Shao Mingyuan had been gone for most of a month.

The Tartars’ breakthrough into the capital’s suburbs cast a shadow over the entire city. For a long time, weeping could be heard everywhere. Even those who hadn’t experienced that bloody night were deeply worried. After all, if the Tartars could break through to the northern suburbs, they could break through elsewhere. The mere thought made people unable to eat or sleep peacefully.

Sensing Great Liang’s atmosphere of approaching storm, Prince Gong of Xijiang didn’t want to stay a moment longer. When the Three Judicial Offices handed over the so-called murderer who had killed his parents out of revenge against the Xijiang people, Prince Gong didn’t investigate deeply and hurriedly departed.

As time passed, Qiao Zhao’s longing for Shao Mingyuan intensified. Only now did she understand what it meant to be confused by worry.

While everyone believed Marquis Guanjun would certainly defeat the Tartars thoroughly, she couldn’t help wondering if he was eating and sleeping well, whether he might accidentally be struck by an enemy arrow.

“Miss, look, there’s a spider here.” Binglu pointed excitedly at a corner while dusting the bookshelf.

Qiao Zhao put down her scroll to look. She saw a spotted spider clinging to the wall corner, spinning out a long strand of silk and dangling in the air.

Binglu didn’t harm the spider but carefully cupped it and released it outside, saying with a smile, “When a spider drops, relatives arrive. Miss, it seems you have a guest coming.”

Qiao Zhao smiled: “Besides me, there’s you and A’Zhu in this room. The guest might not necessarily be for me.”

Binglu picked up a thick book to dust off the settled dust: “Anyway, it’s not for this servant. My family has no distant guests, and it’s certainly not for A’Zhu either. Miss, I guess the young master is coming back.”

Before Qiao Zhao could speak, A’Zhu laughed: “Binglu, this time you’ve guessed wrong.”

Binglu threw her clothes aside, displeased: “Why do you say I guessed wrong?”

This dead A’Zhu, stupid A’Zhu! Couldn’t she see that when she mentioned the young master returning, Miss’s eyes brightened? Why couldn’t she let Miss be happy for a bit?

A’Zhu quickly walked into the inner room and returned with a letter in hand: “Miss, there’s a letter for you. I saw it was from Jia Feng. Since you were resting earlier, I didn’t bring it to you.”

Qiao Zhao took the letter. Seeing the familiar handwriting on the envelope, she couldn’t help but smile. After reading it, she said: “My sworn brother is preparing to set out for the capital.”

Hearing this, Binglu pouted: “A’Zhu, you cheated!”

“Alright, come with me for an outing. Since my sworn brother is returning, I’ll go buy some things.”

Receiving Qiao Mo’s letter put Qiao Zhao in the mood for shopping. The three masters and servants took plenty of silver and went out.

Though the atmosphere had been heavy these days, there were still many pedestrians on the streets. The shops along the road remained lively as usual. Soon, the three had bought a pile of things, with Chen Guang following behind carrying everything, his face wrinkled in distress.

“Chen Guang, hurry up.” Binglu urged him with disdain.

Chen Guang quickened his pace with a dark expression.

How unreasonable! He was now just a coachman—why did he have to carry things too?

And what about the supposed physical weakness of delicate women? His legs were about to break from walking, yet they still moved like the wind!

Chen Guang was full of bitterness, but seeing Binglu’s tense face, he resigned himself and followed.

“Juan’er, is that you?” Someone suddenly rushed over from behind the wall.

Chen Guang, holding a pile of things, nimbly turned to block in front of Qiao Zhao, freed one foot to kick the person away, and asked coldly: “Who are you?”

The person was kicked to the ground by Chen Guang, reaching out toward him: “Juan’er, Juan’er—”

Chen Guang looked at the person carefully. The person’s face was filthy and hair disheveled, making it impossible to see their features.

“You’ve mistaken me for someone else.”

But the person completely ignored Chen Guang’s words, struggling to crawl forward while continuously calling “Juan’er.”

Chen Guang frowned in displeasure: “It’s one thing to mistake people, but mistaking a man for a woman—now I’m going to get angry!”

In his old temperament, he would have beaten this person up first.

“Juan’er, Juan’er—”

At this moment, Binglu’s puzzled voice sounded: “A’Zhu, what’s wrong with you?”

Chen Guang turned his head and only then noticed A’Zhu standing in place, looking as if struck by lightning.

Chen Guang couldn’t help but look toward Qiao Zhao.

Seeing that passersby were already casting curious glances, Qiao Zhao made a quick decision: “Chen Guang, take this person to Chunfeng Tavern.”

Soon, they arrived at Chunfeng Tavern. Qiao Zhao brought Binglu and A’Zhu into a private room.

The private room was very quiet. Qiao Zhao looked at A’Zhu, her voice gentle: “A’Zhu, what connection do you have with that person? Can you tell me?”

A’Zhu was silent for a moment, then knelt before Qiao Zhao and kowtowed to her.

Seeing this, Qiao Zhao didn’t speak.

Though A’Zhu and Binglu were just maids, she genuinely liked them from the bottom of her heart. She had long guessed A’Zhu had something on her mind, but since A’Zhu hadn’t mentioned it before, she didn’t want to force her. But now that someone had come looking, it was different. She needed to understand the situation clearly and see what A’Zhu planned to do.

“Juan’er was this servant’s former name. That person is this servant’s elder brother. This servant isn’t a house-born child of my former master’s family, but was sold into it from childhood. When this servant was bought by Young Master Zhu, my family was still doing fairly well. This servant doesn’t know why the elder brother has fallen to such a state…”

“Then go and catch up with your brother.”

A’Zhu kowtowed to Qiao Zhao again before standing: “Thank you, Miss.”

Chen Guang had arranged A’Zhu’s brother in the adjacent private room. Seeing A’Zhu enter, Chen Guang quietly withdrew.

A’Zhu watched coldly as her brother wolfed down the food. Only when the table was a complete mess did he stop: “Juan’er, it’s so wonderful to find you!”

A’Zhu’s fingertips trembled slightly in her wide sleeves, but her face remained calm: “Why has elder brother come here? What about the others at home?”

Hearing this, A’Zhu’s brother wiped the corner of his eyes: “Our hometown suffered floods. The great dike collapsed and flooded the entire village, drowning many people. Our family was fortunate—that day, the whole family happened to be in town and escaped disaster. But our home was gone, everything was gone. Thinking that you had been bought by a noble person from the capital, we thought we might be able to find you if we came to the capital, so the whole family came to the capital.”

“How did elder brother know I was bought by a noble person from the capital?”

A’Zhu’s brother’s eyes flickered: “I heard people discussing later, saying the person who bought you spoke with a capital accent…”

A’Zhu lowered her eyes without speaking.

A’Zhu’s brother reached out to grab A’Zhu’s hand: “Juan’er, you don’t still blame elder brother, do you? Elder brother wasn’t ignoring you. That day, I had brought money to redeem you, but unexpectedly, when I rushed over, you had already been bought…”

A’Zhu looked steadily at her brother.

This was her brother, still lying even now.

When Young Master Zhu bought her, he hadn’t spoken at all, simply throwing double the silver to the broker. How would others discuss Young Master Zhu’s accent?

For him to know Young Master Zhu had a capital accent, the most likely scenario was that he had been hiding in the crowd watching her being sold, secretly following Young Master Zhu for a distance before hearing it.