Qiao Zhao’s expression remained composed: “Ask them who they are.”

Chen Guang walked to the door. The pounding from outside grew even louder. Before he could ask, they shouted: “Open the door, open the door! We are soldiers searching for Japanese pirates!”

Chen Guang pulled the door open, slightly bending his legs and bowing with a smile: “Officers, we are all honest and law-abiding citizens. Where would there be any Japanese pirates?”

Four men stood outside the door. As soon as the door opened, they pushed Chen Guang aside and walked straight in, sneering coldly: “Whether there are Japanese pirates or not isn’t for you to say. We’ll know after we search!”

Chen Guang continued bowing as he followed the officers inside, maintaining a respectful attitude: “Yes, officers, please search. Officers, search as much as you like.”

The lead officer exchanged glances with the other three: “You all spread out and search. See how many people are in this household.”

The other three split up to investigate while the lead officer’s gaze fell on Qiao Zhao.

Qiao Zhao kept her head down, nervously tugging at her sleeve.

“This is our young master. He’s been shy around strangers since childhood,” Chen Guang quickly explained.

The lead officer took two steps toward Qiao Zhao, looking down at her condescendingly.

Qiao Zhao bit her lip and retreated two steps, not daring to lift her head.

After glancing at the youth’s height, the lead officer lost interest.

The higher-ups had said they were searching for a tall, well-built man. This bean sprout of a boy before him was not the person they were looking for.

With this thought, the lead officer’s gaze shifted to Chen Guang.

Chen Guang hunched over with a face full of smiles: “Officer—”

“Stand up straight!”

Chen Guang’s heart tightened, but his face didn’t dare show the slightest abnormality. He obediently straightened his body.

The lead officer’s eyes narrowed, staring coldly at Chen Guang: “Quite tall, aren’t you?”

Chen Guang chuckled, showing a mouthful of white teeth: “I’ve eaten a lot since childhood. When others eat one bowl of rice, I eat three bowls. Before I knew it, I grew tall. My father complains that I eat too much…”

“Cut the nonsense! Lift your shirt hem!”

“What?” A flash of panic quickly crossed Chen Guang’s eyes, though he played dumb on the surface.

“Are you deaf? I told you to lift your shirt hem!”

Chen Guang desperately protected his chest: “Officer, this, this isn’t appropriate, is it? Why must one man make things difficult for another?”

The lead officer flew into a rage: “Stop babbling! Either lift your shirt and let me see, or come with us!”

“Don’t, don’t! I’ll lift it, I’ll lift it!” Chen Guang hurriedly lifted his shirt hem, revealing his smooth, firm abdomen, and quickly glanced at Qiao Zhao.

Third Miss, these people are checking people’s stomachs. What will the General do when it’s his turn?

It’s over, it’s over. This time, we might not be able to hide.

Seeing Chen Guang’s abdomen was completely smooth, the lead officer’s expression finally relaxed, and he said irritably, “Put it down.”

The higher-ups had instructed them that the criminal they were to arrest had a fresh knife wound on his abdomen. This person wasn’t the one.

At this moment, the other three officers came out: “Boss, there are two more people in the rooms – an old man and a middle-aged man, both lying down.”

“Let’s go have a look.”

One officer led the boss to the room where Censor Xing was placed.

As soon as they entered, there was a faint medicinal smell. The lead officer instinctively frowned and looked toward the bed.

On the bed lay an elderly man with completely white hair and beard, his face waxy yellow and deeply lined with wrinkles, looking like he was on his deathbed.

The lead officer reached into his clothing and took out a portrait, opening it to carefully compare.

Chen Guang took the opportunity to glance at it. The portrait clearly showed Censor Xing as he had looked the night Shao Mingyuan brought him back.

Looking again at Censor Xing, who appeared twenty to thirty years older than in the portrait, Chen Guang couldn’t help but deeply admire Qiao Zhao.

Those wrinkles on the Censor’s face were drawn stroke by stroke by Third Miss, and even the graying hair and beard were dyed by her. This skill was truly extraordinary.

Seeing that the old man lying on the bed, who seemed ready to breathe his last at any moment, looked nothing like the person in the portrait, the lead officer put the portrait away. With a disgusted expression, he asked: “What is he to you? What illness does he have?”

Qiao Zhao timidly spoke up: “He’s my grandfather. The doctor said grandfather caught a cold.”

“A cold? How could a cold make someone look half-dead?” the lead officer asked.

Qiao Zhao kept her head down, seeming very frightened, even her voice carrying a crying tone: “I, I don’t know… My father was taking care of my grandfather and also fell ill…”

“Your father?”

“My father is in the next room.” Qiao Zhao quickly glanced toward the room where Shao Mingyuan was staying.

Chen Guang was both nervous and wanted to laugh.

Who would have thought that Third Miss could call the General “father” so smoothly!

The lead officer walked to the doorway of Shao Mingyuan’s room and peered inside.

The man lying on the bed appeared to be in his thirties, his complexion even worse than the old man in the adjacent room. If that old man looked terminally ill, this middle-aged man had one foot in the grave.

The lead officer couldn’t help but mutter to himself: Both father and son caught colds, and so severely too. This feels somewhat ominous.

“Your father also has a cold?”

Qiao Zhao nodded, her face full of grief: “Yes, my father was fine originally, but after taking care of my grandfather for two days, he became like this. We called a doctor, and the doctor said my grandfather has an extremely contagious type of cold. He told us to prepare for the funeral. Wuu wuu wuu—”

As soon as she said this, the lead officer’s face changed drastically. He quickly retreated to the courtyard, with the other three officers following him out, all looking grim.

“Which of you will go in and check?” the lead officer commanded.

The three officers looked at each other, none speaking up.

“The superiors have instructed us not to let any suspicious person slip by!”

The three officers secretly curled their lips.

Then you go yourself! Who would want to risk catching this potentially fatal disease?

All three were determined not to volunteer. The lead officer pointed at one: “Er Hu, you go.”

The officer who was singled out was dumbfounded: “Boss, I, I, I—”

“You what? Go quickly!”

Although this officer was called “Er Hu” (Second Tiger), his build was as thin and weak as a scrawny chicken. Under the watchful eyes of the lead officer and the other two, he finally nodded with a bitter expression: “I’ll go.”

This officer looked back every few steps, finally showing an expression of facing death with resolve. Steeling his heart, he walked in.

Qiao Zhao silently followed him in, standing by the bedside and asking: “Officer, please be gentle with whatever you need to check. My father’s body can’t withstand much.”

Shao Mingyuan, who was pretending to sleep with his eyes closed, felt his eyelashes tremble slightly.

The officer looked disgusted, covering his mouth: “Lift his shirt hem!”

Chen Guang, standing at the doorway, immediately felt his heart leap to his throat, beating wildly with nervousness.

But Qiao Zhao remained composed, following the officer’s instruction and lifting Shao Mingyuan’s shirt hem.

The officer took a glance, saw that the man on the sickbed had no knife wound on his lower abdomen, didn’t even want to look a second time, and hurriedly retreated, shaking his head: “Boss, it’s not that person!”

“Then let’s go.” The lead officer spat on the ground. “What terrible luck!”