It's a nice thought, but if he was the type of person to turn on Ren Pa after 20 years because he was ordered to, he probably wasn't the type to flee from responsibility.
That's before you even get into his prestigious lineage and the implications for any family members he would leave behind.
More likely than not, he would been arrested and then executed or ordered to commit suicide on the punishment of a painful execution and further reprisals to his family.
That said, I think Hara just forgot about the dude and/or cut out whatever he had planned to address his absence.