Xiao Qiao returned and sat down, lost in thought and motionless.

Earlier, she had met Zong Ji in the side courtyard near the gate and inquired about the battle situation in Lingbi. Chun Niang was also present and finally understood some of what had happened.

Zong Ji said that when he left, Yang Xin was attacking Xiao, and Xue An had also arrived again upon hearing the news. But he asked the Lady not to worry too much. Xiao was easy to defend but difficult to attack, and Bi Zhi had repeatedly used ingenious military strategies. Moreover, Yang Xin and Xue An were also wary of each other, so Lingbi should be safe for now.

Zong Ji also mentioned that he had arrived yesterday to deliver a letter from Bi Zhi to the Marquis. But the Marquis had not replied.

Although he didn’t know the contents of Bi Zhi’s letter, he knew it must be related to the battle situation in Lingbi. Still hoping for a reply from the Marquis, he had taken the initiative to ask the Lady for help in urging a response.

The news made Chun Niang very worried.

Although Zong Ji said Lingbi was safe for now, even Chun Niang could tell that Lingbi’s safety was actually in a precarious state.

The Lady’s strong reaction when reading the letter earlier must have been due to her concern about the battle situation in Lingbi.

Chun Niang guessed that the content of Bi Zhi’s letter to the Marquis must have been a request for help.

Da Qiao’s letter to the Lady must have been about the same.

Now, seeing her sitting there with a rigid expression, Chun Niang was even more worried. She stepped forward to comfort and advise: “My Lady, don’t worry. Last time when Xue Tai attacked Yanzhou, the Marquis stepped in to help and resolve the difficulty. Now that Lingbi is in danger if you speak to the Marquis properly, he should help resolve it…”

“Chun Niang, call Jia Si for me!” Xiao Qiao suddenly said.

Chun Niang’s words were interrupted. She glanced at Xiao Qiao.

Her complexion seemed to have calmed down considerably compared to earlier.

After a slight hesitation, Chun Niang responded and hurried out to relay the message.

After Chun Niang left, Xiao Qiao closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath.

…

Hearing the Lady’s sudden summons, Jia Si didn’t dare delay and rushed over. He waited at the bottom of the steps outside the inner door of the Lady’s residence.

He waited for a long time, and as he began to feel uneasy, he suddenly heard the faint rustle of footsteps.

Looking up, he saw a familiar graceful figure appear from the other end of the corridor. His heart skipped a beat, and he quickly lowered his head, not daring to look closely.

Xiao Qiao stopped at the top of the steps. After Jia Si had paid his respects to her, her gaze fell on his face, without saying a word.

Jia Si’s heart pounded as she looked at him, feeling guilty. With the heat, sweat broke out on his forehead.

After a while, he finally heard the Lady’s voice from above: “General Jia, there has been no reply to the letter I entrusted you to send to Lingbi earlier. It might have been lost on the way. As the matter is important, I’ve thought about it and decided to write another letter. Please help me send it out again.”

Jia Si first felt relieved.

Then a sense of guilt welled up inside him.

Hesitating, he saw that the Lady was already holding out a letter tube to him, and he hurriedly stepped forward to receive it with both hands.

“Thank you, General Jia.”

Xiao Qiao gave him a slight smile and turned to leave.

Jia Si watched the Lady’s figure gradually disappear, tightly gripping the letter tube that seemed to burn his hands. Remembering her smile just now, his mood suddenly became extremely low. He stood at the bottom of the steps for a long time before slowly turning to leave.

…

In the evening, Wei Shao returned, dismounting and entering. Jia Si went to greet him.

Jia Si’s father had been a general under Wei Jing and later died in battle. Jia Si had joined the Imperial Guard at sixteen. Two years ago, Wei Shao had appointed him as Captain of the Imperial Guard, showing his trust. Seeing him come to greet them, Wei Shao asked casually while entering, “Anything happens today?”

“Reporting to the Marquis, nothing happened today…”

Wei Shao nodded and strode forward.

Jia Si watched the Marquis’s retreating figure, his mind in turmoil. Suddenly remembering the oath of loyalty he had taken when he first joined the Imperial Guard ten years ago, his palms sweaty, he finally took a few steps forward and said, “There’s just one thing. The Lady asked me to send another letter to Lingbi.”

He finally presented the letter tube with both hands.

Wei Shao stopped, his gaze resting on the letter tube for a moment before taking it. He entered the Sheyang Residence and went straight to his study.

Of course, he had read the previous letter he had intercepted.

In her letter, his wife mainly asked about the battle situation between the green-eyed rebel leader and Yang Xin and Xue An and inquired about their daily life and the baby’s condition. Wei Shao automatically ignored all of these. What caught his attention was a passage she wrote about her own daily life, mentioning him.

She wrote, “…Xindu is where I first met my husband and where we had our grand wedding. Revisiting this place brings both nostalgia and joy. My husband and I once climbed to the top of the Tan Tower at night, with the stars brilliantly illuminating the dome of the sky. The scene from that time remains unforgettable…”

Just these few sentences, Wei Shao had read over and over again in private.

His original intention in ordering Jia Si to intercept his wife’s letters was, of course, to prevent her from knowing about what he was doing to her rebel brother-in-law behind her back.

By cutting off her communication with that side, she wouldn’t be able to know the details, thus avoiding future troubles.

Unexpectedly, he had stumbled upon such a passage in the letter.

At the time, he felt a sense of excitement, as if he had peeked into a secret corner of his wife’s heart.

These were things she would never tell him directly.

He had originally planned to burn her letter. Keeping it might cause trouble if she ever found it.

But because of this passage in the letter, he couldn’t bear to burn it and hid it in his study.

Today, he had intercepted another letter from her.

Wei Shao’s current mood was a mix of curiosity and subtle anticipation.

What would she say in this letter she was sending out?

…

Wei Shao took a small knife to pry open the letter tube. Inside, a snow-white silk scroll fell out, neatly rolled up, and tied with a green silk ribbon.

Wei Shao untied the ribbon. Unable to undo the knot, he impatiently tore it off and eagerly unrolled the scroll.

His gaze fell on the silk, and his eyes immediately froze.

In the center of the silk were only four large characters: “Shame on you, Wei Shao?”

The characters were written in thick ink, deeply penetrating the fabric’s weave and spreading out in fine tendrils.

One could imagine the force with which the person had written these four characters.

Wei Shao’s gaze was fixed on these four characters as if he had frozen. Suddenly coming to his senses, as if sharply pricked by a needle, he jumped up abruptly. The movement was so sudden that his knee hit the desk in front of him. The desk jumped, and a stack of bamboo slips on its surface slid off with a “whoosh,” falling to the ground.

Wei Shao’s knee also hurt from hitting the hardwood of the desk, but he didn’t bother to rub it. Hopping on one foot, he quickly walked towards the door. Just as he was about to reach it, the two closed doors of the study were suddenly pushed open with a “creak.”

Xiao Qiao appeared in the doorway, her face angry, her gaze falling on Wei Shao’s hand.

Wei Shao followed her gaze and looked down, only then realizing he was still clutching the white silk scroll. He quickly hid it behind his back.

Xiao Qiao stepped in, sneering: “How do you find my calligraphy, husband?”

Wei Shao’s face turned slightly red, his expression embarrassed. After exchanging glances with Xiao Qiao for a moment, he suddenly grinned, tossed away the silk scroll in his hand, and quickly walked up to Xiao Qiao. He raised his hands to embrace her, saying, “It’s all my fault! Man Man, please don’t be angry. It’s not worth harming your health with anger! I’ll never dare to do it again in the future…”

Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Qiao, gritting her teeth, pushed him away with all her might.

Normally, how could Wei Shao be pushed away by her? But now she was burning with anger, using all her strength, and Wei Shao was caught off guard. He was pushed back four or five steps by her palms before stopping.

Wei Shao stopped, stunned for a moment, then approached her again as if nothing had happened. He reached out and pulled her into his arms, lowering his head to kiss her. As Xiao Qiao struggled, he forcibly kissed her. Suddenly, his cheek stung, and with a “slap,” Xiao Qiao struck him across the face.

He ignored it and simply pushed Xiao Qiao against the wall, continuing to lower his head to kiss her, mumbling, “Man Man, don’t be angry… I know I was wrong, I shouldn’t have intercepted your letters privately… It won’t happen again in the future…”

Xiao Qiao was pinned against the wall by his arms and body, forcibly kissed, and unable to break free. She was truly furious and finally managed to free one arm, slapping him hard again.

This time the slap was heavier, leaving several red finger marks on his face, and her palm stung fiercely.

Wei Shao’s face was turned to the side by her slap. He slowly turned back, touching his cheek, his dark eyes revealing a hint of embarrassment and annoyance as he looked at Xiao Qiao: “That should be enough, right? You’ve already slapped me twice. Is it just because I didn’t send out your letter? I’ll have someone send it for you right now, how’s that?”

“Wei Shao, even at this point, you still try to deceive me?”

It was the first time Xiao Qiao had called him by name to his face. Her beautiful eyes were unusually bright with anger as if sparks were flying from them.

“Do you think I don’t know that Yang Xin has long been acting on your orders? It’s you who instructed Yang Xin to attack my brother-in-law! When I asked you before, you even had the nerve to put on an act and spout nonsense to my face!”

Wei Shao stared at her, the embarrassment and annoyance gradually fading from his face. He suddenly frowned: “How do you know all this? Who told you?” His voice had turned cold.

The study fell silent.

In Xiao Qiao’s ears, only the sound of her rapid breathing, quickened by anger, remained.

Her back was still pressed tightly against the wall. She closed her eyes, and after a long while, slowly opened them, tilting her face slightly to meet Wei Shao’s gaze.

“This was your purpose in intercepting my letters, wasn’t it? You didn’t want me to know that you were already moving against my family.”

Her voice was hoarse.

“I know you’ve never let go of the vendetta against my father and brothers. If you want to move against my family, fine, I have no right to stop you. But you shouldn’t deceive me like this! On one hand, you keep saying you love me, making me believe you would be grateful for my family’s magnanimity, clinging to that illusion. On the other hand, behind my back, you do things like this, intending to harm them! In your eyes, what do you take me for?”

The fire of anger in her eyes had extinguished, leaving them dim and lusterless.

“Wei Shao, you have disappointed me. Truly disappointed me.”

Xiao Qiao gazed at him, finally speaking slowly, word by word.

Wei Shao stared at her, his breathing gradually becoming heavier. Suddenly, he turned away, leaving her behind as he strode towards the door. At the doorway, he paused and turned back, saying, “The Xu-Huai region is strategically important, and I am determined to have it! How can I allow others to covet what’s in my grasp? If it weren’t for your sake, I would have ordered Yang Xin to completely eradicate that rebel leader long ago. Why else would I have let him grow to the point where he can now rival Yang Xin?”

With that, he slammed the door shut and left.