Lingrong gazed at Shen Xihe with tear-filled eyes, looking pitifully at her with what seemed to be regret and shame, along with a hint of comfort as if seeing Shen Xihe before death.
Shen Xihe smiled faintly with an indecipherable expression: “Your acting skills are not up to par.”
Lingrong’s gaze froze.
Bu Shulin cheerfully came closer: “Well, Xihe sister, how do you like my gift?”
Giving Bu Shulin a meaningful glance, Shen Xihe replied flatly: “Is that all?”
Bu Shulin blinked: “You couldn’t catch this runaway slave even with a wanted notice, and after all my efforts to find her for you, you’re so dismissive?”
“There are many who would plant spies by my side from childhood, but only the Kang Prince’s Manor would strike during my journey to the capital,” Shen Xihe said, subtly glancing at Lingrong and catching her fleeting look of terror.
Turning her gaze back to Bu Shulin, she saw him smiling somewhat obsequiously: “I knew where she would hide all along. The wanted notice was just a diversion to lower the Kang Prince Manor’s guard, waiting until I entered the capital to settle accounts with them properly.”
Shen Xihe’s meaningful smile deepened as she continued: “The Young Master making such a show of delivering her here – surely her loved ones at the Kang Prince Manor have also been taken by you. When others remain unharmed but her relatives go missing, what will the Kang Prince Manor think?”
They would naturally suspect Shen Xihe was behind it.
Shen Xihe stood up and gracefully walked slowly toward Bu Shulin. He retreated step by step until his back was against the wall.
Looking at Bu Shulin, who now appeared weak and helpless, pleading for mercy, Shen Xihe said softly: “Young Master, I thought we were both intelligent people. If you insist on testing me, I might just…”
She knew exactly what Bu Shulin was thinking – hesitating to move against her because she knew his secret of being female, not daring to act rashly, using the Kang Prince Manor as a vanguard…
“No, no, no, no…” Bu Shulin shook his head like a rattledrum. “My mistake, my mistake, don’t be angry, Sister Xihe. I promise this will be the only time.”
“But you’ve disrupted my plans,” Shen Xihe said slowly.
“I owe you, I owe you. I’ll make it up to you in the future!” Bu Shulin hastily declared.
“Very well, in that case, you now owe me one life and three favors,” Shen Xihe nodded with satisfaction.
Bu Shulin, who somehow ended up owing so much: …
“What? Is there a problem?” Shen Xihe raised her eyebrows.
“No, no, no, everything you say is right!” Bu Shulin nodded like a pecking chick.
Bu Shulin’s hidden guards outside: …
Somehow felt their master was so embarrassing!
“In that case, I need to deal with this runaway slave, Young Master…”
“I’m leaving, I’m leaving right now.” Bu Shulin nimbly escaped through the window.
After fleeing the private room, only then did he feel how fresh the air was outside. His hidden guards caught up, and he patted his chest, still shaken: “Too frightening, too frightening. To think there could be such a terrifying woman in this world. Truly, a woman’s heart is most poisonous!”
Hidden guards: …
Master, you seem to have forgotten that you’re also a woman.
To prevent Bu Shulin from having second thoughts and finding excuses to trouble them again, the guard quickly said: “This servant thinks Princess Zhaoning didn’t do anything…”
“Didn’t do anything?” Bu Shulin turned his head, eyes full of disdain and despair. “It’s over, it’s over. It’s bad enough that I can’t compare to Shen Xihe, but even the people I raise aren’t as clever as those raised by Shen Xihe.”
Hidden guards: …
“Why do you think Shen Xihe was using poison and incense as soon as she saw me?” Bu Shulin said in frustration. “She had already guessed my possible intentions and was warning me – if I became her enemy, she wouldn’t even let me breathe easily!”
The hidden guards felt their master was overthinking.
Seeing through the guards’ thoughts at a glance, Bu Shulin felt even more frustrated: “Truly hopeless!”
Just wait and see, this woman Shen Xihe was uncannily clever. Though he prided himself on his intelligence and had held his own against the old and young foxes of the Xiao family for many years, this was the first time a woman had scared him so thoroughly.
Suddenly, he found himself looking forward to the day Shen Xihe would enter the capital.
His mood suddenly improved greatly, and he left humming a tune.
Hidden guards: …
Couldn’t understand why their master’s mood had improved? Perhaps the shock had affected his brain, making him not quite normal.
After Bu Shulin and his servants left, only Zhenzhu and Shen Xihe remained in the private room. Just then, the inn’s waiter brought several servers carrying dishes.
Seeing Lingrong bound tightly and thrown to the side, they all hesitated for a moment, but they were clever and quickly pretended not to notice, setting out the dishes one by one before bowing and withdrawing.
“Moyu,” Shen Xihe called out, and Moyu immediately leaped in through the window. “Let’s eat.”
The three mistresses and servants seemed to forget Lingrong’s existence. Lingrong huddled in the corner, not daring to make the slightest sound.
After Shen Xihe finished dining and everything had been cleared away, Zhenzhu finally asked: “Princess, how should we deal with this traitor?”
Shen Xihe stood by the window, gazing at the rows of houses, their black tiles covered in a layer of sunlight looking particularly new. Beyond the rows of rooftops, willows swayed their soft branches in the wind along the distant embankment.
Her gaze was gentle: “Hand her over to Mo Yuan, turn her into a human pig, sneak into the Kang Prince Manor, and leave her in the Old Princess Dowager’s chambers at night.”
“Mmph! Mmph mmph mmph!” Lingrong began struggling violently, but her mouth was thoroughly gagged.
Zhenzhu was bringing Shen Xihe a cup of mint-scented tea to rinse her mouth. Hearing these words, even the usually steady Zhenzhu’s hand trembled, splashing two drops of water onto her hand.
Shen Xihe merely glanced lightly, as if not noticing, and took the teacup from her hands.
Moyu remained extremely calm, and upon hearing Shen Xihe’s words, grabbed Lingrong’s collar and dragged her out.
“Mmph! Mmph mmph mmph!” Lingrong struggled, her watery eyes conveying that she had something to say.
“Princess, she seems to have something to say…”
“Since when do servants get to speak while masters must listen?” Shen Xihe questioned Zhenzhu.
“Princess, this servant wouldn’t plead for such a worthless slave who plotted against her master. This servant only thought she must know much about the Kang Prince Manor…”
Before Zhenzhu could finish, Shen Xihe raised her hand to interrupt: “I don’t need to learn about the Kang Prince Manor from others. Even if it’s as strong as brass walls and iron fortresses, if I want it to fall, fall it shall.”
Giving Moyu a meaningful look, Shen Xihe continued: “With me, there is no redemption through merit. Anyone who harbors second thoughts will meet the same fate.”
Zhenzhu’s heart tightened: “Yes.”
“Prince Lie, is one stick of incense, not enough?” Shen Xihe suddenly called out.
Under Moyu’s vigilant watch, Xiao Changying leaped inside. His injuries seemed much better, his complexion ruddy, his beauty striking and bold in his red clothes like fierce flames.
“Princess, how did you know I’ve been here for the time of one incense stick?” Xiao Changying wondered privately.
Though Shen Xihe was physically weak and untrained in martial arts, and even her skilled maids hadn’t noticed his arrival, she had somehow known the exact time.
The domineering dragon brain incense, sharp and cool – she had committed it to memory at the Ma family estate.