Sneaking Out

"Xiao'er, to the training hall."

Lu Wan's instruction woke Ye Jiao up from her thoughts. She hurriedly followed after Lu Wan as she replied softly. "Yes, Young Master."

Lu Su was watching the two of them depart as he furrowed his brow. He had never seen Lu Wan get close with anyone before, so the sight of Lu Wan purposely asking a servant to the training hall was rather strange.

However, he didn't linger any longer as his expression turned stoic. Turning his body, he retreated back to his own residence without caring for the flustered servants around him. The clash between him and Lu Wan was never a secret as everyone knew how bad their relationship with one another was.

"Senior Brother Lu, is it alright to be like this?" Ye Jiao asked after she closed the door, providing them with the hall that could block any type of sound.

Lu Wan stretched his body. "Why not? It's perfectly normal for me to train in seclusion. Besides, it's far better than seeing their faces."

"It's not that. I mean, is it alright to follow their order and let the outsider see you as someone who follow the rules?"

That question startled Lu Wan to his core. He looked at Ye Jiao in surprise because he didn't expect the girl to understand the meaning of Lu Family's move this time.

"You're very smart, Jiao'er."

"Senior Brother Lu, that's not the point."

"It doesn't matter," Lu Wan replied as he took out a bag that he placed at the corner. "Lu Family needs to keep in the appearance that they still have me under their reign. If I act while ignoring their order completely, the Imperial family is going to see me as a threat and possibly try to eliminate me."

"Imperial Family?"

Lu Wan nodded. "Imperial Family always want themselves to be the strongest one. Be it in the past, present, or future, they always want to tie the strongest person to them and never let anyone get away. If there's someone outside of the imperial family who has better potential and power, they'll surely pull them to their side.

And if they fail, they'll destroy that person no matter what the means. That's what happens to your parents."

My parents?

Ye Jiao's body turned cold as she recalled her family. In the last battle, she had seen for herself how the Imperial family and Wei Family forced her mother to the corner. She had never thought that the Imperial Family would do that far just in order to secure their power in this kingdom.

"Don't you know the backstory of your parent's feud?" Lu Wan arched his eyebrows.

"No, I don't."

Lu Wan pulled out several clothes from the bag and handed it to Ye Jiao. "Wear these clothes. Just doubled it since you're so small."

"Ok and do you know the backstory?"

"I don't know the details, but I know a bit since my talent also threatened my wellbeing in this kingdom. Ever since a long time ago, the Imperial Family is holding the forefront of everything. They're the strongest one and even if the highest realm is rank 4, they still stand at the very front.

They'll never allow anyone to be stronger than them and would force anyone stronger to be loyal to them. I still manage to get away because I'm from the Lu Family, who had pledged loyalty to the Imperial Family since a long time ago. On the other hand, your family, Ye Family, never pledged loyalty and were seen as a threat to them."

Without Lu Wan told her the rest of the story, Ye Jiao could imagine that the Imperial Family must have ordered for people to bring her family down.

"They're disgusting."

"It's fairly normal for people who're thirsty for power," Lu Wan said calmly. By now, he had finished wearing the clothes he prepared at the outer layer. "They're greedy and selfish people who're afraid of other people getting stronger than them."

"Yeah, but why didn't they kill my parents when they're young?" Ye Jiao found it weird that they didn't kill her parents before they could grow. After all, it was known that it would be easier to kill someone young rather than those who managed to grow like Ye Xiao.

"I don't know the details but it should be because of a woman from another kingdom."

"Woman from another kingdom?"

"Yeah, Ye Xiao's fake wife," Lu Wan answered. "She's coming from a prominent and powerful family. I think she must have done something to prevent Ye Xiao from getting killed and let him grow stronger before destroying everything."

Yeah, that woman destroyed everything.

Ye Jiao could perfectly remember the desolate expression her father showed at times. It was an expression full of sorrow that she wished to never see in her father.

"I see."

"I don't know the exact detail, so you should try to ask other people later. Now, let's go."

"Go where?"

"Outside of this residence," Lu Wan grinned. "These are the clothes for outer servants that's usually tasked to go out. With this, we can pretend to be servants and get out of the Lu Family Residence."

Ye Jiao laughed when she listened to her senior brother's explanation. As Lu Family Residence has quite a tight security, it was hard for the two of them to get out considering their measly power. The best way to get out was surely by pretending to be servants. This way, they could get out without attracting any suspiciousness.

"You're really smart, Senior Brother Lu."

"I have done this countless times in the past when I'm tired of their action. Come to think about it, I also met with Master when I sneaked out of my residence in the past."

"Can you tell me more?"

"Let's prioritize getting out of here first."

There was a backdoor of the training hall and the two of them used it to get out before locking it again. During Lu Wan's closed door training, no servant would dare to get close to the training hall, so it was safe to assume that nobody would find out that they had disappeared.

Following the stone path, they quickly reached the outer layer of Lu Family Residence and sneaked out into the town after passing the guard, who didn't feel suspicious of their appearance at all.