Bewilderment (2)

"Ye Lang, stop playing around and come out." The Seventh Princess began searching the room, but she could not find him anywhere. "Could he be spacing out outside? He loves standing around like that. No, it's still pouring outside."

"Princess, why hasn't Young Master Ye Lang come yet... Princess, what are you looking for?" The maid came out from inside. She had originally intended to call Ye Lang in so she could help him bathe, only to find the princess searching the entire room for something.

"Ye Lang... I don't know where Ye Lang has hidden himself. Hurry and help me look. Who was with him just now..." the Seventh Princess said anxiously.

"Princess, I think we were all attending to your bath. No one was with Young Master Ye Lang... Taiya used to be the one who stayed with him," the maid replied weakly.

"Yes, Taiya was always with him before. We've all gotten used to it, and just now we forgot to leave someone to watch him. I don't know where he has run off to now. Search every room." The Seventh Princess frowned as she went to verify a possibility she did not want to consider, walking toward the door.

"Have any of you seen that idiot Ye Lang?" The Seventh Princess pushed open the door and asked the guards outside.

"Yes. He ran out alone not long ago," a guard answered. At that moment, he seemed to realize where the problem lay, and his face began to change.

"What? He ran out by himself? And you just let him go out alone?" The Seventh Princess immediately rebuked them angrily.

"We thought he was going home," the guard replied feebly. Normally, Thirteenth Young Master Ye came and went as he pleased, entering and leaving freely, so the guards never stopped him when he left.

But that had been under normal circumstances. Normally, Tiger Girl was always by his side, yet just now he had been alone. That was the problem.

"Going home? Can he go home by himself? It's not as though you don't know he's different from other people. Would I let him go home alone? Besides, it's raining and thundering outside... Send people after him at once!!!" the Seventh Princess roared. She had never displayed such an attitude before. No matter how great the trouble, she had always faced it calmly.

"No, I'm going to find him too!!" The Seventh Princess wanted to rush outside, but she had forgotten that she was wearing only a nightgown. If she went out like that, it would cause quite a stir.

Fortunately, a sharp-eyed maid grabbed the Seventh Princess and hurriedly said, "Princess, you can't go out dressed like this. They can go find Young Master Ye Lang. The wind and rain outside are too fierce; you only need to wait here for news."

"Let go! You know the wind and rain are fierce outside too. If he gets soaked out there, he'll fall sick. I really don't understand him. He clearly promised to stay here today, so why did he leave?" The Seventh Princess could not understand why Thirteenth Young Master Ye had left.

If she had known the reason Thirteenth Young Master Ye left, she would surely have been angered unconscious, cursing Thirteenth Young Master as an idiot, a moron, a complete and utter fool.

I need to tell Tiger Girl that I won't be going back tonight. I'll be staying at my wife's home. That was what Thirteenth Young Master said to himself as he left.

Over all these years, he had never been apart from Tiger Girl—not for a single day. No, more accurately, they had never been separated for more than two hours, much less an entire night. Yet today, he was staying at the Imperial Palace while Tiger Girl was at home.

He knew Tiger Girl would definitely worry about him. To keep her from worrying, he wanted to go back and tell her that he would be staying at the Imperial Palace, so she would not worry.

But if he could go back to notify her, then there would be no need for him to stay at the Imperial Palace. Would Tiger Girl still let him brave the rain to return?

He did not think about that. He only knew that he could not let Tiger Girl worry about him. Even knowing full well that fierce winds, torrential rain, thunder, and lightning raged outside, he still had to go back and tell Tiger Girl not to worry.

Thirteenth Young Master ran through the Imperial Palace beneath the thunderstorm. No one stopped him, because everyone knew who he was. There was nowhere in the entire Imperial Palace that he was forbidden to go.

And so, Thirteenth Young Master ran out of the Imperial Palace and toward Ye Residence. In truth, Ye Residence was not too far from the Imperial Palace. The area where the powerful and wealthy lived was naturally near the Imperial Palace, making it convenient for them to attend court while also allowing them to be neighbors with the emperor.

Of course, not too far did not mean very close. For Thirteenth Young Master to run home, it would take at least twenty minutes—if he could keep running all the way.

At that time, Thirteenth Young Master carried an umbrella, a very expensive one. Its canopy was woven from gold-thread fabric, and even its frame was inlaid with gold. It was precisely the sort of umbrella a Prodigal Son should use, one he had bought during one of his extravagant sprees.

But it was now a thunderstorm. Carrying such an umbrella gave him a very high chance of being struck by lightning. It was practically the same as walking around with a lightning rod.

In the end, the God of Thunder and Mother of Lightning seemed to show him great favor, magnificently delivering a bolt of lightning straight to Thirteenth Young Master's umbrella.

"Rumble..."

"Aah..."

Electric light flashed over Thirteenth Young Master's entire body. He screamed, then collapsed onto the rain-soaked street. In that instant, it seemed as though currents of electricity were darting wildly through the area around him.

At that moment, Thirteenth Young Master seemed to feel a current flowing through his entire body, stimulating his brain even more. This was not the current from the lightning. Though it might have been brought about by the lightning, he felt it was something else—a miraculous current, an indescribable sensation.

What was this? Thirteenth Young Master did not have time to think before he fell into a deep coma.

"Found him! Young Master Ye Lang is lying on the ground. Why does he smell slightly burnt? Could it be... could that bolt of lightning have struck him?" A group of Royal Guards appeared on the street. The first thing they saw was the troublesome umbrella, followed by Thirteenth Young Master, who had been struck by lightning and now showed every sign of electrocution.

His hair was puffed up and curled, his skin was slightly blackened and carried a faint scorched smell, and his clothes had been ruined...

Was he still alive? Everyone who saw him in that state had the same thought first. People struck by lightning seemed to have an extremely, extremely low survival rate.

But after that first instant, the Royal Guards present immediately had another thought.

He had to stay alive, or they would be in deep trouble!

That was right. If this Thirteenth Young Master Ye died now, this whole group would suffer for it. They might not die, but they would certainly be out of luck.

Help push the rankings—please send some recommendation votes, brothers and sisters. If you can spare any, please vote...