The capital city of Yanjing had already entered the heat of June and July, though occasionally there was still a trace of late spring breeze that made one feel quite comfortable.

Li Shiyan rode his horse all the way from the suburbs into the city, preparing to go to Su Manor. However, just as he entered the city, he was blocked at the city gate by servants from his household who had come out looking for him.

“Young Master, the Marquis told you to hurry back, you mustn’t delay any longer.” The servant stood in front of his horse, earnestly persuading him.

Li Shiyan sat mounted on his horse, looking down at him from his elevated position. He raised the whip in his hand and rebuked, “Get out of the way!”

“Please, Young Master, don’t make things difficult for us. The Marquis ordered us to come find you. If you refuse to go back, we’ll all suffer for it. Stop making a fuss and return to the manor! Otherwise, the Marquis will surely fly into a rage, and then he won’t spare you.”

“Shut up! Don’t use my father to pressure me. Get out of the way!”

“The Minister of Rites and his wife and daughter have already arrived at the manor. You can’t just make them wait for nothing, this…” The servant’s face was full of distress.

Li Shiyan squeezed his legs tight against the horse’s belly, raised his whip, and lashed it fiercely against the horse’s back. The horse, feeling the pain, raised its front hooves high and kicked aside the servant blocking the way.

The servant was kicked and fell to the ground in a disheveled heap.

Li Shiyan furrowed his brows and said, “Go tell my father that I’ll decide my own marriage matters. If he’s so eager to arrange something, he should arrange one for himself!”

Having said this, he rode off at a gallop!

The other servants quickly helped the fallen servant up from the ground.

Everyone was worried.

“What are we going to do? If the Young Master doesn’t go back, the Marquis will definitely fly into a thunderous rage, and we’ll all suffer for it. Moreover, the Minister of Rites is already at the manor. If the Young Master doesn’t appear, the Marquis won’t be able to save face either!”

“Then… what can we do?”

“You all hurry up and chase after him. No matter what, even if we have to tie him up, we must bring the Young Master back.” The man who had been kicked over by the horse’s hooves said.

Everyone panicked and prepared to give chase, but then they saw Little Lu Zi riding from outside the city. They immediately stopped him.

“Why are you all here?” Little Lu Zi asked.

A burly man said, “What do you think we’re doing here? The Marquis sent us out to find the Young Master, of course! You’d better hurry and chase the Young Master back.”

Little Lu Zi asked, “The Young Master has already entered the city?”

“Just went in.”

“Then why didn’t you stop him?”

The servants looked at each other, their faces embarrassed, saying, “We wanted to stop him, but we just couldn’t!”

Then, Little Lu Zi deliberately put on an expression of disappointment, saying, “You’re all so useless. So many of you couldn’t even stop one Young Master.”

“If you’re so capable, why don’t you hurry and chase the Young Master back? The Marquis is going crazy with anxiety at the manor.”

Little Lu Zi’s eyes rolled. “Then why don’t you get out of the way?”

The servants quickly moved to the side.

Little Lu Zi secretly chuckled to himself. He didn’t want to anger the Young Master over this matter, or else how would he get by in the future? Now that they had moved aside and he was free, he quickly rode off in pursuit.

An hour later, Li Shiyan arrived at the entrance of Su Manor. The servant standing guard outside came forward to hold his horse.

“Young Master, why have you come?”

He tossed the riding whip in his hand to the servant and patted the clothes on his body, saying, “I’ve come to see Ziluo.”

“But…”

“But what?”

“Our young master is currently…” The servant hadn’t finished speaking.

He had already stepped through the main gate of Su Manor, tossing back a sentence without looking back, “I don’t care what he’s doing right now. Since I’m here, I must see him!”

The servant holding the horse wanted to stop him but couldn’t!

Li Shiyan had been to Su Manor countless times, so naturally he knew the way well. He ran quickly toward the main courtyard of Su Manor.

Strangely enough, even though it wasn’t the season for plum blossoms to bloom, the plum blossoms in Su Manor’s main courtyard bloomed all year round, and they bloomed brilliantly. Each blossom was like a woman’s flushed cheeks, delightful to behold.

Li Shiyan had thought many times that the plum blossoms were fake, but he had secretly broken off a branch to check, and the flowers were absolutely real, not fake at all. Therefore, he had been puzzled for quite some time—plum blossoms only bloom in winter, so how could they bloom all year round at Su Manor?

He had asked many times, but the answer he always got was, “Perhaps it’s cold here!”

What kind of nonsense reason was that!

But aside from this reason, there was no other!

Li Shiyan rushed to the main courtyard, but saw that the door to the room was closed. Just as he ran over preparing to knock on the door, a maid outside hurried over and said, “Young Master, our young master is busy inside and has instructed that no one is to disturb him.”

What evil had he run into today?

First, his Marquis father wanted to arrange a matchmaking meeting for him, then he was chased and stopped at the city gate, and now when he wanted to come find Su Ziluo to pour out his grievances, he was stopped again at the door.

This was really unpleasant!

His expression darkened, very displeased. He pointed at himself and said, “What? You’re stopping me too?”

“The young master gave instructions that no one is to disturb him.”

“I don’t care about disturbing or not disturbing. This young master has important business with Ziluo today. Hurry up and move aside.”

The little maid was determined not to let him pass. She blocked the doorway with a resolute attitude, saying, “Young Master, if you force your way in, then don’t blame this servant for being impolite.”

“You…”

Li Shiyan knew this maid knew martial arts and had suffered at her hands before. He had been bullied by this maid quite a bit. Unfortunately, he only knew some superficial techniques that couldn’t be used in real situations. They were enough to intimidate people, but if it came to actual fighting, he’d probably end up with various injuries—not worth it.

He was momentarily at a loss for words and didn’t dare force his way in.

“Young Master, you should go back. Come again when the young master is finished with his business.” The maid advised.

“No, I must go in today.”

“This servant will not let you enter.”

Li Shiyan looked through the door toward the inside and shouted at the top of his voice, “Ziluo, it’s me! I need to see you about something. Hurry and tell this little maid of yours to move aside. Ziluo!”

There was no movement from inside the door.

He couldn’t understand it. Usually when he came over, Su Ziluo would open the door wide to welcome him. Now, who knew what he was tinkering with inside that required keeping him blocked outside the door.

“Ziluo, Ziluo, open the door! Ziluo!”

The little maid stood at the doorway, quietly watching him shout, curious to see what kind of spectacle this usually cunning Young Master could create!

Li Shiyan discovered that this tactic wasn’t working. Instead, he had shouted until his throat hurt, and it was exhausting! He cleared his throat, his round eyes rolling a few times as he pondered a solution.

Suddenly, inspiration struck, and an evil smile curved at the corner of his mouth.

“Fine, you won’t open the door? I have plenty of ways!”

He walked to a plum blossom tree in the courtyard and raised his hand to grasp a flowering branch. With just a little force, he could break it off.