“I’ll go right away.”

Yu Zhiguang, pale-faced, sat alone for a long time before softly instructing her.

Yuanbao, not daring to delay, immediately left and returned at a run fifteen minutes later.

“Miss, General Xue isn’t at the mansion. The gatekeeper said he left half an hour ago, heading towards the camp.”

Yu Zhiguang, restless for most of the day, felt a wave of relief, but her anxiety returned around the time Xue Shen usually came home.  However, that night, she fell asleep around 9 pm, and Xue Shen didn’t return.

The next day, before 9 am,

she had already prepared the gifts for her family with Yuanbao’s help and was about to leave for her parents’ home.  She had wanted Xue Shen to accompany her, but now she just wanted to leave as quickly and discreetly as possible.

Cao Yue tried to stop her at the gate but hesitated, feeling it was inappropriate: “Mistress, are you really leaving without waiting for the General?”

“I asked the General yesterday, and he didn’t say he would go with me. Besides, my parents must be waiting, it’s fine.”  Without waiting for Yuanbao to help her, Yu Zhiguang stepped onto the carriage step and entered the spacious carriage.

Upon arriving at the Yu residence, before the carriage had even stopped, she saw a young couple waiting anxiously at the gate. The man was refined and handsome, the woman radiant, her belly noticeably swollen, one hand on her waist, the other supporting her husband.

Wei Xiang stopped the carriage, and as soon as he lowered the step, Yu Zhiguang stepped out, quickly hopping down.

“Brother, you shouldn’t have made Sister-in-law wait!”

“I couldn’t sit still, and Mother and Father were up early preparing.”

Her sister-in-law smiled gently. Yu Mingxi, beside her, didn’t respond, his eyes fixed on Yu Zhiguang, watching Yuanbao direct Wei Xiang to unload the many gifts, and the carriage door remained closed.

What was going on?

Xue Shen was putting on quite a show, not accompanying his sister.

“Shengsheng, did you come alone?”

“Yes! The General is busy at the camp, so busy he didn’t even come back last night, but he picked out some things for you all and asked me to bring them over.”

Yu Zhiguang acted naturally, seemingly free from yesterday’s shadow, happily gesturing as she urged her brother and sister-in-law to enter, “Sister-in-law, I dreamt last night that Mother made me delicious, crunchy almond cakes, but each one was only as big as my finger, and I was so eager I ate two in one go…”

The Imperial Guard prison was located on the opposite side of the capital from the Yu residence.

It was already 9 am, but the prison still needed lamps to see.  In the cold, dark interrogation room, only a small air vent was in the ceiling. A thin man was bound to a wooden frame, his body covered in whip marks, his head drooping, unconscious.

Xue Shen, in his official robes, arrived, his hand resting on his sword, entering the interrogation room. The interrogator held a soaked whip, about to strike again.

“Wait!”

“General…”

Xue Shen walked over, lifted the man’s chin, and looked at his eyes, rolled back, his breath shallow. He turned to the interrogator, “Do you have a grudge against him?”

The interrogator didn’t dare meet his gaze, bowing his head, “…No.”

“What were my instructions? If you give him ten more lashes, he’ll die.”

“But he refuses to speak, only mumbling about a mysterious person who ordered him to secretly infiltrate the General’s mansion to steal the security plans. He knows nothing about the mysterious person.”

Xue Shen stared at the interrogator until sweat beaded on his forehead.

The mason’s identity had been confirmed; he was a craftsman from the capital, his parents having been reported missing last month. Xue Shen had verified this with the officials at the Southern Camp overnight; he had been threatened.

But the interrogator’s methods suggested he didn’t want any survivors.

“Interrogating him all night, tired?”

“Not tired, it’s my duty.”

“Go and rest,” Xue Shen named another familiar interrogator, “Have him take over.”

The interrogator tried to argue, but under Xue Shen’s cold gaze, he shut his mouth and retreated. Xue Shen waited in the small interrogation room until the new interrogator arrived, giving a few more instructions before leaving.

Outside the Imperial Guard prison, the sky was clear and bright.  The sunlight made him squint.

The court meeting had been delayed, and he had lingered in the prison.  Seeing the time, it was already past 9:15 am. If Yu Zhiguang had left without waiting for him, he could still catch up with her and put on a show of marital harmony.

Xue Shen mounted his horse, heading towards the Yu residence, when he suddenly smelled the cold, musty scent of the Imperial Guard prison. He glanced at his sleeve and turned his horse.

At the General’s mansion, Cao Yue heard the commotion and rushed to greet him.

“General, you’re finally back.”

“Are the gifts for Yu’s parents ready, as she requested?”

“Gifts? This…Mistress never mentioned them.”

“She didn’t?”

Cao Yue hesitated, “Mistress left for her parents’ home before 9 am…was she…angry?” He had been with Xue Shen for many years, almost like an elder.

Before 9 am.

Xue Shen frowned.  The night before, she had pathetically asked him to accompany her, but now, after being frightened, she had gone to her parents’ home without him.

The Yu residence was unchanged.

The servants cleaned her room daily; everything was as it was when she left, but Yu Zhiguang felt like it was a different world.

The family had a lively lunch.  She took her usual afternoon nap, changed into her nightgown, and, like when she first moved to the capital, examined her surroundings.

Sunlight filtered through the glazed windows, casting a soft, multicolored glow.  Familiar incense balls hung from the ceiling, emitting a soothing herbal scent.

The top layer of the bedding was made of fine velvet, freshly washed and sun-dried, soft and fluffy.  As soon as she lay down, she was enveloped in warmth and comfort.

“It’s still more comfortable at home,” Yu Zhiguang sighed.