Northwest, two months ago.
Just as Xiao Junshu reached his first full month, Shen Xihe received thoughtful gifts sent by her father and brother. At that time, she happened to be contemplating how Your Majesty would orchestrate his plans, so she dispatched someone to investigate matters concerning the Xue family. The person she sent was none other than Ding Jue, heir of the Northern Garrison Marquis, who was still toiling away sorting through case files and documents as the Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.
Ding Jue normally wouldn’t contact Shen Xihe, as the Northern Garrison Marquis residence avoided excessive interaction with any of the imperial princes. Moreover, Ding Jue had formed quite a circle of frivolous friends in the capital with Bu Shulin—all of them young nobles who knew only how to eat, drink, and indulge in pleasure.
The Xue family’s influence had waned, and their ranks were filled with countless incompetent descendants. Ding Jue easily gathered information about the Xues and reported back to the Eastern Palace. Only then did Shen Xihe confirm that Your Majesty had indeed seized control of the Xue family to pressure Xue Heng.
Naturally, she immediately sent word to Shen Yueshan and his son.
Shen Xihe, with her profound understanding of human nature, also anticipated Xue Jinqiao’s inner turmoil and had already devised a method for Shen Yungan to resolve it in her heart.
When Shen Yungan read her message, this iron-willed man who shed blood but never tears on the battlefield felt his eyes redden.
Earlier in the year, his sister had sent word that his wife might be under the influence of an art. Shen Yungan was both shocked and anxious, harboring a hidden fear that his wife’s affection for them had always been an illusion born of control.
No matter what, he had to face the outcome. The person they had captured from Xiao Changyan years ago had since been sent to the northwest and held there under tight guard. His sister had advised keeping them closely watched but not killed, as they might prove useful someday.
It was Xiao Huayong’s mention of his childhood experience of being ensnared by the Soul-seizing Art that had weighed on Shen Xihe’s mind. Since Xiao Changyan was merely an ignorant child at the time and it couldn’t have been orchestrated by those around him, Shen Xihe had kept Xiao Changyan’s strategist alive.
After the Soul-seizing Art on Xue Jinqiao was broken, she became deeply despondent. The once bright and lively young woman, who had loved to laugh and play, turned silent and withdrawn. Shen Yungan expended great effort to help her appear cheerful again.
But Shen Yungan knew that Xue Jinqiao carried a knot in her heart. If not for their daughter, Manman, she might have left long ago.
He could only devote more time to caring for and watching over Xue Jinqiao, hoping to soon dissolve her unease and guilt.
Yet his efforts yielded little result.
“My sister is always my timely rain!” Shen Yungan’s heart swelled with warmth, his eyes brimming with emotion.
Shen Yueshan shot his foolish son a disdainful glance. Couldn’t even comfort his own wife, and had to rely on his sister to untangle her heart’s knots.
Truly useless!
“Go find Qiao Qiao first. I need to ponder this,” Shen Yueshan urged hastily.
He had read the entire letter. Unlike his son, whose thoughts were wholly consumed by his wife, Shen Yueshan had already envisioned the coming battle: one of them would have to flank the Tubo forces, while the other remained to confront the Invincible Army.
Your Majesty’s Invincible Army, elusive and funded by the state treasury’s exhaustion—how could he not personally test its mettle?
Knowing his son as only a father could, Shen Yueshan anticipated that this unfilial boy would be just as eager as he was to face the Invincible Army. By sending him away first and settling the plan himself, he would leave no room for his son to compete with him.
Wholly absorbed in his wife’s plight, Shen Yungan had indeed missed the latter part of the letter. Urged by his father, he eagerly hurried off to find Xue Jinqiao.Xue Jinqiao, now a married woman, had lost some of her former melancholy between her brows, replaced by a touch of maternal gentleness. Yet a faint shadow of sorrow seemed to linger in her eyes. Watching the wet nurse play with their daughter Manman and listening to her clear laughter, she would occasionally smile, but more often she drifted into distraction.
This was not the first time Shen Yungan had seen her like this. Ever since the Soul-seizing Art had been broken, the spirited, lively girl who had been as whimsical as an elf had vanished without a trace.
"Young Master." The maid and wet nurse were the first to notice Shen Yungan.
Raising his hand to signal them to rise, Shen Yungan first stroked his nearly one-year-old daughter, held her for a while, and then handed her back to the wet nurse. "You may all leave. I wish to speak with the Young Madam alone."
After dismissing the servants, only the couple remained in the room. Xue Jinqiao smiled and asked, "What is it? Why all the secrecy?"
She seemed no different from before the spell was broken, but Shen Yungan could still detect the forced unnaturalness in her demeanor. He sighed almost imperceptibly, stepped forward, and took her hand. "Youyou sent a letter today."
"Youyou wrote? What did she say? Is she well? How is the Grand Heir..." Xue Jinqiao gripped Shen Yungan's arm, firing off a string of questions.
Given the tense situation, she had avoided privately corresponding with Shen Xihe frequently to prevent causing her unnecessary worries. Yet she missed Shen Xihe dearly.
Leading Xue Jinqiao to sit down, Shen Yungan spoke gently, "Youyou is well, but there is one matter I must discuss with you, and I need your help."
"What is it? Tell me!" Xue Jinqiao urged anxiously.
"It's... about Grandfather..." Xue Heng had adopted Xue Jinqiao, making him their shared grandfather. Shen Yungan continued, "Youyou has discovered in the capital that His Majesty has taken control of the Xue clan. No matter how much Grandfather may disdain his clansmen, they are still his blood relatives. How could he allow himself to become the one who brings ruin to his own clan?"
"Youyou is in the capital and will do her utmost to protect the clansmen. As for Grandfather... I need your help to make him believe you are serving the Empress Dowager. We must keep this from him to safeguard the northwest and ensure Youyou remains invincible in the capital."
"Grandfather..." Xue Jinqiao's face paled, then she smiled bitterly, feeling even more ashamed to face Shen Yungan and Shen Xihe.
If she could still claim to be a victim, unintentionally harming the Shen family, then Grandfather had a choice. Yet he had chosen the Xue clan. This pained her deeply, for aside from her grandfather, she felt no kinship with the rest of the Xue family—only indifference.
But Grandfather was different. He had once been the helm of the Xue clan and could not bear to become its destroyer.
"Qiao Qiao, both Youyou and I need you. We need your help." Shen Yungan tightened his grip on Xue Jinqiao's slightly cold fingertips, his gaze earnest, hopeful, and urgent.
Xue Jinqiao could not fault her grandfather for his choice, but to her, those demons of the Xue family were nowhere near as important as her husband's family.
Her eyes grew resolute. "Don't worry. I know what to do."
Those under the Soul-seizing Art would forget their actions during the spell before it was broken. However, once the spell was resolved—unless, like Xiao Huayong, one broke it through sheer will—if it was gently dissolved by another, they could recall everything.
Xue Jinqiao still remembered how to send messages to the Empress Dowager. Shen Yungan informed her about Tan Shi's affairs.
It was at this time that Xue Jinqiao secretly passed Tan Shi's secrets to the Empress Dowager.Working together with Shen Yungan, yet subtly allowing Xue Heng to notice, Xue Heng then realized that his own granddaughter was actually the Empress Dowager's person.
Indeed, when His Majesty used the Xue family to pressure him, he had some hesitation. But if Xue Jinqiao was the Empress Dowager's agent, then once the Shen family found out, she would likely have no way to survive. This strengthened Xue Heng's resolve to compromise with His Majesty.
What Xue Heng didn't know was that this was a trap within a trap. Nor did the Empress Dowager know that the letter she received was also part of Shen Xihe's scheme against her.
OpenNovel