Fuming with anger, Shen Xihe even abandoned the "Apricot Blossoms in Drizzle" painting gifted by Xiao Huayong, striding briskly out of the Eastern Palace.
Unbeknownst to her, at dusk, Tianyuan arrived with the painting, wearing a pained expression as he pleaded: "Your Highness, if I fail this task, His Highness will punish me by sending me to dig soil in the east. I beg for your mercy."
Shen Xihe disliked involving others in her affairs. Had she truly intended to reject the painting, she would have personally returned it.
Seeing Shen Xihe accept it, Tianyuan expressed profuse gratitude before adding: "Your Highness, His Highness mentioned the Eastern Palace will be lively tomorrow. Since you prefer tranquility, perhaps you might stroll around the palace instead."
This was clearly instructing her not to visit the Eastern Palace tomorrow. Whether Xiao Huayong felt too guilty to invite her again or the Eastern Palace genuinely had matters to attend to, Shen Xihe had no desire to go regardless. Xiao Huayong consistently provoked her to the point of losing composure and wanting to resort to violence.
"Any news from outside the palace?" That night, after washing up, Shen Xihe loosened her hair before the mirror and asked Zhenzhu as she prepared to retire.
Zhenzhu was smoothing Shen Xihe's bedding: "Mo Yuan has been monitoring closely. There's no activity at either the Princess Manor or the Shen residence."
Shen Xihe had dispatched Mo Yuan to watch the Shen residence, partly out of concern for implicating Shen Yingluo, and partly because if Munuha truly intended to target Shen Yingluo, it would present an opportunity to capture him.
Before Shen Xihe could inquire further, Zhenzhu added: "The city gates remain under strict guard, so he likely hasn't escaped the city. However, the envoy delegation has been causing quite a stir recently, as their scheduled return date has passed."
It wasn't that they lacked understanding for His Majesty's position, but they needed a definite timeline to cling to some hope. They couldn't remain trapped indefinitely. With Munuha missing, the Turkic envoy delegation also found the situation suspicious.
They insisted that if Munuha had planned to flee, he would have done so before the Capital Prefecture officers arrived.
The fact remained that he had been apprehended and taken to the Capital Prefecture. As foreigners, escaping from its prison was implausible—Munuha couldn't have been fleeing justice. Had they not witnessed Munuha alongside Yangling Princess's corpse themselves, they might have accused others instead.
"Where could he be hiding?" Shen Xihe didn't want Munuha to escape the city—he posed too great a threat.
Yet every location she could think of was already under surveillance. Three days had passed, and Munuha seemed to have vanished into thin air.
"Munuha wasn't injured. Any place with sufficient food and water would allow him to lie low," Zhenzhu remarked, considering it unsurprising they hadn't found him. The capital was vast, and whoever rescued him from the Capital Prefecture would find hiding him even simpler.
"I suspect he may have already left the city," Shen Xihe voiced her uneasy intuition.
His Majesty had been delayed by Xiao Huayong's affairs. By the time he ascertained the details and went to interrogate Munuha, roughly half an hour to an hour had passed. During this interval, Prefect Zhang had confined Munuha to the Capital Prefecture. Since it involved the princess's assassination, he had no authority to investigate further, focusing instead on gathering evidence for His Majesty's review.
If she had rescued Munuha, she would have anticipated His Majesty imposing city gate restrictions. The only window to smuggle him out was before they realized he had been broken out.
Zhenzhu's expression turned grave. She too felt that whoever freed Munuha had targeted the princess.
"With his blue eyes, he couldn't possibly hide in…" As Shen Xihe spoke, an image of Xiao Huayong with his eyes bandaged abruptly surfaced in her mind.Munuha fled back to the Turks in disgrace. With his condition, he would never be trusted with important tasks again and might even face punishment for this incident. His status would plummet drastically. Moreover, if it were discovered in the capital that he had returned to the Turks, the Youning Emperor would be forced to send troops. However, the Youning Emperor clearly had his own plans—he wanted to attack Tubo first.
Since Munuha understood the Han language, he could easily disguise himself as a blind man and hide somewhere outside the capital to gather intelligence from the Celestial Dynasty. This way, he could still earn the Turkic Khan's favor.
Thinking of this, Shen Xihe stood up, draped a robe over her shoulders, and went to the small study connected to her bedchamber. She instructed Zhenzhu to grind ink for her.
She sketched Munuha's likeness, then covered his eyes with a cloth in the drawing. She ordered Hongyu to deliver it to Xiao Huayong first thing the next morning.
Xiao Huayong had Hua Fuhai under his command, and Hua Fuhai's informants were spread across the land through his merchant networks. They would surely make it impossible for Munuha to hide.
Early in the morning, after finishing his morning meal, Xiao Huayong heard that Hongyu had brought a painting. At first, he thought Shen Xihe was returning the painting he had gifted her the previous day, and he worried that he might have overstepped and angered her.
However, as soon as he held the scroll, he could tell it wasn't the same one from yesterday. When he unrolled it and saw Munuha vividly depicted on the paper, his expression darkened. He immediately tossed the painting to Tianyuan and ordered, "Send this to Hua Fuhai. Have his people search everywhere and keep an eye out."
Shen Xihe hadn't included a single word with the painting, but Xiao Huayong understood its meaning: Munuha had likely left the city and might be disguising himself as a blind man to spy.
Xiao Huayong was displeased because Shen Xihe had drawn another man!
Thus, when Master Xuqing arrived, he could sense Xiao Huayong's unresolved frustration. After carefully checking Xiao Huayong's pulse and examining his eyes, Xuqing confirmed that his eyes had been damaged, not just recently, but seemingly through unique treatments.
"Master Xuqing, how is Qilang?" the Youning Emperor asked after Xuqing finished his examination.
"His Highness's eyes have indeed been damaged by poison," Xuqing replied candidly. "He can still see, but he cannot distinguish colors."
During Xuqing's examination, the Youning Emperor observed the entire process, making it impossible for the two to collude. Moreover, Xuqing had left the capital some time ago and only returned the day before yesterday, so he was unaware of recent events in the capital.
Xuqing did not inquire about the circumstances, adhering to his role as a monk by answering only what the Emperor asked.
After hearing this, the Youning Emperor asked further, "Can Qilang's eyes be cured?"
"There are treatments, but whether they will be effective is uncertain," Xuqing replied without confidence.
"Thank you for your efforts, Master Xuqing," the Youning Emperor entrusted.
"Amitabha. This humble monk will do his best."
The Youning Emperor did not stay long at the Eastern Palace. Though he left, he had not entirely dismissed his suspicions.
Liu Sanzhi, who understood the Emperor's thoughts best, bowed and asked, "Your Majesty doubts Master Xuqing's words?"
"Xuqing is upright and would never speak falsely," the Youning Emperor did not doubt Xuqing. "However... if the Crown Prince could set up such a scheme, he might have skilled physicians around him. Feigning poisoning isn't impossible."
The Youning Emperor did not heavily suspect Xiao Huayong, but since his trusted subordinate Wang Zheng was involved, he had to get to the bottom of it.
"Go to the Palace of Imperial Attire and find someone. Go personally, and ensure no third person knows," the Youning Emperor suddenly instructed.Liu Sanzhi, unaware of the reason, had no choice but to accept the command respectfully.
On Shen Xihe's side, Hongyu returned and reported, "His Highness looked at the painting, and his expression turned dark and terrifying."
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