“Third Miss, can you move? Shall I help you down from the carriage?” Chen Guang asked bashfully.

The third Miss hadn’t brought Binglu when she went to the Jinlin Guards’ headquarters, so it was somewhat inconvenient now.

Qiao Zhao stared silently at the plaque of Marquis Guanjun’s residence.

“Third Miss?” Chen Guang looked confused.

“Chen Guang, I said to return to the residence.”

“We have returned to the residence.” Chen Guang pointed to the main gate of Marquis Guanjun’s residence, speaking with conviction. “Since you went to the Jinlin Guards’ headquarters, the General and the others must be worried. Fortunately, we returned quite quickly.”

“Return to the Li residence.” Qiao Zhao sat back down.

“Ah?” Chen Guang was dumbfounded.

Qiao Zhao held up the carriage curtain with one hand and said coolly, “Chen Guang, you are now my coachman.”

“Alright.” Chen Guang dejectedly waved his small whip, and the carriage departed from Marquis Guanjun’s residence.

The personal guard standing at the gate of Marquis Guanjun’s residence rushed inside to report: “General, Chen Guang just brought Miss Li here, but for some reason, Miss Li didn’t get off the carriage, then the carriage left again.”

Shao Mingyuan thought for a moment and said, “Go to the Li residence and ask Chen Guang what happened.”

“Yes, sir.”

The personal guard walked outside but was called back by Shao Mingyuan: “No need to go. Chen Guang should come over, and when he does, let him in to report.”

Miss Li wasn’t someone who couldn’t distinguish between important and trivial matters. Having gone to the Jinlin Guards’ headquarters, regardless of the outcome, she should inform him.

However—

Shao Mingyuan looked up toward the direction of the residence’s main gate, lost in thought.

Miss Li came but left without getting out of the carriage—what could be the reason?

Footsteps sounded, and Shao Zhi entered, speaking respectfully: “General, you summoned me?”

“Is there any progress on Xie Wu’s matter?”

“Not yet.” Shao Zhi felt somewhat ashamed.

“No hurry. Xie Wu was a nail planted many years ago. Investigating thoroughly won’t happen overnight. Like this—temporarily hand over Xie Wu’s matter to your deputy and free up your hands to investigate the matter of Lady Mao from Minister Kou’s residence poisoning Young Master Qiao. See if there’s any mastermind behind it.”

If there was still a behind-the-scenes manipulator, then this faction was most likely the true culprit behind the Qiao family fire. Even if he couldn’t immediately investigate matters in Jia Feng, starting the investigation from the capital was the same.

“Yes, sir.” Shao Zhi clasped his fists.

Shao Mingyuan smiled. “Thank you for your hard work.”

Shao Zhi immediately blushed: “This subordinate is ashamed.”

“Go.”

The surroundings quieted down, with only the cicadas’ cries becoming more irritating. Shao Mingyuan interlaced his fingers and placed them on the desk, spacing out for a while.

The carriage finally stopped at the side gate of the Li family’s West Residence. Qiao Zhao got off the carriage and instructed Chen Guang: “Chen Guang, go to Marquis Guanjun’s residence and tell them that the matter should be settled. Tell General Shao not to worry and to wait patiently.”

“Uh, alright.”

“Also, don’t mention to General Shao that I’m injured.”

Seeing Chen Guang nod, Qiao Zhao hurriedly returned to her room.

Chen Guang rushed back to Marquis Guanjun’s residence. As soon as he reached the gate, a personal guard ran over: “Chen Guang, come in quickly. The General has been waiting for you.”

“Uh.” Chen Guang hurried inside. “General, sorry to keep you waiting.”

“What was the situation with Miss Li going to the Jinlin Guards’ headquarters?”

“Miss Li said the matter is settled and asks you to be at ease.”

Hearing Chen Guang say this, Shao Mingyuan wasn’t surprised at all. Instead, he had a feeling of having known this would happen.

He was silent for a moment, then asked: “Did Miss Li have anything else to say?”

If there wasn’t something unusual, Miss Li wouldn’t have come and left without even seeing him.

Chen Guang’s ears echoed with Qiao Zhao’s instructions: Don’t mention to General Shao that I’m injured.

Third Miss loved to joke around. How could he not tell the General about such an important matter?

“General, Third Miss is injured.”

“Injured?” Shao Mingyuan’s expression darkened. “Were you following Miss Li to sleep?”

Chen Guang looked aggrieved: “General, Third Miss later had matters to discuss privately with Jiang Tang and didn’t let this subordinate follow her inside.”

“Excuses!”

Chen Guang suddenly straightened his body: “This subordinate makes excuses! This subordinate deserves death!”

Shao Mingyuan glanced at him coolly: “Next time you fail to protect Miss Li, you’ll face military justice!”

“Yes!” Chen Guang responded loudly.

“Tell me, who injured Miss Li?”

Chen Guang scratched his head: “Miss Li said she injured herself.”

Injured herself?

Shao Mingyuan pondered briefly and roughly guessed the situation at the time, unable to help but sigh inwardly.

For Miss Li to act thus truly made them grown men feel ashamed.

“Where was Miss Li injured?”

Chen Guang gathered his courage and said, “Her neck.”

Shao Mingyuan was silent for a moment, then instructed a personal guard to fetch two boxes of silver ingots for Chen Guang to take back: “Medical fees.”

Miss Li didn’t lack good medicine, but she seemed to lack silver.

Chen Guang returned to the Li residence and happily handed the two boxes of silver ingots to Binglu: “A gift from the General to Third Miss.”

The weight nearly caused Binglu to topple over.

Chen Guang quickly caught the box.

“So heavy! Forget it, you carry it and follow me.” Binglu gave Chen Guang an eye roll and turned to leave.

Chen Guang felt somewhat guilty seeing Qiao Zhao and quickly placed the two boxes on a nearby table: “Third Miss, the General asked me to bring you a gift.”

Calling it medical fees sounded so vulgar—the General didn’t know how to charm girls.

Qiao Zhao gestured for Binglu to open them.

Binglu reached out to open a box and couldn’t help but cry out in surprise.

Qiao Zhao looked over and saw the red silk-lined box filled with gleaming white silver ingots, sparkling blindingly in the sunlight.

The size and specifications of these silver ingots looked very familiar. Miss Qiao thought silently.

“This is a gift from General Shao?” Qiao Zhao’s expression grew slightly stern, the wound on her neck making her voice somewhat hoarse.

Chen Guang blinked.

Miss Li seemed somewhat unhappy.

“Medical fees?” The small coachman hesitantly tried a different term.

Qiao Zhao’s expression grew even darker.

The small coachman was nearly in tears: “How about you just say whatever you want them to be!”

This job was impossible to do!

“You told General Shao I was injured?” Qiao Zhao asked coolly.

Chen Guang nearly knelt: “Third Miss, I was wrong. The General cares about you very much, and when he asked, I couldn’t help but tell him.”

“Forget it, what’s said is said.” Qiao Zhao rubbed her temples.

If she really took issue with Chen Guang over everything, she would have died of anger long ago. Couldn’t that man assign her a reliable coachman?

The main reason she didn’t want Shao Mingyuan to know was that she didn’t want her brother to find out. But thinking about it, Shao Mingyuan probably wouldn’t deliberately mention it to her brother.

Seeing that Qiao Zhao wasn’t dwelling on it, Chen Guang quickly slipped away. Binglu pointed at the two boxes of silver ingots and asked: “Miss, what should we do with these?”

“Of course, we’ll put them away.” Miss Qiao said with a calm expression.

Jiang Tang’s actions were far faster than imagined. Within two days, the prison gates opened, and Qiao Mo was released.

Shao Mingyuan personally came to receive him.

Outside, the sunlight was bright and beautiful—a completely different world from the dark, damp, and cold prison.

Qiao Mo took a deep breath of fresh air and looked around. Not seeing the figure he thought would appear, he couldn’t help feeling disappointed.