The corners of Chi Can’s mouth, which had been curving upward, suddenly stiffened. His eyes stared fixedly at those simple few characters, nearly blazing with fire.

Chi Can, you scoundrel!

Was this referring to him?

That damned girl had the gall of a bear and the heart of a leopard, addressing him by name directly? At the beginning, she called him Uncle Chi, but now she directly calls him Chi Can.

And calling him a scoundrel—where exactly was he being a scoundrel? This ungrateful creature!

Right, there was also that bastard Shao Mingyuan, who also called him a scoundrel. Had these two conspired together? Coming before him to play some telepathic connection?

Chi Can was so angry that he paced in circles.

Seeing the situation was bad, Taosheng quietly stepped backward one step at a time.

Regret! If he had known earlier, he should have just rolled out directly. Why did he have such curiosity, wanting to see Young Master’s reaction after reading the letter?

Just as he was about to step by step reach the doorway, Chi Can suddenly looked over with murderous intent: “Taosheng, come here!”

Taosheng gripped the door frame with both hands, his face full of smiles: “Young Master, whatever you want to say, just say it.”

If worst came to worst, he’d run first and come back to beg forgiveness once Young Master calmed down. Otherwise, his life might end here.

Chi Can raised an eyebrow with a cold laugh: “Want to run? I’ll immediately throw away that box of silver pieces you hid under the water jar behind your house door and feed it to the dogs!”

“Young Master, you misunderstand! This servant was thinking of pouring you some tea.” Taosheng bounced over to pour a cup of tea and brought it to Chi Can.

Chi Can wasn’t in the mood for tea, asking Taosheng with a dark face: “Let me ask you—when you went to see Miss Li, was there anything special?”

“Special?” Young Master’s question was too broad. Taosheng thought carefully and said hesitantly: “After Miss Li saw the Cloudfrost Balm you sent, she stared at it for quite a while.”

“Is that so?” Chi Can’s mood suddenly improved somewhat.

Was she that fascinated by something he sent? What a country bumpkin—this young master had even better things here.

“Yes.” Taosheng nodded like a pecking chicken. “After Miss Li finished looking, she wrote you a letter.”

Young Master Chi: “…” Damn, his servant was an idiot!

Seeing his master remain silent for a long time, with the heavy atmosphere almost suffocating, Taosheng carefully asked: “Young Master, may this servant roll away now?”

“Roll!” Chi Can didn’t even look at Taosheng, his eyes fixed on those few characters, getting angrier the more he looked.

How exactly had that girl discovered Taosheng’s flaws? No, he had to go ask!

Chi Can shot up, immediately felt dizzy, and couldn’t help but fall back down.

Damn heatstroke—why wasn’t it completely healed yet?

Chi Can wanted to go ask personally, but his spirit was willing while his flesh was weak, so he had to temporarily give up.

On Qiao Zhao’s side, she was feeling quite frustrated.

Had Chi Can gone mad? He had a male servant dress as a maid to infiltrate her room!

Miss Qiao simply couldn’t bear to recall her feelings when she realized that “maid” was a fake.

In all her years, through two lifetimes, she considered herself someone who didn’t rigidly adhere to conventional propriety, but she had never heard of or seen such an outrageous thing!

Most infuriating was that even though she discovered it at the time, she could only pretend not to know without changing expression. Otherwise, if it had been exposed, that would have been truly amusing.

Qiao Zhao drank several mouthfuls of tea, but her anger still wouldn’t subside, instructing A’Zhu: “Tell the gatekeeper that in the future, if any maids from the Princess Residence come, refuse to see them all.”

After this, Qiao Zhao’s side remained calm, but the atmosphere in the East Side Courtyard became somewhat tense, with news spreading that First Miss Li Jiǎo had fallen ill.

Li Hui lingered for a long time at the moon gate of the East Side Courtyard until Li Jiǎo’s head maid, Chunfang, came out to collect laundry. Spotting him, she ran over to ask: “Third Young Master, are you here to see our young lady?”

Li Hui nodded.

Chunfang was very happy: “Then Third Young Master, please go in quickly. Our young lady will surely be delighted to see you.”

Li Hui’s expression was rarely somewhat hesitant as he asked: “How is your young lady’s health?”

Her spirits aren’t very good. She spends most of her time lying down, sleeping.”

Upon hearing this, Li Hui’s complexion changed, and he stepped inside.

Upon entering, he immediately smelled medicinal odors.

“Big Sister.” Li Hui walked to the bedside with a worried expression.

Li Jiǎo opened her eyes: “Third Brother, you came.”

Saying this, she turned her face away as tears fell.

Li Hui was somewhat panicked: “Big Sister, why are you crying?”

“Nothing, I thought you were still angry with me.”

“How could that be? I know Big Sister was worried about our safety and spoke to stop us. Of course, I’m not angry with Big Sister.”

Though not angry, he felt somewhat disappointed.

Even siblings with deep affection would still have places where their thoughts didn’t align. Unfortunately, some things in this world could be compromised on, while others couldn’t—like dignity and backbone, like blood-connected family bonds.

Li Jiǎo smiled weakly: “That’s good, then. Third Brother, I was so worried about you. Thinking you might be implicated and meet with trouble made me extremely anxious. It’s not that I truly didn’t want to seek justice for Third Sister.”

Li Hui nodded: “I understand.”

His tone shifted, becoming very serious: “However, Big Sister said one thing improperly. If I were to meet with trouble, it wouldn’t be being implicated. When the nest is destroyed, how can the eggs remain intact? Our family is composed of all our dear relatives. If one of them met with trouble and the others ignored it, then the family would no longer be a family. Without a family, what good outcome could a family member have?”

Li Jiǎo was stunned speechless, and only after a long while said: “I didn’t think as much as Third Brother.”

Third Brother had truly grown up, learning those words of sages until his brain was addled.

Li Hui smiled slightly: “I also heard this from Grandmother.”

“Grandmother said this?”

“Yes, I think what Grandmother said makes great sense. What does Big Sister think?”

“Of course…” Li Jiǎo forced a smile.

“Big Sister, don’t overthink things. Didn’t the doctor say you’re suffering from excessive worry, creating blockages in your heart?”

“I understand, Third Brother, needn’t worry.” Li Jiǎo felt even more frustrated.

By saying this, wasn’t Third Brother implying she was thinking nonsense and making herself sick?

Third Brother hadn’t been like this before—it was all because of Li Third…

Li Jiǎo naturally transferred her anger to Qiao Zhao, then thought about how her face was now ruined and felt much better.

So what if she was talented? Without a good reputation and without good looks, who knew how miserable the rest of her life would be?

“Big Sister, rest well. I’ll go back first.”

“Chunfang, see Third Young Master out.”

“No need.” Li Hui waved his hand and walked out.

Li Jiǎo gave Chunfang a meaningful look.

Chunfang quietly followed out, returning shortly to report: “First Miss, Third Young Master went to Third Miss’s place.”

Li Jiǎo immediately turned pale with anger, saying hatefully: “Fine, I know. You may go!”

After Chunfang left, First Miss Li grabbed a soft pillow and vigorously pounded it against the bedpost before lying down angrily.

In the West Side Courtyard, Qiao Zhao waited quite a while without seeing Li Hui speak, and finally couldn’t help asking: “Did Third Brother come today for something?”

Li Hui’s ears turned red as he quietly took a breath and made up his mind, suddenly grasping Qiao Zhao’s hand: “Third Sister, don’t worry. In the future, I’ll support you.”