However, there were still many places on the entire sand table where he hadn’t been able to plant small flags. Regret appeared on Chu Ling’s face.

“Such a pity—” he said softly. At this point, he pressed his hand against his chest, but still couldn’t suppress the churning, and let out several coughs.

“General,” a guard at his side immediately brought over a teacup.

Chu Ling took it and drank a few mouthfuls, suppressing the cough, then reached out his hand. “Where’s the newly surveyed military map?”

The guard looked uneasy and anxious. “General, you should rest. Master Zhong instructed that you cannot stay up late.”

Chu Ling smiled. “This little while won’t make a difference, will it? How long can looking at a military map take?”

The guard was still in a dilemma when hurried footsteps came from outside the door, accompanied by an announcement: “Deputy General Zhong has returned.”

The guard was overjoyed to greet him. Though Chu Ling remained standing by the sand table without moving, joy and anticipation floated in his eyes.

Deputy General Zhong, covered in travel dust, stood in the hall removing his hat and scarf, revealing his chapped lips.

“Rest assured, General. The young miss has been escorted by Prince Zhongshan’s heir apparent to meet up with Young Master Ke,” he said.

Chu Ling handed him a cup of tea. Deputy General Zhong took it and drained it in one gulp, then his scarred face nearly contorted.

“Big Brother!” he shouted, sticking out his tongue. “Why did you make me drink medicine?”

He wasn’t afraid of mountains of knives or seas of fire, but he was terrified of taking medicine.

“It’s not medicine, it’s medicinal tea—a type of tea. You’ve been rushing about working hard, and cold qi has accumulated. Drinking medicinal tea will flush it out,” Chu Ling said with a smile, calling for a guard to bring more tea. “This second cup is just hot tea.”

Deputy General Zhong took the second cup, carefully sniffed it, and only after confirming there was no medicinal smell did he drain it in one gulp. After two cups of tea, sweat broke out all over him. He exhaled a breath of turbid air, and indeed his whole body felt unobstructed. He praised, “Big Brother is truly amazing.”

Chu Ling said, “Long illness makes one a doctor.”

Hearing this, Deputy General Zhong’s face fell, contorting even more unpleasantly. “Big Brother—”

After calling out, he took another deep breath. What use was sorrow? It only added to his troubles. Right now, doing things was more important. He told Chu Ling about Chu Zhao’s situation.

“She probably heard news of your illness, which is why she made such a fuss about coming back. I suspect someone deliberately tried to test the waters.”

The gentle expression on Chu Ling’s face dispersed, his eyes sharp. “Someone noticed this quickly?” His expression softened again. “How is Zhao’er? Was she frightened?”

Deputy General Zhong thought for a moment. “Zhao’er cried when she saw me—she seemed frightened. But the things she did were quite impressive. She deceived many people and didn’t seem afraid at all.”

Chu Ke’s letter had already described what Chu Zhao had done with embellishments. Chu Ling knew about it and couldn’t help but smile.

“I never realized she was so skilled at deceiving people,” he said, then sighed softly. “In the past when she was by my side, she was peaceful, happy, and carefree—there was no need to deceive people. Now without me by her side, facing difficulties and dangers with only herself to rely on, she has to expend such effort and thought. This shows she was still afraid.”

Deputy General Zhong took out a letter from inside his robe. “A letter from Zhao’er for you.”

Chu Ling reached out to take it and opened it. There weren’t many words written in the letter, just a few simple lines. He scanned them at a glance. The first few lines were all deep pleas to come back. Chu Ling’s eyes grew sore reading them, but when his gaze fell on the last line, his expression froze and he slapped the letter down on the table.

The slapping sound startled Deputy General Zhong.

“What’s wrong?” he asked nervously.

He naturally hadn’t read the letter Chu Zhao wrote to her father. He imagined it should be the girl tearfully describing how much she missed her father, or recounting being bullied in the capital to make her father feel sorry for her.

Why did Chu Ling look so angry?

“She’s asking about her mother,” Chu Ling said.

Deputy General Zhong’s expression also turned stern, then he frowned. “This is unavoidable. Not to mention the other people in the capital—even family members say unpleasant things. Big Brother, we’ve been guarding against this. That’s why from childhood we told Zhao’er that her mother was of lowly birth, that you two didn’t conform to propriety. After entering the capital and hearing those critical words, she shouldn’t be too troubled, right?”

Sadness was certain—after all, she was a young girl. Arriving at such a prosperous and wealthy place only to be pointed at and gossiped about.

Chu Ling’s expression was somewhat complex. He pressed his hand on the letter, about to say something, when a guard hurried in from outside. “General, we caught—er, there’s a person.”

Both Chu Ling and Deputy General Zhong looked at the guard. Which was it? Caught or there’s a person?

“We caught a soldier who came from the commandery city, but we immediately identified that the identity badge wasn’t his—” the guard said.

Before he could finish, Deputy General Zhong’s scarred face was full of cold intent. “Then just cut him down. Who cares which blind fool came looking for death.”

Recently there had been more and more spies, growing bolder and bolder. What did they think Luocheng was?!

The guard looked at Deputy General Zhong. “He says he knows Master Zhong—that he came to find you.”

Deputy General Zhong’s scar twitched. “Lots of people know this old master. Just cut him down anyway—”

The guard finished his sentence. “He says his name is A’Jiu.”

“—Ah, A’Jiu?” Deputy General Zhong’s tongue slipped and he nearly bit it. His face also froze.

It was actually that young man! What was he doing here? Could it be—

His gaze unconsciously shifted toward Chu Ling.

Chu Ling had been listening from the side. Seeing Deputy General Zhong’s reaction, he knew there must be a misunderstanding—it was indeed someone Deputy General Zhong knew. But suddenly Deputy General Zhong looked at him with a very strange expression.

“Since you know him, go see him then,” Chu Ling said, thinking Deputy General Zhong was asking for his permission.

Deputy General Zhong waved for the guard to leave first, hesitating to speak.

“What is it?” Chu Ling smiled. “Don’t tell me he’s someone of yours?”

Deputy General Zhong said, “This A’Jiu knows the young miss.”

Chu Ling was slightly startled, but with his quick mind immediately understood. “A postal soldier, right?” He smiled faintly. Learning that Chu Zhao was his daughter and coming to seek some benefits wasn’t strange. “Since he’s taken the initiative to visit, we don’t need to make a special trip to the commandery city to thank them.”

Deputy General Zhong considered his words carefully. “The young miss and this A’Jiu, well, have a very good relationship.”

Chu Ling understood. The smile at the corner of his mouth became shallow. “Is that so? How good?”

How good—Deputy General Zhong found it somewhat hard to say. What he had seen with his own eyes was that the young miss, who had originally been crying and making a fuss about returning to the border commandery, after calling for A’Jiu and speaking a few words with him, became quiet and stopped making trouble.

That was still acceptable. What was most crucial was what he’d heard.

Although the postal soldiers and Prince Zhongshan’s heir apparent had been quite reserved, the heir apparent’s guard, that fellow called Tie Ying, had very bluntly told him that at the riverside at that time, Miss Chu had gotten angry with this A’Jiu and jumped into the river. After their heir apparent rescued her, Miss Chu had even complained that the heir apparent was meddling.

“What business was he meddling in? Go ask Miss Chu yourself.”

That Tie Ying had finished with this sarcastic remark.

Deputy General Zhong was a man with a wife and son—how could he not understand the implication? He had nearly pulled that A’Jiu over right then and there, but reason told him to hold back.

However, on the road, this A’Jiu hadn’t come near him, and the postal soldier surnamed Zhang had subtly told him that A’Jiu and Miss Chu’s relationship wasn’t actually very good. A’Jiu had disagreed with bringing her along, and the two often argued. However, everyone’s intentions were good, and if there was any slight to Miss Chu, it was truly because they didn’t know her identity and because of the postal soldiers’ duties.

Thinking again about how Zhao’er had deceived a group of people to join up with these postal soldiers, Deputy General Zhong calmed down, feeling that the young miss’s attitude toward A’Jiu was only to follow the postal soldiers to the border commandery.

If that A’Jiu was sensible, he would understand the young miss’s intentions and wouldn’t have wild fantasies, and this matter would be over.

Who would have thought that this young man would actually run here in the middle of the night looking for General Chu? What did he want to do? Had he misunderstood?

Deputy General Zhong clenched his fists until they cracked. Then he’d better wake him up to reality.

Chu Ling smiled and gestured for Deputy General Zhong to calm down.

“Since that’s the case, I’ll meet him. Whatever needs to be said will become clear once we talk.”