After returning to the capital, he had learned some things about his late wife.

Lady Qiao had lived in seclusion at the Marquis Jing’an’s residence, rarely going out. How could Miss Li, a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl from a family not belonging to the nobility circles, possibly have encountered Lady Qiao?

The excuse of “both living in the capital” might fool Chen Guang, but nothing more. In his youth, out of curiosity, he had once wanted to “accidentally encounter” his betrothed fiancée, but had never succeeded.

“Please ask Miss Li to come.” Driven by this suspicion, Shao Mingyuan urgently wanted to see Qiao Zhao again.

Qiao Zhao was unaware she was under suspicion and arrived at Chunfeng Tavern with Binglu in good spirits.

“General Shao.” The young woman smiled gracefully, showing no trace of the grievance from a few days prior.

Shao Mingyuan suddenly felt a headache coming on.

The questions he needed to ask were unavoidable, but should he be direct or tactful?

“Does General Shao have something to ask me?” Miss Qiao asked thoughtfully.

Chen Guang was indeed ungrateful—he must have told Shao Mingyuan everything she had instructed him to do. Well, perhaps her shocking behavior had frightened this person.

Would he think her vicious and sinister?

As this thought flashed through her mind, Qiao Zhao pursed her lips.

Let him think what he wanted—she didn’t care at all!

Hearing Qiao Zhao ask this, Shao Mingyuan felt relieved and showed what he thought was a gentle smile: “I heard from Chen Guang that Miss Li painted a portrait of my deceased wife.”

He wasn’t asking about her driving Lady Mao mad, but about this instead?

Qiao Zhao was slightly stunned, then nodded: “Yes.”

“How did Miss Li come to know my wife?” Shao Mingyuan’s gaze was deep as he looked directly at Qiao Zhao.

“We both lived in the capital—I saw her,” Qiao Zhao said casually.

Since Shao Mingyuan had been away from the capital for years, he shouldn’t be able to find flaws in this reasoning.

“How did you see her?” Shao Mingyuan pressed further.

Qiao Zhao narrowed her eyes.

Why was this person being so persistent?

“Miss Li’s social circle and my wife’s circle were completely different. Moreover, you’re a young girl, and she was a married woman—even if your circles overlapped, there would rarely be opportunities for interaction.”

Married woman!

Hearing these four words, Qiao Zhao inexplicably felt her face heat up and shot Shao Mingyuan a glare.

She had held this title of “married woman” purely in name—the first time she saw her husband, this fellow had shot her dead with an arrow!

Shao Mingyuan felt his heart skip a beat from that glare and was inexplicably embarrassed.

“Is General Shao suspicious of me?” Qiao Zhao asked with a stern face.

“Uh…” Shao Mingyuan was stumped.

He was suspicious of her, but such an obvious thing—how should one answer when asked directly?

If he said he was suspicious, would this girl cry for him to see again?

But if he didn’t continue asking, he couldn’t let this matter rest.

“I feel that you couldn’t possibly have met my wife.”

“So General Shao thinks I’m lying?”

Shao Mingyuan decisively fell silent.

“Although my social circle had no intersection with General Shao’s wife’s, we both lived in the capital—chance encounters aren’t unusual, are they?”

Shao Mingyuan, risking making the young girl cry again, exposed the truth: “There wouldn’t have been chance encounters. My wife rarely stayed in the capital in her youth, and after marrying into the marquis’ residence, she lived even more reclusively. Taking ten thousand steps back, even if Miss Li had chanced upon my wife briefly, since my wife wasn’t anyone special to Miss Li, how could you paint her appearance so vividly after so long?”

As a general who had spent years negotiating and fighting with Tartars, those who believed in “coincidences” often ended up with grass growing tall on their graves.

Qiao Zhao raised an eyebrow.

Why was this person being so sharp?

She had originally planned not to make an issue of it, but seeing his confident expression, Miss Qiao felt contrary and smiled sweetly: “Who says it’s impossible? Please have someone bring writing materials, General Shao.”

Shao Mingyuan was curious and ordered someone to fetch a brush, ink, paper, and an inkstone.

“Chunfeng Tavern has many people—there should be someone I’ve never seen. General Shao could invite such a person for me to look at.”

“Chen Guang, go call someone.”

Soon, an ordinary-looking young man who could disappear in a crowd came running: “Greetings, General.”

Qiao Zhao glanced at him briefly and said indifferently: “You may dismiss him now.”

“You may go.” Shao Mingyuan grew increasingly curious.

He watched as the young woman gracefully spread a cloth on the stone table, then laid out rice paper, picked up the brush, and looked at him: “Could General Shao grind ink for me?”

“Uh, certainly.”

Qiao Zhao closed her eyes to calm her emotions, allowing her mind to become tranquil, then opened her eyes, dipped the brush in rich ink, and moved freely across the rice paper.

The young man’s headwear quickly appeared under her brush, and as the brush moved downward, a person’s outline gradually emerged.

Whether for the artist or the observer, when attention is focused on one thing, time passes quickly.

Before long, Qiao Zhao set down her brush and asked Shao Mingyuan with raised eyebrows: “What does General Shao think?”

The young woman’s gaze was clear and bright, rarely showing a girl’s spirited pride.

She hadn’t left bangs, exposing her smooth, full forehead where fine beads of sweat had formed like morning dewdrops.

Shao Mingyuan suddenly felt his heart skip a beat and quickly looked away, sincerely praising: “Extremely lifelike.”

“So you see, General Shao’s earlier words don’t hold. What others see and forget but cannot accomplish, I actually can.”

Shao Mingyuan suddenly found it somewhat amusing.

He had never noticed before that Miss Li was such a competitive person, yet left others speechless.

“Yes, I was wrong. I overlooked that there are a few naturally gifted people in this world.”

Some people are born with talents that others cannot match despite their efforts. In others’ eyes, he probably belonged to this category as well.

Miss Li’s demonstration made him more certain he hadn’t been wrong. However, pursuing this further now would likely truly anger Miss Li.

Shao Mingyuan tactfully stopped questioning and smiled: “Didn’t Miss Li want to see Young Master Qiao? Let’s go.”

The two went together to the Marquis Guanjun’s residence.

The marquis’ residence was large, yet few servants were visible. Instead, occasionally, people dressed as personal guards passed by, bowing respectfully upon seeing them.

Qiao Zhao inexplicably felt those guards’ gazes linger on her longer than usual. Pretending not to notice, she followed Shao Mingyuan inside and asked: “How is Elder Brother Qiao?”

“He’s unconscious most of the time.” Shao Mingyuan looked deeply at Qiao Zhao. “Miss Li knows medical arts, doesn’t she?”

Originally, he couldn’t understand how such a young girl could cure Earl Changchun’s youngest son’s mental disability with just a few silver needles. But seeing her photographic memory today, he had to acknowledge that sometimes what he dared not imagine didn’t mean others couldn’t accomplish it.

“I know a little. Before Physician Li left the capital, he gave me the medical texts he had compiled throughout his lifetime.”

“Miss Li came today to treat my brother-in-law, didn’t she?”

Lady Mao had gone mad—his brother-in-law should recover now.

Qiao Zhao met Shao Mingyuan’s gaze and couldn’t help but purse her lips.

Men who were too smart were indeed not cute at all!