At the entrance of Xingzi Alley on West Main Street, a carriage with azure curtains stopped.

A young man dressed as a personal attendant walked quickly to the main gate bearing the plaque “Li Residence” and knocked on the beast-shaped bronze ring on the door.

Soon, a gatekeeper came out, his gaze quickly scanning the young man from head to toe before politely asking: “What business do you have?”

All gatekeepers had sharp eyes. Though the young man before him was dressed as a servant, his bearing was stronger than many young masters he had seen, indicating that the person in the carriage was certainly extraordinary.

The young man replied neither humbly nor arrogantly in a clear voice: “Our master is escorting your residence’s Third Miss home.”

“Third Miss?” The gatekeeper was startled and instinctively asked, “Which Third Miss?”

The young man was equally startled: “Isn’t this the Li Residence?”

“It is the Li Residence.”

“Hasn’t your residence’s Third Miss gone missing?”

The gatekeeper seemed frozen by a spell. After a long moment, he suddenly jumped up: “Ah, wait a moment!”

He slammed the door shut with a bang and rushed inside like the wind, shouting as he ran: “Third Miss has returned!”

The news spread like wildfire throughout the Li Residence.

In Qingsong Hall, Old Madam Deng was shocked: “Third Girl has returned?”

Her face darkened as she asked the person who came to report: “Where is she?”

The woman who came to deliver the news hesitated: “Still at the main gate… the gatekeeper said she was brought back by a gentleman…”

“Gentleman?” Old Madam Deng’s face changed dramatically as she stood up abruptly. “Then why haven’t you let them in! Standing outside making a spectacle!”

The Third Girl was brought back by a man. In the future—

Old Madam Deng’s chest heaved with turbulent emotions. She took a deep breath to maintain her composure and ordered, “Quickly go to the Hanlin Academy and call the master back!”

The Li Residence was thrown into chaos. The gatekeeper, having received instructions, opened the side door: “Please come in.”

The azure-curtained carriage remained still.

The gatekeeper looked puzzled.

The young attendant who had been consulting beside the carriage walked over, cleared his throat, and said: “My master says, please have your residence’s master come to receive the person.”

“Brother, you’re not joking, are you? Our master has gone to the office. Furthermore, even if the master were at the residence, how could there be any reason for him to come to the gate to receive someone? Please have your master come in with me.”

The young attendant gave a cold laugh: “Your residence is a scholarly family. My master traveled a thousand li to escort your residence’s young lady home—is this your residence’s way of treating guests?”

The gatekeeper rolled his eyes and muttered quietly: “Who knows if you’re here to swindle money?”

Furthermore, the Third Miss had been missing for many days. Whether the masters even wanted her back was questionable, and Third Miss herself was someone even cats and dogs disliked…

As he thought this, his scalp suddenly tingled as he saw the young attendant’s cold expression, his gaze seeming able to pierce right through a person.

The gatekeeper’s legs went weak as he hurried to say: “I’ll go report again.”

“The visitor said this?” Old Madam Deng, who was waiting in the guest hall, had a stern expression that revealed neither joy nor anger. She stood up and said, “Go to the main gate.”

It wasn’t that she looked down on people. Regardless of what Third Girl was like, since someone had brought her back, proper gratitude would not be lacking. She had originally intended to have the visitor enter the residence quietly to avoid attracting the attention of neighbors, otherwise, if news spread that Third Girl was brought back by a man, her reputation would be even more tarnished.

What did the other party mean by making such a public display?

Old Madam Deng hurried outside, and just as she reached the entrance, she ran into a woman head-on.

The woman appeared to be twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old, wearing a bean-green brocade jacket and a light coffee-colored pleated skirt, showing off her graceful figure and beautiful appearance.

“Old Madam, has my Zhaozhao returned?” The woman had rushed over, breathing rapidly, her face covered in tears as she grabbed Old Madam Deng’s sleeve and wouldn’t let go.

Old Madam Deng’s gaze darkly swept over the hand clutching her sleeve.

Vulgar!

The old lady calmly withdrew her hand: “He Shi, don’t be anxious. The Third Girl is just outside the main gate. Come with me—”

Before she could finish speaking, He Shi had already run off like the wind.

Old Madam Deng’s mouth twitched as she mentally added the word “rude.”

He Shi lifted her skirt and ran to the main gate in one breath, not caring that the servants she encountered along the way stared at her. As soon as she steadied herself, she asked: “Where is the young lady?”

Noticing neighbors hiding nearby to watch the excitement, the gatekeeper wiped his cold sweat and said quietly: “Third Miss is in the carriage. Madam, you—”

He Shi went around the blocking gatekeeper and rushed to the carriage.

“Madam, please stop!” Two guards stepped forward, blocking He Shi from approaching the carriage.

The two guards had ordinary faces, but the murderous aura in their eyes could force people back three zhang.

He Shi was greatly alarmed: “Who are you? Didn’t you say you brought my daughter back? Hiss—could you be bandits who’ve come to the door demanding ransom?”

The gatekeeper held his forehead.

In the carriage, Physician Li asked Qiao Zhao with a complex expression: “Is that your mother?”

He was putting on airs trying to give the little girl face, to announce to the world that the young lady was brought back by the white-bearded divine physician, but this mother was actually shouting about bandits coming for ransom?

Was she afraid Third Miss’s reputation was too good?

Qiao Zhao nodded calmly: “She’s my birth mother, no mistake.”

In young Miss Li Zhao’s memories, she had always disdained this mother of humble origins, believing her mother’s background caused her to be looked down upon, and had always been cold and distant toward her birth mother. From an observer’s perspective, Qiao Zhao could see that He Shi truly loved her daughter, it was just… her intellect was somewhat worrying.

Qiao Zhao couldn’t help but think of her mother.

Her mother was a true noble lady from a great family. In childhood, what she felt most from her mother was strictness, with only occasional displays of tenderness. After she went to live permanently with her grandparents, it became even more distant.

“Mother, I’m here.” Physician Li was blocking Qiao Zhao from lifting the curtain, so she spoke from inside the carriage.

He Shi was startled and choked up: “Zhaozhao, my Zhaozhao—”

She could no longer care about the cold aura emanating from the guards and reached to lift the carriage curtain.

Hearing this, Qiao Zhao sighed quietly in her heart.

Her mother had never called “my Zhaozhao” like He Shi did.

“He Shi, come here!” An old woman’s voice reached inside the carriage. “This old body heard that a gentleman escorted my granddaughter home. I am extremely grateful. Please, sir, enter the residence for a chat.”

The surroundings quieted, and even the neighbors craned their necks and stood on tiptoe to stare at that azure-curtained carriage.

A young attendant stepped forward to lift the carriage curtain, and an elderly man emerged from within.

The elder appeared to be sixty or seventy years old with completely white hair and beard, but his legs and feet were quite agile. After getting down from the carriage, he looked at Old Madam Deng with an appraising gaze.

The moment she saw the elder’s appearance clearly, Old Madam Deng breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Excellent! This gentleman was old enough—old enough to shut the neighbors’ mouths!

Soon another figure flashed, and a fourteen or fifteen-year-old maid in pink jumped out of the carriage. She curtsied to Old Madam Deng neither humbly nor arrogantly: “This servant A’Zhu pays respects to Old Madam and Madam.”

After A’Zhu finished her courtesy, she turned and extended her hand: “Miss, please exit the carriage.”