Fulfilling a trust and being loyal to duties?

Physician Li entrusted him to take care of Miss Li, and also entrusted Miss Li to look after his cousin-brother. Cough, cough—there was always a feeling that he alone was the one raised by a stepmother. Shao Mingyuan thought with considerable displeasure.

His gaze swept across Qiao Zhao’s face as he smiled: “I haven’t yet congratulated Miss Li on her face returning to its original beauty.”

“Uh, thank you.” Miss Qiao thanked him, then thought for a moment and asked: “General Shao only just notice my face had recovered?”

Shao Mingyuan: “…” What would happen if he admitted it?

Qiao Zhao twitched the corner of her mouth, too lazy to argue with him. She casually picked a grape and played with it in her hand: “General Shao should have heard that yesterday, two assassins successively attacked Big Brother Qiao. The first assassin was Chen Guang in disguise. The second assassin was very surprising to me. From yesterday until now, I’ve been pondering this matter, wondering what person would want to put Big Brother Qiao to death—”

Halfway through her words, she suddenly noticed Shao Mingyuan’s expression was somewhat strange and stopped to look at him: “General Shao?”

Shao Mingyuan came back to his senses.

“Does General Shao perhaps have something on his mind?”

“Not at all. It’s just that there’s something I need to tell Miss Li.”

“I’m all ears.” Under the grape arbor, the dressed young lady played with the unripe grape, openly meeting the young general’s gaze, her tone leisurely.

Shao Mingyuan inexplicably felt some pressure. He hesitated before speaking: “The second assassin—I also sent him.”

Qiao Zhao applied force with her hand, and the grape was immediately crushed, splashing crystal-clear juice.

“General Shao is saying that cold-blooded, ruthless gray-clothed assassin who chased Big Brother Qiao into a panicked escape and excessive fright—you also sent him?” Qiao Zhao asked word by word.

“Mm.” Shao Mingyuan nodded honestly, his eyes involuntarily glancing at the grape’s tragic fate.

“Why did General Shao do this?” Qiao Zhao took out a snow-white handkerchief and slowly wiped her fingers.

“This way, it would seem more realistic. Didn’t Miss Li want the mastermind to think other forces wanted to harm my cousin-brother? Having two assassins appear would muddy the waters more, making it harder to see the truth. Moreover, the second assassin’s appearance was something no one knew about, so their reactions would be more genuine, leaving no flaws…” Shao Mingyuan spoke eloquently, from strategic planning to psychological manipulation, clearly treating this incident as a military operation.

Qiao Zhao kneaded her handkerchief, suppressing the urge to throw it in someone’s face, and asked indifferently: “Finished?”

Shao Mingyuan coughed and picked up his teacup for a sip.

“General Shao thought very comprehensively, but why didn’t you inform me beforehand?”

She wouldn’t appear at the scene anyway—what need was there for genuine reactions?

“If you don’t move, then don’t move at all. Once you do move, naturally you must ensure nothing goes wrong—”

“This isn’t war!” Qiao Zhao retorted with a dark expression.

Did he know she had worried so much she couldn’t sleep well all night? For someone who hadn’t slept well, to still have such a good temper, drinking tea with him was already quite remarkable.

“Uh, sorry, I was wrong.”

What?

Qiao Zhao blinked.

Admitting fault so easily—did this person have no principles left?

Seeing the young lady sitting across from him soften her expression, Shao Mingyuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Dealing with girls was too troublesome. Indeed, when encountering disagreements, apologizing was more effective than reasoning.

“What about the person who appeared to block the gray-clothed assassin? Was that also arranged by General Shao?” Since he had apologized, Miss Qiao had no reason to keep harping on it and turned to ask about this matter instead.

“That wasn’t me. I had originally arranged for someone, but before they could appear, that person showed up.” Shao Mingyuan glanced at Qiao Zhao. “That person was from the Jinlin Guards.”

“The Jinlin Guards saved Big Brother Qiao?” Qiao Zhao was startled.

How changeable the world was—many things indeed developed faster than plans could keep up. Now it was good—she didn’t need to worry about the mastermind who poisoned Big Brother understanding the situation clearly, because she was getting confused herself!

“Cousin-brother is Mr. Qiao’s grandson and has been living in the Minister’s residence after a great fire. He was already attracting attention in the capital. If something happened to him, it would certainly cause upheaval. I imagine the Jinlin Guards didn’t want to see such a situation occur, so they intervened to save him.”

Chi Can had once told him that the current Emperor increasingly detested troublesome matters, and as the Emperor’s eyes and hands, the Jinlin Guards would naturally act according to their master’s wishes.

“Miss Li, if you discover from that servant’s mouth who poisoned my cousin-brother, what do you plan to do?”

Qiao Zhao spoke with an indifferent expression: “Naturally, that person should be punished.”

Shao Mingyuan was silent for a moment, then looked directly into Qiao Zhao’s eyes and asked: “What if the mastermind is someone from the Minister’s residence?”

Those people were cousin-brother’s relatives, while Miss Li was actually an outsider. If she interfered like this, she might end up pleasing no one.

“No matter who it is, if they’ve harmed someone, they should be punished!” Qiao Zhao said word by word.

What were relatives? Those who loved each other and shared honor and disgrace were relatives. If someone stabbed you in the back, what kind of relative was that? Anyone who harmed her brother would make that person receive punishment!

“What does General Shao plan to do?” Qiao Zhao asked in return.

In others’ eyes, Shao Mingyuan’s relationship with Big Brother was much closer than hers with Big Brother.

“Naturally, I must first ask cousin-brother’s opinion before deciding.”

“General Shao is also right.”

Under the grape arbor, the two exchanged words, and the atmosphere gradually became harmonious.

Chen Guang looked from afar and was overjoyed.

“What are you smiling about?” Binglu asked.

“Nothing.” Chen Guang quickly suppressed his smile and said seriously.

What if this little maid noticed he was intentionally matchmaking between the General and Third Miss and sabotaged him? He couldn’t let her discover this!

“You’re weird!” Binglu rolled her eyes, then suddenly became happy: “How do I think General Shao and my young lady are very compatible? Chen Guang, what do you think? Oh my, if they could be together, that would be wonderful. General Shao can even weave straw hats—he definitely wouldn’t let our young lady suffer in the future.”

Chen Guang was stunned.

Wait, when did the General weave straw hats? How did he not know about this?

More importantly—

Chen Guang’s gaze fell on Binglu, and suddenly the little maid seemed much more attractive.

He had been too cautious just now. After all this time, this was a comrade!

Chen Guang was grinning foolishly when his peripheral vision caught sight of something ahead, and he was instantly alarmed.

Wasn’t that Young Master Chi? How did he come here?

Chen Guang hurriedly pushed Binglu aside: “Quick, go tell the General and them to hurry and hide. I’ll go block Young Master Chi!”

“Eh.” Binglu was confused by Chen Guang’s tension and ran to notify Shao Mingyuan and Qiao Zhao.

Chen Guang strode forward to block Chi Can’s path, lowering his eyes and said: “Young Master Chi, the General just left through the back door.”

“Such bad timing?” Chi Can waved his fan, then suddenly reached out to lift Chen Guang’s chin with the fan: “Wait, why do you look familiar to me?”

“Heh heh heh heh, this subordinate is the General’s guard. Of course, Young Master Chi would find me familiar.”

Chi Can squinted his eyes and suddenly understood: “No, you’re Miss Li’s coachman!”