The man cried out in alarm, panicking: “Put me down, cough cough cough, you can’t treat human life so carelessly—”

“We’re not doing that. If we hadn’t saved you, wouldn’t your life have been lost long ago?” Miss Qiao replied matter-of-factly.

She looked the man over and smiled slightly: “I’ll ask you one last time—who are you?”

“Miss, I am a sea merchant. Please have them put me down quickly, cough, cough, cough…”

“What goods do you trade?”

Being held up with the threat of being thrown into the sea at any moment felt terrible. The man’s face alternated between pale and flushed, and under everyone’s watchful gaze, he closed his eyes and said: “Crossbows—”

Everyone’s expressions changed slightly.

Privately trafficking crossbows was just as intolerable to the court as privately trafficking salt. No wonder this man had lied earlier.

Qiao Zhao nodded slightly at Ye Luo: “Alright, throw him down.”

As a personal guard under Marquis Guanjun, Ye Luo was undoubtedly excellent at carrying out orders. Without even a moment’s hesitation, he flung the man out like tossing a torn sack.

The man traced a graceful arc through the air, accompanied by a miserable scream, before landing in the sea with a splash, sending up countless droplets.

Yang Houcheng’s jaw nearly dropped: “Miss Li, why did you still throw him down?”

Qiao Zhao didn’t answer Yang Houcheng’s question, nor did she pay attention to the shocked looks from the Imperial Guards and crew members. She placed both hands on the ship’s railing and watched the struggling figure in the water with an expressionless face.

The man had swallowed several mouthfuls of seawater after falling in. Though skilled at swimming, his weakened limbs left him without the strength to struggle, so he could only tilt his head back and cry for help: “Save me, please, save me—”

Qiao Zhao continued staring at him expressionlessly.

“Miss Li—” Yang Houcheng couldn’t help calling out.

Watching a living person drown before his eyes was truly more than his tender heart could bear.

Seeing Qiao Zhao unmoved, he looked to Chi Can, only to find his friend wearing an expression of amusement, clearly finding the current situation quite interesting.

Yang Houcheng twitched his lips and hurriedly turned his gaze to the person he considered most reliable.

The general, on whom his companion placed such hope, had his eyes slightly closed, as if asleep.

Yang Houcheng rubbed his face and sighed.

Never mind, at least he wasn’t thrown overboard, too. Whatever happens, happens.

“What you say now might still be in time to finish your words,” Qiao Zhao looked down at the man struggling desperately in the water, and said unhurriedly.

The sea wind lifted her raven-black hair and plain-colored dress hem, making her seem like a sea siren—stunningly beautiful, yet the man looking up at her felt only terror.

This wasn’t a girl at all, but a cold-blooded demon!

After swallowing another mouthful of water, with the sound of bubbles gurgling in his ears, just as he was about to sink into the icy sea, the man’s last shred of hope was destroyed. Using all his remaining strength, he screamed hoarsely: “Women—”

The rest of his words were cut off as he choked on water, and the man began to sink.

“Ye Luo, fish him out,” Qiao Zhao finally spoke.

When Shao Mingyuan had sent Ye Luo to protect Grandfather Li on the southern journey, he had told her that Ye Luo was an excellent swimmer.

Ye Luo nodded, tied a rope around himself, handed the other end to Chen Guang, and leaped into the sea like an agile fish swimming toward the man.

Ye Luo quickly reached the man, circled behind him to grab his collar, and swiftly swam back toward the ship.

Chen Guang glanced at the expressionless general and, moved by a sudden thought, explained to Qiao Zhao: “Miss Li, did you see? When rescuing someone from water, you can’t approach from the front; otherwise, if the drowning person grabs onto you, even the rescuer will be in danger.”

Qiao Zhao blinked, somewhat puzzled.

She didn’t know how to swim—why was Chen Guang telling her this? He couldn’t possibly expect her to rescue someone from water someday.

“Ahem.” Chen Guang cleared his throat and smiled: “Our general taught us all this. Our general knows so much. Last time during the landslide, it was also our general who taught us not to run downhill in the direction of the rockfall—”

“Chen Guang.” Shao Mingyuan couldn’t stand it anymore and called out, his tone carrying a faint warning.

Why was this troublesome boy suddenly telling Zhaozhao all this?

Qiao Zhao instantly understood Chen Guang’s intention and felt both amused and helpless.

How could someone as serious and proper as Shao Mingyuan have a subordinate like Chen Guang?

No, wait, Shao Mingyuan wasn’t exactly a serious, proper person either!

Several scenes flashed through her mind like a revolving lantern, and Qiao Zhao’s face grew slightly warm as she turned her gaze back to the surface.

Ye Luo didn’t take long to bring the man back onto the ship.

The man had swallowed quite a bit of seawater and was both frightened and terrified. Combined with his already weakened condition, he had now fainted.

“Brother Yang, have someone take him below to clean him up.”

Naturally, they couldn’t expect these Imperial Guards to tend to someone, so Yang Houcheng casually called over a crew member and tossed him a piece of broken silver: “Take this man to clean him up, arrange a room for him, and get him some dry clothes.”

The crew member nodded and carried the man away.

Qiao Zhao couldn’t help but take another look at the crew member.

The unconscious man was tall and sturdy, while the crew member, though not short, had a well-proportioned build. Yet he lifted the burly man and walked away effortlessly.

This crew member had quite a bit of strength.

Qiao Zhao sighed inwardly, vaguely feeling something was off.

Come to think of it, ever since leaving Jia Feng and continuing south, they had rehired experienced crew members and workers for the sea voyage. These people added up to quite a number, yet they were usually so quiet they had no presence at all.

These crew members and workers seemed somewhat problematic.

Watching the man being carried into the cabin by the crew member, Yang Houcheng looked up at the sky: “The sun seems about to come out again. Let’s go inside, too. By the way, what did that man mean when he mentioned women earlier?”

Chi Can said coldly, “I don’t know if it’s what I’m thinking.”

Qiao Zhao’s face turned ashen: “It’s exactly what Brother Chi is thinking. The goods they trafficked were women, meaning they very likely sold Great Liang’s women to the Japanese pirates!”

“What?” Yang Houcheng flew into a rage and turned to leave: “I’m going to feed that bastard to the fish!”

Chi Can kicked him: “Enough, stop making a scene. Even if we feed him to the fish, it’s not now. We should at least extract some useful information from him first.”

They were completely in the dark about maritime affairs—they couldn’t end up being fed to the fish themselves without even knowing how they died.

Yang Houcheng was naturally speaking in anger. Hearing this, he said coldly: “In any case, we can’t let that bastard off easy. Hey, Miss Li, if you hadn’t had Ye Luo throw that guy into the sea, we really would have been fooled by him. How did you know he was lying all along?”

Qiao Zhao smiled: “All’s fair in war. Besides, even if what he said was true, throwing him into the sea wouldn’t have been any loss to us.”

Everyone: “…” This works too?

Qiao Zhao ignored everyone’s reactions and glanced at Shao Mingyuan: “General Shao, let’s go back to the cabin to take your medicine.”