“Following us?” Shen Xihe’s fine eyebrows raised slightly.

Her exchange with Xiao Huayong’s people had been very discreet. His people had followed her since leaving the capital. At the post station, someone had replaced her to board the ship with the palace entourage, while she waited until evening and left the station in the carriage of an official who was also staying there.

This official passing by the station had also been arranged by Xiao Huayong. They had genuine business and happened to pass by the station, able to withstand investigation. After leaving the station, Moyu stayed with Shen Xihe. When she left the official’s carriage, Moyu had confirmed there was no one around.

But these people had started following them shortly after leaving the station, which meant their ruse hadn’t fooled him at all. Or perhaps this person had already anticipated their move, which was why they had waited at the station from sunrise to sunset.

Unless they were certain of this move, who would wait an entire day and manage to follow them precisely when she hadn’t even shown her face while leaving the station?

The fact that this person was still only following without attempting to strike suggested they weren’t hostile, at least.

“Can you tell how many there are?” Shen Xihe asked.

“They’re too far away. This servant can only guess it’s one person,” Moyu wasn’t certain.

Shen Xihe lifted her teacup, gazing into the distance: “Draw them out.”

Taking a light sip, she set down the teacup with measured force. The cup made a low, muffled sound against the wooden table as Shen Xihe’s lips curved slightly.

After a good night’s sleep, Shen Xihe and Moyu hurried on their way the next day. They bypassed the Wei River, taking a much longer route, but couldn’t afford to arrive too much later than those traveling by boat.

After about half an hour, Shen Xihe pulled her horse to a stop and glanced at Moyu, who remained expressionless but gave Shen Xihe a confirming look.

Shen Xihe took out what appeared to be a safety charm meant to be hung on tree branches from her saddlebag and tossed it to Moyu.

After catching it, Moyu leaped up, landing one foot on the saddle, using the momentum to jump even higher and hang the charm on an extremely tall branch.

Shen Xihe looked up briefly before spurring her horse onward. Moyu landed steadily on her horse and rode after Shen Xihe.

Barely a quarter-hour after they left, someone rode up and stopped beneath the tree, looking up at the object hanging high in the branches. After a moment’s hesitation, they leaped up gracefully like a swallow and retrieved the charm, examining it thoroughly. Finding nothing unusual about the ordinary object, they hung it back up and immediately rode off after Shen Xihe and Moyu.

By noon, just as Shen Xihe was about to have some refreshments, Moyu entered the room and said: “Zhenzhu sent word. The ship was attacked.”

Shen Xihe’s long lashes lowered, her expression unchanged: “Were there casualties?”

“More than half of His Majesty’s people were lost,” Moyu replied.

Shen Xihe looked up: “How did that happen?”

Emperor Youning’s men weren’t merely for show, and on a ship, even if people could sneak aboard, their numbers should have been limited. How could they so easily eliminate half of the Emperor’s forces?

“This letter came from His Highness,” Instead of answering Shen Xihe’s question, Moyu handed over a letter.

Upon opening it, the first thing to catch her eye was a strand of black hair – this was Xiao Huayong’s unique habit when writing to her. Now this strand was infused with a fragrance blended with tagara and ping zhong leaves. Most people couldn’t smell it, including Xiao Huayong himself, but Shen Xihe could easily detect this unique scent.

The two fragrances separately had their characteristics, but combined, the scent was somewhat strange. Shen Xihe didn’t particularly like it, though she didn’t despise it either. But Xiao Huayong loved it, saying the fusion of tagara and ping Zhong leaves represented their mingled essences.

Shen Xihe couldn’t stand his romantic notions but couldn’t stop him either, so she let him have his way. Now he even bathed in this scent, and frequently asked her to blend this fragrance for him.

Carefully picking up the strand of hair that had fallen onto the table, she placed it in her sachet that contained their intertwined hair, then began reading the letter.

It turned out he had already detected signs of Xiao Changtai’s people planning an ambush, and not just Xiao Changtai – he had collaborated with others, aiming to kidnap her. Xiao Huayong had also arranged for people to hide in wait. While there weren’t many infiltrators on the ship itself, people had been waiting on small islands along the sea route. When the ship was halfway through its journey, they caught up during the night, and with cooperation from people aboard, easily mounted their attack.

They were determined to take Shen Xihe’s life. Xiao Huayong had also stationed people around the islands, waiting for these attackers to board the ship. After his people boarded, they killed both sides except for those close to Shen Xihe, creating chaos.

The final result was that half of Emperor Youning’s people were lost before they could move against Shen Xihe, while Xiao Changtai’s forces were destroyed. Xiao Huayong didn’t mention his casualties, but they likely hadn’t escaped unscathed.

After addressing these matters, Xiao Huayong devoted an entire page to expressing his longing, only remembering to add a note at the end that Bu Shulin was unharmed.

Reading to the end, Shen Xihe couldn’t help but shake her head and smile.

“Xiao Changtai does have some capability, managing to find collaborators willing to join him in attempting to assassinate the Crown Prince’s consort,” Shen Xihe quickly ran through the faces of the various princes in her mind.

Killing Shen Xihe at this time would undoubtedly frame Emperor Youning as the scapegoat. Few would dare to openly implicate His Majesty.

However, now that His Majesty had begun to suspect Xiao Huayong, other princes should also be suspicious of him. Whether or not Xiao Huayong was truly biding his time, removing him from the position of Crown Prince was the priority. Inciting conflict between the Emperor and Crown Prince was undoubtedly the best method.

Anyone doing such things must surely covet the throne.

Except for the Twelfth Prince, Prince Yan Xiao Changgeng, all were suspicious.

Given Xiao Changqing’s style, he would disdain working with Xiao Changtai, and Xiao Changqing’s attitude represented Xiao Changying’s stance.

That left Second Prince Xiao Changmin, Prince of Zhao, and Eighth Prince Xiao Changyan, Prince of Jing, as the most suspicious, and even Xiao Changzhen with Li Yanyan behind him couldn’t be ruled out.

Among these three, both Xiao Changmin and Li Yanyan might do such things, but as for Prince of Jing… Shen Xihe wasn’t sure.

After pondering for a moment, Shen Xihe turned to ask: “Have we been at this inn for half an hour?”

Moyu nodded.

Shen Xihe put away the letter and went out. She walked past the doors of each room in the corridor, finally stopping at the furthest room diagonally opposite to her own, across the raised central hall. She gave Moyu a look.

She moved aside as Moyu kicked open the door and rushed in with a drawn sword. The person inside wore a veil and engaged with Moyu.

Shen Xihe had applied Ten-Mile Fragrance to the safety charm. This fragrance was made from an extremely long-lasting flower scent that could be tracked from ten miles away.

As Moyu knocked away the person’s veil, revealing their face, it turned out to be Xiao Changying!