Shao Mingyuan lifted Qiao Zhao high and spun her around several times. Qiao Zhao angrily patted his arms: “Shao Mingyuan, what madness has seized you now? You’re making me dizzy with all this spinning.”

The man’s hearty laughter rang in her ears: “I’m happy!”

Qiao Zhao, afraid that Chen Guang outside the door might hear, lowered her voice and scolded: “If you’re happy, why are you picking me up? Put me down right now, or I’ll get angry.”

“Alright.” After the initial wild joy, the young general calmed down somewhat and began to lower the young lady, but his movement paused halfway.

“Did you put me in the wrong place?” Shao Mingyuan asked hesitantly.

Qiao Zhao’s voice was flat as she said word by word: “Yes, you put me in the bathtub!”

This fool—couldn’t he be more careful when he couldn’t see?

Shao Mingyuan looked embarrassed and quickly pulled Qiao Zhao out and set her down.

Qiao Zhao’s embroidered shoes and dress hem were thoroughly soaked. She looked up at Shao Mingyuan.

Shao Mingyuan knew he had done something foolish. His face reddened with embarrassment as he stood there at a loss.

Qiao Zhao was both angry and amused. Lifting her skirts, she walked toward the door: “Hurry up and bathe.”

“Zhaozhao—” Shao Mingyuan couldn’t help calling out.

What reached his ears was the sound of the door closing.

Shao Mingyuan stood there in a daze.

Chen Guang entered carrying a water bucket. Noticing the General’s expression seemed off, he cleared his throat: “General, please step back a few paces. There’s water on the floor—be careful not to slip.”

The General stepped back several paces with a dazed expression.

Chen Guang poured the water into the bathtub, tested the temperature, and smiled: “General, the water temperature is just right. Let this subordinate help you bathe.”

He walked over to help the dazed General undress. Shao Mingyuan snapped out of his reverie and stopped him: “No need, I’ll do it myself.”

If his eyes couldn’t be cured, he would have to get used to doing these things himself sooner or later.

Shao Mingyuan silently undressed and, with Chen Guang’s support, stepped into the bathtub and slowly sank.

Chen Guang stood behind Shao Mingyuan, using a water ladle to pour water over his back.

“General, did you anger Miss Li again?”

Shao Mingyuan’s hand holding the soft cloth paused. He raised an eyebrow and asked coldly: “What do you mean I angered Miss Li again?”

Chen Guang poured a ladle of water over Shao Mingyuan’s straight back, which was crisscrossed with scars, and said with a smile: “General, are you still being secretive with this subordinate? If you and Miss Li have problems, you need to find ways to solve them. If you don’t solve them, won’t the problems just get bigger? Tell this subordinate about it—perhaps I can give you some advice.”

After a moment of silence, Shao Mingyuan said, “I just put Miss Li in the bathtub.”

Chen Guang began coughing violently: “General, you can’t eat hot tofu in a hurry! If you want to bathe together with Miss Li so soon, of course, she’d be angry!”

“Nonsense, it was just an accident,” Shao Mingyuan said, both embarrassed and angry.

Chen Guang silently rolled his eyes.

Just how much of an accident would it take to put a young lady in a bathtub?

Wait, this means the General was holding Miss Li just now?

With this thought, Chen Guang scrubbed the General’s back with even more vigor.

After bathing, Shao Mingyuan changed into clean clothes and lay down on the bed. He said to Chen Guang, who was preparing to carry out the water: “You kept watch all night, didn’t you? Go back and get a good sleep.”

“Yes, sir.” Chen Guang responded loudly and walked to the door. Opening it, he couldn’t help but be startled: “Third Miss, why are you here?”

Qiao Zhao had already changed her clothes and was holding a tray: “To apply medicine for your General.”

Hearing this, Shao Mingyuan quickly sat up. Listening to the approaching footsteps, he smiled sheepishly: “Zhaozhao, you weren’t angry with me just now, were you?”

Qiao Zhao set down the tray and took Shao Mingyuan’s hands. While disinfecting the wounds on his hands, she said: “Whether I’m angry or not, I still need to change your bandages, don’t I?”

The young lady lowered her head, her long, curled lashes casting shadows under her eyes, her expression gentle.

Though Shao Mingyuan couldn’t see, he could feel the gentleness in the young lady’s movements, and he couldn’t help but smile quietly.

Qiao Zhao finished wrapping clean gauze around Shao Mingyuan’s hands and stood up: “There, rest now. I’m going to sleep for a while, too.”

“Mm.”

Qiao Zhao walked to the door and heard the man call out behind her: “Zhaozhao—”

“What is it?” Qiao Zhao stopped.

“When we return to the capital, I’ll give you a box of silver ingots. Buy yourself several more dresses.”

He had heard that young ladies’ clothes were delicate—some couldn’t be worn after getting wet with hot water. A box of silver ingots should be enough for Zhaozhao to buy several good dresses.

“No need!” Qiao Zhao forced out these three words and closed the door.

This left Shao Mingyuan completely puzzled: Why wasn’t she happy when he offered to give Zhaozhao money? Was it not enough?

Everyone slept until well past noon before gathering again in the hall.

Yang Houcheng rubbed his eyes: “If I hadn’t been awakened by hunger, I could have kept sleeping.”

Everyone in the hall had stayed up all night. Now that they had slept enough, the aroma of food wafted into their noses, and they quickly devoured their meal.

Physician Li blew on the tea leaves floating on the water’s surface and sighed: “This food is much more to my taste.”

“Grandpa Li, how exactly did you escape?” Qiao Zhao asked the question on everyone’s mind.

“How did I escape?” Physician Li took a sip of tea and shook his head with a smile: “How else could I escape? It was purely by luck. I was swept away by the hurricane for who knows how long, and when I came to, I was on an island.”

“Then how did you get back to Mingfeng Island?” Yang Houcheng couldn’t help but interject.

Physician Li set his teacup on the table and said unhurriedly, “I followed those pirates back, of course. Did you think I could fly back?”

Chi Can kicked Yang Houcheng: “Enough, just listen to what the Physician has to say.”

Physician Li continued: “When I woke up, I found I had been washed ashore on an island by the waves. After walking inland for a short while, I discovered I had stumbled into a pirates’ den.”

“They saved you?” This time it was Chi Can’s turn to ask.

He didn’t believe those beasts had such kind hearts.

Physician Li rolled his eyes at this: “Nonsense! When they saw me, they immediately drew their sabers to chop me into mincemeat. It was because I saved their dying leader that I’ve been able to live peacefully until now. Later, I discovered that many people on that island were sick, the cause being a type of mosquito on the island, so they moved to Mingfeng Island.”

Yang Houcheng stroked his chin: “So it was because of you that those pirates occupied Mingfeng Island.”

Physician Li frowned.

Why did those words sound so deserving of a beating?

“Physician, do you know what was wrong with those pirates? Last night, when we landed on Mingfeng Island, we found many pirates had gone inexplicably mad,” Shao Mingyuan described the situation on the island from the previous night.

Physician Li laughed and looked around at everyone before his gaze finally settled on Shao Mingyuan: “Were you frightened?”

Shao Mingyuan’s expression was calm: “Uh, this junior couldn’t see.”

Physician Li was at a loss for words.

Qiao Zhao smiled gracefully and asked: “Grandpa Li, could those people have been bitten by rabid dogs and developed rabies?”

“Is that what Zhaozhao thinks?”

Qiao Zhao’s delicate brows furrowed slightly: “I can’t think of any other possibility, but there are strange aspects to this. The onset was too rapid, and they all had episodes at the same time—”

Physician Li laughed heartily: “Good that you find it strange!”