She instantly forgot all about the estate and plopped down beside her sister, eyes gleaming with intrigue. “Did something happen? Did he scare you? I’ll go talk to Father and Big Brother right now!”

“Yaoyao! Don’t be ridiculous, it’s really nothing.”

Bai Qingqing hurriedly grabbed her, anxious to explain. “Don’t tell Father. He was probably just in a bad mood. I’ll keep my distance for now.”

“So he did scare you?”

Bai Yaoyao’s face darkened. “What does his bad mood have to do with you? I thought he was someone remarkable, but he’s got no grace at all! Forget it, Sister. Don’t think about him anymore. I actually think Brother Pei is quite nice. Maybe you should—”

“All right, all right, just go already! Don’t dawdle.”

Bai Qingqing helplessly pushed Yaoyao away. This girl never knew when to stop talking.

But once she was alone again, Bai Qingqing couldn’t help thinking about Ning Yan. Was it because she met with Fu Yi? Did he think she was hopelessly naïve, never learning from her mistakes?

But that wasn’t true. She had learned. She remembered everything. She wasn’t that stupid.

Bai Qingqing puffed out her cheeks in frustration. His temper was awful. Yaoyao was right—she shouldn’t waste another thought on him!

She sulked at home for a while until Bai Rui, wanting to cheer her up, volunteered to go buy her some treats. “There’s a new shop that just opened. You’ve got to wait in line to get anything. But don’t worry, Sister—your little brother is on it. Just wait here.”

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Bai Qingqing couldn’t help laughing. “All right. I’ll be waiting.”

But no one expected that after Bai Rui walked out the door, hours would pass with no sign of him.

As the sun dipped low and darkness crept in, one of the servants came running back, panting hard. “Second Young Master wasn’t at the shop. The staff said he bought something two hours ago and left.”

Bai Jinghuai frowned and tried to reassure Madam Qiao. “Maybe he ran off with one of his no-good friends and forgot to send word back.”

“No, Rui’er’s always been thoughtful. No matter where he went, he’d send someone to tell us. He wouldn’t forget, no matter how mischievous he is.”

Bai Qingqing was also visibly anxious. While ordering more people to search along the streets, she began listing the families Bai Rui usually visited, sending servants to inquire at each one.

But even after the sky had gone completely dark, there was still no trace of Bai Rui.

“Should we report it to the authorities? A living, breathing boy doesn’t just vanish into thin air. What if something’s happened to him?”

Madam Qiao was on the verge of tears. Bai Qingqing supported her and agreed—they needed to inform the officials.

Just as the Bai family was preparing to do so, a servant came running in, panic written all over his face. In his hands was a plain, nondescript box. “Master, a street beggar just brought this, said it’s related to Second Young Master.”

Bai Jinghuai snatched the box and opened it. Inside was a small sachet and a piece of paper.

The handwriting on the paper was crude and slanted, but the message was bone-chilling.

It said Bai Rui was in their hands. If they wanted him alive, Bai Jinghuai had to go alone—to the locust grove outside the city.

“This sachet belongs to Rui’er.”

Bai Qingqing recognized it at once. She had sewn it for him herself. He’d been wearing it at his waist just that morning when he came to cheer her up.

Madam Qiao fainted on the spot, and the servants rushed to carry her inside. Bai Qingqing’s hands were ice-cold as she clutched the sachet tightly. “Father, how could someone be abducted so easily—right under the emperor’s nose, in a city like this? Something is terribly wrong!”