Before the words had faded, another member of the Inner Guard entered, almost on the heels of the first. "Your Highness, the sentries at the Snow Listening Tower report that Adviser Lu has also sent word! He says he will 'return to the residence soon'!"
Found? Safe?
The oppressive atmosphere in the hall eased, and several people secretly breathed sighs of relief.
Princess Taiping slowly turned around, but not a trace of relief appeared on her face. Her gaze fell on the second report. It was indeed Lu Changfeng's handwriting. Her voice betrayed no emotion. "Who brought back Lu Changfeng's letter?"
"Your Highness, it was Young Master Zhang Shu of the Zhang Clan of Fanyang."
The guard continued, "He said that while sightseeing on Zhongnan Mountain, an unfamiliar old man stopped him and asked him to deliver this letter."
An unfamiliar old man? Asked him to deliver it?
If she had previously clung to a sliver of hope that perhaps they truly had urgent business that required them to conceal their whereabouts, then now, this letter assuring her of their safety-five full days late and delivered in such a perfunctory manner-was like a resounding slap, brutally shattering all her reasoned deductions.
It was not urgent business.
They were not in danger.
For five whole days, he had been with another woman, losing himself in pleasure!
Only now did he seem to have suddenly remembered that such a place existed, that someone there was waiting for him, and so he had casually sent a passerby to bring back a weightless promise to "return soon."
Everything that had happened before surged into her heart: the hints she had lowered herself to offer, her painstaking arrangements, those subtle, roundabout feelings that even she found unfamiliar... all she had received in return was his