His brother was so straightforward and pure. Xiao Changying knew his relationship with her was impossible, yet he still hadn’t completely let go, couldn’t bear to see her in danger, and couldn’t forgive those who hurt her.

Xiao Changqing raised his head, gazing at the tranquil blue sky, letting out a soft sigh. Though he had married his life’s true love, he still couldn’t escape fate’s tricks – they were ultimately destined to remain apart.

If Xiao Changying couldn’t marry her, perhaps he hadn’t let go yet, but when that day comes and his heart grows cold, he would finally find peace.

Letting Xiao Changying go was to prevent future regret, additional yearning, and self-blame, and also to hope that when the Crown Prince ascends the throne, he would treat Xiao Changying well, considering their history of never being enemies.

As an older brother, this was all he could plan for his younger sibling.

“Princess, we’ve tracked down the Fourth Prince’s whereabouts,” Mo Yuan hurriedly reported.

“Capture him, but keep him alive,” Shen Xihe ordered. “Do it openly and rightfully!”

She suspected Xiao Changtai had kidnapped her sister. If she sent people to capture him, even His Majesty couldn’t find fault with that.

“Yes,” Mo Yuan accepted the order. Just as he was about to leave, he saw Xiao Huayong approaching and quickly bowed.

Xiao Huayong slightly raised his hand upon seeing him and said, “General Mo has been busy all day, why not rest for a moment?”

Mo Yuan looked at him, then at Shen Xihe. After Shen Xihe’s gaze swept past Xiao Huayong’s side, she nodded to Mo Yuan.

Mo Yuan gave a silent bow and withdrew.

“Has there been a change in the Fourth Prince’s situation?” Shen Xihe asked.

“His Majesty has sent people. I had our men lead His Majesty’s people there. The fourth Prince used Second Miss Shen to threaten the Second Prince for assistance. Their people will inevitably clash with His Majesty’s men. Even if we send people and capture him, he won’t fall into our hands,” Xiao Huayong explained.

“What if he escapes?” Shen Xihe asked again.

“Escape?” Xiao Huayong smiled slightly. “Where would he go? The Imperial Tomb already has people reporting his unauthorized departure. His Majesty will surely guess who Lady Li met. The mastermind behind the tomb robbery case will be revealed. If he returns to the Imperial Tomb, it’s still death.”

To avoid alerting Xiao Changtai, Xiao Huayong didn’t investigate inside the Qian residence. If Xiao Changtai was alerted, even if he came to the capital, he wouldn’t arrange to meet Li Yanyan at the Qian residence. Though they missed one secret passage allowing Xiao Changtai to escape, while the charge of secret communication couldn’t stick, exposing him as the mastermind of the tomb robbery case would be enough.

“We still haven’t found County Princess Huaiyang,” Shen Xihe worried about Shen Xihe – after all, she bore the Shen surname.

“Don’t worry,” Xiao Huayong reassured her. “He won’t dare harm Second Miss Shen. Before meeting Li Yanyan, he didn’t know Lady Ye’s whereabouts. Now Lady Ye has been released and is being held in a hunter’s home in the capital’s outskirts. The hunter happens to be away hunting in the mountains these days and lives alone – Lady Li found an excellent location. Lady Ye still doesn’t know who kidnapped her. Once Lady Ye returns home safely, if Xiao Changtai escapes, he’ll understand that if anything happens to Second Miss Shen, while you might not vent your anger on Lady Ye, Second Prince certainly will.”

For Ye Wantang’s sake, Xiao Changtai couldn’t harm Shen Xihe at all.

This made sense. At this point, sending people to intercept Xiao Changtai would only expose their forces. After all, His Majesty had already intervened in this matter. Better to wait and see how things develop.

Whether Xiao Changtai escaped or not, he was certainly doomed.

After waiting for two hours, while Xiao Huayong was having dinner with Shen Xihe, Tianyuan came to report: “Your Highness, His Majesty’s men were jointly intercepted by Fourth Prince and Second Prince’s forces. Fourth Prince nearly escaped…”

At this point, Tianyuan quickly glanced at Shen Xihe before continuing: “Ninth Prince suddenly arrived with his training troops, intercepting them at Wei River. The Fourth Prince fought desperately but was shot in the chest by the Ninth Prince’s arrow and fell into Wei River. Currently, they still can’t find him.”

Xiao Huayong raised his eyebrows: “How fascinating.”

His Majesty must be having quite a headache now – the Second Prince’s hidden forces got involved, and the Ninth Prince’s public forces suddenly intervened.

“Also, the Fourth Prince’s quarters in the Imperial Tomb caught fire, burning a corpse beyond recognition. Fourth Prince’s servants insist it was him,” Tianyuan added.

“Indeed he had a backup plan,” Xiao Huayong praised.

“Even in such dire straits, the Fourth Prince still tries to pave an escape route for himself,” Shen Xihe couldn’t help but sigh.

Even if Xiao Changying and others personally saw Xiao Changtai flee to Wei River, get shot by his arrow, and fall in, without capturing him it wouldn’t count – the Ye clan wouldn’t acknowledge it.

The Ye clan would only acknowledge that the person burned to death in the Imperial Tomb fire was Xiao Changtai, and this death by fire left much room for maneuvering.

Now they confirm he burned to death, but later when he wants to return, he can simply say it was a mistake, fabricate a plausible explanation, and naturally openly reclaim his identity – though of course, this would have to wait until after His Majesty’s passing.

As long as His Majesty hadn’t convicted him, without evidence, others’ accusations would just be slander.

Last time, when he was outmaneuvered by Xiao Huayong and Xiao Changqing, exposing his true nature, he seized the opportunity to take the blame for conspiring with the Prince of Kang’s manor to forge weapons, covering up that incident and preventing court officials from pursuing the matter further.

That was his first disappearance, hiding in the Imperial Tomb. Though life was harder, nothing could touch him there, and those who wanted to deal with him couldn’t succeed in the Imperial Tomb – it was a brilliant move.

Now he’s been forced into his second disappearance, this time hiding in plain sight among the common people.

Most likely, Xiao Changying’s arrow hit exactly where he wanted, letting him fall into Wei River. As long as he survives, he can still make a comeback.

Changing from visible to invisible, lurking outside to stir up trouble, with substantial wealth he can openly cultivate forces. When Xiao Huayong and the other princes fight to the death, just as the situation is about to be decided, he’ll emerge again, bringing another bloody storm.

“Perhaps letting Munuha escape, allowing him to flee while using him to probe my forces, was part of this plan all along,” Xiao Huayong suddenly felt he had underestimated Xiao Changtai.

Xiao Changtai certainly hadn’t expected to be forced into this step by Xiao Huayong so early, but he probably had already wanted to leave the Imperial Tomb, as it restricted his movements. He was just waiting for the right moment to stage his “death” in a big fire, only to resurrect later.

After this cicada shell escape, he would surely hide among the common people, most wary of Xiao Huayong’s forces.

He had cultivated forces while pretending to travel and sightsee, and now knowing Xiao Huayong’s true nature, he could certainly guess how deep the forces Xiao Huayong had cultivated during his twelve years of Taoist life might be.

Using Munuha to roughly probe the territory, even if not completely, his escape this way would avoid most pursuit, definitely not ending up as desperate as Munuha.

“Your Highness, you must be careful of this person,” Shen Xihe warned.