“And there’s His Majesty to consider,” Shen Xihe added, “We can’t let people go to His Majesty about Young Master Bu’s disappearance…”

“Your Highness, the Policy Discussion Hall reports that His Majesty has summoned Young Master Bu,” Before Shen Xihe could finish, the servant who had just left to deliver orders returned.

Indeed, His Majesty had resolved to kill.

By summoning Bu Shulin, when the person couldn’t be found, he would be able to issue a death warrant under the pretense of searching for him.

“I’ll go see…”

“Your Highness need not concern yourself,” Shen Xihe grabbed his arm. “I anticipated that if His Majesty had no one to prompt him, he would certainly summon Young Master Bu, so I’ve already sent a maid to find Jin Shan, Young Master Bu’s confidant.”

Bu Shulin had two personal guards he brought from the Shu Southern Army, called Jin Shan and Yin Shan.

“How do you plan to delay His Majesty’s summons?” Xiao Huayong was curious. He knew she was clever, but was still delighted and surprised.

“I had Jin Shan find someone of similar build to the Young Master to pretend to have stomach troubles and keep running to the privy. They’re not to let the palace servants see their true face, and even if the imperial physician comes, they should try to delay the examination as much as possible,” Shen Xihe didn’t hide anything from Xiao Huayong.

“His Majesty is determined to see the person. This method can only delay for a moment. He will surely send Liu Sanzhi, His Majesty’s confidant who must know about Young Master Bu’s misfortune. He will have ways to catch the person you have impersonating Young Master Bu,” Xiao Huayong said.

Shen Xihe smiled gently: “It doesn’t matter if they catch him. Just have Jin Shan say the Young Master was there just now, that he was trying to persuade the Young Master to see a physician, but somehow the Young Master had someone impersonate him to escape Jin Shan’s urging. The Young Master has always feared taking medicine, so he must have just run off, and they should go look for him.”

Xiao Huayong nodded with a smile after hearing this: “That’s a good plan.”

This way, it wouldn’t be that the person was missing all night, but rather had just disappeared to avoid being urged to see a physician. His Majesty couldn’t very well send people to search everywhere, and even if there was urgent business, they could only search around the immediate vicinity.

Time was short, but delaying for an hour or so should be possible.

“Is Youyou confident she can find the person within an hour?” Xiao Huayong was very curious about where Shen Xihe’s confidence came from.

“The hunting grounds are vast, and Zhaoning cannot estimate their size. I have no confidence we can find someone in an hour,” Shen Xihe shook her head. “We can only delay as long as possible moment by moment, fearing that Young Master Bu has already met with misfortune. That’s why I came to seek Your Highness’s help, hoping he can return safely.”

“Don’t worry, he will certainly be fine,” Xiao Huayong gently comforted Shen Xihe.

Shen Xihe nodded somewhat worriedly.

Xiao Huayong couldn’t bear to see her brows furrowed and wanted to reach out to smooth them, but moved his hand and forcefully restrained himself. He suddenly thought of something: “About the Changling matter… I am not a cold-blooded person.”

Shen Xihe was slightly startled, she hadn’t expected Xiao Huayong to bring this up on his own.

“I know after you heard about it, you must think I’m cruel and heartless, disregarding brotherly bonds…” Xiao Huayong’s tone was somewhat melancholic.

Though Shen Xihe appeared aloof and didn’t form deep relationships with others, she was someone who valued traditional moral principles. This could be seen from how she didn’t let the previous generation’s grievances affect Shen Yingwei, never making things difficult for her. As long as Shen Yingwei remained this sensible, if one day someone bullied her, for the sake of her surname being Shen, Shen Xihe would still stand up for her.

She was someone who regarded family honor and familial bonds as very important. Regarding his cruel scheme against Changling, she would certainly feel uncomfortable, because she didn’t understand romantic love. In her view, when there were blood ties, even if there was no contact, one still shouldn’t harm the other.

“Your Highness, Zhaoning is ignorant and indeed had such thoughts,” Shen Xihe wasn’t a hypocritical person. If Xiao Huayong hadn’t asked, she might not have brought it up voluntarily, but since he mentioned it, she wouldn’t pretend she hadn’t thought that way.

“In your heart, family ties are paramount. Nothing I say now will make you understand,” Xiao Huayong sighed softly. “I only hope you know that I won’t hurt you. I won’t be someone who would dye mountains red with blood for you when I love you, then wish to cut you into a thousand pieces when I no longer do.”

And he would never stop loving her.

Shen Xihe stared steadily at Xiao Huayong, remaining silent for a moment before saying: “I believe Your Highness.”

She didn’t know why, but she believed these words from Xiao Huayong. Where this confidence came from, she couldn’t explain herself, it was just an intuition that he wasn’t deceiving her.

Xiao Huayong truly loved this aspect of Shen Xihe’s personality, and how she meant what she said. She wouldn’t lie, and if she didn’t believe something she would express it through silence rather than direct words, but when she said she believed, she meant it.

Nothing else mattered, as long as she believed, that was enough.

Xiao Huayong felt relieved in his heart and invited Shen Xihe to sit inside, personally brewing tea for her.

A fragrant aroma brought back Shen Xihe’s wandering attention. She looked down to see a flower blooming in the teacup, and as the petals unfurled, the rouge-colored tea was particularly brilliant.

“I heard you don’t like drinking tea, so I prepared flower tea,” Xiao Huayong brought a cup to Shen Xihe, with small dishes of milk, honey, sugar cubes, and such on the side. “Add whatever you like to make it to your taste.”

Shen Xihe was somewhat anxious, worried about Bu Shulin’s life and death, worried until her lips were dry. Feeling it wasn’t too hot, she picked up the cup and took a sip. The flower had been preserved in honey and naturally had a hint of sweetness, which was just right for Shen Xihe, and she couldn’t help but take several more sips.

After more than half an hour passed without any news, Shen Xihe stood up: “I need to go to Young Master Bu’s quarters to help delay things further.”

“No need, just wait here peacefully. I’ve already made arrangements to ensure His Majesty won’t find any excuse to send people,” Xiao Huayong smiled slightly.

Shen Xihe turned to look at Xiao Huayong.

Xiao Huayong’s smile deepened: “His Majesty will return to the palace immediately.”

Soon someone came to report that the ancestral temple was on fire. With such a major incident, how could Emperor Youning sit still? He hurriedly left some instructions and led his personal guards to ride back to the palace.

“You…” Shen Xihe hadn’t expected that Xiao Huayong would send people to burn the ancestral temple. That was also where his ancestors were enshrined!

This was a great disrespect to the ancestors!

“It’s just some thick smoke outside. My doing this isn’t about disregarding the ancestors, but has other intentions. After we return to the capital, you’ll understand,” Xiao Huayong feared she would misunderstand him even slightly.

“I know,” Shen Xihe nodded: “Even riding at full speed from the capital to here, an hour might not be enough.”

One way wasn’t enough, let alone a round trip. She had come to find Xiao Huayong less than an hour ago, even if Xiao Huayong had arranged it right then, the person still wouldn’t have reached the capital.

So this wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision, but something Xiao Huayong had arranged in advance, just happening to coincide with Bu Shulin’s situation. This was also why Emperor Youning didn’t suspect this was done by someone to rescue Bu Shulin.

Calculating this way, Xiao Huayong hadn’t set the ancestral temple on fire for Bu Shulin.

Shen Xihe’s shock and astonishment were only directed at his action of burning the ancestral temple.