For King Ping, today is an absolutely joyous day—his twenty-year-old son, who is still a virgin, is finally getting married!
He's already married, so how could he be late in having grandchildren?
Thinking of Fu Hanlai's appearance from childhood to adulthood, the Prince of Ping sighed with emotion.
Although it can't be said that he had a child late in life, Fu Hanlai was indeed quite old when he was born. Others of the same age had children who were old enough to be considered for marriage. Moreover, Fu Hanlai was in poor health when he was young, and the entire Prince Ping's mansion had to be careful every time the seasons changed, for fear that he would catch a cold or get sick.
Raising him was no easy task.
Looking at that little boy from back then, now he's all married, and King Ping was so happy he almost cried.
Then he actually started crying.
—His son!
The heir of the Prince Ping's mansion!
She ran away from her wedding day!
When the servants came to report this, King Ping thought he had misheard.
Although his son had always seemed dissatisfied with the marriage, Prince Ping and his wife knew that he didn't actually dislike the eldest daughter of the Jiang family. Otherwise, the two wouldn't have been fighting like cockfighting. If they couldn't do anything else, couldn't they just ignore each other? It was precisely because his son quite admired the Jiang family's daughter.
Moreover, Fu Hanlai only verbally expressed his dissatisfaction and desire to annul the engagement a few times, without taking any actual action. Everyone in the know, including Prince Ping, thought he was just too proud to admit it!
The entire capital knew that he and the Jiang family's daughter were mortal enemies. Whenever the two met, it was like a battle of wits, and they could never have a peaceful moment. Now that they were getting married, it was normal for his son to feel embarrassed, given his personality.
So neither King Ping nor his wife took it seriously.
On the wedding day, the wretched son ran away from the ceremony.
As the groom today, Fu Hanlai had a lot to do, but he slipped away while changing clothes. No one expected him to have such audacity, so they didn't notice. Only after asking did they learn that he had already been gone for the time it takes for two incense sticks to burn.
At this critical moment, King Ping dared not delay. He immediately ordered people to search for his son and went into the palace to obtain a token. He then sealed off all four city gates, strictly checked those leaving the city, and tried to find his troublesome son as soon as possible.
Running away from the wedding on the wedding day is a severe humiliation for the bride. If people find out, given how much the Marquis of Jing'an values his daughter, the Marquis of Jing'an will surely become enemies with the Prince of Ping's family.
The servant Kangtai knelt before Prince Ping and his wife. At this moment, the lively and festive atmosphere of the entire palace froze in this secluded little courtyard.
Fu Hanlai's other servant, Ping An, went out to chase after him. Fu Hanlai had sent him out on some business in the morning, and when he returned, he found that Fu Hanlai had run away. Ping An immediately rushed out to look for him, but he has not returned yet.
As for what exactly happened, Kangtai only heard that it was related to the Jiang family's daughter, and knew nothing else.
This matter was not publicized; only Prince Ping and his wife, along with Emperor Xuande in the palace, knew about it. The strict inspection of those leaving the city was also carried out under the pretext of arresting fugitives.
Jiang Xuelin arrived a little later than Fu Han. If she had arrived earlier, she would have already left the city. Unfortunately, she was just a little short.
Not knowing exactly what had happened, Jiang Xuelin led her horse away from the group leaving the city and moved a little closer. She overheard the people in front of her talking about how a fugitive had escaped from the capital, and the Five Cities Garrison was arresting him to prevent him from escaping the city.
Having heard this, Jiang Xuelin knew what was going on and didn't linger.
Aside from secretly acknowledging her bad luck, there was nothing she could do. At this point, she couldn't force her way out of the city, otherwise she would only draw more attention and it would be obvious that something was wrong.
Regardless of what the problem is, there's definitely something wrong with it.
Leading her horse back, preparing to find a secluded spot to escape the city, Jiang Xuelin had a strange feeling in her heart, as if it were all too coincidental.
Her father probably wouldn't have the guts to ask the Five Cities Garrison to help him find someone, right?
That's impossible.
Is it really because I'm just unlucky?
After taking one last look at the city gate guards conducting the search, Jiang Xuelin mounted her horse and turned to enter the alleyway beside her.
She hadn't walked far when she sensed someone following her. This immediately caught Jiang Xuelin's attention. She wondered if she was just that lucky, and that the fugitive who had escaped from the capital was right behind her.
So here's the question.
If the fugitive is following behind her, should she arrest him or not? If she arrests him, since he's still running away from his arranged marriage, he'll most likely be exposed. If she doesn't arrest him, what if he hurts someone?
After only a moment's hesitation, Jiang Xuelin decided that if this really was a fugitive, then she would knock him unconscious and throw him out into the street.
Honglu followed Jiang Xuelin into the alley with unsteady steps, but when she entered, she didn't see Jiang Xuelin. She immediately realized that Jiang Xuelin was probably hiding. Not daring to speak loudly, she could only call out in a low voice, "Miss? Miss? This servant is Honglu, please come out quickly!"
Hearing Hongluo's voice, Jiang Xuelin, who had been hiding, was surprised for a moment, then revealed herself from around the corner, "Hongluo?"
What's Hongluo doing here?
Seeing Jiang Xuelin come out, Hongluo immediately breathed a sigh of relief, almost bursting into tears, "Miss, please come back with me!"
"What are you doing here?" Jiang Xuelin frowned, not asking whether she was going back or not, but instead asking why Hongluo had followed her here.
"I forgot to tell you, not long after you left, my mother came back and said that she saw the Prince of Ping run away through the back gate of the Prince of Ping's mansion. No one has found out that you ran away yet. Green Ivy is still in the house pretending to look like you. You should come back with me quickly!"
Hurry up, girl, before anyone notices!
Upon hearing this, Jiang Xuelin's eyes immediately lit up.
Fu Hanlai ran away from his wedding?!
For most people, being run away from their fiancé would be heartbreaking, painful, angry, and aggrieved. But Jiang Xuelin simply wanted to burst into laughter. Her whole being was beaming with joy. Without saying a word, she mounted her horse, turned it around, and shouted, "Quick! Let's go back to the manor!"
Without a groom, even if she waits patiently in the house to be married, the marriage is unlikely to succeed. The Prince of Ping's mansion will not send anyone else to fetch the bride and hold the wedding ceremony, so the marriage is definitely not going to happen.
Since it's all going to fail anyway, all the blame falls on Fu Hanlai, who ran away from the wedding. What does it have to do with Jiang Xuelin, who is well-behaved?
Hurry back and change into your wedding dress, get ready to leave!
In order to save time, Jiang Xuelin did not wait for Hongluo and went ahead on her own.
What Jiang Xuelin didn't know was that just a short while later, a panting Ping An finally found his young master and told Fu Hanlai what he had seen.
"What?! You said that girl Jiang Xuelin ran away from her wedding? Quickly! Come back to the manor with me and wait to go to the Jing'an Marquis's residence to pick up the bride. It was Jiang Xuelin who ran away from the wedding, it has nothing to do with me!"
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