Qiao Zhao sat upright at the desk, holding a medical book in her hands. Upon hearing footsteps, she didn’t turn around.

“Miss, General Shao has arrived,” A’Zhu said softly.

Shao Mingyuan stopped and stared intently at that slender figure, his gaze unwavering.

“You may all leave first. Close the door properly.”

Binglu cast a wary glance at Shao Mingyuan.

A’Zhu tugged at Binglu and said respectfully, “Yes.”

As the sound of the closing door rang out, Qiao Zhao put down her medical book and slowly turned around.

Shao Mingyuan’s gaze fell directly on the young woman’s slightly swollen lips.

Qiao Zhao endured it and pressed her lips together, saying calmly, “I believe General Shao probably needs to give me a reasonable explanation.”

After she finished speaking, she discovered that a certain someone was still staring straight at her, as if he hadn’t heard a single word she had just said.

Qiao Zhao couldn’t help but become angry.

Had this person been possessed by something evil since yesterday?

She took several steps forward, standing in front of Shao Mingyuan, her delicate eyebrows knitting together. “General Shao?”

Could it be that he really couldn’t find an excuse, so this scoundrel planned to give up completely and simply not explain at all?

A faint fragrance drifted over. Shao Mingyuan suddenly recalled countless nights of tossing and turning sleeplessly. His eyes darkened, his voice low and hoarse as he asked in return, “Explanation?”

The moment the man before her opened his mouth, Qiao Zhao instinctively sensed danger and couldn’t help but take half a step back.

But Shao Mingyuan pressed forward, lowering his head to look at the young woman who was so close at hand.

He was more than a head taller than her. Looking down from above, his presence was overwhelming.

Qiao Zhao was unwilling to show weakness. She raised her fair chin to meet his gaze and said coldly, “General Shao doesn’t intend to explain what happened last night?”

“I’ll explain.” The moment the man before her spoke, his entire demeanor softened. His gaze burned as he stared at Qiao Zhao. “I… I have no way to explain…”

When he knew she was his wife, his mind went completely blank. The moment he saw her, he acted on instinct. How could such an instinct be explained?

Noticing that the young woman’s gaze had grown even colder, the young general decided to speak honestly. “I knew you were Qiao Zhao, so I couldn’t help myself.”

“Couldn’t help yourself?” Qiao Zhao asked coldly with a sneer. “Is it appropriate for General Shao to act on impulse toward any young lady? Wait, what did you just say?”

She suddenly widened her eyes, utterly astonished.

Had she heard wrong? Who had Shao Mingyuan just said she was?

Shao Mingyuan reached out to embrace Qiao Zhao, his voice trembling. “I said, I know who you are now. You are my wife, Qiao Zhao. You always have been.”

Qiao Zhao was completely dumbfounded.

Held in his embrace, she could feel the amazing heat emanating from his solid chest. That scent unique to men surrounded her, making her thoughts freeze and her head feel dizzy as if she were drunk. Even her legs felt weak and soft.

“Zhaozhao, why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Shao Mingyuan lowered his head, his chin resting against the top of the young woman’s hair, repeating over and over, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

Qiao Zhao suddenly came to her senses and reached out to push Shao Mingyuan away, scolding, “Let go of me!”

Her strength was small, so naturally she couldn’t budge this mountain of a man. She could only pinch him hard at his waist and call out loudly, “Shao Mingyuan, I’m angry!”

Shao Mingyuan quickly loosened his grip and obediently stepped back, creating distance between them.

Qiao Zhao stared displeasedly at the emotionally excited man. After a long while, she asked weakly, “How did you find out?”

Although he had gotten the answer from Qiao Mo, only when he truly heard Qiao Zhao admit it did Shao Mingyuan finally feel at peace. He broke into a big smile. “My brother-in-law told me.”

Meeting Qiao Zhao’s suspicious gaze, Shao Mingyuan quickly pulled out a brocade pouch from his chest and handed it over, explaining excitedly, “The brocade pouch my brother-in-law gave me before leaving the capital.”

Only at this moment did he finally know what happiness tasted like.

Happiness was when what you thought was unattainable longing and what was already lost suddenly no longer existed at a certain moment, and happiness suddenly descended.

He, too, was someone favored by “happiness.”

The young general’s eyes became somewhat moist. To show such emotion in front of a young woman was undoubtedly embarrassing and awkward, but he didn’t avoid her gaze.

If he looked away, he would see her one less time, and he couldn’t bear that.

More importantly, compared to what he had suddenly gained, emotions like embarrassment were completely insignificant. Even being mocked by Zhaozhao would be good.

What could be better than her being alive?

Qiao Zhao took the brocade pouch, removed the plain note inside to read it, and sighed inwardly.

What on earth was Big Brother thinking? Wasn’t this just setting her up?

“Should we destroy this?” Qiao Zhao raised the plain note in her hand.

“I’ll listen to you.” Despite feeling extremely reluctant, Shao Mingyuan still nodded without hesitation.

He took the plain note, crumpled it up, and threw it out through the window facing the river, then turned to look at Qiao Zhao.

“General Shao—” Qiao Zhao began.

Qiao Zhao had always addressed him this way before, but hearing it at this moment, Shao Mingyuan found it grating.

“Zhaozhao, could you call me Tingquan?”

Qiao Zhao turned her head to pick up a teacup from the desk, took a sip of water, and regained her usual calm and composed appearance. She casually set down the teacup and said indifferently, “That wouldn’t be quite appropriate. What would others think if they heard?”

“Zhaozhao isn’t someone who cares what others think.”

He had long known how unconventional his Zhaozhao was. If she truly cared about what others thought, she wouldn’t have insisted on giving him acupuncture treatment to expel poison every day.

Qiao Zhao was speechless with anger.

She hadn’t noticed he was so thick-skinned before.

Could it be that he thought she was still his wife? No, she had to make things clear today and nip this dangerous notion in the bud.

“It’s that I find it inappropriate.”

“I see—” Shao Mingyuan’s eyes half-closed, his thick lashes trembling slightly, displaying a gentleness completely at odds with his temperament.

Qiao Zhao couldn’t help but twitch at the corner of her mouth.

The dignified Marquis Guanjun, the Northern Campaign General who could take an enemy commander’s head amid thousands of troops while laughing and talking—why was he acting so meek, as if she were cold and heartless?

The truly cold and heartless one was he.

On the walls of Yan City back then, he had shot that arrow without the slightest hesitation.

Yes, he had no choice but to do so at the time, and she understood clearly that because of his arrow, she had avoided an even more tragic fate.

She didn’t hate him or resent him, but that didn’t mean she was willing to return to her identity as his wife and someday return to that deep courtyard compound.

Thinking of this, Qiao Zhao’s heart grew even calmer.

So it was extremely necessary to clarify things early.

“General Shao, please sit.” Qiao Zhao turned around, poured a cup of tea, and handed it to Shao Mingyuan.

Shao Mingyuan accepted the teacup and sat down.

Qiao Zhao sat down in the chair on the other side and, after a moment of silence, began, “Since General Shao knows who I am, let’s talk.”

“What does Zhaozhao want to say?”

Qiao Zhao frowned.

The two words “Zhaozhao” coming from this person’s mouth were far too intimate.

“General Shao, my current identity is Li Zhao. I am no longer Qiao Zhao, so I hope that from now on we continue to maintain our distance. You cannot—”

“Cannot what?”

“Cannot be so hands-on like last night and today!”