“Youyou…”
A sigh carried a thousand emotions.
Xiao Huayong’s expression turned desolate and melancholic. Even with his silver tongue, he momentarily lost his words, unsure how to begin.
Despite their ability to move mountains and cover the sky, they were powerless against life’s partings and death’s meetings.
Some words were like scars – they both knew where they lay, carefully avoiding them, yet that didn’t mean they didn’t exist or wouldn’t worsen.
At this moment, Xiao Huayong truly wished Shen Xihe wasn’t so perceptive and wise; perhaps then he could have hidden things from her longer. As the thought arose, he couldn’t help but mock himself – wasn’t it precisely her calm self-possession and wise composure that had drawn him in, making him fall deeper and deeper for her?
The melancholy lasted only an instant before Xiao Huayong’s powerful self-control contained it. His expression returned to composure as he raised his wrist, revealing a black chess piece tied with a five-colored longevity thread: “I’ve never underestimated your abilities, nor did I think that as a man, as a husband, I must keep you sheltered in the inner chambers, shielding you from everything.
I simply want to treat you well.
With all I have, I wish for your peace.”
He couldn’t help wanting to solve her worries, thinking of both what she had and hadn’t considered.
He acted instinctively, simply because he knew these were her desires.
He knew that even without him, whatever she sought, she would achieve.
Yet he couldn’t help but offer up everything he had, presenting it before her, wanting to give her more ease and comfort.
Her fan-like dense eyelashes cast shadows as she lowered her eyes. No one knew what Shen Xihe was thinking, not even Xiao Huayong who held her could guess her thoughts.
Her silence and contained emotions made his heart pound like a drum. He began to feel uneasy, though he didn’t think he had done wrong and knew she wasn’t one to anger unreasonably, he still couldn’t control his worry.
This was worry born of love.
After an unknown time, just as Xiao Huayong was about to speak, Shen Xihe raised her head. Her obsidian-like dark eyes were clear and determined: “Beichen, in our nearly five years of knowing each other, I’ve received many benefits from you, yet never properly thanked you…”
“Youyou…”
“Let me finish.” Shen Xihe’s fingertip touched his lips as Xiao Huayong urgently tried to speak. “I want to thank you.
Thank you for descending from heaven into my mortal world.
Thank you for your persistence in breaking through my defenses.
Thank you for your honesty – now I understand how the friendship of Pan and Yang can be so irresistible.
Thank you for giving me your heart. In this life, because of you, I have no regrets nor remorse.”
Her light smile was clean yet faint, but it deeply pained his eyes. Xiao Huayong had thought himself a person without weakness, yet at this moment he couldn’t help his reddening eyes. He tightly embraced Shen Xihe, his heart’s violent beating accompanying his trembling body, revealing his loss of emotional control.
A thousand words, yet he couldn’t utter a single one.
She had acknowledged it, finally acknowledged him, acknowledged his feelings.
This was his dream, yet when it truly came, he felt both joy and sorrow. Sweetness and dull pain flooded his heart together, blocking his throat, and leaving him momentarily speechless.
Shen Xihe slowly curved her lips, reaching out both hands to grip his shoulders, nestling in his embrace.
The sunlight that had quietly crept in cast their tightly embracing silhouettes on the screen, like an eternal misty painting, intimate and beautiful.
All these joys and sorrows needed no more words.
The happenings in the capital did not affect the battlefield at Minjiang.
As the highest-ranking official, with His Majesty ordering him to thoroughly investigate this “bandits massacring villages” incident, Xiao Changyan led the investigation with the Jiannian Military Governor and Yu Xiang assisting.
Controlling the orders, Xiao Changyan implemented a method of continuously shrinking the encirclement to search for Shen Yun’an’s traces. Meanwhile, he had received word from Xiao Changgeng that Bu Shulin had escaped their pursuit.
Then Shen Yun’an must be here to assist Bu Shulin. He would come from Minzhou – all routes approaching Minjiang were manned, determined to prevent Bu Shulin and Shen Yun’an from meeting.
As for Xiao Changmin’s certainty about Bu Shulin being female, for some reason, he hadn’t informed Xiao Changyan.
This led to many misjudgments by Xiao Changyan. Xiao Changmin didn’t know this, and even if he did, he wouldn’t care – their alliance was only temporary due to non-conflicting interests and common enemies!
After searching Minjiang for several days, checking every inch without finding traces of Shen Yun’an, just as Xiao Changyan began questioning whether Shen Yun’an had truly come here, they finally discovered his trail.
However, following the trail wasn’t smooth – Shen Yun’an shook them off several times. But as long as the person was here, Xiao Changyan could patiently catch them!
This day, after learning of Shen Yun’an’s traces, Xiao Changyan personally gave chase. Though he lost Shen Yun’an again, after rushing through a reed field, he saw Yu Xiang!
Yu Xiang, who had just parted from Shen Yun’an, turned to see Xiao Changyan standing at the bow, hands behind his back against the wind, black eyes fixed on him.
As the boat slowly approached, Xiao Changyan asked: “Would General Yu care to explain to this prince why, while chasing a suspicious person here, I instead found General Yu?”
After much internal struggle, Yu Xiang’s instinct was to fabricate lies, but under Xiao Changyan’s gaze, rolling like dark clouds brewing a storm, he decided to be honest: “Your Highness, might we speak privately?”
Xiao Changyan withdrew his oppressive aura and gestured. He boarded Yu Xiang’s boat, and Yu Xiang personally rowed, taking the small boat far away before stopping to speak softly: “Your Highness, this humble servant saw the Western North Prince’s heir two days ago. It began with the Eastern Palace Consort sending a letter to my daughter…”
Yu Xiang held nothing back, producing the letter from Yu Sangning he carried and showing it to Xiao Changyan. He revealed his plans, how Shen Yun’an had been probing deployment information from him these past days, how Shen Yun’an had placed someone at his side, and everything else.
Finally, he didn’t forget to pledge loyalty: “Your Highness, please understand, this servant merely acted as bait to lure the Western North Prince’s heir. Only by capturing the Eastern Palace Consort can we resolve this permanently.”
After reading the letter, Xiao Changyan fell into deep thought. So this was how Shen Xihe had used others to kill King Kang, using His Majesty’s blade to cut down His Majesty’s right-hand man, while deceiving His Majesty’s comfort!
This woman’s scheming made even men shudder! No wonder she dared marry into the Eastern Palace, attempting to compete with them using her position as mother of the legitimate imperial grandson!
He returned the letters to Yu Xiang – keeping them was useless, they couldn’t serve as evidence against Shen Xihe.
Xiao Changyan said: “This prince trusts General Yu’s loyalty. The general bears the burden of deceiving the Western North Prince’s heir. Once we capture these traitors, this prince will certainly testify to protect the general’s innocence.”
Though Xiao Changyan said this, in his heart, he felt Yu Xiang wasn’t the bait he thought himself to be, but rather the fish!