"A Di!"
The rushed footsteps and the shout heard simultaneously, before she could move. Something cold was against her neck.
"Don't move," a voice behind her commanded.
Another footstep approached and he asked the little boy, "Young Master, are you alright?"
Ruan Di frowned, it was An Wangyi's voice and he just called the boy 'Young Master'.. if she wasn't reborn, she might be ignorant, but there's only one person An Wangyi would call so respectfully and guard so heartily.
The 13th Prince, the future Emperor - Huang Jie.
"You can let them go, they just found me here."
The boy's words made the guards let them go.
"Ruan Di!"
Bai Lu immediately came over and because of this, An Wangyi finally realized it was Ruan Di.
"Then we'll take our leave first," Ruan Di didn't want to know why and how this happened. All she knew was leaving early would be the best for them.
"Ruan Di-"
"We don't know anything and never see anything, My Lord." Ruan Di rushly said, "We'll take our leave now."
The guards found their leader didn't command anything, furthermore he called the lady by her name, it only meant there's a personal relationship with them. If there's really something wrong with them, the leader would take care of it.
An Wangyi sighed inwardly by the retreating back and saluted to the boy, "Your Royal Highness, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Cousin."
"Then, do you want to buy figurine candy before we head back?"
The irritability was gone, the 6 year old contemplated: "Okay!"
An Wangyi signaled his men and they dispersed.
Someone was really testing the water, their hand stretched long enough to reach into the palace. Among these people, he wondered who would make a move first.
.
.
.
Ruan Di walked as fast as she could while dragging Bai Lu, ignoring her questions until the girl was impatient and shook off her hand.
"What is happening? What just happened?"
"Nothing," Ruan Di gripped Bai Lu's shoulder, "Nothing happened, do you hear me? You just accompanied me after paying the maid. You are with me all the time. We see nothing, we hear nothing. NOTHING."
Bai Lu never saw her best friend like this. There was craziness between her eyes, like panic, fear, and anxiety blended into one.
"Alright, I understand, calm down."
Ruan Di tried to calm down, but this was quiet darning!
As they walked forward there's a commotion at the opposite end.
Did something still happen? But, why? Bai Lu was with her.
"That's..?"
"Whatever happened, don't say anything until I told you."
Ever since Ruan Di recovered from chickenpox, Bai Lu felt she was different. She couldn't pinpoint the weird part, because everything about her was still the same. It was just something inside her that was switching and the commanding tone was like her mother in the back house.
***
At this time, many people had gathered in the courtyard. They were all standing near the door, but no one knocked or pushed the door first. Everyone had different expressions, as if they were in some unbearable embarrassment.
Just a moment ago, Bai Mei ran into the garden in a panic, asking around if anyone had seen her sister Bai Lu.
"Just now my maid came to report that there was an emergency in the house, so I wanted to ask Sister Lu to go back to the house early, but I couldn't find Sister Lu anywhere!" Bai Mei looked panicked, "My sister has been sick since she was a child. She also just lost my footing and fell into the lake a few days ago. I haven't seen her for so long. I'm worried that something will happen to her..."
Jin Hyun - the heir apparent of Duke Jin's Mansion who had just arrived, was immediately attracted to Bai Lu's name. He rushed to the scene, and from the corner of his eye he found that at least half of the noble sons around him had done the same action.
Ruan Xuan stood up quickly after hearing Bai Mei's question; "My eldest sister always went with Eldest Lady Bai, maybe they are still together. Just wait a moment, Third Lady Bai."
"I can't wait, there's an emergency."
Ruan Tian squinted her eyes, "If there's really an emergency, I'm sure Eldest Lady Bai's maid would've found her in person."
Bai Mei glanced at the Ruan sisters and quickly looked away, "The Duke Jin's Mansion is so big, maybe she took a different path and got sidetracked."
Although this reason was far-fetched, it was indeed not impossible. Ruan Xuan frowned and thought for a while, then said decisively, "I will go and find the Duchess now."
Bai Mei curled her lips disdainfully at Ruan Xuan's back. Even if the Duchess came, she couldn't save anyone!
Bai Mei calmed down and continued to ask for help from the people around her, "Everyone here, has anyone seen my sister?"
At first, everyone looked around blankly and shook their heads. After a while, a girl stood up hesitantly, "I... when I went out to look for my maid, I seemed to see Eldest Lady Bai heading south, with... someone beside her."
Her evasive appearance looked particularly suspicious.
Bai Mei seemed to have found a clue, and asked in surprise, "Is it a maid in a blue dress? That's Sister Lu's maid!"
"No. I didn't look carefully… but, but.. The person walking with the Eldest Lady Bai should be a man."
In fact, this was not a big deal at first. Since Duke Jin's Mansion invited the girls and the young men at the same time and placed them in the same garden at the same time, it was somewhat intended for a blind date.
But the way this incident unfolded was..
Quiet interesting to say the least.
Those that were well versed in the art of the back house looked at Bai Mei subtly.
"How long has it been since you saw them?" one young man asked.
The girl who answered didn't dare to raise her head and timidly said, "It's been about half a quarter of an hour."
At this moment, a screaming sound came from the south and spread far into the garden.
Bai Mei suddenly felt happy. Her eldest maid had already gone to that other courtyard first, in order to attract everyone's attention, and secondly, she could also block Bai Lu firmly inside, so that she couldn't run away.
This scream was the signal of their prior appointment. Bai Lu must have been toyed with by the man in that room!
Thinking of this, Bai Mei's blood boiled all over her body. She knew that her acting skills were not good. She raised her head and exclaimed, "Something must have happened to Sister Lu!"
Then she lifted up her skirt faster than anyone else and headed towards the direction of the scream.
There was no one in charge in the garden. The boys and girls looked at Gao Heng in unison.
He was the only one with highest authority among the youngsters. If something really happened, they could just hide under him.
The overly handsome young man frowned slightly and said worriedly, "If the matter is urgent, it will be bad if Eldest Lady Bai really gets into an accident. After all, Eldest Lady Bai is just a girl. Maybe one person cannot cope with the danger. We still have to follow and have a look."
"Young Master Gao is right."
"Yes, let's catch up quickly."
Everyone agreed, and soon about half of the people followed Gao Heng to the south.
The only ones left behind were those who wisely protected themselves and did not want to get involved in trouble. Including Ruan Xuan and Ruan Tian.
"What should we do, Sister Xuan? What if something also happened to the eldest sister?"
"Be careful, Tian Tian. We are outside."
Unlike Ruan Di that was a legitimate daughter and Ruan Shu that was the daughter of the eldest concubine, the two of them had to behave well or else their marriage might be ruined. They have always been respectful to their gloomy eldest sister, and distance themselves from the arrogant and unruly youngest sister.
Even if they weren't close with Ruan Di and there was a different upbringing of the legitimate line and them, they never were wronged by the madam or the eldest sister.
"Let's find the Duchess," Ruan Xuan resolutely said.
Ruan Tian bit her lips, but followed along. She was praying they did the right thing.
By the time the group caught up with Bai Mei, they had already arrived at the other courtyard. Bai Mei was standing at the door of the wing, scolding her maid, "Is Sister Lu in there? What are you doing blocking the door for, you dumb girl? Why don't you let me in quickly and see if Sister Lu is fine!"
"No, Miss!" The maid spread her arms to stop her, "This is the Duke's mansion, if others see it… ah!"
Seeing a group of girls and gentlemen pouring in at the entrance of the courtyard, the maid seemed to be frightened. He jumped and exclaimed.
In fact, as soon as they entered the other courtyard, everyone understood what was going on: if there was a man and a woman who really fell in love with each other at the poetry party, they would never be so impatient that they would come directly to the wing - you say, everyone here was a reputable person, how could he not be able to control even this little desire?
But the problem was, it really did exist.
When Bai Mei was confronting her maid, everyone stopped in the courtyard.
It was such a coincidence that in just a short moment when the air became quiet, the soft and suppressed sound of a woman's moan came from the side room.
"Princely Heir, please spare me..."
There were many young ladies and young masters present, but as for the Princely Heir... there were really only a few.
Jin Hyun looked at everyone with a cold face and cleared his throat, "The person in the room..." may not be Bai Lu.
"Sister Lu!" Bai Mei's suddenly raised voice interrupted Jin Hyun, "Sister Lu must have been coerced by someone. She is the most knowledgeable and reasonable person, she will never do something embarrassing like this! Get out of the way, I want to go in and save her!"
She said so righteously, but deep in her heart, she felt a surge of pride.
—— Bai Lu, just wait! From today, everyone will know how despicable you are!
"Saving?" Someone suddenly laughed and said, "Who are you trying to save, Third Lady Bai?"