In all these years at the Eastern Palace, no one had ever been allowed to enter without being announced. Even when His Majesty and the Empress Dowager came, though they couldn’t be stopped, someone would inform His Highness before they crossed the Eastern Palace threshold.

Shen Xihe was the exception – this was Xiao Huayong’s complete openness with her.

Upon entering, after asking where Xiao Huayong was, Shen Xihe walked directly over and heard him say: “Execute him.”

His tone was casual, but without her presence, his every movement and word conveyed the gravitas of one who controlled life and death.

Since he showed no guard around her, Shen Xihe also made no effort to avoid him. She gestured to Zhenzhu to remain outside, while she entered the room with steady steps, her silk shawl draped around her arms.

When Xiao Huayong looked up and saw her, his solemn expression instantly vanished. He stood and strode toward her: “Youyou, I’ve been waiting for you. Come quickly, let’s have breakfast together.”

“Zhaoning has already eaten,” Shen Xihe still properly performed a courtesy to Xiao Huayong.

Though she had seen they were quite far apart, she had barely bent her knees when he was already before her, grasping her hand and refusing to let go.

Shen Xihe struggled: “Your Highness, please let go.”

“I won’t,” Xiao Huayong said firmly. “This is punishment for being so formal with me. If you bow to me again in the future, I’ll hold your hand like this and not let go.”

“Your Highness, do you know what propriety means?” Shen Xihe asked angrily.

Xiao Huayong answered with a smile: “Propriety means respect, importance, and order.”

“Since Your Highness knows this, you should observe and understand propriety. Your Highness is the Crown Prince, your every word and action sets an example for all people.” Shen Xihe said gravely. “Therefore, Your Highness should especially value protocol and observe etiquette.”

“Does Youyou also maintain perfect decorum and complete propriety when meeting the Prince of the Northwest and the Young Master?” Xiao Huayong countered.

Shen Xihe: “Between father and daughter, brother and sister, one must also observe and understand propriety.”

“How boring that would be?” Xiao Huayong led Shen Xihe to the dining table. “As you say, being Crown Prince, my every word and deed sets an example. Therefore, I must maintain propriety before officials and commoners, not allowing the slightest misstep. But etiquette and rules are most tiring. I want to have someone with whom I can act freely, someone with whom I can be unrestrained. Sharing a husband’s worries is a wife’s duty.

I know Youyou strictly adheres to propriety, with etiquette ingrained in your bones, feeling it’s no burden. To have Youyou change for me won’t happen overnight, which is why I want you to adapt early.”

Shen Xihe looked at him in disbelief – he was saying he not only wouldn’t change but wanted her to change for him in the future.

“Youyou, I hope we can have a home together in the future,” Xiao Huayong didn’t let Shen Xihe speak, pulling her to sit down. He released her hand and sat beside her. “What is a home? It’s where love trumps reason, where emotion prevails over the law, where one can be natural and carefree, and where joy permeates.

Whether in glory or hardship, we rely on each other, never parting day or night.

Sparing me from loneliness, from worry, from exhaustion, from pretense.

A refuge, a place where having you brings peace to my heart.”

His voice was gentle and tender, sincere and earnest. Listening to him, Shen Xihe couldn’t help but let her imagination wander. Warm, yearning thoughts flooded her mind, weaving into scenes that inspired longing and anticipation.

“Youyou must have eaten at Yong’an Palace, so just have a few bites casually, if only to make me happy.” Xiao Huayong handed her a pair of chopsticks.

Shen Xihe, perhaps moved by his earlier words, saw him sitting with a tilted posture, somewhat lazily without proper posture, and couldn’t be bothered to admonish him. She took the chopsticks and indeed ate a few casual bites.

“When I entered earlier, I heard Your Highness order an execution,” Shen Xihe wasn’t probing or curious, just telling Xiao Huayong what she had heard.

Xiao Huayong’s lips curved slightly: “I ordered the execution of the Wang family’s second son.”

“You killed him…” Shen Xihe thought briefly and understood.

Second Young Master Wang’s ball strike toward Xiao Huayong had been unintentional, and why poison was hidden in the ball remained a mystery. Some things, when investigated deeply, revealed no clues because everything had been orchestrated by Xiao Huayong.

He could only let Second Young Master Wang die in prison. If it could be made to look like suicide from guilt, with the coroner unable to determine it was murder, the Wang family’s hopes of clearing their name would be nothing but a fool’s dream.

“The Wang family has only this one legitimate son, in whom Wang Zheng placed great hopes,” Xiao Huayong said softly. “His death will thoroughly intensify the internal conflicts of the Wang family. Wang Zheng will also be enraged – he will surely seek another opportunity to move against me for revenge.”

If it were other princes, Wang Zheng might not dare be so aggressive, but Xiao Huayong was pressing forward step by step. Wang Zheng already had an urgent sense that if Xiao Huayong didn’t fall, the entire Wang family couldn’t live in peace. He would exhaust every method to expose Xiao Huayong before His Majesty.

The next time he made a move, Wang Zheng would be digging his own grave.

Regarding Xiao Huayong’s actions and methods of dealing with enemies, Shen Xihe neither commented nor involved herself. She looked into Xiao Huayong’s eyes, dark and profound, with gathered silver light: “His Majesty visits Your Highness daily. Your Highness should still be careful.”

Knowing she cared for him, Xiao Huayong smiled with light dancing in his eyes: “Before His Majesty enters the Eastern Palace, I already know whether he will come or not.”

Since he was so confident, Shen Xihe said no more.

However, Xiao Huayong took out three paper scrolls, placed them on a tray, and pushed them before Shen Xihe, speaking somewhat expectantly yet shyly: “These are the dates chosen by the Imperial Astronomers. Youyou might want to pick one.”

The bright red paper scrolls – Shen Xihe didn’t need to guess to know these must be wedding dates calculated by the Imperial Astronomers using her and Xiao Huayong’s birth data. Once the wedding date was set, the corresponding processes of presenting gifts, auspicious items, and betrothal gifts could be arranged one after another.

Shen Xihe didn’t hesitate. Since Xiao Huayong had brought them to ask her opinion, she carefully considered them.

Inwardly, she again marveled at Xiao Huayong’s influence – he could obtain dates calculated by the Imperial Astronomers before His Majesty, and since he brought them for her to choose, he must be certain that whichever date she chose would be approved by His Majesty.

Of the three dates, the earliest was half a year later, then the year-end, and the last was March of next year.

“Half a year might be too rushed, and year-end has many events. Moreover, Your Highness fears the cold. Why not wait for spring next year?” Shen Xihe wasn’t deliberately choosing the furthest date. Since she had decided to marry, she didn’t mind a few months’ difference but was practical.

The Crown Prince’s wedding absolutely couldn’t be properly arranged in just half a year.

“I think half a year is completely sufficient,” Xiao Huayong argued for himself. “I promise it will be grand, with nothing lacking that should be present.”

“July and August are the busiest times in the Northwest. I don’t want my father and brother to leave the Northwest than to escort me for my wedding,” Shen Xihe explained her reasons.

Seeing this was Shen Xihe’s genuine concern, Xiao Huayong had to concede: “I wish I could bring Youyou into the Eastern Palace tomorrow…”