His tone was full of regret and his glance toward her full of suggestions made Shen Xihe immediately understand what he was thinking.

Giving him just a faint look, Shen Xihe asked, “These past few nights, Your Highness has been going out. What for?”

Xiao Huayong was about to answer reflexively when a mischievous light flashed in his eyes: “So Youyou want me to account for my whereabouts.”

Shen Xihe slightly furrowed her brows, instinctively knowing he would say something frivolous. Just as she was about to stop him, he didn’t give her the chance, saying first: “Youyou are just like a new bride inquiring after her husband.”

Shen Xihe: …

She wanted to challenge him – how was she like a new bride? But meeting his eyes full of mirth, even the small mole at the corner of his eye seemed infinitely charming. She chose to remain silent; if she argued further, who knew how many more flippant remarks he had waiting.

Since she didn’t respond, Xiao Huayong, having anticipated her reaction, had already prepared his words: “Strike while the iron is hot, probing the Divine Warrior Army’s depths.”

Having captured His Majesty’s men, Xiao Huayong naturally needed to extract useful information from them.

Shen Xihe understood and nodded silently.

She didn’t ask what he had learned, which surprised Xiao Huayong. Thinking it might be because of his earlier teasing, he carefully observed her expression: “Are you… are you angry with me?”

Shen Xihe was equally surprised: “Why would Your Highness say that?”

“You must be curious about the Divine Warrior Army, yet you don’t ask me.”

The Divine Warrior Army existed largely to counter the Northwestern Army; no one would be more interested in knowing about them than Shen Xihe.

They had unconsciously developed a relationship of trust and ease; if Shen Xihe wanted to know something, she would ask directly without reservation.

Shen Xihe smiled, her obsidian-like eyes looking at him with amusement: “Your Highness, what I wish to know, I will eventually learn. We can complement and benefit each other, but I will never merely take from Your Highness.”

Hearing this, Xiao Huayong smiled, his eyes full of tender affection.

Thinking carefully, she was indeed like this – when he treated her well, she responded with equal sincerity. Perhaps for her, it was just about not being indebted, but for him, this give-and-take was love and affection.

“It seems Youyou already has everything planned,” Xiao Huayong’s soft laughter escaped from the corner of his mouth.

Otherwise, even if Shen Xihe learned from him, she would have found other ways to repay him.

“Does the Crown Prince know anything about Prince Xun?” Shen Xihe didn’t beat around the bush.

Prince Xun had been Xiao Changfeng for a while now, inheriting the prince title not long after his father’s staged death.

The secret guard Shen Xihe had sent, disguised as the wandering knight Lu Bing, had already met with Xiao Changfeng. Just recently, when Xiao Huayong was missing and the temporary palace was in chaos, Xiao Changfeng and Lu Bing met in Huangzhou.

At that time, Xiao Changfeng had just finished relocating and reburying his parents together. In Huangzhou’s wilderness, a landslide had nearly buried Xiao Changfeng alive, but Lu Bing pulled him from the mud.

After saving him, and seeing people approaching, Lu Bing handed him over to Xiao Changfeng’s subordinates and left. With this heaven-sent opportunity, they would arrange another scenario where Lu Bing faced a martial arts vendetta with nowhere to retreat, meeting Xiao Changfeng again. Xiao Changfeng would surely keep him close, and after a trial period, would entrust him with important tasks.

“Youyou want to start with my cousin?” Xiao Huayong raised his eyebrows. “Cousin is…”

After pondering for a moment, Xiao Huayong continued: “Silent and reserved, highly skilled in martial arts, brilliant in military strategy, very sophisticated, suspicious by nature, and hard to approach.”

After inheriting the title, Xiao Changfeng was personally raised by Emperor Youning. Whether to appease his father or to prepare Xiao Changfeng for great responsibilities, His Majesty had put in genuine effort. Xiao Changfeng was no ordinary person.

He also knew that given His Majesty’s high regard for Xiao Changfeng and trust in Prince Xun’s household, the Divine Warrior Army was very likely Xiao Changfeng carrying on his father’s work. He had thought about sending people to get close to Xiao Changfeng, but Xiao Changfeng hadn’t confided in or relied on any of his people.

Xiao Changfeng was naturally solitary, perhaps to ease His Majesty’s mind, and no one could get close to him.

Shen Xihe smiled lightly: “Even if Your Highness’s people are completely clean, they need an identity. With an identity comes a traceable background, and if their abilities match their identity, they become suspicious. Since Prince Xun is naturally suspicious, he won’t easily make friends. To make Prince Xun lower his guard, this person must have a completely verifiable background, be able to win Prince Xun’s appreciation of talent, and make him feel comfortable relying on them.”

“How easy is that?” Xiao Huayong laughed. “Cousin values martial arts and only favors those with strong skills. But as soon as one displays martial arts, their background is revealed. Cousin is deeply versed in various martial arts styles, very hard to fool.”

“It’s not difficult,” Shen Xihe’s eyes held a mysterious light.

Xiao Huayong grew interested: “Since Youyou says so, you must have already planned it out. Please enlighten me.”

A few days ago she had sought his advice, and now Xiao Huayong was asking for hers, even imitating her manner from that day. Shen Xihe glanced at him but didn’t hide anything: “It starts with bone-reshaping techniques…”

Shen Xihe then honestly told Xiao Huayong about A Xi’s special skill and her scheme and its results after a year.

Xiao Huayong listened with his heart feeling as sweet as honey – she was truly confiding in him.

If she didn’t trust him, how could she tell him about such an unimaginable skill?

After Shen Xihe finished speaking, she saw Xiao Huayong smiling somewhat dazedly as if lost in thought: “Did Your Highness hear what I said?”

“Of course,” Xiao Huayong immediately came back to himself, earnestly replied, then showed a bitter smile. “I never thought I was showing off before an expert.”

He had gone to great lengths to capture the Divine Warrior Army soldiers and extracted useful information through severe torture, but these were just low-ranking soldiers with limited knowledge. He had barely scratched the surface of the Divine Warrior Army, while Shen Xihe was already moving closer to its core.

He felt somewhat embarrassed thinking about how proud he had been before Shen Xihe.

“Your Highness’s scheme – the Divine Warrior Army is just one part. Breaking His Majesty’s plan and gaining Crown Prince Jiachen’s reputation is the greatest benefit,” Shen Xihe said. “Besides, we don’t know when Lu Bing will make contact with the Divine Warrior Army. Your Highness now at least has an initial assessment of them, no need for excessive modesty.”

Usually, such praise from Shen Xihe would have made Xiao Huayong ecstatic, but now he thought of something else: “Is this bone-reshaping technique so miraculous?”

He was skilled in disguise, though already masterful, but could only maintain it for brief encounters, not prolonged contact.

“Choose someone with similar features, especially similar eyes, and they can be reshaped to look identical,” Shen Xihe was still amazed thinking about seeing the reshaped Lu Bing.

Xiao Huayong suddenly clapped his hands: “Youyou, shall we make a fake emperor for fun?”

Shen Xihe: …