Shen Xihe’s actions made Xiao Huayong’s heart feel as if it had been brushed with honey, sweetening it until it drummed in his chest. He readily sat down beside her, wordlessly gazing at her in silence.
He always favored this – watching her with eyes full of tenderness and extreme gentleness. Previously, she would notice and appear lost in thought, making her feel as if time itself had frozen in that moment.
Where before he had watched in secret, now he could observe openly. During their three days of wedding celebrations, Shen Xihe couldn’t bring herself to send him away to handle state affairs. She let him find a comfortable position, propping his head up with one hand, tilting it slightly as he focused intently on her.
She thought it would be best to adapt to such situations early on.
Their gazes were fixed on different targets – Shen Xihe’s on the handkerchief in her hands, while Xiao Huayong’s remained on her.
The Crown Prince’s clinginess extended far beyond this. Wherever Shen Xihe went, he would follow, his gaze stuck to her, utterly unable to look away.
The Eastern Palace was completely under Xiao Huayong’s control. Having been absent from it for over a decade, no one had thought to place their people there. Combined with his careful cultivation of loyal subordinates, his fifteen years of management had gone unnoticed.
Upon his sudden return to the palace, he found that when trying to make new arrangements, the Eastern Palace wasn’t lacking in staff. Moreover, everyone was extremely cautious, making it difficult to dismiss even one or two people to create vacancies. Thus, the Eastern Palace was as secure as a fortress, and when Shen Xihe took charge, she didn’t need to establish her authority.
The Eastern Palace staff were already familiar with Shen Xihe, and they had long prepared themselves mentally for her becoming Crown Princess. Originally, the Eastern Palace only had Tianyuan’s guards and the internal attendants under Jiuzhang’s command, with just a few palace maids who weren’t regularly employed.
Jiuzhang had already arranged for all internal affairs to be handed over to Zhenzhu, and the Eastern Palace had gained several ladies-in-waiting due to Shen Xihe’s arrival, making it appear more vibrant.
On the second day of their marriage, Shen Xihe and Xiao Huayong had to visit the ancestral temple early for worship. Another busy sequence of events followed, with the long ceremonial text taking half an hour to recite. By the time they finished all the elaborate ceremonies, Shen Xihe and Xiao Huayong were kneeling on prayer mats to kowtow at high noon.
As they took the incense passed to them by the attendants and were about to bow three times, several ancestral tablets suddenly burst into flames. Xiao Huayong swiftly pulled Shen Xihe into his embrace, then seeing the burning tablets, immediately stepped forward to smother the flames with his sleeve. The attendants quickly followed his example, extinguishing the fires on the other tablets.
Xiao Huayong held the tablet in his hands and discovered tung oil on the base, though its scent was very faint. It must have been applied either the previous day or earlier, but even with tung oil present, someone would still need to set it alight. Xiao Huayong lifted the silk cloth covering the wooden platform beneath the ancestral tablet rack, only to find it empty. His keen eye caught sight of some traces that suggested the presence of a secret passage.
Someone must have been crouching there earlier, but since he and Shen Xihe had been standing quite far away, they hadn’t noticed. When they approached, this person had set the fire and escaped through the secret passage.
“Your Highness, what are you looking at?” After the brief chaos, the Vice Minister of Rites and the Director of the Imperial Clan Court maintained order and stepped forward slightly.
Xiao Huayong simply crawled under to investigate, knocking on the floorboards. The echo didn’t indicate hollowness – if there wasn’t a tunnel here, it must be further back. Without evidence, Xiao Huayong couldn’t justify moving the ancestral tablets to investigate.
If the investigation yielded results, that would be fine, but if nothing was found, it would be difficult to resolve the situation.
“These tablet bases have tung oil, while the others don’t. Someone must have done this deliberately,” Xiao Huayong handed the tablet he was holding to the Director of the Imperial Clan Court. “Oil needs fire to burn.”
Since Shen Xihe had accompanied him for ancestral worship, the burning of the tablets was a grave taboo. People might spread rumors that the ancestors didn’t approve of Shen Xihe, so he had to establish that this was sabotage.
The Director of the Imperial Clan Court and the Minister of Rites examined the tablets and confirmed that there was indeed tung oil beneath the burned tablets. The oil had dried but still retained a faint scent. All tablets were typically treated with tung oil for preservation.
“Your Highness may not know, but these particular tablets were noticed to have cracks by the attending eunuchs a few days ago. This humble official ordered them to be treated with tung oil,” the Director of the Imperial Clan Court reported. “It has been three days.”
Logically, after three days, they shouldn’t ignite so easily unless exposed to intense fire, and how could anyone conceal setting such a large fire? Moreover, no suspicious individuals were seen in the vicinity – so where did the fire come from?
This led to unspoken suspicions.
Noticing the subtle glances being cast at Shen Xihe, Xiao Huayong laughed coldly. “These tablets are quite interesting – the ones that burned were precisely those that the Director had ordered to be treated, and they all belong to ancestors with no direct connection to me.”
The burning tablets all belonged to lateral branches, not the direct ancestors of Emperor Youning’s line. Only Prince Qian’s tablet, which had the closest relationship to Xiao Huayong, was affected.
Everyone looked closer and found it peculiar. If the ancestors were truly showing their disapproval of Shen Xihe, shouldn’t the Late Emperor’s tablet have burned? How could it be that while the Late Emperor’s tablet and the Crown Prince’s great-grandfather’s tablet remained untouched, his uncle’s tablet was the one to show warning?
“Remove these tablets. The Crown Princess and I will continue paying respects to the ancestors,” Xiao Huayong ordered.
“Your Highness…”
As the Minister of Rites tried to advise, he met Xiao Huayong’s deep, calm gaze. Though his eyes showed no severity or pressure, the Minister’s words caught in his throat.
“Your Highness, when tablets catch fire, we must immediately investigate the cause. Continuing the ceremony now would be disrespectful to the ancestors and inauspicious,” the Vice Minister of Rites stepped forward to counsel. “Please reconsider and choose another auspicious date to pay respects to the ancestors.”
“Please reconsider, Your Highness. Please select another auspicious time.” A group of officials knelt together.
Xiao Huayong swept his gaze over them, then knelt firmly on the prayer mat. He first kowtowed to the tablets, then rose and said, “Honored ancestors, your descendant Xiao Huayong, accompanied by his new bride of the Shen family, comes to pay respects. With this worthy daughter-in-law by my side, I pray for the ancestors’ blessing.”
Seeing Xiao Huayong’s insistence, the Director of the Imperial Clan Court, not wanting to offend him and being implicated in the matter of the tung oil on the burned tablets, followed Xiao Huayong’s wishes. He had the burned tablets removed and continued presiding over the unfinished ceremony.
This time, Shen Xihe and Xiao Huayong completed their respects to the ancestors without incident, peacefully and calmly.
After the ceremony concluded, Xiao Huayong led Shen Xihe back to the palace. Once in their carriage, he held her hand and said, “Don’t be afraid. I will give you an explanation for this matter.”
“Who does Your Highness think is behind this?” Shen Xihe smiled slightly.
“Regardless of who did it, daring to tamper with the ancestral tablets must have been done with His Majesty’s approval,” Xiao Huayong knew that even if he didn’t say it, Shen Xihe would understand. “He might be trying to test me.”
When he saw Prince Qian’s tablet catch fire, Xiao Huayong almost failed to restrain himself from rushing forward, but Shen Xihe pulled him back. However, Prince Qian’s tablet had been the furthest from him – if he had rushed over like that, it would have revealed that he knew the truth about his ancestry.