Missing

With the previous experience, they had become more cautious. This time, they watched from the sidelines, and they were fortunate they had made that decision.

To learn how to be a lord, he had to study some of the Empire's laws and understand its current state. After seeing those things, Thirteenth Young Master bluntly voiced several ideas that made the Ye Clan's hearts pound in terror.

"This kind of law is unfair. Why are the standards for nobles and commoners so different? The law should treat everyone equally. Even if the Emperor breaks the law, he should be convicted and have his head chopped off!"

"This slave system should be abolished..."

"The leaders of the country should be elected by the people..."

After countless efforts and failures regarding Thirteenth Young Master's nominal profession, Ye Chengtian and his wife had headaches. They were even becoming somewhat muddled, directly asking Thirteenth Young Master what kind of person he wanted to become in the future and what he wanted to do.

Thirteenth Young Master thought for a moment, then said with a smile, "I want to become a Prodigal Son!"

"..." Ye Chengtian and his wife looked at each other. After a long while, they finally asked, "What? Say that again?"

"I want to become a Prodigal Son." Thirteenth Young Master repeated himself, then added—

"A Prodigal Son with power, influence, money, and beautiful women. Mm, it would be best if I also had a few lackeys!!"

"What do you want to become that for?" At the time, Ye Chengtian and his wife did not know what they should say. They foolishly asked this question.

"I want to squander! I want to waste the family fortune!!"

"..."

"Ye Lanyu!!!" Ye Chengtian and his wife roared as they charged toward a certain place—or, more precisely, toward a certain person: Thirteenth Young Master's older sister, Ye Lanyu.

In their view, Thirteenth Young Master could not possibly have such strange ideas. The only possibility was that little Lanyu had instilled them in him, so they were going to give little Lanyu a thorough lesson.

Poor little Lanyu had inexplicably become the scapegoat once again. Likewise, Thirteenth Young Master looked at his parents in confusion. He did not understand what this had to do with his sister.

At this time, Thirteenth Young Master was only a little over five years old. To already possess such lofty ambitions—he truly was a heaven-gifted genius.

There was another matter in between: Thirteenth Young Master's name.

The Ye Clan also found this matter rather strange. Originally, they had given Thirteenth Young Master the name Ye Tianyou, its meaning obvious enough: they hoped Heaven would bless and protect him.

Yet strangely, after Thirteenth Young Master learned to read and write, he always wrote his name as Ye Lang. When others called him Ye Tianyou, he would not respond, but calling him Ye Lang would draw a reaction from him.

Though it was strange, once everyone grew accustomed to it, they gradually forgot the name Ye Tianyou. In its place came the two characters Ye Lang, which became Thirteenth Young Master's lifelong designation—his name.

Ye Lang? Was it coincidence, or was there another reason?

What exactly it was, no one knew at present. Everyone only knew that since little Young Master Ye had decided to become a Prodigal Son, he needed to spend money. And the first thing required for spending money was having money. Without money, how could he spend it? How could he squander it? How could he waste the family fortune?

Still, this matter was easy enough to resolve. Although little Young Master Ye had never left home and had no need to spend money, the pocket money he received every year was beyond counting, almost comparable to that of a small wealthy man.

And that was merely his pocket money. If he asked for it, he would receive even more.

With this financial foundation, he needed to do the second thing—and this was the key to the whole matter: leave the house!

For many people, going out was an utterly ordinary matter. But for Thirteenth Young Master, it was rather troublesome. No one in the entire Ye Clan would allow him outside, at least not for now.

However, another strange occurrence befell little Young Master Ye.

"Master, Madam, this is bad! The young master is gone!"

Following the maid's urgent, frightened cry, the Ye Clan suddenly discovered that Thirteenth Young Master, who rarely appeared before others, had vanished. They searched the entire Ye Residence, yet could not find any trace of him.

At first, they thought little Lanyu might be playing some game with Thirteenth Young Master. But they quickly ruled out that possibility, because little Lanyu was currently being disciplined and kept apart from Thirteenth Young Master. She could not possibly have had any contact with him.

In fact, little Lanyu had been meditating to cultivate magic at the time. The moment she learned of this, she immediately abandoned her cultivation and anxiously went searching for her younger brother.

This threw the entire Ye Clan into an earthquake. It would have been impossible for them not to shake; the head of the Ye Clan was nearly ready to mobilize the entire clan's forces to search.

At this time, no one investigated too deeply into how Thirteenth Young Master had disappeared. Though everyone was extremely curious—how could a five-year-old child, and a foolish child at that, vanish without the slightest warning? It was far too strange.

For now, however, their most important task was to find him first. Regardless of whether Thirteenth Young Master was useless or not, he was still the grandson of the current head of the Ye Clan and Ye Chengtian's son.

Very quickly, members of the Ye Clan appeared throughout every street and alley of the Imperial City. Naturally, the City Guard, having received word, also joined the search for Thirteenth Young Master's whereabouts.

This spectacle left many onlookers who did not know the truth utterly bewildered. They simply could not guess what had happened to cause such a huge commotion.

So these clueless onlookers began making inquiries. Though they did not discover exactly whom they were searching for, they learned that it was a five-year-old noble Young Master—a black-haired, black-eyed noble Young Master whose reactions might be somewhat slow.

Some sharper people had already guessed who this noble Young Master was. In the Imperial City, there were not many people capable of causing such a stir, and only a few matched those conditions.

They were now curious about why this little Young Master had gone missing. Had he not always remained at home?

Some people joined the search for the little Young Master with that question in mind, while others searched with their own purposes. Before long, more and more people throughout the Imperial City were looking for him.

Unless the little Young Master had already left the Imperial City, he would surely be found—and very, very quickly. Mm, at least, that was what everyone believed.

But matters were not as easy as everyone had imagined. They searched for a full three days, nearly turning the Imperial City upside down, yet they could not find a single trace of Thirteenth Young Master. Where had Thirteenth Young Master gone? How had he evaded the search? Could he have been kidnapped? All these questions churned through everyone's minds...