Qiao Zhao seemed to sense something and looked up.

By the street-side window, a young man’s gaze was hazy, as if shrouded by a layer of moon gauze that concealed secrets, his cheeks flushed like fire, making his cold, jade-like face even more striking.

It was Shao Mingyuan.

Why was he here? West Main Street had always been where civil officials’ residences clustered.

Could it be that Grandfather Li had given him another difficult challenge?

Qiao Zhao gazed quietly at Shao Mingyuan and shook her head silently.

His cold poison had already gone deep, yet he was still drinking recklessly. Was he unaware of his physical condition, or did he simply not care?

If he was unaware, did Grandfather Li not plan to tell him?

If he knew but didn’t care, he was young with a bright future ahead—why would he be like this?

Qiao Zhao’s thoughts drifted somewhat far, floating back to those two years of marquis residence life she had never been very willing to recall.

To speak of it, from the time she married into the Marquis Jing’an’s residence, her food, clothing, and daily necessities were all of the finest quality. Her mother-in-law, the Marquis Jing’an’s wife, had even voluntarily exempted her from daily morning greetings. Throughout the entire residence, everyone treated her with courtesy and respect.

Yet during those two years, she had always felt out of place in the Marquis’ residence, as if she weren’t the second young mistress of the Marquis Jing’an residence, but rather a canary kept in a cage.

She had once thought that perhaps it was because Shao Mingyuan wasn’t in the capital, and she, as a new bride—moreover, a new bride who hadn’t spent even a day with her new husband—would naturally be expected by her mother-in-law to behave properly to avoid gossip.

But gradually, she sensed something amiss.

Her mother-in-law, the Marquis Jing’an’s wife, seemed to have little concern for her second son, who was fighting for his life in the Northern Territories. This was especially noticeable during New Year and Mid-Autumn reunion banquets—or rather, she felt it especially keenly, while everyone else in the residence seemed accustomed to it.

Only her father-in-law, the Marquis Jing’an, frequently mentioned his second son, urging his wife to regularly send shoes, socks, clothes, and other items to the Northern Territories through intermediaries. Though the marquis’s wife would agree, the coldness in her eyes couldn’t be hidden.

She couldn’t help wondering: would even blood relatives grow distant due to years of separation?

She and her parents were often apart. Thinking carefully, her mother’s relationship with her elder brother was indeed deeper, and even the natural intimacy she unconsciously showed when interacting with her concubine-born sister was greater than when she dealt with her.

Perhaps distance truly was a frightening thing.

Later, when her mother-in-law proposed sending her to the Northern Territories and brought the emperor’s oral decree, she naturally couldn’t refuse. At that time, thinking of leaving the cage-like marquis residence, she had even felt some anticipation.

The Northern Expedition Army had been campaigning in the Northern Territories for years. Most wives of high-ranking generals followed the army, and they would put down roots in the vast Northern Territories like locals, even passing down their heritage there.

She hadn’t thought too far into the future, but one thing was clear: since her late grandfather had arranged this marriage for her, he must have expected her and Shao Mingyuan to treat each other with mutual respect and share joys and sorrows.

So she was willing to give it a try.

“What are you looking at?” Another person appeared at the window.

Under the bright sunlight, that person was so handsome it was dazzling. Qiao Zhao was slightly stunned and couldn’t help but squint.

What a coincidence. Was it too late to lower the carriage curtain now?

It was too late. Chi Can, seeing the person outside the window clearly, made a move that surprised everyone, including himself.

He reached out to pull Shao Mingyuan back, then slammed the window shut with a bang.

Miss Qiao: “…” She might have appeared at the wrong moment!

Toward his good friend, Shao Mingyuan had no defenses, allowing Chi Can to grab his arm. The rising wine-induced haze subsided, and his star-cold eyes regained clarity.

He silently looked at his close friend and raised his eyebrows questioningly.

Yang Houcheng was more direct: “What’s wrong?”

As he spoke, he stood up and walked to the window, reaching to push it open: “Did you see a ghost?”

“Yang Er, take your paws away!” Chi Can shouted coldly, then felt inexplicably guilty after shouting.

He must have drunk too much—why had his hands moved so quickly just now? So what if that girl was outside?

Unfortunately, Yang Houcheng had also drunk quite a bit by this time. With alcohol coursing through him, he wouldn’t be intimidated by his companion’s threats. Curiosity drove him to push the window open and stick most of his head out.

“There’s nothing here, no one at all.” Yang Houcheng looked around in confusion, only seeing a horse carriage parked quietly not far away.

Just then, a little maid in a pale green jacket came running lightly toward the carriage carrying a wine jar. Yang Houcheng exclaimed, “Oh!” and turned back with an excited expression: “It’s Miss Li!”

Seeing that all three friends remained silent, staring at him quietly, Yang Houcheng looked baffled: “Why are you all looking at me? It’s Miss Li! I’ll call her up!”

Without regard for his three friends’ expressions, he turned to wave his hand, about to call out, when someone pulled him from behind.

“Zizhe, why are you pulling me?”

The little maid jumped into the carriage, and it slowly began to move.

Yang Houcheng grew anxious: “The carriage is leaving!”

Zhu Yàn’s voice was rather helpless: “Chongshan, in broad daylight, shouting and calling out to a young lady like that isn’t quite proper.”

Watching that small azure-curtained carriage gradually disappear, Yang Houcheng pouted in dissatisfaction: “What kind of talk is that? If you can’t call out in broad daylight, does that mean you can call out on a dark and windy night?”

“That’s not what I meant—” Zhu Yàn rubbed his nose.

“We already know her, so what’s wrong with saying hello? When did you all become so old-fashioned?” Yang Houcheng glanced sideways at Chi Can. “And Shixi, was it necessary to close the window? How sad Miss Li must feel seeing that.”

After drinking, Yang Houcheng was particularly talkative. In a moment, his attention fell on the silent Shao Mingyuan, and he muttered: “Among us, only Tingquan doesn’t know Miss Li, but what’s there about our affairs that Tingquan can’t know?”

Chi Can listened with a dark expression.

That cabbage would feel sad? Don’t be ridiculous—he had seen that heartless girl gazing lovingly at Shao Mingyuan just now! Only someone as naive as Yang Er wouldn’t know that among them, only Shao Mingyuan had eaten the barbecued venison that girl had made.

Hmph, if he hadn’t closed the window, that girl—

Chi Can’s heart tightened, and he sneered inwardly.

He had drunk too much. What did it matter to him how that girl was?

“What should I know?” Shao Mingyuan asked, holding his wine cup.

His three good friends seemed quite different when it came to Miss Li.

Chi Can was annoyed at his earlier moment of madness and pursed his lips, saying nothing.

Fearing Yang Houcheng would speak carelessly, Zhu Yàn quickly said: “She’s someone we three met while visiting the temple fair that day—”

Meeting Shao Mingyuan’s calm, clear gaze, Zhu Yàn suddenly couldn’t continue his words. He smiled apologetically: “Actually, we met her on our way south. We didn’t intentionally hide it from you—we were afraid it would damage Miss Li’s reputation if word got out…”

Zhu Yàn recounted how the three of them had come to know Qiao Zhao.

Shao Mingyuan listened silently.

So that was it. He had wondered—given his understanding of his three good friends, without some special circumstance, how would they treat a young lady with such regard?

After listening to Zhu Yàn’s account, Shao Mingyuan glanced at Chi Can thoughtfully.