The two of them went to the pastry shop to buy a few little treats favored by the Miao Family, and then they walked toward the Prince Mansion. Just as they were about to turn onto the small road leading to the main gate, as they usually did, Zhu Yu was suddenly pulled back by Fu Lu.
"Second Master, sothing’s not right." Fu Lu, whose stature was tall and brawny with sharp eyes, had noticed the situation ahead even before their bodies had finished turning. "There are two additional guards at the Prince Mansion’s gate. They look unfamiliar, not from the mansion."
Zhu Yu knew that Fu Lu’s vision and ability to recognize people were quite exceptional, so he had no doubt in his judgnt. However, it had only been such a short ti since they left. Within the span of just over an hour, what could possibly have happened at the Prince Mansion?
She cautiously stretched her head out from the side of the wall for a peek, and indeed two guards were stationed at the gate of the Prince Shuo Mansion.
No wonder Fu Lu imdiately sensed sothing was amiss.
On regular days, there would be no reason for the Prince Shuo Mansion to station two guards outside the gate. Since it’s the only gate on this street, people generally wouldn’t enter without reason, so there was no need to stage a show of force by placing two "gate gods" there.
Now, even though Zhu Cheng had mustered his troops and left, he did so discretely. It was even less likely that he’d arrange two guards outside as if he was unwilling to let anyone guess sothing unusual was happening at the mansion.
"Second Master, what should we do? I’ll follow your orders!" Fu Lu whispered to Zhu Yu, "If you say to break in, with just those two sloppily standing there, I could knock them down with one hand."
"No, although there are only two people at the door, we are unaware of the situation inside," Zhu Yu shook her head. "Acting rashly, even if we broke in smoothly, once we alard those inside, we wouldn’t be able to control the situation, let alone make a retreat."
"Second Master is right! So what do we do now?"
Zhu Yu looked up at the sky: "Let’s go. Staying here isn’t safe. From now until nightfall is just another hour. We don’t know what it’s like inside, and luckily we brought enough money with us when we left. Let’s fill our bellies first, so we’ll have the strength to handle the situation inside."
Fu Lu quickly nodded, following Zhu Yu as they discreetly left and found a restaurant where they had a hearty al.
When night fell, the two returned to the vicinity of the mansion.
This ti, Zhu Yu led Fu Lu around and about, arriving at a more secluded alley, and pointed to the courtyard wall beside them: "This wall is too high; I can’t climb it. You give a boost.
If my judgnt is correct, going in from here should lead to the small kitchen at the back of the Li Garden, where there’s so firewood stacked inside, just enough for a safe landing."
Fu Lu had always had confidence in Zhu Yu’s judgnt, so without hesitation, he squatted down, hands clasped, ready to lift Zhu Yu: "Second Master, please take care when you reach the top of the wall. Pay attention to any internal movents. If there’s anyone nearby, just jump down, and I’ll catch you, ensuring you don’t get hurt."
Zhu Yu nodded and carefully stepped onto Fu Lu’s palms. With one swift push, she borrowed his force, holding onto the top of the wall, climbing up with her feet against the wall.
She wasn’t mistaken. Inside this wall was indeed the small kitchen, and firewood stacked against the base of the wall, about half wall high, was perfect for Zhu Yu to step on.
She lay on the wall, vigilantly looking around. Seeing no one, she nodded toward Fu Lu.
Despite his robust physique, Fu Lu moved with remarkable lightness. Seeing Zhu Yu’s signal, he easily leaped up, lightly bounced off the wall, then silently landed inside the high wall.
Only then did Zhu Yu carefully step down onto the pile of firewood before jumping off to the ground.
Fu Lu confird the coast was clear, and Zhu Yu led him quickly to the courtyard wall of the Li Garden, ensuring no one was inside, before once again scaling the wall.
The entire Li Garden was silent, with only the light from an oil lamp emanating from Yan Shu’s room.
The two crept to Yan Shu’s room door. Before they could take further action, the door suddenly swung open. Yan Shu, clutching a horse whip, rushed out. Recognizing the two people outside, she halted the raised whip and withdrew it with a breath.
"Hurry in!" She grabbed Zhu Yu and Fu Lu, pulled them inside, and quickly shut the door.
"What’s going on?" Zhu Yu pulled Yan Shu to him, inspecting closely, "Are you alright?"
Though from the stance she took and the whip she nearly unfurled at the door, it didn’t seem like anything was amiss, but to be safe, Zhu Yu needed to confirm.
She indeed had so inkling about what was happening inside the Prince Shuo Mansion.
The situation was already chaotic. Yan Shu was, after all, a Commandery Princess from Jie Country, and a recently wedded Princess in Lu Zhang’s mansion. If sothing were to happen to her at this critical juncture, it would indeed be troubleso.
Yan Shu, in turn, inspected Zhu Yu: "I’m fine, perfectly fine!
I’ve been pretending to have a la leg in front of them. Seeing as soone not nimble, perhaps they think I can’t escape, so they don’t pay much attention to .
But you, how did you get in? I heard those arranging outside said each entrance was guarded.
Did you both break in? It doesn’t look like it; your hair isn’t even ssed up!"
Zhu Yu could only laugh and cry, not expecting Yan Shu to still be worrying about her in this situation.
"Are all the ones outside from the Pang Family?" she asked Yan Shu.
Having lived in the Prince Shuo Mansion for quite so ti, Yan Shu had figured out the situation here, nodding: "They must be from the Pang Family.
Before they appeared, I was sunning in the courtyard, and heard two servants of your mansion whispering, saying that as soon as your stepmother’s anger rose after your father left, she imdiately arranged for her family’s brother and sister-in-law to co over for a chat.
The servant she sent to the Pang Family was hesitant, saying the Prince had ordered that during his absence, no one from the Pang Family should be allowed to visit.
As a result, your stepmother got angry and had the servant dragged into the courtyard by a few grannies, beaten nearly to death, unable to crawl on the ground.
Afterwards, when she sent soone to the Pang Family again, the servants in your mansion dared not disobey and quickly left.
Not long after, the Pang Family brought those people outside."
"Where’s my mother?" Zhu Yu asked worriedly.
In recent days, due to Pang Yuzhen’s wrath, she had kept the Miao Family in the Li Garden, but now it was evident that Yan Shu was the only one left in the entire Li Garden.
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