The young hunter swung a wooden stick, aiming for the back of Shao Mingyuan’s head, while the middle-aged hunter grabbed a kitchen knife.

Shao Mingyuan tilted his head slightly. Due to inertia, the wooden stick struck the stove instead, making a loud crash.

Qiao Zhao, who was in the room, heard the commotion and instructed Binglu, “Go take a look.”

Binglu ran to the kitchen doorway and couldn’t help but cover her mouth. After being stunned for quite a while, she stammered, “They, they—”

Shao Mingyuan had one foot stepping on the young hunter and one hand gripping the middle-aged hunter. With a calm expression, he instructed Binglu, “Bring me the rope from the corner.”

Naturally, a hunter’s dwelling wouldn’t lack rope.

“Uh,” Binglu responded dazedly, fetched the rope, and handed it over. Her head was still in a fog. Seeing Shao Mingyuan silently tie up both hunters with intricate knots, she instinctively asked, “General Shao, why did you tie them up?”

General?

The two hunters exchanged glances, their eyes showing fear, and they immediately stopped struggling.

Shao Mingyuan raised an eyebrow slightly. “Ladle the soup and take it to Miss Li.”

Seeing his cold and stern expression, Binglu suddenly didn’t dare say more. She quickly ladled two bowls of hot soup and hurried away.

“You, you’re a general?” The middle-aged hunter’s face turned ashen.

The absolute difference in strength had already left them without any courage to resist. Knowing the identity of the person before them only filled them with despair.

“Had you known I was a general earlier, you two wouldn’t have made a move?”

Both hunters nodded like chickens pecking at grain.

Shao Mingyuan chuckled. “If I were a powerless young master, I would have died at your hands today, wouldn’t I?”

Both hunters stiffened, breaking out in cold sweat.

“After killing me, how did you plan to deal with those two young ladies?” Shao Mingyuan asked calmly, though his gaze was particularly profound.

“We, we just got greedy for a moment, wanting your silver. We had no other thoughts about those two young ladies!” the young hunter hastily explained.

Shao Mingyuan smiled and pointed to the back of his head. “Little brother, you aimed right here. If you had hit your mark, I would now be a corpse with brains splattered everywhere. With such a vicious strike, you want me to believe you would have spared those two young ladies?”

This was also why Shao Mingyuan was angry.

If the young hunter hadn’t aimed for his head and had only intended to injure, it might have been just robbery. But to strike so viciously from the start, and after eliminating the only man present, their intentions were obvious.

“Please spare our lives, General! We were just greedy for a moment. Normally, we’re law-abiding citizens!” both hunters pleaded repeatedly.

Shao Mingyuan no longer paid attention to them and quietly continued drying his clothes by the fire.

Binglu returned to the room with the hot soup and fed it to Qiao Zhao.

Qiao Zhao held the bowl with both hands. After a few sips of hot soup, she had the strength to speak. “What happened in the kitchen?”

“General Shao tied up those two hunters.”

“Oh.” Qiao Zhao lowered her eyes and took another sip of hot soup.

Binglu blinked. “Miss, aren’t you curious?”

Qiao Zhao raised her eyelids. The steam from the soup touched her face, giving her cheeks a slight blush. “Curious about what? General Shao did that because he naturally has his reasons.”

When she heard Binglu say that Shao Mingyuan went to the kitchen to wait for the hot soup, she had guessed that Shao Mingyuan might have found something wrong with those two hunters. Otherwise, why would a general who fought wars be so idle as to enjoy guarding the kitchen?

Now it seemed he hadn’t misjudged, and she hadn’t guessed wrong either.

“Miss—” Binglu bit her lip and said hesitantly, “This servant thinks General Shao might be angry.”

“How so?”

“General Shao has always been gentle and kind, but just now, when this servant asked him why he tied them up, his expression immediately became serious. Don’t you think that’s anger? But this servant doesn’t think there was anything wrong with asking. Anyone who suddenly saw people tied up would ask, wouldn’t they?”

After the little maid finished speaking, she was stunned: it seemed her young lady wouldn’t ask.

Qiao Zhao rotated the bowl to warm her hands, looked at Binglu, and sighed. “Did you reveal his identity?”

Binglu paused and lowered her head. “This servant called him General Shao.”

“That’s it then. You revealed his identity. How should he deal with those two men? Release them? But those two certainly had ill intentions toward us. It’s only because they encountered General Shao that they didn’t succeed. But if it were ordinary people, they would probably have been killed by them. Such people—if we release them now, who knows if they won’t harm others in the future? Even if they were just acting on temporary impulse for the first time, now that they know General Shao’s identity, what if they spread it around after being released?”

Although she didn’t understand why Shao Mingyuan showed such care for her under Li Zhao’s identity, she was certain that person wouldn’t let anyone damage her reputation.

Binglu was already dumbfounded and murmured, “What if he doesn’t release them?”

“Doesn’t release them?” Qiao Zhao looked toward the door and smiled. “Then he might have to kill them. But doing so might trouble General Shao’s conscience. After all, we borrowed their house, wore their clothes, and drank the hot soup they made. If those two had never done anything evil before and only had evil thoughts when faced with temptation, but this temptation came because they encountered us.”

Human nature isn’t simply black and white. Bad people might harbor compassion, and good people might do evil under certain circumstances. She was rather curious about what Shao Mingyuan would do.

After hearing Qiao Zhao’s analysis, Binglu rarely felt ashamed. “It’s all because this servant was too rash.”

Oh no, if General Shao killed those two hunters, would her young lady think General Shao was cold-blooded? If so, wouldn’t she have harmed the general? The general was a good person—he even wove a grass hat for her.

The little maid carefully glanced at her young lady and tentatively asked, “Miss, what do you think General Shao will do?”

Qiao Zhao put down the bowl, her tone indifferent. “I don’t know either. However, I respect his choice.”

Whether to kill or not to kill, as the rescued party, giving directions would be taking advantage and then complaining—such tasteless behavior she wouldn’t do.

Shao Mingyuan, outside the door, had been quietly listening up to this point. Finally, he called out, “Miss Li, may I come in?”

Qiao Zhao was startled and nodded to Binglu.

Binglu quickly went to the door and invited Shao Mingyuan in.

As soon as Shao Mingyuan entered, he saw the young lady wrapped in tiger fur, sitting quietly in the chair and looking toward him. Her face was pale and her appearance disheveled, but her gaze remained calm and pure, so that dishevelment no longer seemed disheveled.

This feeling made him suddenly think of someone, once again think of that person.

He must be crazy.

Shao Mingyuan smiled bitterly in his heart and stepped inside.

“Is Miss Li feeling better?”

“Much better.” Qiao Zhao’s gaze fell on Shao Mingyuan. Seeing that his clothes were half-dry, she inexplicably felt relieved.

“That’s good. Once the rain stops, we’ll continue our journey.” After Shao Mingyuan finished speaking, he was silent for a moment, then said, “Your family’s carriage shaft shows signs of deliberate damage.”