The waiter said, "Government soldiers just came to search and said the Fourth Prince has escaped. Upon hearing this, the guests were all in an uproar. They originally came to the tea house because of the Fourth Prince, but upon hearing this news, they left in anger."

The shopkeeper felt disheartened upon hearing this. He has a brother who is also afflicted and has been detained by the government office. Suddenly, their household of seven or eight lost its backbone, and living became a problem; their days were bitter and indescribable.

The shopkeeper felt sorry for them and often gave them leftover food out of kindness. However, as the saying goes, "Long-term poverty is hard to support," he couldn’t possibly feed his brother’s family for an entire lifetime.

"So be it, let’s just leave!"

The shopkeeper shook his hand and left as well.

"Hey, shopkeeper, where are you going?" the waiter shouted from behind.

From afar came the shopkeeper’s responding voice, "Frustrated, going home."

Having money makes one carefree, the waiter shook his head. As a poor man, he still needed to earn money to support his family, better to focus on his work, lest he starve before succumbing to affliction.

The news of the Fourth Prince’s escape spread across every corner of the Capital like the wind.

The entire Capital was in turmoil upon hearing this news. People angrily scolded the Emperor, accusing him of feigned benevolence, pretending to not want to kill the Fourth Prince while playing mysteriously, deliberately toying with them.

Long Rui and the Fourth Prince were anxious upon hearing this news, dispatching many subordinates for a blanket search across the Capital. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Yet, the Fourth Prince seemed to have disappeared from the mortal realm without a trace.

If the Fourth Prince successfully escaped, it would certainly cause endless troubles.

Xuexue and Long Rui realized this and sent more people to expand the search.

War Prince’s Mansion, main hall.

Xuexue was dressed in a floral gown, styled in a fashionable Flowing Cloud Hairbun, her eyes radiant with beauty as she gazed at Long Rui and softly said, "Prince, the Fourth Prince fled last night, likely already out of the Capital."

Long Rui reached out to carefully wipe the crumbs from her lips and said nonchalantly, "Don’t worry, dear wife, I have sent someone to track him, hoping to catch the Fourth Prince."

Upon learning that the Fourth Prince had escaped, Xuexue was filled with unease.

In her past life, the Fourth Prince did not practice evil cultivation nor did this escape occur. Perhaps due to her rebirth, everyone’s life trajectory had changed. The future was an unknown to Xuexue; she didn’t know what would happen and felt inevitably anxious.

A hint of anxiety flashed across Xuexue’s face, Long Rui noticed it and stretched his long arm to embrace her and comforted, "Don’t be afraid, dear wife, I will protect you."

Xuexue, troubled at heart, lowered her head and softly replied, "Hmm."

Long Rui rubbed his chin against the top of her head and said gently, "Don’t worry, when the ship reaches the bridge, it will straighten itself out. If the Fourth Prince’s escape is destined by fate, we can only accept destiny and find another chance to capture him later."

Xuexue worriedly said, "The Fourth Prince practiced evil cultivation. I fear that once he escapes, it will be hard to find him."

Long Rui nodded, "Indeed! Lord Liu said there was no damage to Clan Authority Mansion last night, with doors and windows securely locked. It likely was done by an insider, allowing the Fourth Prince to be whisked away silently. Lord Liu suspects there’s a traitor within Clan Authority Mansion."

Xuexue raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Prince, what do you think?"

Long Rui: "I also believe there’s a traitor. Clan Authority Mansion is layered with mechanisms that are out of reach for ordinary people. Yet, this person not only entered but rescued without alerting a single guard. The smoothness of the operation is baffling; I refuse to believe it happened without collaboration."

Xuexue nodded, agreeing with Long Rui’s reasoning. Clan Authority Mansion is where important criminals are detained, far stricter than common government official jails, not to mention the hidden masters lurking in shadows. Yet, not a person was alerted when the Fourth Prince was rescued last night; surely there was collusion, otherwise, it wouldn’t have proceeded so smoothly.