Xiao Changmin’s attitude was clear – he would compromise with Xiao Changtai. Half for Shen Yingruo’s sake, and half to prevent Xiao Huayong from eliminating Xiao Changtai, as losing another person would put him at a greater disadvantage.
Xiao Huayong nodded with a smile and turned to leave. Xiao Changmin respectfully escorted Xiao Huayong out of Prince Zhao’s residence. As Xiao Huayong stepped down the stairs, he paused on the last step and said, “Second Brother, don’t become the next Fourth Brother.”
If he could force Xiao Changtai to this point, he could naturally do the same to Xiao Changmin.
Xiao Changmin acted as if he hadn’t heard: “Respectfully sending off Crown Prince.”
Only after the carriage wheels had faded into the distance did Xiao Changmin straighten up, his face growing colder inch by inch as the sunlight disappeared.
“Your Highness, should we…”
“No need. Just have people watch Second Brother closely,” Xiao Huayong raised his hand to interrupt Tianyuan. “Let’s see what capabilities Fourth Brother has!”
After leaving Prince Zhao’s residence, Xiao Changtai returned to his hiding place. Li Yanyan knew of this location, but she couldn’t come there. She and Xiao Changtai had arranged to meet at a residence beside the East Tower. Li Yanyan was already waiting there, and her letter had been delivered to Xiao Changtai’s hideout.
After capturing Ye Wantang, Li Yanyan sent Xiao Changtai a letter. This letter had been intercepted and replaced by Xiao Huayong. Given Xiao Changtai’s previous pattern of ignoring her letters, when Li Yanyan received no reply, she assumed he was just being stubborn. She was certain Xiao Changtai would enter the capital within five days, believing he had genuine feelings for Ye Wantang.
Sure enough, Xiao Changtai entered the capital within three days. Though she didn’t know why he went to Prince Zhao’s residence, she didn’t concern herself with Xiao Changtai’s affairs.
This time, her letter to Xiao Changtai didn’t mention Ye Wantang. In Li Yanyan’s mind, since Xiao Changtai came for Ye Wantang and knew she was in her custody, there was no need to be aggressive or repeatedly remind him, which might anger him.
Xiao Changtai was extremely angry with Li Yanyan. Unaware that Li Yanyan had been used by Xiao Huayong, he wanted to meet with her to clarify things and inform her that their communication method had been compromised.
Xiao Changtai didn’t take many precautions when going to meet Li Yanyan, because Li Yanyan hadn’t told him that after their secret meeting dispersed on the Lantern Festival, she had encountered Shen Xihe.
Li Yanyan considered this encounter unremarkable, not knowing that Shen Xihe could identify people by their scent, and had informed Xiao Huayong, who had long since had people scout the East Tower area thoroughly.
With Cui Jinbai in the Grand Court of Justice, investigating residences in the capital couldn’t have been easier, with countless ways to do so without arousing suspicion.
After Xiao Huayong’s carriage left the prince’s residence, he received news: “Your Highness, Prince Dai’s wife has gone to the Qian residence.”
The Qian residence was their meeting place, bought by someone surnamed Qian.
Xiao Huayong’s lips curved slightly: “Let’s go find Third Brother.”
When Xiao Changtai arrived at the Qian residence, it was getting dark. Li Yanyan had already eaten dinner there, and Xiao Changtai’s slow arrival had irritated her: “Fourth Brother, you’re truly rare to see.”
“Do you know what a crucial moment this is?” Xiao Changtai was also annoyed by her sarcasm. “If I didn’t have urgent matters to tell you, do you think I would come to see you?”
Li Yanyan was somewhat confused: “What matters?”
“We need to change our method of contact in the future. How to contact each other, I’ll think about it for a while before letting you know. Our previous method has been discovered by the Crown Prince,” Xiao Changtai said coldly.
“How do you know the Crown Prince discovered it?” Li Yanyan asked.
“Three days ago, the letter you sent to the Imperial Tomb was intercepted. My people received an album instead.” Just thinking about the album’s contents made Xiao Changtai uncomfortable. He thought himself cold-blooded and cruel but hadn’t expected Xiao Huayong to be truly fearsome. He wondered how one could even draw such an album. “It was about Munuha’s tragic death process…”
“Wait.” Li Yanyan interrupted Xiao Changtai. “You’re saying that in the letter I sent you three days ago, you never received it, and instead you received an album, and this album was from Crown Prince?”
“Yes,” Xiao Changtai said coldly.
Li Yanyan’s expression changed: “Not good, we’ve fallen into their trap!”