Upon returning to the Gao mansion, Xiao Yongjia instructed A’Ju to pack Luoshen’s belongings.

Luoshen went to find her and saw her mother directing servants to pack her own things.

Her demeanor appeared much calmer than before leaving home.

“A’Niang?”

Seeing her daughter arrive, Xiao Yongjia smiled and consoled her gently: “Don’t worry. No one can force you to marry anymore. Come with A’Niang to Bailu Zhou first.”

Luoshen was stunned, then immediately understood.

Mother must have received some promise from A’Jiu—this was to delay the marriage for now.

She hesitated: “What about A’Ye? If we leave, what will happen to A’Ye?”

Hearing her daughter still thinking of her father at this time, Xiao Yongjia’s anger flared again as she said resentfully: “Why still worry about him? If not for him, would we have fallen to such a state?”

She snorted coldly: “Your A’Ye did publicly agree to this marriage, but he didn’t say when he would marry you off! Come with A’Niang first. Once there, A’Niang will think of other methods. There must be a way. I refuse to believe we can’t handle one northern military man!”

Learning she didn’t have to marry immediately, Luoshen finally felt somewhat at ease. But thinking of the current chaotic situation, her heart remained in turmoil, and she couldn’t bear to just abandon her father and leave. After hesitating, she turned around and saw that her father had somehow arrived, standing silently outside the door with a dejected expression, his gaze toward her and her mother full of guilt.

“A’Ye!”

She called out.

Gao Qiao was still thinking about the mother-daughter conversation he’d just overheard.

Even in such circumstances, his daughter still couldn’t forget him.

His heart ached even more.

“A’Mi, it’s all A’Ye’s fault. Speaking carelessly before, and today putting you in such a situation. Since your mother obtained a reprieve from His Majesty, go with her to Bailu Zhou first and stay there for a while. A’Ye will be fine. Don’t worry. In a few days, A’Ye will come see you.”

“A’Ye, daughter doesn’t blame you!”

Luoshen’s heart ached, and she couldn’t help but throw herself into his arms like when she was small.

After their daughter had gradually grown up, she was no longer as affectionate with him as in childhood.

But at this moment, she seemed to have become that little girl again who sought his embrace when sad.

Gao Qiao’s eyes grew warm. Looking up, he saw Xiao Yongjia standing to the side watching coldly with a mocking sneer at the corner of her lips. Suppressing his chaotic emotions, he gently patted his daughter’s back and said softly: “Go out for a moment. I need to speak with your A’Niang.”

Luoshen nodded, still somewhat worried, looking back repeatedly as she left.

Gao Qiao closed the door and walked toward Xiao Yongjia, stopping in front of her.

A distance separated the two of them.

Xiao Yongjia remained standing as before, staring at him coldly.

“A’Ling, I’m sorry to you and A’Mi…”

After a moment of silence, Gao Qiao spoke.

“You still know you’re sorry to A’Mi?”

Xiao Yongjia angrily interrupted him.

“Our daughter already has someone she cares for! She was about to discuss marriage! But because of your mistake, she’s forced to marry a northern military man of low character! Gao Qiao, if only you had left yourself some room when speaking originally, our daughter wouldn’t have fallen into such a situation!”

Gao Qiao remained silent.

Xiao Yongjia’s emotions seemed to be stirred up as she paced back and forth in front of him.

“I truly regret this! How could I believe you could resolve this matter! If I had known, I wouldn’t have relied on you—I would have found a solution myself! Now things have reached this point with no way out, I really…”

Her extreme anger turned to sorrow, her voice suddenly choking as tears rolled down from her eyes.

Gao Qiao was stunned.

Though they had been married for many years, most days the couple was not harmonious.

In Gao Qiao’s memory, even when the couple quarreled, regardless of who was right or wrong, she always maintained a superior attitude. When had she ever shed a single tear in front of him?

Today in just half a day, first she must have cried at the emperor’s place, and now before him she was again heartbroken to this extent.

Gao Qiao gazed at her tear-stained face, and slowly, a long-forgotten indescribable emotion arose in his heart, as if something was stirring within.

“A’Ling—”

He softly called his wife’s pet name, raised his arm, grasped her shoulders, and gently drew her into his embrace.

Xiao Yongjia bit her teeth tightly and initially struggled desperately, the teardrop-shaped jade earrings at her earlobes swaying constantly with her movements.

Not only did Gao Qiao not release her, he tightened his arms and held his wife even closer.

After struggling for a moment, Xiao Yongjia seemed to lose strength, her body gradually softening. Finally she closed her eyes and leaned against his chest, her cheek pressed against his heart, motionless except for tears continuously falling.

Gao Qiao’s heart was thrown into chaos by his weeping wife. Not knowing how to comfort her, after hesitating, he could only raise his arm and gently pat her back as he had just comforted their daughter.

Xiao Yongjia leaned against his chest, silently crying for a moment. Her emotions seemed to gradually calm down. She opened her eyes, pushed Gao Qiao away forcefully, then turned around, pulled out a handkerchief, and lowered her head to wipe the tears from her face.

Gao Qiao gazed at her back, feeling a faint sense of loss in his heart.

After wiping her tears and sniffling, Xiao Yongjia turned around.

“Gao Qiao, listen to me carefully. I don’t care what you’ve said to the world, and I don’t care about any larger picture. That Li Mu was clearly sent by Xu Mi—the two of them are in cahoots, deliberately ruining A’Mi and Jianzhi’s marriage and driving a wedge between us and the Lu family so the Xu family can profit! Even setting aside his background, he’s a person of low character. If A’Mi truly marries such a person, her life will be ruined! His Majesty has already promised not to force the marriage. I’ll think of a solution sooner or later! If you dare force my daughter to marry for the sake of your reputation, I’m capable of anything! You know this!”

Gao Qiao pondered silently.

“Why aren’t you speaking? Gone mute?”

“A’Ling, I have something to tell you.”

Gao Qiao’s expression became serious.

“The Xu family and our Gao family have indeed always been in conflict. The cause of this incident was also my promise to Li Mu that day. Because he saved Sixth Young Master, I was extremely grateful and made that public statement. Looking back now, it was indeed as you said—I was too careless at the time.”

“What Li Mu wanted was precisely that statement from me.”

Gao Qiao frowned slightly.

“I had people investigate Li Mu’s general experiences after crossing the river at age ten. His widowed mother, Lu Shi, still lives in Jingkou. She’s kind to others and an honest woman. Jingkou is where northern refugees gather, with fierce local customs. Due to his father and grandfather’s former reputation, plus his frequent help to others in Jingkou in recent years, he has considerable prestige among the local people—almost everyone knows his name when mentioned. There he also formed close brotherly bonds forged through life and death. In his previous military career, besides rapid promotion due to notable military achievements, his closest relationship was with Yang Xuan. I investigated and found that although Li Mu was the youngest Deputy Commander in Xu Mi’s military headquarters, before this incident, Xu Mi showed him no special favor. I carefully questioned Yang Xuan. On the day of rewarding the troops, he was the first to learn that Li Mu intended to seek marriage with our Gao family. After learning this, thinking it improper, he advised Li Mu to abandon this idea. But Li Mu stubbornly refused. He had no choice but to seek out Xu Mi and inform him of this matter.”

“According to Yang Xuan, Xu Mi was initially very angry, calling Li Mu disloyal and accusing him of wanting to switch allegiance to our Gao family. But soon he changed his mind and ordered him to immediately propose marriage to me. Then as you know, Xu Mi continued instigating throughout, until things became uncontrollable and reached today’s situation.”

Gao Qiao fell into deep thought.

Xiao Yongjia was somewhat surprised, looking at her husband and waiting for him to continue.

Gao Qiao paced around the room for a moment, then stopped.

“A’Ling, if what Yang Xuan said is true, then clearly Li Mu’s marriage proposal wasn’t as you thought—instigated by Xu Mi. If my suspicions are correct, it’s more like Li Mu used the conflict between Xu Mi and our Gao and Lu families to achieve his seemingly impossible goal of proposing marriage step by step.”

Xiao Yongjia was astonished.

“Why would he scheme so deliberately to become our Gao family’s son-in-law? Could he be trying to curry favor with you?”

Gao Qiao slowly shook his head.

“It doesn’t seem like it! Even if he was dissatisfied with Xu Mi and wanted to rely on me, with his prior favor to our Gao family, he wouldn’t need to thoroughly offend both you and me to seek advancement. Based on his actions, he’s definitely not such a foolish person.”

“Then why exactly is he acting this way?”

Xiao Yongjia was completely confused.

Gao Qiao sighed: “To say he’s infatuated with A’Mi to the point where he’ll marry no one else is even more absurd. So these days, I’ve been puzzled. But this person’s schemes run deep—he’s far from as simple as he appears on the surface. This much is certain.”

Xiao Yongjia frowned tightly, rubbing her aching temples: “Forget it! Whatever this Li Mu is planning, he can forget about having designs on my daughter!”

Gao Qiao said: “In today’s examination, originally by my thinking, Jianzhi would surely win. If he had won, this matter would have been over. But such an unexpected result—Heaven truly plays tricks on people.”

He shook his head and looked at his wife: “I know you love A’Mi dearly. Since you obtained a reprieve from His Majesty, take A’Mi to Bailu Zhou to avoid things for a few days. I’ll think more about whether there’s still room to turn things around. Or at least, I must understand Li Mu’s intentions in seeking marriage. Otherwise, how could I feel at ease marrying off our daughter?”

The gaze he directed at his wife gradually revealed a gentle expression.

“It’s getting late today—we’ve been exhausted all day. You and A’Mi must both be tired. There’s no rush to go there immediately. Stay home tonight. Tomorrow I’ll personally escort you there.”

Xiao Yongjia could hardly remember when her husband had last spoken to her so tenderly.

Suddenly hearing him speak to her in such a tone, it was as if a gentle warm current silently welled up from the depths of her heart, slowly spreading throughout every part of her body.

She stared at him blankly, speechless.

Gao Qiao glanced at the half-packed belongings in the room, coughed slightly, and asked tentatively: “So shall we do that? Should I call A’Ju?”

He looked at his wife, saw she made no sound, hesitated, and finally turned to leave.

Xiao Yongjia watched Gao Qiao’s departing figure, her feet shifting slightly. She took half a step forward but then stopped.

She bit her lip, her expression showing a faint disappointment.