“I found out. This man forcibly took women and was responsible for several deaths,” Xiao Huayong said lightly, avoiding the worst details.

Those filthy matters were difficult for him to speak of, and he didn’t want to sully Shen Xihe’s ears.

“Oh.” Shen Xihe responded flatly.

It wasn’t that she didn’t find these matters infuriating, but she had heard such rumors before, so she remained unperturbed. Even before Geng Zhongji’s death, Shen Xihe had heard about it, but each time the Geng Liangcheng couple had smoothed things over.

Without victims coming forward, though she despised Geng Zhongji’s behavior, she couldn’t step up to punish him. After that, she distanced herself from the Geng Liangcheng couple and began spending more time at her uncle’s home.

Geng Zhongji had gone missing as a child, causing great guilt for Geng Liangcheng and his wife. His wife often became mentally unstable because of it, to the point where they never had more children. Geng Zhongji was their only seedling – after searching fruitlessly for over ten years, they had given up, only to find him again.

But what they found was someone of corrupt character. In this situation, Geng Liangcheng had tried hard to correct things, but his wife was too soft-hearted and always intervened. Whenever Geng Zhongji cried and spoke of his childhood sufferings, his mother couldn’t bear to let him suffer anymore.

If it were just this, Shen Yueshan would certainly have told Shen Xihe. Geng Zhongji had committed other unforgivable, horrifying crimes that both Shen Yueshan and Xiao Huayong didn’t want her to know about.

Fortunately, she wasn’t overly curious. If they didn’t want to say, then so be it.

Being intelligent people, Shen Xihe knew Xiao Huayong had more to say, and Xiao Huayong knew she knew, but neither pressed the matter, and the subject was dropped.

Shen Yueshan had gone out again, and Xiao Huayong shared breakfast with Shen Xihe. Xiao Huayong said, “I investigated Geng Liangcheng yesterday. He’s a cautious man. If Father-in-law hadn’t been missing for so long, he wouldn’t normally have had an opportunity to act. This rare chance was too tempting for him not to try probing, which alerted his Father-in-law. Otherwise, he might have continued lying low.”

Such a venomous snake lurking by Shen Yueshan’s side, deeply trusted, could easily take the lives of both father and son.

Shen Xihe also felt quite relieved: “Fortunately, there were changes in last year’s war with the Turks.”

Otherwise, she might have orchestrated a plan that would have trapped both her father and brother.

Hearing Shen Xihe’s words, Xiao Huayong smiled: “At that time, Father-in-law and Brother must have made quite a commotion. Geng Liangcheng probably didn’t conceal it and reported it to His Majesty. But then Xiao Changtai interfered, letting Munuha escape, and your plan was disrupted. The preparations to deal with the Turks came to nothing. His Majesty and Geng Liangcheng probably couldn’t understand why Father-in-law and Brother acted that way.”

Shen Xihe couldn’t help but laugh softly – they had inadvertently given His Majesty quite a scare.

“Geng Liangcheng is cautious and won’t act rashly. I still agree with yesterday’s fake death plan,” Xiao Huayong continued, “However, to convince him, Father-in-law should best appear to die from his injuries in front of him.”

“Die from injuries in front of him?” Shen Xihe raised her eyebrows.

“If we find a corpse to deceive him, he might not believe it.” A corpse would need manipulation – too little wouldn’t be convincing, too much would be suspicious. Since Shen Xihe disliked this approach, and after understanding more about Geng Liangcheng, Xiao Huayong modified the plan.

“I’ve sent word to Linghu Zheng, asking him to come and see how we can make Father-in-law appear gravely injured and convince others.”

Shen Xihe understood Xiao Huayong’s meaning – they would have Shen Yueshan pretend to be injured. If he truly appeared gravely wounded, his long absence would make sense.

“To thoroughly convince him, we need to let him know exactly who injured Father so severely,” Shen Xihe’s eyes sparkled with a faint smile.

In perfect understanding, Xiao Huayong immediately caught on: “We’ll have to make use of Uncle.”

Xiao Juezong was the perfect choice – he had even tricked His Majesty, attacking the temporary palace and capturing Prince Jiachen.

Surely it wasn’t too much to trap Shen Yueshan this way?

As for why he would target Shen Yueshan, naturally, it would be because he had wanted to cooperate with Shen Yueshan, but when Shen Yueshan refused to yield, he tortured him thus. Keeping Shen Yueshan alive but suffering was to deny Emperor Youning any satisfaction.

“We’ll need to find a place to serve as Father’s prison, and arrange for suspicious people to come and go in Liangzhou,” Shen Xihe reminded him of the details.

Xiao Huayong stroked his chin. Liangzhou was Fifth Brother’s territory – creating such a big disturbance here would be hard to hide from him.

They needed to find a way to keep Fifth Brother from getting involved.

“Why is Your Highness lost in thought?” Shen Xihe noticed Xiao Huayong’s contemplation.

Coming back to himself, Xiao Huayong didn’t mention Xiao Changqing’s matter, but instead asked: “Does the Northwestern Prince’s mansion have a regular physician? One of exceptional skill?”

“Yes, the military physician for the Northwestern Army. He’s quite remarkable – I survived thanks to him,” Shen Xihe nodded.

“We need to secure him beforehand,” Xiao Huayong said.

Shen Xihe thought briefly before understanding Xiao Huayong’s meaning: “Even if we arrange everything perfectly to show Father is fatally wounded, Geng Liangcheng will still worry about possibilities. What would truly put his mind at ease would be personally ensuring Father’s death.

This way, he’d also have avenged Geng Zhongji, making him feel more secure.”

The Northwestern Prince’s mansion was like an iron bucket. The military physician would be Geng Liangcheng’s only chance to act. The physician was known for his integrity and admired Father’s character – to make him comply, their family would have to be threatened.

“Uncle Sang is unwaveringly loyal to Father. Even if Geng Liangcheng threatened his wife and children, Uncle Sang wouldn’t compromise,” Shen Xihe was certain of this.

“No, Geng Liangcheng is already a petty man, and such a person won’t believe there are truly righteous people in this world,” Xiao Huayong shook his head slightly. “Moreover, the physician must diagnose Father-in-law as fatally wounded. Since Father-in-law would already be beyond saving, why sacrifice one’s loved ones for a dying man? The physician being forced to poison Father-in-law would be perfectly reasonable.”

Shen Xihe pondered for a moment: “What you say makes sense. I’ll inform Father when he returns.”

“It would be better to keep this from your brother,” Xiao Huayong suggested.

It wasn’t distrust of Shen Yunan’s acting ability, but rather that his genuine emotional responses, unfiltered reactions, would be most convincing.

Shen Xihe frowned. The three of them – father and children – had never kept secrets from each other. Concealing this from her brother would surely hurt him once everything was settled. After thinking, Shen Xihe said: “Let’s wait for Father to return and let him decide.”