Her sense of smell was particularly acute. Anyone with means couldn’t help but affect refinement, and everyone liked incense, though their preferences varied. Even the same incense would carry different scents depending on who made it or used it, due to different habits of use.

While Shen Xihe could say this to Bu Shulin, she wouldn’t say it to Xiao Changying, instead asking: “Why does Prince Lie seek this subject’s daughter?”

After casually asking this, Shen Xihe glanced at Moyu, who withdrew while dragging the terrified and desperate Lingrong.

“Why does the Princess ask what she already knows?” Xiao Changying leaned against the window with folded arms. “Some things should be returned to their rightful owner.”

Shen Xihe’s misty eyes, seemingly wreathed in cold fog, flickered with slight surprise: “When did this subject’s daughter steal from others?”

Xiao Changying spoke solemnly: “Princess, those items are of no use to you. If they fall into the wrong hands, they could cause great disaster and shake the foundations of the court. This prince hopes the Princess will return them. For saving this prince’s life, I will surely repay you in the future.”

“Prince Lie is the ruler, this subject’s daughter is a subject. Saving Your Highness was my duty; Your Highness need not be concerned.” She made no mention of the items Xiao Changying sought.

“Princess, you should think this through carefully,” Xiao Changying said coldly.

Shen Xihe remained composed: “Prince Lie truly need not dwell on this subject’s daughter’s casual assistance that day.”

It was noon, the sun at its peak. Scorching sunlight poured through the window onto Xiao Changying’s back, making his face appear even colder by contrast.

Shen Xihe appeared oblivious, remaining calm and collected, radiating both righteousness and an infuriating fearlessness in the silence.

Of course, she was fearless – she was the legitimate daughter of the Northwest King. Few would dare move against her. Even the Kang Prince Manor had to sacrifice a piece they’d carefully cultivated for ten years just to cause her some trouble.

Now that person was in her hands, and even with the Emperor’s favor, the Kang Prince Manor had stirred up a hornet’s nest this time.

Xiao Changying’s lips suddenly curved gradually: “This prince is very curious.”

Shen Xihe’s gaze was steady, her expression calm as she waited for him to continue.

“Which elder brother has won the Princess’s favor? Making the Princess journey here despite her ill health, taking a circuitous route to intercept those items from my hands.”

At this moment, Xiao Changying had to admit that Shen Xihe hadn’t come for him. When he was being pursued, he’d vaguely sensed many external forces at work.

Upon first meeting Shen Xihe, he’d thought she was a honey trap arranged by Shen Yueshan. Now he realized that, just as she’d said, she truly wasn’t interested in him as a person, but in the evidence he’d obtained at the cost of half his carefully trained guards and nearly his life during six months in Yangzhou.

Shen Yueshan typically stayed out of court struggles; this evidence certainly wasn’t obtained at his instruction. Those who most wanted it would be the various princes, whether for self-preservation, curry favor, or leverage. Given how far-reaching the implications were, no one could resist being tempted.

His mother managed the imperial harem, and aside from the Crown Prince, no one was more noble than him. Those pursuing him were as numerous as fish crossing a river. In his seventeen years of life, this was the first time someone had shown such disregard for him, repeatedly outmaneuvering him!

This time he was investigating under imperial orders, yet he’d return empty-handed, surely disappointing his father greatly.

“Perhaps… it’s a younger brother?” Shen Xihe teased, subtly telling him that the items had indeed been taken and delivered to one of his brothers, so he should stop pursuing her.

Xiao Changying’s face instantly darkened: “Princess, take care of yourself.”

With those words, he leaped out the window and vanished.

“Ah, why do these people never use the proper door?” Shen Xihe sighed softly, waiting until the dragon brain incense had drifted away in the wind. Her eyes darkened slightly as she instructed Zhenzhu, “Prepare for Prince Xin’s counterattack.”

“Princess, you mean…” Zhenzhu’s expression immediately turned serious.

“The brothers are as close as hands and feet. One could say Prince Lie is Prince Xin’s right-hand man. Everything Prince Lie does paves the way for Prince Xin. The one I’ve truly offended today isn’t Prince Lie.” Shen Xihe curved her lips. “Openly, they naturally wouldn’t dare move against me. But in secret… who knows?”

With this, she effectively declared war on her brother Xiao Changqin.

Although Emperor Youning would never let Shen Yueshan’s son-in-law ascend the throne, before completely falling out, having the Northwest King’s daughter was equivalent to having military might. No matter whom Shen Xihe married, as long as they had designs on the throne, they would be a great threat to Xiao Changqin.

Thus, seizing any opportunity to eliminate her early would be the best strategy.

“Mo Yuan reports that since Prince Xin’s wife was poisoned by the Fan family, he has been at Fahua Temple praying for her for three months,” Zhenzhu pondered. “Princess, do you suspect this is just an excuse, and he’s not actually at the temple?”

Shen Xihe paused slightly, blinking: “No, he’s definitely at the temple. He doesn’t need to come personally to take action.”

Shen Xihe didn’t know how to evaluate Xiao Changqin as a person, but his feelings for Gu Qingzhi were genuine. One could see this from how even knowing Gu Qingzhi had committed suicide, he followed the path she’d laid out, willing to defy Emperor Youning to make the Fan family pay with their lives.

…

Capital City, Fahua Temple.

Incense smoke curled through the air amidst long-drawn sutras.

Xiao Changqin knelt on a meditation cushion, his bloodshot eyes staring vacantly at the memorial tablet before him, its gold characters solemn and proper: “Position of the Late Lady Gu.”

He gazed at it obsessively, dressed in mourning clothes, with short stubble, looking haggard and grief-stricken.

Soon, a straight figure knelt behind him: “Master, Ninth Master pursued Luoyang but returned empty-handed.”

Xiao Changqin’s eyes gradually focused, his voice hoarse and rough as if unused for a long time: “Kill.”

“Yes.” The figure disappeared without a sound.

Xiao Changqin took out a palm-sized wooden box from his sleeve, gently opening it to reveal a memorial tablet two fingers wide and half a finger long, inscribed in small graceful calligraphy with four characters: “Deceased Wife Qingqing.”

A black silk cord was threaded through the top of the tablet. He held it in his palm, carefully and tenderly: “You said when your mother closed her eyes, your heart went with her; did you know that when you closed your eyes in my arms, you also took my heart?”

As he spoke, tears glistened in his eyes: “I know you didn’t believe me, didn’t believe I would defy father’s orders for you, didn’t believe I would resist imperial will for you. You never gave me a chance to prove…”

A tear fell from his eye, and he slowly broke into a bitter, self-mocking smile: “You wanted me to live, wanted me to tear apart the cold imperial power, wanted me to deny everyone peace. Since this was your final wish, I will surely fulfill it, to put your spirit at rest in heaven.”

Wiping away his tears and composing himself, Xiao Changqin’s eyes roiled like dark clouds. He took the memorial tablet from the box and solemnly hung it around his neck, letting it rest against his heart.