Qiao Mo felt that in just the blink of an eye, the girl who radiated a pure and serene aura, who suddenly reminded him of his elder sister, had vanished.

He couldn’t help but step forward, only to have someone grab the corner of his clothes.

“Big Brother—” Qiao Wan looked up with tear-reddened eyes.

Qiao Mo bent down, his tone gentle: “Are you tired? Come, Big Brother will carry you.”

Qiao Wan dodged away: “I don’t want to be carried. Big Brother, I can walk by myself.”

The little girl raised her hand to wipe her eyes, her voice soft and pitiful: “Big Brother, when we went to the marquis’ residence this morning, why wouldn’t you let me see Sister? I want to see Sister.”

Qiao Mo took his younger sister’s hand, his voice tender: “Would Wanwan forget Sister then?”

“No, I wouldn’t.” The little girl shook her head like a rattling drum.

Qiao Mo gently stroked her head: “Then that’s it. Sister loves beauty just like Wanwan, and she doesn’t look good right now, so she doesn’t want us to see her. We just need to keep Sister’s image in our hearts.”

“But I think I just saw Sister—”

“What did you say?” Qiao Mo’s gaze sharpened.

Shao Mingyuan suddenly turned around.

The little girl looked up with tears brimming in her lashes: “I saw Sister crying.”

Qiao Mo glanced at Shao Mingyuan from afar, then withdrew his gaze and said softly: “Wanwan saw wrong.”

Qiao Wan sadly lowered her head, and after a long while whispered: “I just feel that Sister is such a capable person, how could she die so easily? I don’t believe it.”

So many people who weren’t as good as Sister were living well.

That’s why she wanted to take a look, but Big Brother wouldn’t allow it.

Shao Mingyuan’s gaze turned toward the crowd.

So that day at the window of Chunfeng Tavern, when he saw Miss Li, it wasn’t a hallucination caused by drunkenness, but rather, Miss Li truly had similarities to his wife.

The crowd surged, and the girl’s figure disappeared.

Shao Mingyuan calmly withdrew his gaze.

Whether similar or not, it wasn’t really important. No matter how similar, she wasn’t the person he had wronged.

In the crowd, Binglu, who was on high alert, forgot to react upon seeing the person who had grabbed her young lady.

“Grandpa Li?” Qiao Zhao was somewhat surprised.

Physician Li stroked his beard and asked: “Girl Zhao, what are you doing here?”

“I… came to watch the excitement.”

“What’s so interesting about this kind of excitement?” Physician Li raised his hand and tapped Qiao Zhao’s forehead, touching her tear-stained eyes, looking thoughtful.

Girl Zhao had been crying?

“You watched the excitement until you made yourself cry?”

Qiao Zhao blinked.

Was it so strange that she cried? She was also a girl, after all. Even before, it wasn’t as if she had never cried. Today, one after another, everyone was asking about it.

However, the consecutive appearances of Chi Can and Physician Li dispelled Qiao Zhao’s sad mood from meeting her brother face-to-face without recognition, allowing her to regain her composure.

“I was watching the Qiao family’s Yulang. Seeing that his face was disfigured, I felt very sad and cried.”

Physician Li opened his mouth, looked around, pulled Qiao Zhao behind the crowd, and said earnestly: “Girl Zhao, although Grandpa doesn’t understand much, I feel that girls your age should be more reserved. Crying over a man – how can you just say such things?”

Miss Qiao lowered her eyes: “Mm, then I won’t say it anymore.”

Physician Li nodded with satisfaction.

That’s right. Whether it’s some Yulang or a precious tree, being good-looking, can you eat it or drink it? Worrying about unrelated men, that’s what foolish girls do.

Thinking this way, he heard his adopted granddaughter’s voice, soft and gentle: “Then can Grandpa Li cure the Qiao family’s Yulang’s face?”

She hadn’t expected Big Brother’s facial injuries to be so severe. With her abilities, it would be difficult to heal Big Brother’s burns.

Physician Li: “…” So everything he’d just said was for nothing!

The young girl looked up, gazing at Physician Li with hopeful eyes.

Physician Li suddenly couldn’t bring himself to speak his words of admonishment. He stroked his beard and said irritably, “How is it that one after another, everyone is asking this old man to treat that Qiao family Yulang’s face?”

Although even if no one came to ask, he had planned to treat Qiao Mo anyway, the people who came to ask surprised him more each time.

“Who else asked?” Qiao Zhao was startled upon hearing this.

Could it be that the maternal family had sent someone to request Grandpa Li?

Yes, if it weren’t for this, given Grandpa Li’s eccentric nature, it would be impossible for him to appear here.

Upon hearing this, Physician Li stretched out his hand and pointed into the distance: “Look, it’s that young man carrying the banner!”

Qiao Zhao looked in that direction, her expression particularly complex.

Shao Mingyuan?

So he had a request for Grandpa Li, not to dispel his cold poison, but for Big Brother? He was willing to get involved in the imperial family’s muddy waters to give Grandpa Li freedom, all to ask Grandpa Li to treat Big Brother?

For a moment, Qiao Zhao couldn’t quite describe what she was feeling.

Gratitude? That seemed inappropriate. No matter how magnanimous she was, she couldn’t feel grateful toward the person who had personally killed her.

This had nothing to do with resentment.

Qiao Zhao gazed from afar at the young general dressed in plain white in the funeral procession, sighing softly in her heart.

Perhaps it was sentiment-sentiment that Grandfather hadn’t misjudged him, that he was indeed someone worth entrusting one’s life to, only there were too many other factors that ultimately led them to such an ending.

The procession had already left the city. Under the vast sky and open land, they moved faster, with many onlookers still following, quickly leaving behind Qiao Zhao and Physician Li, who had stopped.

“Can Grandpa Li treat the burn scars on the Qiao family Yulang’s face?”

“Is there any illness in this world that this old man can’t cure?” Physician Li huffed, then his tone changed: “However, since the burns are on his face, treatment will be rather troublesome.”

Physician Li looked at Qiao Zhao seriously: “Girl Zhao, I may have to leave the capital.”

“Grandpa Li?” Qiao Zhao was shocked.

Physician Li explained: “To cure Qiao Mo’s face, I need a particular medicine. That medicine only grows inside a type of clamshell in the southern seas. I must personally go to collect it.”

“Can’t you entrust someone else to buy it?”

Physician Li shook his head: “No, it’s a type of gel pearl with a transparent gelatinous exterior and water inside. After being removed from the clamshell, if it’s not immediately made into medicine, it will deteriorate and lose its efficacy. So I must make the trip personally.”

Qiao Zhao felt somewhat heavy-hearted.

With Grandpa Li leaving, and unable to recognize Big Brother, she would truly be all alone in this capital.

“I’ve heard that the southern coastal areas are somewhat chaotic. Grandpa Li must take good care of yourself.”

Physician Li smiled dismissively: “You don’t need to worry about that. I have skilled people with me.”

He waved toward an ordinary-looking young man not far away: “Come here.”

Ye Luo silently walked over.

Physician Li introduced: “His name is Ye Luo, and he’s very skilled in martial arts.” He winked and added: “Since having him, grinding medicine has become much more convenient.”

The silent medicine-grinding expert screamed internally: General, sir, he wants to go back – this job is impossible to continue!

“Is this also… someone General Shao assigned to you?” Qiao Zhao asked.

Physician Li looked at her deeply: “Girl Zhao guessed this, too?”

Qiao Zhao smiled: “It’s quite obvious.”

“You clever girl.” Physician Li sighed.

He increasingly couldn’t help but compare Girl Zhao with Girl Qiao. The more he compared, the more alike they seemed.

If – what would Qiao Mo’s reaction be upon seeing her?