All around her were waves of discussion.

“Look, who is that person? How frightening, like a ghost!”

“That person must be the disfigured Young Master Qiao.”

“Young Master Qiao? Tsk tsk, is that the Qiao family’s Jade Young Master who was once compared to Chi Bianshu of the Eldest Princess’s residence?”

“That’s him!”

“Sigh, since Young Master Qiao is disfigured, why doesn’t he cover it up?”

“Who knows? Tsk tsk, he looks terrifying.”

Those discussions were unbearably noisy, like countless flies buzzing around her ears.

Qiao Zhao felt dizzy but straightened her spine and lowered her hands.

Her brother was indeed disfigured, but he had done nothing shameful. Those with filthy minds who had committed countless evil deeds weren’t afraid to show their faces—why should her brother be afraid?

Neither she nor her brother would ever engage in skulking behavior!

Qiao Zhao stared fixedly at Qiao Mo, her steps moving with his progress.

“Hey, you little lady, why don’t you watch where you’re going?”

A young man with wandering eyes reached out to pinch Qiao Zhao’s wrist.

Binglu was shocked and shouted sternly: “Let go of my Miss!”

The little maid kicked out toward the young man’s lower body.

Then, the young man’s agonized scream shot to the heavens as he curled up and rolled into the middle of the road, even causing the funeral music to pause briefly.

Shao Mingyuan’s steps faltered. From his instincts honed through years of battle, he immediately looked toward the source of the disturbance. With this glance, he met a pair of tear-filled eyes.

He couldn’t help but be stunned.

Miss Li seemed to appear frequently lately.

People from the residence quickly came forward to drag away the unfortunate young man. The funeral music resumed, and the procession continued moving forward.

In that moment, Qiao Zhao didn’t notice Shao Mingyuan’s glance but kept staring at Qiao Mo. Her heart held nervousness and anticipation, but Qiao Mo never turned his head.

Qiao Zhao suddenly felt very wronged, tears streaming down.

Shao Mingyuan awkwardly withdrew his gaze.

Jiang Yuanchao, who had been quietly following the procession, flickered his eyes thoughtfully.

That little girl had also come to watch the excitement?

Why was she crying?

Her gaze was—

Jiang Yuanchao turned his head to look at the procession.

She wasn’t looking at the Marquis Guanjun. She was looking at—

Following the direction of Qiao Zhao’s gaze, Jiang Yuanchao concluded: she was looking at Qiao Mo!

A daughter of a mere Hanlin Academy compiler, staring fixedly at the disfigured Young Master Qiao?

Jiang Yuanchao sensed something was amiss, but on a day like today, he had no mood to investigate thoroughly. He merely curved his lips coldly and withdrew his gaze.

In the funeral procession, Yang Houcheng leaned close to Chi Can’s ear and whispered: “I think I just saw Miss Li in the crowd.”

“Really?” Chi Can couldn’t help but glance at both sides.

“Over there, over there, look quickly—Miss Li is following us.” Yang Houcheng quietly pointed out to Chi Can and Zhu Yàn.

He was stunned first: “Miss Li is crying.”

Chi Can suddenly looked over.

The roadside was packed with people watching the excitement, most following the procession’s movement. The young lady at the very front was like a small boat in a sea of people, drifting with the current.

She was dressed too plainly, just like this long procession.

Chi Can felt inexplicably displeased, his handsome brows furrowing.

What was wrong with her? Why was she crying for no reason? Given her personality, she didn’t seem like someone who would follow a funeral procession around just to watch the excitement.

Moreover, she was at least a lady from a good family—what did this behavior look like? Wasn’t she afraid of being kidnapped by traffickers again? Or taken advantage of by random ruffians?

Chi Can pressed his vermilion lips tight and stubbornly looked away, but within moments, he couldn’t help looking back. After repeating this several times, he finally confirmed that Qiao Zhao was indeed following them.

The funeral procession gradually reached the city gate. Because they had to exit through the gate, the speed slowed down, like a silver-white giant dragon lying there motionless.

Chi Can whispered to Zhu Yàn and Yang Houcheng: “I’m going over there.”

“Shixi—” Zhu Yàn couldn’t help calling out.

Chi Can turned back.

“I don’t think Miss Li is following us.”

Hearing this, Chi Can became even more displeased and sneered: “I’ll go ask!”

He left his two friends and walked out of the procession to stand before Qiao Zhao.

With so many people watching the excitement, they almost merged with the funeral procession. People constantly squeezed past in front of Qiao Zhao, so when someone blocked her view, Miss Qiao, who was focused on staring at her brother, naturally shifted aside.

Chi Can: “…” So this dead girl didn’t even notice him?

“Miss—” Binglu and A’Zhu, one excited and one composed, simultaneously tugged at her clothes to remind her.

Qiao Zhao came back to her senses. Having cried, her gentle voice carried a slight hoarseness: “Brother Chi? What are you doing here?”

“If I said I’ve been here all along, would you believe me?” the black-faced Young Master Chi asked with forced patience.

Qiao Zhao fell silent.

She hadn’t noticed.

This feeling of being completely ignored was Young Master Chi’s first experience. He raised his eyebrows and asked: “What are you doing here watching this kind of excitement?”

“I came out to buy things and happened to encounter this. Isn’t watching exciting human nature? Isn’t Brother Chi the same?”

Chi Can: “…”

Suppressing the urge to kick the stinky girl in front of him away, Young Master Chi gritted his teeth: “Of course it’s not the same—I’m part of the funeral procession!”

Qiao Zhao was dumbfounded.

She had been careless. Indeed, words shouldn’t be spoken carelessly.

“So who are you looking at?” Chi Can turned to glance at the long procession, his eyes growing cold. “The Marquis Guanjun?”

He sneered and whispered, “Li San, I advise you to give up this idea. From my understanding of Shao Mingyuan, he won’t accept remarriage in the short term. You probably don’t know yet—he specifically requested a year’s leave from the Emperor to mourn his deceased wife!”

Having seen her disfigured brother, Qiao Zhao felt heartbroken and upset, her emotions already unstable. Hearing Chi Can say this, she completely lost her good temper and said flatly: “How the Marquis Guanjun conducts himself is none of my business, and who I look at seems to be none of Brother Chi’s business either.”

“Fine, I was being a busybody. Then keep following. When you get lost again, hopefully there will still be busybodies to rescue you!” Chi Can threw down these words and left with a flourish of his sleeves.

Qiao Zhao pressed her lips together.

She seemed to have lost her composure somewhat, but at this moment, she had no mood to coax Young Master Chi’s difficult temperament.

Chi Can returned to the procession with storm clouds on his face.

“What happened?” Zhu Yàn asked.

Chi Can sneered: “Consider me a meddling fool! Listen well—in the future, even if that girl gets carried off by wolves, if I so much as blink, I won’t be surnamed Chi!”

“Then what surname would you take?” Yang Houcheng asked instinctively.

Zhu Yàn patted Chi Can’s hand, full of perfunctory comfort: “Alright, alright, don’t get angry on such an occasion. In the future, we’ll cut ties with Miss Li completely. Will that work?”

Chi Can’s belly full of anger suddenly deflated.

What exactly did these two bastards mean?

The procession moved slowly forward. Qiao Zhao withdrew her gaze from Chi Can’s trio and looked at Qiao Mo again.

Whether by heaven’s mercy or pure coincidence, Qiao Mo finally glanced unconsciously in this direction.

The moment she met her brother’s gaze, Qiao Zhao froze in place, tears falling silently.

Then someone reached out and pulled her into the crowd.