Qiao Tianjing didn't expect Qiao Jiaojiao to be so perceptive. Even after the incident had passed, she still found the loophole.

Seeing Qiao Diyi's panic, Qiao Tianjing shook his head helplessly and could only come out to smooth things over.

"Second brother, today it is thanks to you that you saved the Fourth Prince in time, otherwise the situation would have been hopeless."

"Brother hasn't had the chance to ask you yet, how did you know to follow the Fourth Prince today?"

Qiao Diyi turned his back to Qiao Jiaojiao, his eyes wide open, and said with an accusing expression:

——Brother, why are you still trying to embarrass me? I have no idea what to say with my stupid head!

——You can’t tell my little sister that I took action because I heard what she was thinking, right?

Qiao Tianjing turned slightly and winked:

——Second brother, you can make up any excuse you want!

——Even if it’s not so reasonable, I would never have thought that we could hear her voice.

Qiao Diyi looked very bitter.

——What if I can’t even think of a “not so reasonable” reason?

Qiao Tianjing: “…”

[Tsk, has my second brother been reborn? Awakened? Knows the plot?]

Qiao Jiaojiao suddenly glanced at the back of Qiao Diyi's head and began to let her wild thoughts run wild.

Qiao Diyi felt as if he had a thorn in his back. He stuttered twice and suddenly said with his neck stiff:

"I... I saw the Fourth Prince holding a gift today and he was still not coming out, while Concubine Yu went in and I didn't hear her greet him. It was as if the two groups had never met."

"I'm worried that the Fourth Prince might play around and run out through the back door. There's no eunuch following him. He's so young, isn't this very dangerous?"

"Oh, it's just a temporary solution. I just wanted to climb over the wall in a hurry, but I didn't expect to run into this kind of thing."

Qiao Diyi said this in one breath and looked at Qiao Tianjing with a nervous look on his face.

Qiao Tianjing smiled slightly. It seems that his second brother still has some quick wit!

He nodded in approval, "Second brother, if the prince asks you about it, just tell him the truth."

Qiao Jiaojiao tilted her head when she heard this. It was indeed reasonable.

[Oh, I really like to overthink. If my second brother knew that he would die tragically on the battlefield in the future and be shot into a sieve by thousands of arrows, I'm afraid he would not be able to laugh anymore! ]

When Qiao Diyi heard that his answer passed, he was about to raise the corners of his mouth, but after hearing what Qiao Jiaojiao said, the corners of his mouth could not be raised at all.

Qiao Diyi: “….”

Little sister, you are good at touching people’s hearts!

When Qiao Zhongguo saw that Qiao Diyi was almost exposed, he was so scared that his heart jumped up. Now that the conversation was over, he immediately sent him away.

"Alright, alright, let's go, Jiaojiao needs to go to bed!"

When Qiao Jiaojiao heard this, her attention was instantly diverted and a bubble of ambiguity popped up in her heart.

[Oh, this lovely stumbling block of mine is going to be moved away again tonight, right~~]

[Hehe, the relationship between parents is really good, and the old couple is also very sweet! ]

When Qiao Tianjing and Qiao Diyi heard this, their ears suddenly turned red, and they left in a hurry as if their feet were greased.

Mrs. Qiao immediately glared at Qiao Zhongguo in shame and anger.

You're so talkative! How embarrassing in front of my son!

When Qiao Zhongguo received the look from his wife, he looked embarrassed. He didn't expect that he would shoot himself in the foot.

"Ahem, sweetheart, daddy will coax you to sleep tonight!"

Qiao Jiaojiao chuckled.

[A well-behaved kid like me doesn’t need to be coaxed to sleep. Daddy, go and coax mommy! ]

Mrs. Qiao couldn't stand Qiao Jiaojiao's teasing any more, so she got up hurriedly with a red face and went into the inner room.

Qiao Zhongguo and Qiao Jiaojiao couldn't help but stare at each other.

Why did they all run away?

"Jiaojiao, if you're not sleepy, stay with Dad for a while. Dad will finish carving the rest."

Qiao Zhongguo raised the wooden sculpture in his hand.

Qiao Jiaojiao babbled and nodded, "Daddy! Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!"

Seeing this, Qiao Zhongguo smiled heartily and sat back under the candlelight. He carved carefully with his hands and said in a warm voice:

"Jiaojiao is already nine months old. It's going so fast. Daddy is going to carve many more for Jiaojiao and put them all in Jiaojiao's dressing table."

"When Jiaojiao grows up, I'll take them out and look at them one by one. They'll be enough to reminisce for a long time."

Qiao Zhongguo kept talking, and when he finished the last cut and looked up, Qiao Jiaojiao was lying on the couch, fast asleep.

The warm candlelight shone on her face, making even her little fur look extra cute.

Qiao Zhongguo's heart softened. He put down the wood carving, stood up and gently picked up Qiao Jiaojiao.

Mrs. Qiao heard no sound coming from the outer room for a long time, so she walked out and saw Qiao Zhongguo gently resting his face on Qiao Jiaojiao's forehead.

This scene was so heartwarming that it made Mrs. Qiao's eyes slightly warm.

"Husband."

Hearing the voice, Qiao Zhongguo looked up, smiled and extended his hand to Mrs. Qiao.

Mrs. Qiao smiled and walked forward to put her arms around Qiao Zhongguo's waist. The shadows of the three people huddled together under the candlelight.

————

At the morning court the next day, no one mentioned anything about what happened yesterday.

Emperor Yong looked normal, and there was nothing wrong with him.

After the court session ended, Qiao Zhongguo had already reached the palace gate when Eunuch Huang suddenly caught up with him, panting and shouting:

"Master Qiao, please stay!"

Qiao Zhongguo turned around in confusion. Eunuch Huang took a breath and said quickly, "Master Qiao, the emperor summoned you to the imperial study!"

Qiao Zhongguo ran through all sorts of thoughts in his mind, and followed with a smile on his face.

When he stepped into the imperial study, Qiao Zhongguo couldn't help but pause for a moment because he saw an unexpected person.

The young man stood upright beside the prince, his official uniform looking particularly straight on him.

Emperor Yong noticed Qiao Zhongguo's look and smiled slightly.

"Tan Aiqing is young and promising, and very capable."

This is what reuse means.

That’s right, the handsome young man standing beside is Tan Hanchi!

"Master Qiao."

Tan Hanchi bowed to Qiao Zhongguo, met his gaze for a moment, and then looked away as if nothing had happened.

Qiao Zhongguo nodded calmly at him, then smiled and said, "Congratulations to His Majesty for finding another talented person. I wonder why His Majesty is urgently summoning me?"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Yong stood up, pointed at the Crown Prince, and said straight to the point:

"The Crown Princess has chosen General Xiao's eldest daughter. Since she is from the Crown Prince's family, according to the old rules, she cannot lead a large force to guard the border."

This was said very bluntly, showing that Emperor Yong still had great trust in Qiao Zhongguo.

Qiao Zhongguo nodded. This matter was expected. It was to prevent the external relatives from becoming powerful and destabilizing the government.

What surprised Qiao Zhongguo was that the emperor actually valued Tan Hanchi so much that he even allowed him to sit in on such important military affairs.

Emperor Yong continued, "General Xiao has made great contributions in defending the border for so many years. I am worried that if I rashly take back the military power, it will hurt General Xiao's heart."

Upon hearing this, Qiao Zhongguo immediately shook his head.

"Your Majesty, although I have no chance to make friends with General Xiao and I don't know what his character is like, but seeing how diligently he has guarded the border for so many years, I know that General Xiao has a loyal heart."

"Now that His Majesty has chosen his eldest daughter as the Crown Princess, I'm sure General Xiao has been prepared for this. If His Majesty speaks frankly, General Xiao will surely understand His Majesty's difficulties."

"There is just one thing. Your Majesty must be very careful about who will replace General Xiao."