“Princess, the King of Tubo is gravely ill. Your younger brother is too young and lacks ambition. The royal authority in Tubo is precarious. You must forge a marriage alliance with our dynasty to consolidate the throne and expel the Da Lun (Chancellor),” Xiao Huayong said calmly.

Princess Yaoxi’s face turned slightly pale. Her father’s illness had been kept extremely confidential. Even the powerful Xiazha family in Tubo couldn’t determine the true extent of the King’s condition, making them hesitant to take any rash actions.

Earlier in the year, when they came to discuss the marriage alliance, due to the mysterious incident of the Tujue prince killing a Tang princess, the marriage negotiations weren’t straightforward. Her father couldn’t appear too eager, fearing the Xiazha family would grow suspicious. Moreover, her father’s condition had shown some improvement at the beginning of the year.

Unexpectedly, her father’s illness had recently taken a severe turn. It was time to revisit the marriage alliance – if they couldn’t receive a princess in marriage, they would offer one instead.

Compared to being coveted by the Xiazha family in Tubo, she preferred to shoulder her family’s mission by coming to the Tang dynasty. Furthermore, there was a young man here whom she had grown fond of. At that time, she didn’t know Xiao Huayong’s identity, only that he must be either wealthy or noble, perhaps a capital aristocrat. Since princes couldn’t casually travel to other countries as it might cause international conflict, she never dared hope Xiao Huayong was a prince.

At the welcoming banquet, when she saw Xiao Huayong seated at the highest position among all princes, her heart pounded uncontrollably.

She felt they might be destined for each other.

Other princes might lose something by marrying her, but the Crown Prince was different. He was the heir. Yesterday, she had inquired about many of Xiao Huayong’s deeds. Aside from matters concerning Shen Xihe, everything else she heard made her heart increasingly restless.

“Tubo has strong military forces. Wouldn’t it benefit Your Highness to take me into the Eastern Palace? It would be like adding wings to a tiger,” Yaoxi couldn’t understand. Didn’t all men desire both beauty and power?

She considered herself a rare beauty. Marrying her would be equivalent to gaining half of Tubo’s support. Her younger brother followed her words completely – in the future, Tubo would surely be wholeheartedly loyal to Tang.

The previous emperor had been licentious and neglected state affairs. If he was so negligent internally, he paid even less attention to external matters. During his reign, the Western Regions were lost twice, only to be reclaimed later by Shen Yueshan.

The Northwestern Army maintained its deterrent power between Tujue and Tubo. This was why Emperor Youning still couldn’t easily move against Shen Yueshan and needed to secretly build up the Shenyong Army to gradually replace him, lest the empire’s territories be lost.

The fact that Emperor Youning had been forced to painfully part with his beloved for a marriage alliance with Tubo years ago showed how powerful they were. Although there were no signs of internal political division, taking hasty action might not guarantee success.

“A tiger is the king of the jungle. Its domain is the forest. There’s no need to reach too high or gaze at the skies – what use are wings?” Xiao Huayong’s expression was cold. “Princess, if you quietly await marriage and live peacefully with whoever you wed, neither I nor His Majesty will cause trouble for you or Tubo. His Majesty will surely support your brother’s claim to the throne. But if you harbor inappropriate thoughts… Just as I could make the Tujue prince disappear without return, I can make the Tubo princess die without a sound.”

Yaoxi’s expression changed dramatically as she stared at Xiao Huayong in terror.

She had already heard various accounts about the Tujue prince. Thinking back to the beginning of the year, the prince had mentioned meeting Xiao Huayong. He must have discovered Xiao Huayong’s true identity just as she had, which led to Xiao Huayong silencing him.

To avoid war between the two nations, Xiao Huayong had turned the Tujue prince into a fugitive murderer who had killed a princess – truly a brilliant strategy. She had already vaguely suspected that the Tujue prince had likely met with misfortune and that Xiao Huayong was involved. That night, she had gone along with Xiao Huayong’s version of events, fearing he might deal with her similarly.

Having it confirmed by Xiao Huayong himself still made her heart constrict involuntarily.

Xiao Huayong didn’t spare another glance at Princess Yaoxi. He stood up and walked out to the eaves, where he instructed Tianyuan: “Escort the Princess from the Eastern Palace in a quarter hour.”

He didn’t lower his voice, and Yaoxi, sitting in the main hall, heard every word. She didn’t know why Xiao Huayong wanted her to stay a while longer, but fear prevented her from requesting to leave. She sat stiffly for a quarter-hour before Tianyuan finally escorted her out.

“Your Highness, the Princess has been escorted away,” Tianyuan reported back.

Xiao Huayong made a sound of acknowledgment without further comment.

Tianyuan hurriedly added, “This servant has arranged for news of the Princess’s quarter-hour visit to the Eastern Palace to be spread. The County Princess will surely hear of it.”

“Meddlesome,” Xiao Huayong cast a downward glance at Tianyuan.

Tianyuan kept his head lowered. His Highness wanted this news to reach the County Princess’s ears – why else would he have kept Princess Yaoxi for a quarter-hour?

Though thinking this privately, His Highness said the opposite aloud. Weren’t women supposed to be the ones whose words didn’t match their hearts? How was it that between His Highness and the County Princess, it was His Highness whose words didn’t match his heart?

Just as Tianyuan couldn’t figure it out, neither could Shen Xihe. That afternoon, she received news that Princess Yaoxi had visited the Eastern Palace and stayed for quite some time. Palace sources claimed the Princess and the Crown Prince had engaged in pleasant conversation.

Shen Xihe merely listened to this news while continuing to blend incense. Occasionally, she would create some fragrances to place in the Duhuo Tower. If they were well-received, she would give the formula to Hong Yu, who would instruct the perfume makers to produce them.

“County Princess, does this Princess wish to marry His Highness the Crown Prince?” While Shen Xihe remained calm and composed, Hong Yu was anxious.

She wholeheartedly supported the County Princess marrying the Crown Prince, believing them perfectly matched. With the wedding date approaching, she worried something might go wrong.

“Even if she wishes to marry him, it would only happen if His Highness the Crown Prince is willing,” Shen Xihe replied without looking up from grinding her incense powder.

“What if she petitions for an imperial decree of marriage?” Hong Yu worried.

As a princess, even if she didn’t insist on status and agreed to be a secondary consort to the Crown Prince, His Majesty might not refuse. At worst, she would enter the Eastern Palace half a year later, which would still save face for Shen Xihe.

Most importantly, Tubo and the Northwest were at war, with the Tubo royal family having suffered several defeats at the hands of the Prince. The Tubo Princess and the County Princess could never coexist peacefully – wouldn’t His Majesty be pleased to see such an outcome?

“Publicly speaking, if you can see that she and I cannot coexist, how could His Highness the Crown Prince not know? Would he allow such a situation to develop?” Shen Xihe looked helplessly at her maids. They weren’t foolish, so why couldn’t they understand this point? “Even if His Majesty tried to force it, your Crown Prince has his ways. No one can force him to do something he doesn’t want to do.”

Privately, Xiao Huayong had promised her love like Pan and Yang. Although Shen Xihe didn’t believe this promise would ever change, she knew Xiao Huayong’s character wouldn’t change so quickly.

“County Princess is again saying ‘your Crown Prince’ – it truly saddens us,” Bi Yu complained.

Every time they worried about the County Princess and the Crown Prince, the County Princess would use these words to remind them that their hearts had turned toward the Crown Prince. It was as unlikely as snow in June – they had always been loyal to the County Princess.