a woman? The one sent in was clearly Madam Sun!"
Only now did Lu Shi realize that the cold remarks he had just received were related to this matter. He hastily clarified, "The young general had long ordered that as soon as Madam Sun entered the Third Prince's mansion, she was to be brought to him. I guarded outside the Third Prince's mansion all night to bring her here. She had just been sent to the study when you all rushed in."
"So that's how it is. After all this commotion, it turns out to be a misunderstanding."
A great fuss was made, only to end up as a misunderstanding. A hint of awkwardness crossed Chu Qing's face, and she looked at Lu Shi with apology in her eyes. "Lord Lu, I am truly sorry..."
"Alright, let's not dwell on this. It's good that the misunderstanding is cleared up."
He was fortunate that the matter was explained. Otherwise, even if he jumped into the Yellow River, he wouldn't be able to wash away his grievances. However, Cai Qing was now completely misunderstood, and he had no idea how to explain it to her.
He turned to look at the instigator. Lu Shi's gaze was fixed on Chu Qing. This young girl, though not old, was quite capable of causing trouble.
"Lord Lu, you keep staring at me like this, and I'm getting goosebumps."
Chu Qing couldn't help but shrink back, putting a large distance between herself and Lu Shi. Even if Lu Shi were to make a move on her later, she could escape quickly.
"It's all your fault for causing this trouble. You go and find a way to explain it clearly to Cai Qing."
Since he couldn't explain it himself, he directly shifted the responsibility to Chu Qing. After all, this matter was stirred up by Chu Qing, so it was only reasonable for her to explain.
"I'll go explain..."
Chu Qing was momentarily stunned. Cai Qing was furious right now. Let alone her, even the young madam might not be able to make her listen.
"It's not appropriate for me to explain either. If an outsider intervenes in matters between you two, it will only get more complicated. This is called... this is called 'even an upright official finds it hard to settle family affairs.' You need to resolve your own issues. I just remembered the young madam also asked me to make date paste cake. I'll be going."
Fearing that Lu Shi would continue to bother her, Chu Qing casually found an excuse and fled as if escaping.
She didn't want to be dragged into becoming collateral damage. They should find a way to resolve their own issues.
Before Lu Shi could react, Chu Qing had already disappeared. He sighed helplessly, realizing that he couldn't rely on others. He had to depend on himself for everything.