A sudden storm had scattered blossoms and stripped leaves, blanketing the capital in dampness while ushering in a chill.
The adventurous Duanming had vanished to who-knows-where, returning drenched and scurrying about. Hongyu, pitying the kitten whose fine fur was plastered to its body and dripping wet, brought an absorbent cloth to dry it. The mischievous Duanming waited until Hongyu and Ziyu drew near before shaking its body vigorously, splattering water all over them both.
Biyu couldn't help but laugh at the sight, and Shen Xihe, turning her gaze, also witnessed the scene, a faint smile touching her lips.
"Meow!" Believing it had shaken itself dry, Duanming leaped toward Shen Xihe.
Shen Xihe's smile vanished as she swiftly stepped back. Duanming landed on empty air and looked up to meet her stern gaze, immediately curling into a ball and gazing pitifully at her while emitting soft, pleading sounds.
"How dare you jump on your mistress covered in such filth?" Ziyu seized the opportunity to press down on its neck and lift it up.
"Meow! Meow! Meow!" Duanming flailed its short legs but was forcibly carried away by Ziyu for a bath.
"Your Highness, Prince Lie has come to visit," a servant announced from outside.
"I will not see him," Shen Xihe coldly refused.
She cared not for others' opinions of her, nor did she need anyone to judge her manners and upbringing. If visitors came calling, she would refuse them all if she had no wish to meet.
"His Highness said... if you refuse to see him, he would have no choice but to intrude upon your chambers once more," the servant forced out the words with trepidation.
Biyu clearly saw Shen Xihe's slightly lowered eyelids gradually lift, her dark pupils shifting uniformly to the right as her gaze fixed upon the doorway.
Though the princess's expression remained unchanged and her eyes showed no ripple of emotion, Biyu could sense a chilling aura of murderous intent.
"Tell him that if he dares, it won't be just stripping his clothes—I'll skin him alive," Shen Xihe spoke lightly but with emphasized clarity, frightening the reporting servant into trembling legs as he hastily retreated to deliver the message.
This servant had been transferred from the Shen residence by the steward for his cleverness and loyalty. He never imagined his mistress could be so... formidable. Some of the original words he dared not repeat, but fearing Shen Xihe, he stammered and blurted them out with eyes closed to Xiao Changying.
To his surprise, Xiao Changying showed no anger upon hearing this. Instead, he handed over a scroll: "Deliver this to the princess. I shall wait here for one quarter-hour. If Her Highness still declines to grant me an audience, I shall take my leave."
Shen Xihe had assumed Xiao Changying would retreat in the face of difficulty, but to her surprise, the servant tremblingly presented the scroll. Biyu took it and unrolled it before Shen Xihe. Both their faces paled simultaneously.
"Summon Mo Yuan!" Shen Xihe commanded gravely.
It was a defense map of the Anxi Protectorate Headquarters. The northwest contained three Protectorate Headquarters and three Military Governor Headquarters—the former housed imperial garrison troops responsible solely for peacekeeping without involvement in governance, while the latter directly administered local affairs.
During the previous emperor's reign, Shen Xihe's grandfather had concurrently held the positions of Anxi Protector and Yanqi Military Governor. When the Youning Emperor ascended the throne and distributed rewards, Shen Yueshan—who had contributed most to the emperor's accession—became the Northwest King. The entire northwest fell under his authority, with all Protectorate Headquarters coming under his control and Military Governors becoming his subordinates.
Now that the Anxi Protectorate Headquarters' defense map had gone missing, if it fell into enemy hands, the city would likely be lost.
Even if it didn't reach the enemy, should the Youning Emperor obtain evidence of this, the lightest punishment would be removal from power while the severest would mean execution!
Mo Yuan arrived promptly. When Shen Xihe showed him the defense map, his face turned pale: "This..."His reaction made Shen Xihe's heart sink. She did not involve herself in political affairs, but she had suspected this might be true—and Mo Yuan had confirmed her suspicions.
"Your Highness, should we meet with Prince Lie?" Biyu anxiously reminded her. Prince Lie had said he would only wait for fifteen minutes.
Clutching the Defense Map, Shen Xihe remained exceptionally calm. After quickly analyzing the situation, her gaze steadied. "No."
"Your Highness." Mo Yuan was astonished.
"If he had no ulterior motives, he would have presented this to His Majesty long ago to atone for losing the evidence in the Rouge Case." Shen Xihe slowly rolled up the scroll. "By bringing it to me now, he either wants something from me or is uncertain of its authenticity. If I meet him, he will gain the upper hand."
Once the scroll was rolled, she handed it to Biyu. "Return this to him personally..."
She paused, a faint smile curling her lips. "Tell him that, in light of past events, I kindly advise him not to overestimate his own cleverness."
"Your Highness, will this approach work?" Mo Yuan wasn't distrustful of Shen Xihe, but the stakes were too high. If Prince Lie, in a fit of anger, handed it over to His Majesty, the consequences would be unimaginable!
"We have no choice but to gamble." After a moment's thought, Shen Xihe hurried to the study, wrote a letter, sealed it, and handed it to Mo Yuan. "Deliver this to Hua Fuhai's people. Have him send it to Father as quickly as possible."
Hua Fuhai had his own methods of communication. The last letter arranging their meeting had arrived faster than an eight-hundred-li urgent dispatch.
Xiao Changying would surely grow suspicious upon hearing the message delivered by Biyu. As long as her father received the letter before Xiao's doubts were dispelled, he could swiftly turn the real Defense Map into a fake.
By then, they could claim that this Defense Map was a deliberate decoy to expose traitors within the army and those colluding with the enemy in the court—to identify who was betraying their own.
"Your Highness, about Hua Fuhai..."
"It's fine. Even if he reads this letter, he won't understand it." Shen Xihe cut Mo Yuan off. "It's written in a code only Father, Brother, and I use."
In truth, it was a playful cipher Shen Yungan and Shen Xihe had developed while studying together. Who would have thought it would prove so useful at a critical moment?
Xiao Changying had not expected such a response from Shen Xihe. It made him suspect that the item returned untouched by Biyu might be a forgery or conceal some hidden trick.
"Your Highness, should we seek the Crown Prince's assistance?" After seeing off Xiao Changying, Biyu suggested upon her return.
Since the Crown Prince had managed to suppress the evidence in the Rouge Case for so long, he could surely help them buy some time.
"This is a major vulnerability. I will never place it in someone else's hands." Shen Xihe firmly rejected the idea.
It was at this moment that Biyu realized Shen Xihe had not an ounce of trust in the Crown Prince.
"There's no need to worry. Xiao Changying won't act rashly for at least two days. Keep a close watch on him. If His Majesty learns of this before Father does..." Shen Xihe's eyes turned cold. "I'll have to strike first and expose the weapons the Kang Prince's estate has been secretly forging for His Majesty."
By creating confusion, they could pin the crime of stealing the Defense Map directly on the Kang Prince's estate.
Though Shen Xihe had no intention of seeking Xiao Huayong's help, her letter still made him aware that she was facing an urgent matter.
"Your Highness, would you like to read the letter?" Tianyuan asked."She could deliver it to my hands, certain that even if I saw it, I wouldn't understand." Xiao Huayong bent over his desk, carefully carving a phoenix tree leaf. "Send it urgently to the Northwest."
"Something major must have happened, otherwise she wouldn't have sought me out." After giving the order, Xiao Huayong's gaze deepened. "Have our people in the Northwest investigate, as quickly as possible."
By the time the evening message arrived, Xiao Huayong had just finished carving the phoenix tree leaf, which now bore Shen Xihe's likeness.
Upon hearing the report, Xiao Huayong let out a soft chuckle: "Ninth Brother has grown quite capable. Since he's so talented, let him go to the Northwest to earn some merit."
OpenNovel