"Rise. Is your young general in the study?"
"Young General... he..."
Lu Shi lowered his head, hesitating, his gaze flicking towards the study periodically. The words he wanted to say were caught in his throat, unsure how to express them.
"Speak quickly. Is the young general in the study or not?"
Feng Jin raised her voice, her tone of inquiry leaving no room for argument.
"The young general is indeed in the study, but he has given orders that no one is to enter."
Forced to speak, Lu Shi lowered his head, not daring to meet Feng Jin's gaze. When had the job of a gatekeeper become so difficult?
"You dare to stop even the young madam? Hurry and move aside!" Chu Qing exclaimed, berating Lu Shi and ordering him to clear the way.
Cai Qing stood by, head lowered in silence, her downcast eyes concealing her emotions.
"I beg the young madam's forgiveness. The young general's orders were given first, and I truly dare not disobey!"
Lu Shi was on the verge of tears from the predicament. He dared not offend either of them, and he was always caught in the middle, torn between them.
He vowed that he would never take on the gatekeeper's duty again.
"Today, I must go in. You two, stop him!"
The more Lu Shi blocked her, the more curious she became about what Ling Mohan was doing inside. She directly ordered Chu Qing and Cai Qing to restrain Lu Shi.
Taking advantage of the distraction, she 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 step forward, only able to shout from behind.
"Lord Lu, stop shouting. The young madam has already gone in. Shouting until your throat is raw is useless."
Chu Qing kindly reminded Lu Shi to close his mouth and rest for a while.
"You..." Lu Shi helplessly flicked his sleeve, "If you block me like this, you'll ruin the young general's important plans after the young madam goes in. You truly are... sigh..."
"Ruin his plans? Are you really helping the young general find a girl to send in?"
When Chu Qing first suggested this, Cai Qing hadn't believed it. But witnessing Lu Shi's anxious demeanor, she grew more suspicious, her mind already about sixty to seventy percent convinced.
"To think the young madam treats you so well normally, yet you help the young general do something like this that betrays the young madam. Have you forgotten how the young madam saved your life when you were stabbed and on the brink of death, defying everyone? How can you live with yourself treating the young madam like this?"
Cai Qing's anger surged, and she pointed at Lu Shi's nose, unleashing a torrent of accusations. She felt she had been blind to mistake him for a gentleman; to think he would do such a thing behind her back.
"No... it's not what you think..." Lu Shi's eyes widened in panic, and he quickly tried to explain, "That person is..."
"Stop explaining. I don't want to hear you speak right now, nor do I want to see you!" Cai Qing directly refused to listen to Lu Shi's explanation. The deed was done, and further explanations were futile.
She decided to treat everything that had happened as a dream, a sign of her own foolishness in misjudging him, and that there was no need to linger any longer. Cai Qing made up her mind and spoke with resolute finality: "Pretend that none of what happened before ever occurred. Lord Lu, if we meet again in the future, let's act as if we don't know each other."
With that, Cai Qing left without looking back, leaving Lu Shi utterly bewildered and unaware of what had truly transpired.
What was going on? Everything had been fine before, and now she wanted to sever ties and have nothing to do with him.
Lu Shi touched the back of his head in confusion and looked at the only person who knew the truth. "Tell me what's going on. Why is Cai Qing so angry?"
"You know perfectly well what you've done. It's right that Cai Qing sister saw through your true colors early on and drew a line between you. Someone like you, two-faced and ungrateful, doesn't deserve Cai Qing sister's affection!"
Chu Qing was also indignant and couldn't help but scold Lu Shi: "To think the young madam treated you so well, and you still helped the young general find a woman. Are you worthy of my young madam when you do this?"
"When did I help the young general find a woman? The person sent in was clearly Madam Sun!"
Lu Shi finally understood that the cold words he had just received were related to this matter. He hastily clarified, "The young general had ordered me to bring Madam Sun here as soon as she entered the Third Prince's manor. I guarded the manor gate all night to bring her here, and as soon as she was sent to the study, you all rushed in."
"So that's what happened. After all the commotion, it was just a misunderstanding."
After such a grand display, it turned out to be nothing more than a misunderstanding. A hint of awkwardness crossed Chu Qing's face as she looked at Lu Shi with apologetic eyes. "Lord Lu, I am truly sorry..."
"Alright, let's not talk about it. The misunderstanding has been cleared, and that's what matters."
He was thankful that the matter had been clarified, otherwise, he would never have been able to clear his name, no matter how hard he tried. However, Cai Qing was now thoroughly mistaken, and he had no idea how to explain it to her.
Turning to look at the instigator, Lu Shi stared intently at Chu Qing. This little girl, though young, was quite capable of causing trouble.
"Lord Lu, you keep staring at me like that, and I'm getting creeped out."
Chu Qing couldn't help but shrink back, widening the distance between herself and Lu Shi. Even if Lu Shi were to make a move on her later, she could escape quickly.
"You caused this trouble. 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, Chu Qing had instigated this matter, so it was only natural for her to explain it.
"I'll go explain..."
Chu Qing was momentarily stunned. Cai Qing was still furious. It wasn't just her; even the young madam might not be able to make her listen.
"It's not appropriate for me to explain either. Your affairs are personal, and an outsider's interference will only make things more chaotic. It's like they say, even an upright official finds it hard to settle domestic disputes. You need to resolve your own issues. I just remembered the young madam asked me to make date paste cake. I'm leaving."
Fearing that Lu Shi would continue to bother her, Chu Qing quickly found an excuse and fled as if escaping.
She didn't want to be dragged into this as cannon fodder. They needed to find their own way to resolve their issues.
Before Lu Shi could even react, Chu Qing had already disappeared. He sighed in frustration, realizing that he couldn't rely on others and had to depend on himself for everything.