The innkeeper cried out in alarm, becoming flustered, his voice trembling as he said, “Then what if those people come back again?”

Ji Yunshu was just about to speak when Jingrong took over.

He said, “Those people won’t come back.”

Extremely certain!

The innkeeper was half-believing and half-doubting. Once again, he turned his gaze toward Ji Yunshu, waiting for her answer.

Ji Yunshu nodded at him. “Rest assured, those people won’t come back.”

“Why?”

“In any case, if such a thing happens again, just use the method I taught you and follow the pattern exactly. That second-in-command looks like he’s not the type to go back on his word.”

“I hope so!”

The innkeeper wiped away his sweat and breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, Jingrong pulled Ji Yunshu’s hand and went up to the second floor.

Muruo was still leaning against the railing by the stairs drinking wine, half his body hanging downward, as if with one careless moment, he would fall down.

He watched as Jingrong pulled Ji Yunshu up. At this moment—

A guard suddenly ran over, clutching his head in pain.

He said, “Young Master, this is bad! Those two people have escaped.”

He was referring to Da Chui and Tie San.

Upon hearing this, Jingrong quickly rushed over, and Ji Yunshu followed.

The room where the bandits had been imprisoned was completely empty!

Only a pile of rope remained on the floor.

“What exactly happened?” Jingrong questioned the guard.

The guard quickly said, “This subordinate doesn’t know either. I just heard a shout from inside, then when I pushed the door open, I was knocked unconscious by someone from behind.”

“Before this, didn’t you notice anything unusual?”

“No!”

Suddenly, Ji Yunshu asked, “Did any suspicious people come in?”

Looking over, Ji Yunshu had already crouched down to the floor, picking up the rope to examine it.

The guard thought for a moment and answered, “No suspicious people came in, but Miss Ji came by, worried that those two bandits would starve to death, so she brought over two steamed buns.”

Ji Wanxin?

Indeed, according to Ji Wanxin’s personality, bringing steamed buns to those two bandits was her style.

After all, she was a kind-hearted young lady.

Ji Yunshu asked again, “Did those two have any knives on them?”

“Knives? No, they had already been searched.”

Looking at where the rope had been cut, Ji Yunshu’s mind suddenly sprouted an idea.

But—

If it really was as she thought, that didn’t seem very likely!

Why would Ji Wanxin release them?

Before she could sort out the whole story, she heard Jingrong say, “Forget it. If they’ve escaped, they’ve escaped. Tomorrow, this prince will write a memorial to send to the capital and present it to Father Emperor. The bandits are rampant and cannot be ignored.”

Having said that, he pulled Ji Yunshu up in one motion!

Without another word, he pulled her out of the room, then directly pushed her into her own room.

With a commanding tone, he instructed, “Rest early. We’ll set out first thing tomorrow morning.”

Before Ji Yunshu could finish speaking, he directly closed the door, then instructed Lang Bo beside him, “Watch her carefully. Don’t let her come out before we leave tomorrow morning.”

“Yes!”

Leaning against the railing, Muruo witnessed all of this. Seeing Jingrong so angry, he drank his wine while laughing.

Jingrong narrowed his eyes at him and asked, “What are you laughing at?”

“Laughing at Master Ji.”

“What about her?”

“Laughing that she’s clearly worried, yet overthinking things.”

Hmm?

These words were vague and unclear, making them hard to understand.

But they did pique Jingrong’s curiosity. So he simply walked to Muruo’s side, directly snatched the wine from his hand, and took a drink.

“If you have something to say, speak plainly.”

“Comprehend it yourself.”

Jingrong glared at him sideways, tossed the wine jar back to him, and left.

Early the next morning, Jingrong’s people had already packed their things and prepared to depart.

Ji Yunshu had just come out of her room when Wei Yi stood bolt upright at her door, his large eyes gazing at her affectionately, the corners of his mouth curved up in a warm, sunny smile.

In his hands, he held two large steamed buns.

“Shu’er, you’re finally awake.”

“How long have you been standing here?”

“Not long, just a while.” Wei Yi said.

As soon as he finished speaking, Muruo’s voice came from the side. “Just a while? You foolish boy, you’ve been standing here for half a shichen.”

Half a shichen?

How long was that?

Wei Yi didn’t understand.

Ji Yunshu first glanced at Muruo, surprised that he had actually been drinking all night!

Empty wine bottles littered the floor.

Drawing her gaze back, Ji Yunshu asked Wei Yi, “Wei Yi, were you waiting for me?”

Wei Yi nodded.

“Shu’er, I brought steamed buns for you to eat.”

He handed the two steamed buns in his hands toward her.

The plump white steamed buns were covered with impressions from Wei Yi’s fingerprints.

Ji Yunshu smiled, pushed the buns back, and said, “Wei Yi, you eat them yourself. I’m not hungry yet.”

“Oh!”

So Wei Yi took a bite of a steamed bun and tucked the other one inside his clothing.

Then they went downstairs together.

Downstairs, Jingrong was eating, and sitting across from him was Ji Wanxin.

When she saw Ji Yunshu coming down, Ji Wanxin quickly pulled her over to sit down.

“Yunshu, you must be hungry. I ordered several dishes you like to eat.”

“Thank you!”

Ji Yunshu then turned her gaze toward Jingrong across from her, who was eating with relish, and asked, “Where is Granny Xie?”

“Already in the carriage.”

“Oh.”

Then Jingrong stood up, patted his robe, and said, “I’ll wait for you all outside. Take your time eating.”

With that, he went out.

Ji Wanxin turned her head to speak with Ji Yunshu. “Last night I don’t know what happened downstairs, it was very noisy. I wanted to come down and look, but Prince Rong’s guards stopped me. Yunshu, do you know what happened?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know.” Then she asked her, “Second Sister, last night, did you go to the room where those two bandits were?”

“Yes, I did. Why?”

“Nothing.”

Ji Yunshu didn’t finish what she wanted to say and didn’t eat a single bite of the food on the table.

“We should depart quickly. Hopefully we can reach Shanhuai County before dark.”

“Yes.”

Muruo and Jingrong rode together. Wei Yi grabbed Ji Yunshu and refused to let go no matter what, wanting to ride with her.

Ji Wanxin started coughing, then said to Ji Yunshu, “I probably caught a chill last night, so I won’t ride in the same carriage as you all, to avoid infecting you.”

“Take care of yourself,” Ji Yunshu said with concern.

“Yes.”

With that, Ji Wanxin rode alone in one carriage, while Ji Yunshu pulled Wei Yi into the last carriage.

Depart!

In the front carriage, Jingrong lifted the curtain to look back, then withdrew his head.

Muruo knew his thoughts and said, “If you’re worried, you can just go sit over there.”

“What do I have to worry about?”

“Those two bandits who escaped yesterday will definitely come back for revenge. It’s natural for you to have concerns.”

Muruo really could see through people’s hearts best!

He seemed not to care about anything, to manage nothing, yet his mind was as clear as a mirror.