There had been complaints, there had been hatred for fate’s unfairness, but all that past resentment and anger suddenly dissolved the moment I met you.

My eyes no longer held hatred or grievances, only longing and desire for you.

You are the one who makes me forget all unhappiness and pain, filling my heart with tenderness and gratitude.

Shen Xihe suddenly regretted her earlier unconscious sigh. At the time, she had only thought of his childhood experiences and spoke without thinking, causing him to beam with joy and speak in that glib manner.

With an almost inaudible sigh, Shen Xihe found a new topic: “There’s something I’ve never been able to understand.”

“Oh?” Xiao Huayong’s interest was piqued, his silver-bright eyes turning, “There’s something in this world that puzzles Youyou?”

Shen Xihe didn’t play along with his flowery speech, speaking seriously: “I’m neither Zhuge Liang reborn nor a prophet – how could I figure out everything?”

“Youyou speak truly. Just ask, and I hope I can help clear your confusion,” Xiao Huayong said ingratiatingly.

“Why did you arrange for two secret guards?” This was the one thing about Xiao Huayong’s plans that Shen Xihe couldn’t comprehend – why he arranged for two secret guards to save Yu Sangzi and Gu Qingshu.

Using them to expose His Majesty’s private army? But that couldn’t be openly stated – how could mere speculation among court officials be worth such effort? Was it necessary to go to such lengths?

Shen Xihe couldn’t believe Xiao Huayong’s sole purpose was to push forward Gu Qingshu and Yu Sangzi. His vision and mindset – how could he care about two unremarkable young ladies whose minds were filled only with romance?

By now, Shen Xihe somewhat understood why Xiao Huayong was drawn to her. It had nothing to do with beauty. For someone like Xiao Huayong, only a woman whose intellect, capability, and vision matched his own could move his heart.

But he was born to walk the path of an emperor – how could any woman in this world focus on such a path? Even Yu Sangning, who yearned for wealth and glory, still thought like an ordinary woman, scheming only for a good marriage and using men to elevate herself. Such women were countless, and he, having seen both prosperity and hardship, naturally wouldn’t be attracted to them.

Therefore, this move of Xiao Huayong stood out oddly in his overall strategy, making it incomprehensible to Shen Xihe.

After listening, Xiao Huayong laughed softly, looking at Shen Xihe as if at an endearing lost child, his smiling eyes full of tender affection and doting warmth: “My Youyou, you’re missing the forest for the trees.”

“Please enlighten me, Your Highness.” Shen Xihe wasn’t annoyed; she truly hadn’t grasped the key point.

Xiao Huayong’s gaze grew increasingly gentle. He loved her, though her personality wasn’t particularly likable – she lacked the vibrancy and coquettishness of other ladies, lacked their softness and fragility. She was the type of woman who rarely inspired men’s protective instincts or affection.

Most times she even surpassed countless men, and such a Shen Xihe was destined to make countless men step back. Thus, despite her exceptional beauty, after arriving in the capital, no one expressed admiration for her – not because everyone knew she was destined to marry into the royal family, but because few men would willingly take such a wife.

Her wisdom, breadth of mind, vision, and capability would make countless men pale in comparison.

But he loved her, feeling that in this world only she was worthy of him, and only he was worthy of her. Only in daily interaction could one discover how many virtues she possessed that even great scholars and those honored as sages lacked.

For instance, she never avoided her shortcomings, never considered ignorance shameful, and demonstrated the principle of learning from others without reserve.

“Do Youyou think that all this effort was merely to pit Crown Prince Jiachen against His Majesty? That I was just breaking the deadlock?” Xiao Huayong asked softly.

“I never said Your Highness was merely breaking the deadlock. No matter when Your Highness is never passive – you are always the chess player,” Shen Xihe said.

Someone like Xiao Huayong would never become a mere chess piece. He wouldn’t be used by others. No matter how unfavorable the situation, regardless of who initiated the challenge, the ending was always in his control.

Raising his hand, he showed the five-colored thread Shen Xihe had woven on his wrist, wrapped around that black chess piece. He waved his wrist before her: “If Youyou is the chess player, I’m willing to be a chess piece, to be directed by you, to be invincible for you, as long as you keep me in your palm and never discard me.”

Shen Xihe silently looked at Xiao Huayong with an expression of speechlessness.

Xiao Huayong enjoyed teasing her, but when seriousness was called for, he answered properly. After clearing his throat twice, he sat upright: “No, no, Youyou forgot – even before coming to the summer palace, I said His Majesty harbored suspicions about me and would surely test me…”

He paused, his eyes slightly curved, pupils drifting toward Shen Xihe, smiling like a successful thief: “From the moment I captured the Xun Prince but gained nothing, I was already planning a scheme – a scheme to ensnare His Majesty.”

The mention of the Xun Prince suddenly enlightened Shen Xihe. She had an epiphany, followed by shock and trepidation: “Your Highness deliberately aroused His Majesty’s suspicions, forcing him to move against you. From dealing with Xiao Changtai onward, Your Highness deliberately left traces, because the more His Majesty found you unfathomable, the more things seemed questionable, the more cautious His Majesty would become.

Too many things happened last year, making His Majesty feel surrounded by crisis. He believes everything was Your Highness’s doing, so he dares not easily use the people around him because His Majesty can’t be sure where your eyes and ears aren’t present.”

Since he didn’t dare move these people, he had to use the Divine Warrior Army – first for secrecy, and second to test if the blade he’d been nurturing for so many years was sharp enough.

His Majesty probably still hasn’t realized that from beginning to end, Xiao Huayong’s target was the Divine Warrior Army.

As he spoke, his eyes turned back, fixing on a point, his gaze sharp as an eagle’s: “I captured His Majesty’s men.”

The number of bodies brought back matched, but His Majesty hadn’t seen each of these men, and couldn’t remember every face. He had captured eleven people, and given His Majesty’s cautious nature, he would surely want their trainers to verify their identities.

To prevent His Majesty from bringing people to identify them at this time, they had to make His Majesty afraid to act rashly. They needed to let the court officials know about His Majesty’s private army, maintained with treasury funds, to keep the officials watching His Majesty.

After three to five days, whether or not His Majesty had someone secretly dispose of the bodies, at this transition between summer and autumn, the bodies would have already decayed, making identification impossible.

This was the purpose behind having secret guards rescue them.