Toward the later part of the evening, Ye Haoxuan also told Li Luru about going to the Capital City early the morning after next.

Li Luru showed nothing on her face, only nodded, but she already had other thoughts in her heart.

She knew the Mu Family’s medical skills were good, but a severed tongue growing back—this sort of thing she had never heard of, and didn’t think it very possible either.

Besides, with so many people and so many loose tongues in the Capital City, what would it look like for her to follow them to Prince An’s Mansion?

Even though Ye Rongqing called her "sister‑in‑law" all day long, matters like this still depended on a match made by parents and go‑betweens. Leaving aside her own parents for the moment, just the Old Master and Madam Ye of the Ye Family alone would likely never agree to such a thing.

Their family’s status was truly too low; if a prince were one day to marry the daughter of a small merchant’s household, it would definitely invite mockery, and Madam Ye would certainly not be willing to have her son laughed at.

And besides, how could someone with a crippled body like hers even harbor such thoughts?

So she might as well give up.

Once she made up her mind, Li Luru quietly packed her luggage and slipped out of Yun’an Prefecture City just as everyone in the residence was waking up.

Early this morning, Ye Haoxuan had planned to return to the Capital City after breakfast.

But at the breakfast table they waited and waited, and still there was no sign of Li Luru.

"Why isn’t sister‑in‑law here yet?" Ye Rongqing said to a maid. "Go and take a look."

"Yes."

The maid came back very quickly. "Third Master, Miss Li is not in her room."

"She’s not in her room and you don’t know to go look for her?" Ye Rongqing only thought she had gone somewhere else and vented his temper on the maid.

The maid, terrified, hurriedly added, "Third Master, this servant discovered that Miss Li’s bundle is no longer in the room either."

"What did you say?" Ye Rongqing raised his voice.

Then he turned and looked toward Ye Haoxuan. "Big Brother, this..."

Ye Haoxuan had already risen from the table and turned to go to Li Luru’s room.

Sure enough, it was completely empty inside. He tried calling Dabai and Xiaobai, but there was no response.

Thinking of something, Ye Haoxuan led a horse out and gave chase, but when he was close to the city gate, his mind turned, and he came back again.

Ye Rongqing asked, "Big Brother, didn’t you go after sister‑in‑law? Where is she?"

Ye Haoxuan ignored him, went around to the study, and in one go wrote a letter. "San!"

"At your service!"

"Go. Help me get this letter into Miss Li’s hands. Remember to find her in the shortest possible time, and escort her back to Funan."

As for the Li Family, he wasn’t worried. Before he left Funan he had already made arrangements.

He believed the Li Family wouldn’t be so foolish as to marry her into the Wang Family when they knew his intentions.

"Yes, I take your order!"

San then took the letter and some men and quickly left the city.

"Big Brother, weren’t you going to chase after sister‑in‑law? Where is she?" Seeing him come out of the study, Ye Rongqing asked again.

Ye Haoxuan glanced over lazily. "Little Third, you’ve been talking too much lately, and you’re far too idle. Once we’re back in the Capital City, you can take over the family business. Your second brother and I are both serving as officials at court; someone has to manage the household affairs."

Speaking of this, his chest felt a bit stifled. Their mother hadn’t given birth to a few more children; now there were only the three of them. Yet Little Third also wanted to go to the army camp, leaving no one to oversee household affairs, so that while he was dealing with matters at court, he also had to keep an eye on the business, without even a helper.

"Heh... Big Brother, Big Brother, let’s talk this through..." Ye Rongqing had no intention of managing it. He still felt that being carefree was better.

But Ye Haoyang also spoke up. "Just help Big Brother manage it for a while. Once my own post is settled, you can hand it back to him." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

With both older brothers speaking, he had no choice but to agree.