The following day, before dawn, Chu Lian went to knock on Wang Xiangxiang’s door in an extremely anxious manner, "Xiangxiang, Xiangxiang."
Wang Xiangxiang felt as if she had just fallen asleep when she was awoken. Hearing Chu Lian’s voice, she immediately threw on a robe and got down to open the door.
Upon opening the door, before she could even speak, she was embraced tightly by Chu Lian, "Xiangxiang."
Wang Xiangxiang was taken aback by Chu Lian’s actions, and asked worriedly, "What’s wrong? What exactly happened?"
Chu Lian held Wang Xiangxiang’s hands tightly and whispered, "My sister is in trouble. I must rush to Beijing now. This trip might take ten days to half a month. You have to wait for me. When I return, I will come to your house to propose."
Wang Xiangxiang, who had never known Chu Lian had a sister, quickly agreed, "Okay, then you better hurry. I will wait for you to come back."
Chu Lian then kissed Wang Xiangxiang on the forehead, "Yang Ming and the others are still asleep. When they wake up, just tell them I had something urgent to handle and not to discuss it further."
"If there’s anything, contact Acheng. I’ve already explained everything to him."
The two parted with reluctance. Wang Xiangxiang watched Chu Lian walk away and immediately felt a void in her heart, feeling as if the events of the previous night were unreal.
She returned to her room and sat there until dawn, barely after he had left, she couldn’t help but start missing him.
Yang Ming and Xiaoxiao, having chatted till late the night before, both got up late in the morning, quickly dressed up, freshened up, and then headed to the dining hall.
Upon arriving at the dining hall and finding only Wang Xiangxiang eating there alone, and Chu Lian absent, Xiaoxiao, quite puzzled, asked, "Sister, why are you alone? Where is Master Chu?"
"He asked me to tell you that he had to leave for a while due to some urgent business."
"..." What kind of emergency could it be for him to just abandon the recently won Wang Xiangxiang?
"Sister, it’s fine. He’s gone, and we can have fun here on our own."
"Xiaoxiao, I’m also planning to leave soon." With Chu Lian not around, Wang Xiangxiang felt there was no need for her to stay; besides, there was a lot of business to take care of back home, and she had already delayed a lot of time.
"Sister, I’m worried about you going back alone. Wait a few more days and let’s go back together," suggested Xiaoxiao, genuinely concerned, but she couldn’t leave just yet as she had only recently taken over Yixiang Courtyard.
"It’s fine, Acheng is here, don’t worry."
Xiaoxiao, thinking it over, agreed, knowing Acheng was a capable person. With Chu Lian having arranged for Acheng to be beside her, there was nothing to worry about.
After breakfast, Xiaoxiao helped Wang Xiangxiang pack her things. Wang Xiangxiang sighed, "Everything happened so hastily. I didn’t get a chance to buy anything to bring back for mom and dad."
"Sister, you don’t need to buy. When we finish our business and go back, we’ll buy. Oh, and remember to tell them about our situation here."
Thus, Xiaoxiao and Yang Ming saw Wang Xiangxiang off. Before leaving, Wang Xiangxiang specifically instructed, "Now that we’ve both left, you can continue to stay here."
"Got it. I’m staying at my future brother-in-law’s place after all; there’s nothing to feel embarrassed about."
Embarrassed by Xiaoxiao’s teasing, Wang Xiangxiang boarded the horse carriage, "I’m leaving now."
"Sister, take care on your trip, have a smooth journey."
By that morning, both Chu Lian and Wang Xiangxiang had left, leaving Xiaoxiao and Yang Ming behind.