Shao Mingyuan was worried about being criticized by his father-in-law, not knowing that Li Guangwen was quite satisfied at this moment.

Being a man himself, he naturally understood what a man’s reaction would be when he treasured a woman. Though his son-in-law’s behavior looked irritating, compared to his daughter’s happiness, it was nothing.

Never mind—when this boy had a daughter of his own in the future, he would surely understand the feeling.

The family enjoyed a reunion meal together. Old Madam Deng and He Shi pulled Qiao Zhao aside for a family conversation, while Shao Mingyuan accompanied his father-in-law for tea in the garden pavilion.

Shao Mingyuan picked up the teapot, poured a cup of tea, and respectfully offered it to Li Guangwen.

Li Guangwen half-closed his eyes, took a sip, and sighed contentedly.

The weather hadn’t completely turned cool yet. The pavilion and flowering trees blocked most of the sunlight, and the faint fragrance of flowers made those within feel quite comfortable.

“Son-in-law, nothing happened during your trip to Qingliang Mountain, did it?”

Shao Mingyuan hesitated for a moment.

With so many nobles and officials who had gone for summer retreat, people in the court would learn the truth about Emperor Mingkang’s death sooner or later. As one of them, his father-in-law would naturally be no exception.

If he deceived his father-in-law now, he might be angrily scolded by him later.

“Mm, we did encounter some minor problems.” Shao Mingyuan said vaguely.

“What minor problems?” Li Guangwen pressed.

He had suspected something had happened at Qingliang Mountain, and it seemed he was right.

“Uh, His Majesty passed away.”

“Cough cough cough—” Li Guangwen spat out his tea and began coughing violently.

“Father-in-law, are you alright?” Shao Mingyuan quickly took out a neatly folded handkerchief and offered it.

Watching Li Guangwen take the handkerchief and haphazardly wipe his mouth, he felt somewhat pained.

This handkerchief had been folded by Zhaozhao for him. Though his wife couldn’t embroider handkerchiefs, she folded them more neatly than anyone else!

Li Guangwen was extremely shocked at this moment and couldn’t care about propriety. After wiping his mouth carelessly, he threw the handkerchief down and stared at Shao Mingyuan: “The emperor’s death is a minor problem?”

Shao Mingyuan looked innocent: “I was afraid saying it was serious would make father-in-law worry.”

Li Guangwen pursed his lips.

What did he have to worry about? Even if the sky fell, it wouldn’t be up to him, a mere Hanlin compiler, to hold it up.

“So the emperor died of illness? It didn’t affect you two, did it?” Li Guangwen was most concerned about this and took a sip of tea to calm himself.

“Uh, he was shot to death by random arrows.”

“Cough cough cough—” Li Guangwen spat out another mouthful of tea and began coughing violently again.

Shao Mingyuan thought for a moment and couldn’t bear to take out his last clean handkerchief, so he picked up the one that had been thrown on the table and handed it to his father-in-law.

Li Guangwen took it to wipe his mouth and took a deep breath: “What exactly happened? Tell me everything at once!”

Though he didn’t care about the emperor’s life or death, he couldn’t withstand such shocking news.

Shao Mingyuan gave a concise account of events.

Li Guangwen held his teacup and drank slowly. After hearing everything, he set the empty cup on the stone table and frowned: “So Prince Rui is the new emperor now?”

This was terrible. With Prince Rui becoming the new ruler, wouldn’t his eldest daughter have to become a consort?

There were already so many schemes and intrigues within a single household’s inner quarters—the imperial harem was a battlefield. How could his eldest daughter manage well in such an environment?

How annoying!

Li Guangwen anxiously scratched his hair.

His eldest daughter’s troublemaking was her own chosen path, but if it implicated this whole large family, whom could he complain to?

“Son-in-law rendered meritorious service protecting the emperor in this incident, but privately mobilizing troops still leaves people with leverage against you. I think you should lie low for a while.”

Having a daughter as an imperial consort and a son-in-law as a high-ranking, powerful military general—this wasn’t a good thing!

Shao Mingyuan nodded: “Yes, I plan to request leave after the news of His Majesty’s death is announced to the world and the new emperor ascends the throne, then take Zhaozhao to Jia Feng.”

Li Guangwen was startled: “What are you going back to Jia Feng for?”

“I’ve established a family now and want to pay respects to the Qiao family.” After saying this, Shao Mingyuan felt somewhat regretful.

He had carelessly forgotten about Zhaozhao’s special status. Hearing him say he wanted to pay respects to his former father-in-law, his father-in-law would probably be displeased.

Li Guangwen was even more surprised. After being stunned for a while, he showed some approval: “That’s appropriate.”

To observe a person’s character, watching their attitude toward ordinary people was far more reliable than watching their attitude toward close ones.

If his son-in-law could show loyalty and righteousness to the Qiao family, he naturally wouldn’t treat the Li family poorly.

On the way back to the marquis residence, Shao Mingyuan said to Qiao Zhao: “I mentioned to father-in-law that in a few days I’ll take you back to Jia Feng for a visit.”

“Back to Jia Feng?” Qiao Zhao hadn’t expected Shao Mingyuan to have such plans.

Shao Mingyuan took her hand: “Yes, we’ve been married so long—we should go back and visit.”

Qiao Zhao was naturally willing and couldn’t help but smile.

“When we’re there, I’ll also take you to see Physician Li.”

“You know where Grandfather Li is?” Qiao Zhao’s eyes flashed with delight.

“I received news from Ye Luo that Physician Li has settled in a small town, and there’s an old friend with him. Can you guess who?”

Qiao Zhao thought briefly and smiled: “Coroner Qian?”

Earlier, Coroner Qian had come to the capital to testify and later left, claiming he wasn’t used to the capital’s climate.

Shao Mingyuan smiled: “Exactly, Coroner Qian.”

“In that case, Grandfather Li at least has company.” Qiao Zhao felt somewhat comforted.

After the Qiao couple left the Li residence, Li Guangwen leisurely went to the office.

Listening to his colleagues worry about the emperor’s illness and their veiled speculation about the heir apparent, Li Guangwen squinted and took a sip of tea.

Hehe, I know everything, but I’m just not telling.

However, Master Li’s sense of superiority didn’t last long. Two days later, news spread that Emperor Mingkang had passed away and left an edict passing the throne to Prince Rui.

Of course, this public announcement was mainly for the common people to hear. In reality, the nobles and officials gradually learned the inside story.

After repeated requests from all the ministers, Prince Rui finally donned dragon robes with a grief-stricken expression and ascended the throne as emperor.

The first thing Prince Rui wanted to do after ascending the throne was to deal with Master Zhang, but unfortunately, by the time this new ruler remembered, Master Zhang had long since vanished without a trace.

The new emperor was quite furious, but at this time, the Jinlin Guards, Yulin Guards, Jinwu Guards, and even the court’s entire structure needed reorganization. He couldn’t spare the energy to launch a major search for Master Zhang’s whereabouts, so the matter had to be dropped.

The new emperor quickly expelled all the Taoist priests residing in the palace, and the entire court nearly wept with joy.

Heaven had finally opened its eyes—their new emperor was a normal person!

An emperor’s mourning period was different from ordinary people’s—months substituted for years, requiring only three full months. However, the new emperor found the days quite difficult to endure.

He still had nightmares—what could be done about this?

The new emperor, troubled by nightmares, discovered that he had no interest in seeking women. His mind was full of thoughts about Marquis Guanjun, because only when Marquis Guanjun was by his side did he feel drowsy and want to sleep!

Of course, being unable to favor consorts during the mourning period and not wanting to favor them were two different matters.

This was a serious problem!

Feeling deeply uneasy, the new emperor received news that Marquis Guanjun requested an audience.

“Quickly invite Marquis Guanjun in.” The new emperor said with delight.