“I was quite frightened, and even more worried about your safety,” Qiao Zhao said frankly.

Even now, she still clearly remembers the bone-chilling feeling when she sensed someone behind her, and the despair when she was controlled by the murderer.

“I implicated you. Fortunately, you’re unharmed.”

“Master—”

Master Wumei withdrew her gaze and looked toward the snow-white wall. “I know you have many questions to ask, but these matters are not for a young lady like you to inquire about. Good child, after you descend the mountain, forget all of this.”

“Master means—” Qiao Zhao’s heart stirred.

Master Wumei smiled calmly, “Only this humble nun and Jing Xi remain at Shuying Nunnery. I don’t plan to stay at Shuying Nunnery anymore, so you needn’t come in the future.”

Qiao Zhao was somewhat surprised. After a moment of silence, she asked, “Then in the future, who will accompany the Master in copying scriptures?”

She had spent only a few short months with Master Wumei. In that small quiet room, Master Wumei would recite scriptures while she copied Buddhist texts, and unknowingly most of the day would pass. The weekly sessions of copying scriptures with complete focus had helped settle her restless heart that was tormented by anxiety.

If initially Qiao Zhao had approached Master Wumei with her calculations, now she truly felt some reluctance to part.

“Silly child, for so many years before, no one accompanied this humble nun in copying scriptures. Causes gather and scatter—don’t be too concerned.”

“Will I be able to see Master again in the future?” Qiao Zhao asked.

She had a feeling that Master Wumei’s determination to leave Shuying Nunnery wasn’t so simple.

“Perhaps yes, perhaps no. Who knows? This humble nun is hungry. Go cook me a bowl of congee.”

Qiao Zhao took out the agarwood prayer beads, “Master, your prayer beads.”

Master Wumei didn’t take them. “Give these prayer beads to you. I hope they can keep you safe.”

“Thank you, Master.” Qiao Zhao knew Master Wumei disliked pushing and pulling, so she accepted the beads and withdrew.

Shao Mingyuan was waiting outside the door.

“Abbot, Master asked me to cook congee for her. Where is the kitchen?”

“Jing Xu, lead Miss Li to the kitchen.”

Shao Mingyuan followed, “Miss Li, I’ll go with you.”

At this hour, Dafu Temple’s kitchen was empty. Qiao Zhao set the congee to cook and sat on a small stool nearby, lost in thought.

“Did Master say nothing?”

“Right.” Qiao Zhao came back to her senses and stirred the firewood, saying softly, “Master is leaving Shuying Nunnery, so I won’t need to come anymore.”

“It’s better not to come.”

Qiao Zhao stopped what she was doing and looked at Shao Mingyuan.

Shao Mingyuan took the fire tongs from Qiao Zhao’s hands and said calmly, “This incident might just be the beginning.”

“Why does General Shao think so?”

Shao Mingyuan smiled, “Probably intuition. The tree wishes to be still, but the wind will not cease. That hunter and the monk Kong Yun have been lying low for so many years. How could the forces behind them give up easily when they haven’t obtained what they sought?”

“Yes.” Qiao Zhao sighed.

Just now, in front of Master Wumei, she hadn’t even thought to ask what those two murderers were looking for, because she knew that even if she asked, Master Wumei wouldn’t tell her.

“For Master Wumei and others, this matter is just beginning, but for Miss Li, it ends here. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”

“Mm.” Qiao Zhao nodded.

Everyone has curiosity, but more often, what one needs to learn is to control that curiosity.

“Miss Li, you could consider teaching my trusted subordinate acupuncture for poison removal. That way, you wouldn’t need to be troubled with coming every day. I guarantee that after my subordinate learns it, he won’t pass it on to anyone.”

Qiao Zhao glanced sideways at the man beside her and nearly laughed from anger.

So after all this, the key point was here—he still hadn’t given up on having someone learn acupuncture from her!

“So General Shao plans to cross the river and tear down the bridge?” Miss Qiao asked coldly.

That night, this bastard had used her as a blanket for the whole night, and now he was saying this to her?

“No, Miss Li misunderstands. I just feel it’s too much trouble for you.”

“I don’t find it troublesome.” Miss Qiao directly blocked his words.

Shao Mingyuan opened his mouth, but finally found he didn’t know how to explain, so he simply stayed quiet.

“The congee is ready.” Qiao Zhao got up and ladled out the congee, leaving one bowl on the kitchen counter. As she carried the congee out, she turned back and said, “General Shao, drink that bowl of congee. After I deliver this, I’ll return to the bamboo house to give you acupuncture.”

Shao Mingyuan stared at the steaming congee for a while, picked it up and took a big gulp, then his handsome face turned the color of pig liver.

So hot!

The murder case at Shuying Nunnery ended with Master Wumei’s silence.

Qiao Zhao and Shao Mingyuan returned to the bamboo house. After she gave him acupuncture, she finally couldn’t hold on anymore, “I’m going to sleep for a while. If there’s anything, General Shao, just call me.”

“All right.” After Qiao Zhao left, Shao Mingyuan slept for about an hour before waking up and pushing the door to go outside.

A gray pigeon landed at his feet.

He took out the note the pigeon carried, unfolded it to read, then crushed the paper and threw it into the wind.

Qiao Zhao slept until noon before waking up, feeling heavy-headed and light-footed as she walked outside. The person outside turned around.

“General Shao didn’t rest?”

Last night was quite thrilling. At this moment, the monks of Dafu Temple were probably all catching up on sleep.

“I slept already.” Shao Mingyuan pointed to a wooden basin placed on a rock, “I drew spring water. Miss Li, wash your face.”

“Uh, thank you.” Qiao Zhao was somewhat surprised but didn’t show it on her face. She bent down to cup the spring water and washed her face. The heavy-headed feeling immediately disappeared, and she felt refreshed.

Shao Mingyuan handed over a cup of tea.

Qiao Zhao looked up at him.

“Made with boiled spring water.”

“Thank you.” Qiao Zhao thanked him again.

Shao Mingyuan sat down. “I received news from outside the mountain again.”

Qiao Zhao held the teacup without moving.

Shao Mingyuan lowered his voice, “I had my subordinates investigate what major events happened in the fifth year of Mingkang.”

Qiao Zhao’s heart stirred.

The fifth year of Mingkang—

She thought he would wait until they left to investigate, but he had already begun looking into it.

“Two major events occurred in the fifth year of Mingkang.” Without waiting for Qiao Zhao to ask, Shao Mingyuan whispered to her, “The first was that the Northern Expedition General, Marquis Jingyuan, was sentenced to complete family execution for the crime of collaborating with the enemy.”

Hearing this, Qiao Zhao felt an inexplicable tremor in her heart and asked, “What about the second?”

“The second occurred even before Marquis Jingyuan was convicted of collaborating with the enemy. At the beginning of the fifth year of Mingkang, Prince Su rebelled.”

“Prince Su?” Qiao Zhao thought carefully and murmured, “The Lingnan Rebellion?”

Shao Mingyuan raised an eyebrow, “Miss Li also knows about the Lingnan Rebellion?”

In the twenty years since the Lingnan Rebellion, almost no one mentioned this rebellion that lasted less than three months. He too only had a vague impression after seeing the message brought by the carrier pigeon, but had already forgotten whether this fuzzy memory came from some book he’d read or something he’d heard mentioned in passing.

“I once read a historical text that made an oblique reference to it.”

“Although Master Wumei’s descent from the mountain that year probably couldn’t be connected to such major events, the fifth year of Mingkang was indeed a very special year.”

“Does General Shao plan to continue investigating?”

Shao Mingyuan smiled, “Let’s investigate and see. By the way, the mountain road will be clear in a few days.”

“I hope the road can be cleared soon. The family must be getting anxious.”

Several days later, with a burst of cheers, the mountain road was finally clear.