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His father and elder brother were both straightforward, and if he told them this news, he feared that his clever mother couldn’t be deceived. By then, his mother’s worries would deepen and her illness would worsen. What should he do then?

Lian Wanzhen released him, his shoulders slumping as he turned around silently.

Their father, Lian Changhe, felt disappointed but forcibly cheered up and comforted them, saying, "When your eldest brother returns, let him figure out a solution. Your eldest brother is steady and thorough in his actions. He will definitely find Nannan."

He sighed again and said to Lian Bao, "Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, the reunion festival. Your mother is thinking about Nannan, feeling unwell; her condition has worsened a bit..."

Lian Bao cast his eyes down, blaming his own incompetence; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been like this, wasting so many days without any clues.

Seeing their father sighing, Lian Bao feigned happiness and said, "Father, during this trip, Clan Uncle had some news. He heard from his previous neighbors that everyone is all right. They even mentioned a teenage girl with them. The family moved away, and surely the girl with them must be our sister. She is safe, don’t worry. "

Lian Wanzhen suddenly turned around, asking with Lian Changhe in unison, "Really?"

Lian Bao nodded vigorously, saying earnestly, "Yes, it’s just that Clan Uncle and his family moved away a long time ago with our little sister. It will take some time to find them."

A look of ecstasy spread across Lian Wanzhen’s face as he clapped his hands sharply and hurriedly said, "I will go and tell Mother. She will feel better when she hears this."

Speaking, he hurried away.

Lian Changhe also paced excitedly around the courtyard, muttering, "This reassures me. As long as they are safe, that’s what matters. It’s okay if it takes some time."

While pacing, he rubbed his fingers, unable to contain his excitement.

Lian Bao watched his father with a smile playing on his lips, then turned to give Uncle Ma a deep look.

Uncle Ma hung his head, concealing the sorrow in his eyes.

These past few days, he and the Young Master had been traveling to find the little lady. Just when they were close to hope, the Young Master’s cousin was captured and detained, making it impossible for them to get close.

In the last two days, the Young Master had tried every trick—using diversions, disguising, and blending in—yet all were exposed. Had the Young Master not kept a backup plan, they might have been captured.

Now the guards and secret watchers were increasingly strict.

The people watching were exceptionally vigilant, guarding as tightly as an iron barrel, not even a fly could get in, but fortunately, they had not moved the girl.

The Young Master ordered them to secretly dig a tunnel there, but it would still take some time to break through.

He was a guard of the Marquis of Zhenyuan’s Mansion. His masters were the Su family, and the lady had shown him great kindness.

More than twenty years ago, a side branch of the Marquis of Zhenyuan’s Mansion committed a crime.

Emperor Taizhong, the grandfather of His Majesty, feared the Marquis and seized the opportunity to implicate the whole clan.

The Marquis was executed, and the entire household of the mansion, along with others, was raided; men were exiled and women dispersed to work as laborers at the government office.

Anticipating the disaster, the lady hastily dismissed the mansion’s servants and guards, and he was amongst those who left then.

Originally, he had fled the mansion to lie low. He planned to find the lady later and save her, but after many twists and turns, he lost contact with her.

Over the years, he mingled among people from all trades, seeking to find the lady.

But fate toyed with him, and after searching painstakingly for over two decades, he finally encountered her in a remote town. By then, the lady had been married to the Young Master for many years and had several children.

The Lian Family was living a happy and fulfilling life when they were betrayed by the Guo family from the Capital and ended up in a desolate place. When he met them, the young lady’s family had just escaped not long ago.

After escaping, the young lady’s heart loosened for a moment, worrying about Nannan who vanished without a trace. She then endured years of hard labor in the Place of Exile until exhaustion led to her illness, and she eventually collapsed.

The news about Nannan was as vital as life to the young lady. How could he not understand the Young Master’s painstaking effort?

Uncle Ma’s eyes moistened in the dark, he wiped them with his sleeve casually and spoke low to the people behind him, "Go out and see, clean up everything properly, don’t let anyone trace this place."

The Guo family, who plotted against the young lady’s family, resides in the Capital with great power and influence. They had already started searching for them secretly everywhere.

The Young Master said the most dangerous place is the safest, thus they chose this location outside the Capital.

They were also waiting for the eldest son to return from his scholarly exams; if the eldest son was lucky enough to pass the metropolitan exams, he would take the imperial examinations in the Capital next year.

In order to topple the Guo family and vindicate the Lian family, their power was still too little. The eldest son began with the civil service examinations, whereas the Young Master acted in secret. They approached the same goal via different routes, all for the sake of the Lian Family.

After Uncle Ma finished speaking, he clasped his hands towards Lian Changhe and Lian Bao and led his people out again.

Lian Bao watched Uncle Ma leave and didn’t say much, then he saw his father in the courtyard, dancing with joy upon hearing his sister’s news.

His eyes masked his worries, those words were deceiving them; naturally, they hadn’t heard that the Clan Uncle had moved with their sister.

It was precisely because no one mentioned this that he began to worry.

Could something have happened to his sister when she went to seek refuge with the Clan Uncle years ago?

After all, she was just ten years old back then, a little girl.

How could she have found the Clan Uncle all by herself over such a long distance? He dared not think about it.

Yet, they had no other choice then. Staying with them, they never knew what might have awaited them, and at that time, the villains were searching everywhere in the town, determined to capture their entire family.

The years they spent in exile were fraught with apprehensions—had it not been for the great effort of his oldest brother and mother, their whole family would not have survived.

Once things settled down, his mother relaxed and then fell ill from heart disease, and the cure was their sister.

In their family, it was just his father and second brother who weren’t as thoughtful.

Their mother, thoughtful and concerned, worried day and night about their sister traveling alone up north, her heart filled with dread. She dared not delve deeper into the possible adversities their sister faced.

It was precisely because of this that she fell ill from worrying. After becoming sick, she always blamed herself for being too harsh on their sister, wondering why she hadn’t been more loving.

He had always thought that in their family, their sister was most cherished by their father, then him, his second brother, his oldest brother, and lastly their mother, as she always had to play the strict one, always scolding their sister when she misbehaved.

Now he realized how wrong he was. It was not their type of doting that counted as true affection. Their mother loved their sister the most, not them.

Deep love entails sharp reproof; they couldn’t bring themselves to deal sternly with their sister, so their mother had to force herself to do the tough love, despite her heartache.

This illness of their mother had made him see this clearly.

"Xiao Bao, your mother wants you to come in and talk," Wan Zhen opened the door to the main room and hurriedly closed it again, afraid of letting in the cold air. Their mother was frail and now sensitive to the cold.

Upon hearing this, Lian Changhe stopped his pacing, went over to Wan Zhen, pulled him aside by the shoulder, and asked in a hushed voice, "Wasn’t mother just asleep? How did she wake up? Did you, lad, wake her up by making noise?"

Just now, having heard the news about Nannan, he had forgotten to keep an eye on the boy.