“Master, what should we do?” The secret guard didn"t understand the meaning behind Pei Rumo"s words and quickly asked.
Pei Rumo contemplated for a moment before giving out his orders. “I will ask someone else to monitor the general"s residence for the next few days. All you need to do is to find out Pei Qingfeng"s itinerary with the mysterious young lady. You don"t have to worry about the rest.”
“Yes.” The secret guard found no reason to disagree. He had already grown bored of watching the general"s residence and now that his master had a.s.signed him another target, he was happy to agree. Of course, there was also another reason behind his change in duties. The group of mysterious people were not merely highly looked upon by the imperial clan. They were also extremely formidable and if Pei Rumo sent someone else other than him, he would only be sending them to their deaths. Their surveillance plan might even be exposed because of it.
Pei Rumo became increasingly interested in Bai Luochu"s life after sending another guard to secretly monitor her.
The new secret guard once made a report, “Young Lady Luo Chu has been cultivating every day. She even endures the cold night by cultivating in the backyard. The moment she starts, she would cultivate for the entire night. Even if she doesn"t sleep, she looks more energized when the sun rises. This servant finds it truly baffling.”
There was another time when the new secret guard went over to make a report, “Young Lady Luo Chu would spend time in her secluded courtyard everyday. She can spend up to half a day there but there are some days where she leaves after just a short while. No one knows what is happening in the courtyard but sounds of explosions can occasionally be heard. A burning smell would also fill the air when that happens.”
There was a way to explain the explosions and burning smell… Bai Luochu would spend most of her time trying to advance the grade of a medicine and when she failed, her cauldron would explode. When the new secret guard noticed her spending a lot of time in the courtyard, she had probably gone to the Remote Paddy Inn using the secret tunnel.
Initially, Pei Rumo felt that the guard was unable to distinguish between important and unimportant matters as he would report everything at the end of the day. He felt as though the new secret guard was too enthusiastic about the job...
Just as Pei Rumo was considering transferring the new secret guard to another task, he felt that those reports allowed him to notice a lot of little secrets Bai Luochu had been keeping and it stoked his interest in her.
“This Luo Chu is rather interesting.” Pei Rumo muttered softly and turned to instruct Ming Lu, “Ming Lu, deliver an invitation card to Young Lady Luo Chu. I shall invite Young Lady Luo Chu for a boat ride the day after tomorrow. We shall meet at 5pm.”
After Pei Rumo gave his instructions, he glanced at the investigation report the secret guard handed over to him in order to confirm the timing once again.
After Pei Rumo spoke, he walked out of the study room and was preparing to rest. Zi Su remained in the room as she thought about something.
“Big Sister Zi Su, why are you not leaving?” When Ming Lu saw Zi Su standing at the corner motionlessly, he felt that something was wrong.
“Nothing much, let"s go.” Zi Su replied half-heartedly. Master has never been so attentive to a lady in the past. Previously, he paid so much attention to Young Lady Luo Chu because she had her uses. Why is he paying so much attention to her now? Master always says that His Second Highness and Young Lady Luo Chu are unable to see the truth because they are caught up in the matter, but what about himself? Is he really a spectator?
The more she thought about it, the heavier the sigh that escaped her mouth.
Zi Su had been serving Pei Rumo for a long time. Now that Pei Rumo had some unclear thoughts towards Bai Luochu, as a spectator, Zi Su was able to detect some signs. However, she shook her head and grumbled. I guess Master is involved in the matter too… No matter how much he says he is not interested in her… Whatever. I"ll just wait for the outcome to slowly reveal itself.
...
Even though she knew that Pei Qingfeng was busy with his matters, she felt a little bit awkward that he hadn"t been visiting the general"s residence to pester her. She used to hate him for annoying her everyday, but now that he hadn"t shown up for some time, she felt that something was missing in her life.
Whatever the case, Bai Luochu didn"t allow the matter to bother her. Since Pei Qingfeng hadn"t shown up for some time, she decided to immerse herself in cultivation in order to drown all irrelevant thoughts from her mind.
When Cai Ling saw her mistress in this state, she became slightly worried. Even though Bai Luochu didn"t say anything, Cai Ling had been serving her for a long time. She knew that her mistress treated Pei Qingfeng differently compared to the other princes. In Cai Ling"s opinion, she felt that Pei Qingfeng wasn"t showing enough concern for her mistress and she became more and more resentful towards him after such a long period of absence.
“Seems like His First Highness is the best...” Cai Ling muttered softly. When Pei Qingfeng was missing, Pei Rumo asked either Ming Lu or Zi Su to deliver an invitation card every few days despite being busy with imperial court a.s.sembly. Even though her mistress had been trying to keep her distance from the scheming First Prince, he was still acting rather friendly towards her. Apart from the frightening scar on his face, Cai Ling felt that he was treating her mistress with sincerity. Whatever the case, Cai Ling felt that he was tens of thousands of times better than Pei Wuchen who made use of the engagement to make requests from her mistress despite not showing the slightest bit of concern for her.
As thoughts flew through her head, a guard came over to make a report.
“Sister Cai Ling, the First Prince"s residence sent someone to deliver an invitation card. Do you want to ask Young Lady Luo Chu to attend to him or will you receive the card?” Everyone had witnessed Bai Luochu"s decisive and ruthless methods and it made them treat Cai Ling with respect.
Cai Ling directly instructed the guard, “There isn"t a need to inform Mistress. It"s just the First Prince"s residence… My presence is enough.” Cai Ling spoke and started walking to the entrance.
Ming Lu saw Cai Ling from a distance and waved to her. Cai Ling walked over quickly and made fun of Ming Lu after receiving the invitation card, “Your Master is finally willing to send you out to run errands?”
Ming Lu pouted his lips and replied, “I"m just going through p.u.b.erty right now. Big Sister Cai Ling shouldn"t make fun of me! This invitation card is the main reason I"m here.”
“I"ll keep that in mind.” Cai Ling kept the invitation card before continuing, “You don"t have to worry. I will personally hand this card over to my Mistress.”
Ming Lu knew that Cai Ling wasn"t one to lie and he immediately nodded in acknowledgment. He bowed slightly and hurried back to the First Prince"s residence to make his report.