In this era, secretly manufacturing weapons was an absolute act of treason — and that was doubly true for someone like the First Prince, who already commanded significant military forces.

As long as this was brought to light and the Meherke King was made aware, the charge of treason against the First Prince would be irrefutable.

This was not a matter of framing him — this was his own doing, his own treacherous intent.

“How was the information obtained? Is it reliable?” Feng Jiu’er folded up the floor plan.

Xing Zizhou pressed his lips together. “Whether it’s reliable, we’d need to investigate in person to know for certain. The brother who came back said the terrain there was treacherous — he couldn’t descend on his own, so the exact situation at the bottom isn’t clear.”

“That said, we’ve had people make inquiries. In the surrounding towns outside the city, there has indeed been a recurring pattern of able-bodied men vanishing — in considerable numbers. This matter had at one point even alarmed the Meherke King.”

“But for reasons unknown, the matter was eventually dropped. After all, Meherke is not a particularly settled place — bandits are plentiful here too, and it was possible the men were being conscripted by mountain gangs.”

Xing Zizhou thought for a moment, then added: “However, the one put in charge of investigating at the time appears to have been the First Prince’s people.”

“He was the one behind it — how could he possibly expose himself?” So he had been press-ganging men into manufacturing weapons for him. The First Prince of Meherke’s ambitions were truly staggering.

“On this matter, find a way to pass the information to the Second Prince. Tonight we’ll go and take a look first — see what the situation actually is.”

Jiu’er deliberated for a moment, then continued: “Tell the Second Prince to be prepared. If we bring back news, he is to go immediately with the King’s trusted men — by no means should he go with only his own people.”

“Understood.” Xing Zizhou nodded.

At present, the Second Prince and the First Prince were already at each other’s throats. For this to be credible, the Meherke King’s own trusted people would need to see it with their own eyes before the King would fully believe it.

That said, weapon manufacturing was a capital offense. Even without the King’s men present, the Meherke King would certainly punish the First Prince for it.

The difference was simply whether the King could place his full and wholehearted trust in the Second Prince — and that still made some distinction.

They had a little more than two hours before nightfall. Feng Jiu’er planned to depart in one hour, since the location was outside the city and would take some time to reach.

After Xing Zizhou had someone deliver the news to the Second Prince, the Second Prince replied that he would find a pretext tonight to bring an official of royal rank to inspect the area near the city gate.

That way, the moment evidence of the First Prince’s treason was discovered, the Second Prince could immediately bring the official to the scene.

Coming from the city gate, the distance would also be much shorter.

Everything seemed to be in readiness. Now it was simply a matter of waiting for nightfall.

Xiao Yingtao, as she did every day, set about preparing the evening meal for everyone.

As for Lady Lian’s condition — she had been showing signs these past two days that her time was truly near. Her belly was enormously round and swollen at this point, alarmingly so — she could go into labor at any moment.

Xiao Yingtao had spent these past couple of days attending to Lady Lian’s every need without pause, with barely a moment’s rest for herself.

Once Lady Lian safely delivered the child and it was brought before the Meherke King to verify bloodline by a drop of blood, the King’s trust in the Second Prince would surge to unprecedented heights — and knowing he had wrongly doubted the Second Prince, he would naturally feel the need to make amends.

Furthermore, once evidence of the First Prince’s treason came to light as well, the two together would conclusively convince the Meherke King that it had indeed been the First Prince who framed the Second Prince all along.

In short, the child Lady Lian was carrying was of critical importance — no mishaps could be allowed to occur.

Beyond the politics of it, Jiu’er was kind-hearted and could not bear to see a pregnant woman and her unborn child come to harm.

So Xiao Yingtao bore a heavy responsibility these few days, with not a shred of carelessness to spare.

It was only when she finally managed a brief break in her duties that she slipped back to her own room to seize the chance to bathe and change her clothes.

She had not expected that just as she was about to get dressed, there came two knocks at the door — and a figure came bounding inside.

“You—”

“Shh!” Xing Zizhou shut the door behind him with one hand and strode over — only then seeing clearly that the girl was in the middle of changing.

“I had no intention of—” He genuinely had not anticipated this. It was not even fully dark yet — how was she already bathing and changing?

Xiao Yingtao was ready to fly into a rage. She still had an entire night of keeping watch over Lady Lian ahead of her — if she could not take advantage of Lady Lian being asleep to slip back and wash up, was she supposed to go the whole night without bathing? That would be absolutely filthy!

“What are you doing? Get out — get out now!” Xiao Yingtao was both furious and mortified. In her current state of dishevelment, she had no idea what she must look like. All she could do was hastily raise both hands to shield her chest, glaring daggers at him.

“Get out! Get out this instant! You scoundrel!”

Xing Zizhou’s gaze fell on her — such delicate, soft skin. How could he bear to look his fill and still make himself leave?

“I have to go out in a little while.”

“Then hurry up and get out—”

“I might not come back.”

“What does that have to do with—” Xiao Yingtao froze, staring fixedly at his face, wondering if she had heard wrong. “You… what do you mean?”

“Where we’re going tonight is very dangerous. I haven’t had a free moment all day to come and say a word to you — right now is the only chance I have.”

He wasn’t exaggerating in the slightest. The moment the news about the First Prince secretly manufacturing weapons had come in, he had immediately come back to report it to Jiu’er.

After that, he had gone straight away with several of his brothers to stake out the area near the Second Prince’s residence, and managed to make contact with the Second Prince.

Then — only now, at this moment, had he finally returned here and had a few spare moments to come and speak to her.

“Looking at you was wrong of me. I know that, Xiao Yingtao. But right now I don’t want to leave. I’m afraid that if I leave… there won’t be another chance to see you.”

Not only did he not leave — he walked toward her instead. While Xiao Yingtao stood dazed and unmoving, he pulled her into his arms.

“We’ve found evidence that the First Prince has been secretly manufacturing weapons. Tonight we plan to go and investigate with Jiu’er and the others. That place…”

“He actually dared to do something so treasonous!” Xiao Yingtao was so startled she forgot to react to being held.

“A place like that would have guards beyond imagining. Anyone who’s discovered would be… they would certainly be silenced.”

It was an act of high treason. Anyone who caught a spy there would silence them without hesitation — otherwise, every last one of them would face death. To protect their own lives, they would have to kill anyone who came snooping. Going there meant provoking a den of people who had nothing left to lose.

Xiao Yingtao looked at the man standing before her. She genuinely felt she did not like him at all — the one she liked was Mu Mu!

Yet knowing he was about to go to somewhere so dangerous, for reasons she could not explain, a sudden panic seized her heart.

The garment slipped from her hands and fell to the floor, yet she did not even notice.

She reached out and grabbed hold of his large hand, her face etched with anxiety. “Is everyone going? Have you already thoroughly scouted the terrain and the guard placements and any ambushes?”

“And have you notified the Second Prince’s side? Have you arranged for him to have reinforcements ready? If something goes wrong, can the Second Prince dispatch troops there in time?”

She was genuinely frightened — not of meeting a highly skilled opponent, but of encountering desperate people with nothing left to lose.