“Eh, it’s not a big deal—” Yang Houcheng bit his tongue. “What?”

He stared wide-eyed, involuntarily looking at Chi Can: “You heard clearly what Tingquan just said, right?”

Chi Can, equally shocked, had a blank expression on his face.

On the contrary, Shao Mingyuan remained calm-faced and repeated: “I can’t see with my eyes—meaning I’m blind.”

Yang Houcheng’s mouth hung open for a long time without closing, as if lost in a dream, murmuring: “I understand Great Liang speech, but I don’t understand what you mean by this. How could you suddenly lose your sight? And you say it in the same tone as ‘I ate too much today’—it’s completely blindsiding!”

“When did this happen?” Chi Can asked, having recovered his senses.

Shao Mingyuan’s brows and eyes remained calm: “I discovered it after waking up yesterday.”

Chi Can quickly glanced at Qiao Zhao: “Third Miss Li knows?”

Qiao Zhao nodded.

“Tingquan, your eyes had problems yesterday—why are you only telling us now?” Yang Houcheng no longer knew what to do, carefully looking at Shao Mingyuan’s eyes.

Chi Can said coolly, “Idiot, he must have been discovered by Third Miss Li, which is why he’s confessing to us.”

Yang Houcheng looked at Shao Mingyuan.

Shao Mingyuan coughed lightly, but the corners of his mouth carried a faint smile, tacitly acknowledging it.

Chi Can looked at Shao Mingyuan, then at Qiao Zhao, seeming to understand something. He curved his lips in a smile, then frowned with concern for Qiao Zhao: “When will Tingquan’s eyes recover?”

Seeing these two’s calm and unperturbed manner, the problem shouldn’t be too serious.

“Currently, it’s hard to say—head injuries are somewhat complex.”

Chi Can and Yang Houcheng looked at each other.

“What are we to do? We’re stuck at sea with nothing available. If we were in the capital, we could at least have the imperial physicians take a look!”

Chi Can rolled his eyes at Yang Houcheng: “Can Tingquan’s eyes be examined by imperial physicians? Is your brain filled with seawater?”

Yang Houcheng opened his mouth, then sighed heavily.

“The imperial physicians would probably be helpless too, unless—” Qiao Zhao’s expression darkened as she didn’t continue.

Unless Grandfather Li were still alive, he might have had the confidence to treat it.

“You needn’t be like this. Since whether my eyes recover depends entirely on heaven’s will, don’t think about it anymore. I’m just letting you know about this matter. Let’s discuss the main business instead,” Shao Mingyuan said calmly.

Yang Houcheng held his forehead.

Being blind didn’t count as anything serious?

“Regarding going to Mingfeng Island, what are your thoughts?” Shao Mingyuan asked.

The medicinal herbs needed for this trip were in the waters near Mingfeng Island. To complete the mission, they would inevitably have to approach them, and conflict would be unavoidable.

Yang Houcheng pondered for a moment: “On our side, counting generously, we have just over ten people who can fight. Tingquan’s eyes are also problematic. Based on what that Big Hu said, I estimate there are at least a hundred or so people on Mingfeng Island. If we go, we’d be walking to our deaths. In my opinion, we should simply abandon this mission.”

“If we abandon it, Third Miss Li won’t be able to report back properly,” Chi Can reminded coolly.

Yang Houcheng grinned: “What can we do about it? The Empress Dowager surely doesn’t know how dangerous the coastal areas are. If she knew, she would stop us from coming.”

Chi Can glanced at Yang Houcheng and smiled coolly: “You’re wrong. The Empress Dowager wouldn’t let us come, but Third Miss Li would still have to come.”

“That’s true. But now we’re not going, so Miss Li can’t be blamed. I think that’s what we should do—turn around and head back right now. Consider this trip as broadening our horizons. Tingquan, what do you think?”

Shao Mingyuan smiled: “We should indeed be more cautious. How many people are on Mingfeng Island is currently unknown—going there rashly wouldn’t be wise. Let’s head back first and make plans later. Shixi, what’s your view?”

Chi Can curved his lips in a smile: “Since you’ve all said so, I naturally don’t mind either way.”

Footsteps sounded in the corridor, and moments later, a Jinwu Guard’s voice came: “Captain, there’s a situation!”

“Come in and speak.”

A Jinwu Guard pushed the door open: “More ships are approaching ahead.”

“More ships?” Yang Houcheng glanced at everyone. “I’ll go take a look.”

Chi Can followed him out.

Shao Mingyuan turned his head toward Qiao Zhao’s direction: “Zhaozhao, let’s go have a look too.”

“Mm, let’s go.” Qiao Zhao walked in front of Shao Mingyuan, turning her head to look at him.

Shao Mingyuan seemed to sense something and smiled: “What is it?”

“Are we not going to Mingfeng Island?”

“Not going for now. Ye Luo initially said it was an uninhabited deserted island, so we didn’t consider it much. Now that we know there are Japanese pirates based there, it’s better to plan carefully.” Shao Mingyuan smiled gently. “Zhaozhao, don’t worry. Even if we truly can’t gather the herbs, it won’t matter when we return to the capital. After all, I’m marrying you—we don’t need the Empress Dowager’s favorable reputation.”

“So I should thank you then?” Qiao Zhao gave him a sideways glance.

She already had no good reputation in the capital to begin with. If not for investigating the truth behind the Qiao family fire, who would want to run to this place? The Empress Dowager’s favorable reputation might be tremendous glory for other young ladies, but for her, it would be tremendous trouble.

What if her reputation improved and her family wanted her to marry? They had finally all agreed she was unmarriageable!

Of course, discussing this now was meaningless…

Miss Qiao glanced at the man beside her. His dark brows and eyes made her heart skip a beat, involuntarily curving her lips.

If it were marrying him, it didn’t seem like such a terrible thing.

Having just reached the deck, Qiao Zhao saw the ships drawing ever closer. Being short, she had to stand on tiptoe to look into the distance.

“The ship isn’t large. Wait, what’s that behind it?” Yang Houcheng raised one hand to shade his brow, squinting his eyes.

“General, there’s a large ship following behind that ship!” Ye Luo reported immediately after seeing clearly.

“Go tell Chen Guang to bring Big Hu out.”

That small ship was heading straight toward the direction where Qiao Zhao and the others were located, with the large ship in hot pursuit. By the time Chen Guang dragged Big Hu over, the large and small ships were already close to the ship where everyone was located.

“More ships have come. Big Hu, take a look at the approaching ships’ flags—do you recognize them?” Qiao Zhao spoke.

Big Hu was now most afraid of Qiao Zhao. Hearing her say this, he quickly looked, and with this one glance he was immediately terrified out of his wits, his whole body collapsing: “Mingfeng Island… It’s the Japanese pirates from Mingfeng Island! That blue and white flag is their symbol!”

Yang Houcheng kicked Big Hu and angrily scolded: “You bastard, what else are you still hiding from us? To have them send out two ships to hunt you down completely?”

“There’s nothing!” Big Hu said blankly.

Since when had he become so important?

“No, that large ship is chasing the small ship!” Chi Can said, leaning against the ship’s railing.

After saying this, he immediately told Yang Houcheng: “Give the order—turn the ship around and get far away from these two ships quickly.”

Helping those in danger was fine, but only under the premise that they could protect themselves. Right now, Tingquan was blind, and what use could ten or so Jinwu Guards be against Japanese pirates? Of course, the farther from trouble the better.

At this moment, cries for help suddenly came from the small ship.