Qiao Zhao’s eyes widened.

This man was utterly shameless!

Shao Mingyuan smiled.

He suddenly realized that ever since Zhaozhao had revealed her true identity before him, her expressions had become much more abundant.

He liked her this way.

Qiao Zhao closed her eyes.

She couldn’t continue following this scoundrel’s line of conversation, or it would end up going off track again.

She just couldn’t understand how this person, who had been quite proper and courteous before, had turned into a wolf in sheep’s clothing ever since learning she was Qiao Zhao.

“Grandfather and Father had some old friends in nearby cities and towns. The account book in my elder brother’s hands was sent to one of these old friends before the fire, and my brother went to retrieve it again before leaving Jia Feng. I had originally wanted to visit those uncles as soon as I returned to Jia Feng, but I was worried that with the enemy in the shadows and us in the open, it might instead bring disaster upon them, so I didn’t dare act rashly.” Qiao Zhao curved her lips into a smile as she spoke. “Now it’s different.”

“Yes, now the enemy thinks they’re in the shadows while we’re in the open, but we already know their identities. We can use this to our advantage – we might be able to lure the fish out.” Shao Mingyuan said this, then looked deeply at Qiao Zhao with a half-smile: “However, Zhaozhao can’t go.”

Qiao Zhao looked at him.

Shao Mingyuan shook his head regretfully: “If I visit the Qiao family’s old friends as Master Qiao’s son-in-law and bring you along, I’d probably be despised by them.”

“Is General Shao afraid of being despised?”

“Though I’m not afraid, if they harbor feelings of disdain, they won’t possibly reveal any clues to me.”

Qiao Zhao couldn’t help but fall silent.

Shao Mingyuan’s concern was reasonable, but asking her to just wait in the village like this left her unwilling.

Even someone as clever as Qiao Zhao found this problem difficult. Meeting his teasing gaze, her heart stirred, and she asked: “Does General Shao have a solution?”

Shao Mingyuan smiled: “I didn’t sleep well last night, my brain isn’t working properly, so I can’t think of a good method for the moment.”

Seeing his expression, Qiao Zhao knew this person was deliberately teasing her. She couldn’t help but press her lips together, her tone slightly cool: “What would it take for General Shao to think of a good method?”

The man across from her raised an eyebrow and said with complete seriousness: “If Zhaozhao would call me Big Brother Shao once, I’d be so happy I might just think of a solution.”

“Shao Mingyuan, don’t go too far!”

Shao Mingyuan raised his hand to rub his temples and sighed: “My head hurts a bit.”

“Shao Mingyuan, do you know that your face is thicker than the armor you wore when you returned to the capital that day!”

“My head hurts. Yesterday I gave the bed to Zhaozhao, so I slept standing up.”

Qiao Zhao couldn’t help but deflate. She stared at that handsome face, thicker than a city wall, for a long while. Her lips moved, and she quickly called out: “Big Brother Shao.”

After saying those three words, she was so embarrassed she nearly bit off her tongue.

She felt nothing strange about addressing others this way, so why was it so awkward when it came to him?

Shao Mingyuan responded loudly and gazed at the young lady without blinking.

Did she know that her cheeks were redder than peach blossoms right now…

The young general suddenly felt that all talk of sitting unmoved with a beautiful woman in one’s lap was nonsense. If the girl he loved were in his arms, he would probably make mistakes.

“Tell me, what exactly is your method?”

“You can disguise yourself as a man.”

Qiao Zhao: “…” Where was the brick? She wanted to smash him with it!

“Such a wonderful method – however did General Shao think of it?” Qiao Zhao asked sarcastically.

With her current soft and delicate appearance, anyone but a blind person would see through a male disguise.

“Don’t worry, I prepared this for our trip.” Shao Mingyuan took something from his chest and handed it to Qiao Zhao.

Qiao Zhao opened the small box. Inside was something about the size of a quail egg – she couldn’t tell what it was.

“What is this?” Qiao Zhao reached out with her index finger to touch it, and the strange texture made her instantly shiver.

Shao Mingyuan smiled: “A human skin mask.”

Qiao Zhao’s clear, moist eyes widened slightly: “Such things as human skin masks exist?”

“They do, but perfectly crafted human skin masks are extremely rare. I only obtained this one.”

“How do you use this?” Qiao Zhao poked the thing in the box with her finger again.

“Soak it in clear water to expand it, then apply it to your face. I’ll help you put it on tomorrow before we set out.”

After the two finished their discussion, Shao Mingyuan returned to the village chief’s place.

Throughout the afternoon while Governor Li and Magistrate Wang questioned the villagers, Shao Mingyuan appeared utterly disinterested, which relaxed the two considerably.

When the day’s questioning ended, Magistrate Wang poured a cup of tea and offered it to Governor Li, laughing: “Please rest assured, my lord. It seems Marquis Guanjun’s visit this time is just thunder with little rain. Perhaps his true intention isn’t the wine but something else – paying respects to his father-in-law’s family is false, while traveling with a beauty is true, haha…”

“Though it appears so for now, since time is still short, we can’t relax our watch on that side.”

“My lord can rest assured.”

Early the next morning, morning mist shrouded the quiet, beautiful little mountain village. As roosters crowed and dogs barked, a furtive figure quietly departed from the vicinity of the tofu beauty’s residence.

Magistrate Wang, upon receiving the report, hurried to Governor Li’s room.

Governor Li sat up with a dark expression: “What is it?”

This Baiyun Village was so poor that it had nothing, but the beauty was outstanding. The village chief’s granddaughters were all fresh and lovely. Last night, he had held one of their small hands, so smooth and delicate. In his dream just now, he was still dreaming of those small hands providing him relief, when this fool interrupted his sweet dream!

Seeing his superior’s poor expression, Magistrate Wang quickly said: “My lord, the person watching that side discovered that early this morning, Marquis Guanjun quietly left Baiyun Village with a young servant.”

“Such a thing happened?” Governor Li immediately lost all sleepiness. He took the clothes Magistrate Wang handed him and hurriedly put them on, his expression gloomy: “What does Marquis Guanjun mean by leaving the village so secretively?”

“That’s hard to say, but he showed no abnormality yesterday, yet today he pulls this stunt. This subordinate finds it very strange.”

“When things are abnormal, there must be demons at work. This matter cannot be taken lightly. Did the person watching that side follow them?”

“My lord can rest assured. At the time, two people were assigned to watch. One of them followed directly.”

“This is what we’ll do – you stay in Baiyun Village to keep watch, and I’ll return to the city immediately. If anyone asks, say that disaster struck in Yutian and I rushed over to inspect the disaster area.”

“Yes.”

On the country road in early morning, there were few pedestrians. A tall man led a handsome young servant, walking hurriedly.

“The situation is quite interesting.” Shao Mingyuan turned his head and said in a low voice.

“How so?”

“The tail behind us is quite nimble. Their tracking skills must have received special training. Jia Feng is just a small place, yet the small magistrate has people trained in such skills by his side. Don’t you think that’s rather interesting?”

“Indeed so. This also proves we haven’t gotten the wrong direction.”

Shao Mingyuan pointed ahead: “Baiyun Town has arrived.”

Baiyun Town was only about ten li from Baiyun Village. Years ago, a retired military officer lived there who had quite a good relationship with Qiao Zhao’s grandfather, Qiao Zhuo. Through their interactions, the two families became close friends.

Qiao Zhao looked distantly at the small town and couldn’t help but quicken her pace.