Chapter 383 Mutual Trust is Needed
Munuha was indeed driven into a corner by Xiao Huayong. At this moment, someone approached him, proposing to join forces against Xiao Huayong. As long as Xiao Huayong lived, he would continue to be hunted relentlessly. Only now did Munuha realize that the Crown Prince’s influence, spanning the entire realm, was even more terrifying than the emperor’s.
While the emperor’s commands controlled the overt forces across the land, no matter where Munuha fled, local figures from all walks of life would swiftly track him down and betray him. Since leaving the capital, he had not enjoyed a single peaceful night’s sleep.
His hatred for Xiao Huayong was so intense that he wished he could tear him to pieces. Given this, how could he not seize this opportunity?
He returned, leveraging the arrangements of his ally to successfully bribe the Yangzhou tribute envoy with gold and infiltrate the envoy’s procession. His ally had truthfully informed him of Xiao Huayong’s recent movements, hoping Munuha would foolishly charge out and confront Xiao Huayong head-on, thereby exposing Xiao Huayong’s martial prowess. But Munuha was no fool.
He had a grander scheme in mind. He set two interlocking traps for Xiao Huayong. The first involved using the limited information he had obtained to deduce Xiao Huayong’s movements and preemptively lay beast-attracting incense outside the azalea forest. Fortune favored him—the wind that day did not blow toward their direction, so they neither detected the incense early nor noticed the agitated wild beasts it had drawn.
Unfortunately, they still discovered it too soon, allowing them to escape this calamity.
Munuha had only held a thirty percent expectation that the first trap would claim Xiao Huayong’s life, so when Xiao Huayong escaped, he felt little disappointment.
Immediately after came the second trap. Xiao Huayong would inevitably learn of Munuha’s return to the capital and launch a frenzied retaliation. Munuha carefully concealed his tracks, deliberately leaving behind traces for Xiao Huayong to find. He had buried numerous explosives, beast-attracting incense, and traps here, all to await Xiao Huayong’s arrival.
When a large contingent of troops pursued him, Munuha’s expression turned grave.
He knew full well that Xiao Huayong would not dare to openly mobilize so many soldiers in broad daylight to hunt him down.
Hiding and observing, he saw the Golden Guard general leading the charge and realized he had once again underestimated Xiao Huayong’s cunning. Xiao Huayong had somehow orchestrated a situation that compelled the emperor himself to order Munuha’s execution.
The traps injured many of the pursuing Golden Guards, the beast-attracting incense delayed them with wild animals, and the pre-planted explosives managed to take out a portion of the forces. However, besides the Golden Guards, other guard units had arrived as reinforcements. Munuha had calculated the maximum troops Xiao Huayong could mobilize and laid his defenses accordingly, but they were utterly insufficient to withstand the emperor’s army.
Fortunately, he had prepared an escape route for himself. He swiftly fled to the mountaintop and, amid the rain of stray arrows, leaped down. Below, the mist swirled densely, but he had already prepared a thick vine rope there, which accurately caught his body.
Descending along the vine, he reached a halfway cliff pathway, hurriedly crossed through a cave, and thus narrowly escaped death.
During his flight, he was still struck by a stray arrow. After evading layers of pursuers, he returned to his hiding place. The moment he pushed the door open, a needle shot into his body. Looking up, he saw Shen Xihe’s gently smiling face.
“Long time no see, Prince Munuha.”
Her clear, melodious voice resembled a mountain spring, but instead of bringing the refreshing comfort of cool water, it made his eyelids grow heavy, and he collapsed headfirst.Xiao Huayong walked over from outside, clapping his hands with a smile, sincerely admiring: "Youyou, you truly leave me in awe."
He had exhausted all human resources without finding Munuha's hiding place, yet Shen Xihe located it simply with Duanming in her arms.
Duanming was a spiritual cat with inherently keen senses. Over the past year, Shen Xihe had specially trained it to accurately distinguish many fragrant spices, though it might struggle with scents containing identical or similar components. However, the aroma of beast-attracting incense was easily recognizable to it, even when unlit.
By tracking the sales of fragrant spices, Shen Xihe found the spice shop, then through the shop, located a destitute perfumer who crafted the spices. Following his directions, she arrived in this area. With no spice shops or heavy users of incense here, it was naturally Duanming's time to shine.
They had arrived here while Munuha was being pursued by Your Majesty's men. Xiao Huayong was responsible for clearing the area, checking if Munuha's allies had secretly stationed guards to protect him.
Clearly, they didn't trust each other enough—only Munuha himself was here.
"Your Highness, why do you think Munuha fell into our hands so easily?" Shen Xihe asked, looking up at Xiao Huayong seated beside her after returning to the carriage.
"Naturally because Youyou is brilliant," Xiao Huayong praised without reservation.
Shen Xihe lowered her head with a faint smile and shook her head. "No, it's because they don't trust each other."
Had Munuha trusted his ally even a little more, and had there been guards stationed here, someone would have found a way to warn him during his escape that this place was no longer safe.
His lack of trust in his partner, even his wariness toward them, led him to fight alone, resulting in his current predicament.
Yet from Munuha's perspective, distrust was the right choice. Who knew whether his current ally was a jackal or a tiger? To them, he would always be a foreigner—an expendable one at that.
"Youyou, are you suggesting we should learn from this?" Xiao Huayong asked without revealing his emotions.
Shen Xihe knew he was angry again. He disliked her treating their relationship as merely cooperative, though that wasn't her intention today. She smiled slightly. "I'm speaking of trust. Regardless of the bond between two people—be it family, friends, or even spouses—mutual trust is essential."
"Fighting alone, no matter how capable one is, can lead to isolation and helplessness."
Xiao Huayong's lips curled back into a smile, his gaze tender as water as he looked at Shen Xihe. "I have unwavering faith in you, Youyou. What about you toward me?"
Shen Xihe replied candidly, "With some doubt."
Xiao Huayong: ...
Such honesty wasn't always a good thing.
"Youyou, isn't this contradictory? You emphasize the importance of mutual trust to me, yet you don't trust me wholeheartedly," Xiao Huayong sighed softly.
"Your Highness, rest assured. When we face external threats together, I will not doubt you," Shen Xihe said with a laugh.
"Between you and me, we will always stand united against outsiders." Xiao Huayong gazed deeply at her, his silver-flecked eyes profound as the abyss and vast as the sea. "I will stand before you, not to make you a woman hiding behind a man, but to protect you while... entrusting my back to you at all times.""Whether you protect me or kill me, I leave it entirely to your discretion. This is my choice, without regret or resentment."
His tone was as tender and lingering as the gaze he now fixed upon her.
(End of Chapter)
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