Meanwhile, An Hao stopped his horse after he rounded the corner and frowned in confusion.

{...Why am I running? I didn't do anything bad...Is feeding her bad? No, it's not...The Emperor was there and I didn't even get a chance to talk to him!... What's worse is I didn't even get a chance to eat those precious cakes, I spent so much time on them too! T_T)...I'm going back!...}

He turned the horse around, but then stopped and turned back forward. His frown deepened and he turned back again, then forward. He did that a few times and was getting weird looks from the people around. Eventually, he hung his head and continued on forward.

{...Well, at least Xiao Ting got to try it, it would have been better if we could have eaten it together...But I guess this is good enough...}

And with that in mind, An Hao excitedly appeared and dejectedly disappeared.

Prince Yi also did not make an appearance for the rest of the day, but it seemed no one missed his presence and the group continued on with their shopping venture for a while longer.

Apparently, Xiao Ting had come out to get some things for her coming of age ceremony celebration. She happily grabbed Lei Xing and pulled her along to make choices for her. Lei Xing lamented in her mind, she just exchanged a mini shopaholic for a seasoned one. Thankfully, Princess Nalan and Molin were happily engaging Xiao Ting, it seemed those two had a knack for shopping themselves, either that or they were very bored.

Lei Xing was not sure which it was, but she was bored.?She cast a glance at the Emperor who was hanging back behind them with Lei Yong, Prince Rui, and Tung Mei, who was straggling at the edge of the group pouting in Lei Xing's direction. When Lei Xing met her eyes, she immediately frowned and faced forward and Tung Mei lowered her head even further.

Lei Yong saw this exchange and knit his brows. He went to ask Tung Mei what was going on but she simply shook her head and did not respond. He sighed to himself and glanced at Xiao Ting obliviously shopping and chattering with Princess Nalan.

While he was still a bit rattled by Lei Xing and the Emperor's intimate street scene, they were already married so it was really not his place to interfere. But Xiao Ting was still a child and despite the fact that he was a skilled and resourceful general, An Hao was also a bit child-like himself. He did not feel they were a good match at all. And most importantly, Xiao Ting was definitely not ready for any courtship of any kind.

Lei Yong knew An Hao very well, he was not the kind of person to go out of his way for people. But he made it himself and even went out of the city to get ingredients to make something for someone?! The only time he showed this much enthusiasm was when the Emperor was involved.

Of course, he possibly could have gone through all that work because he wanted to eat it himself but then he ended up giving it all to Xiao Ting. An Hao also never mentioned going to his house to look for him and they had met up quite a bit. Not to mention that he just ran away. The Emperor was there and he ran away, he never did that.

Lei Yong's conclusion was that An Hao's behavior was definitely suspicious.

After a while longer of wandering around, they went to a restaurant for dinner. As they ate, Lei Yong glanced at Lei Xing and the Emperor. The Emperor was happily putting food on Lei Xing's plate, while she was narrowing his eyes at him and telling him to eat. Lei Yong narrowed his eyes at them and then looked at the clueless Xiao Ting happily talking on Lei Xing's other side about her coming of age ceremony. She even invited Princess Nalan, it seems they had become friends thanks to An Hao's duli cakes.

He turned to Tung Mei at his side who was picking at her food while pouting in Lei Xing's direction. He knit his brows and then picked some chicken and put it on her plate, Tung Mei glanced up at him and then looked down and sighed, still looking upset. Lei Yong frowned, he did not know what to do. She was always so upbeat so?he was not sure what to do when she gets upset.

The last time, she had gotten upset with him because he had gotten nervous and dropped her hand and introduced her as "no one important" when some of his army buddies came across them on the street. By the time he turned to his side, she was gone. He went back home but she was not there, he checked at her relatives but she had not gone there. She was also not at any inn in the city. He had people searching everywhere but could not find her, there was also no records of her leaving the city.

She was just gone, disappeared. He was very worried that she might have run into some trouble, perhaps even kidnapped. Just as he was starting to really feel panicked,?she showed up back at the house on her own.

He asked her where she had gone but she simply responded that she was bored and had gone to have some fun for a while, a simple change in scenery she said, but she did not give any more details. He had gotten angry with her and scolded her for not telling anyone, but she just stood there looking at him and did not protest like usual, eventually he quieted down and ended up apologizing.

Seeing her upset again, he was feeling a bit worried that she would pull another disappearing stunt again.

When they finished the dinner and were going their separate ways, before Lei Xing could get on the carriage, he excused her for a bit and asked what happened with Tung Mei. Lei Xing immediately frowned and responded, "I don't know." Then turned and left.

Lei Yong sighed as he watched Lei Xing and the Emperor's carriage leave and then looked back at Tung Mei who was awkwardly standing at a distance looking at the carriage. She was really not behaving like herself, he walked up to her and held her hand and gave her an awkward smile. He really did not know how to behave once she was upset.

Tung Mei looked at him and then looked away, shrugged his hand off and said, "You two go ahead." Then she turned around to leave.

Lei Yong frowned and blocked her, "Where are you going?" When she did not respond, he then directly asked, "Are you going to disappear again?"

This seemed to have further irritated Tung Mei and she glared at him with teary eyes, "What's it to you? It's not like you actually care and now Xing jie is angry with me because of you..."

"What?"?Lei Yong asked raised his eyebrows, completely confused

Tung Mei blinked, "It's nothing...Anyway, just leave me alone!" She barked and then raced away, he wanted to run after her, but then looked at Xiao Ting standing there. They had not brought servants with them and it was already late. He knew Tung Mei could fight and handle herself but Xiao Ting could not, so he made the split-second decision to stay and worriedly escorted Xiao Ting home. Hoping Tung Mei would make her way back to the house on her own, and planning to immediately go to find immediately after.

{...What's going on now? I didn't do anything wrong this time...or did I?...Sometimes, I just don't understand her...}