Since Xiao Changying hadn’t lied, and this item was indeed intercepted from Ye Qi’s possession, then Ye Qi must have acted preemptively – but not of his own volition. Rather, he was forced to act, and this compulsion wasn’t on Prince Ding’s orders.
Prince Ding maintained his facade as a carefree, idle prince, keeping a low profile. How could he possibly push the Yue family into such a precarious position when he hadn’t yet emerged from the shadows?
“It’s somewhat similar to the Qu Yanguang incident,” Shen Xihe fell into deep thought.
However, this time Shen Xihe’s guess was wrong. While Xiao Huayong had orchestrated Qu Yanguang’s move to tear open the Xuanping Marquis Manor’s facade, this matter with Ye Qi was different.
Xiao Changying’s compromise wasn’t solely due to Shen Xihe’s threats – rather, he had suddenly realized something.
He had rushed back to the prince’s residence. Still, to avoid arousing suspicion, he forced himself to wait until before the evening meal, when Xiao Changqing sent someone to invite him over to celebrate the Mid-Month Festival together.
The Mid-Month Festival’s lamp-lighting and moon-worship were typically women’s affairs, while men usually just drank wine under the moonlight.
In the spacious courtyard, osmanthus trees stood tall, their dense foliage providing shade. Music flowed gracefully as dancers moved elegantly in their white garments.
However, Xiao Changying was not in the mood to appreciate any of this. Instead, his gaze was fixed on Xiao Changqing, who was dressed entirely in white and holding Buddhist prayer beads.
Ever since Fifth Sister-in-law passed away, his brother had taken to wearing white, his expression growing increasingly detached, his eyes calm and without ripples – exactly like his emotionless, cold-hearted Fifth Sister-in-law.
He had transformed himself into the very image of his deceased wife.
“Ask what you want to ask,” Xiao Changqing spoke first, his voice light and distant.
“Why?” Xiao Changying stared at his blood brother, “Why steal the Anxi Defense Map, and why pass it to me?”
Earlier that day, Shen Xihe’s comment about how the lack of retaliation should prompt analysis of the aftermath had made Xiao Changying notice certain details. Through careful deduction, he had guessed his brother was behind it, though he lacked proof.
The scheme Xiao Changqing had laid out was flawlessly executed. Only Xiao Changying, whom he hadn’t deliberately concealed things from, could guess the truth – and even then, he couldn’t prove it.
However, Xiao Changqing didn’t deny it. His gaze fell on Xiao Changying: “Brother, regarding Princess Zhaoning, you want to get close to her but don’t dare, you wish to show her goodwill but don’t know how, sometimes you think of her for no reason, other times you want to see her suffer a little setback, particularly wanting to see her fail before you just once – isn’t that so?”
A flash of surprise appeared in Xiao Changying’s eyes.
Xiao Changqing lifted his teacup: “You’ve developed feelings. Your elder brother is helping you.”
“I don’t want your help!” Xiao Changying instinctively rejected the latter half of the statement.
This earned a slight upward curl of Xiao Changqing’s lips: “Brother, don’t follow in your elder brother’s footsteps.”
“I’m not you,” Xiao Changying was very annoyed at how Xiao Changqing had become.
His brother had once been his pride, the person he respected most, full of vigor and strategic wisdom.
Now he had become world-weary, appearing to cultivate himself but resembling someone tired of living.
Xiao Changqing seemed not to hear Xiao Changying’s words, his desolate eyes gazing into the deep night: “That year when the Gu and Xie families broke off the engagement, His Majesty, disregarding face, wanted to take her as a consort. When I heard of this, I knelt before the Mingzheng Hall and wouldn’t rise, begging His Majesty to grant the marriage. I promised that if His Majesty granted the marriage, I would willingly become His Majesty’s blade for life. These years, my hands have been stained with blood…”
Xiao Changqing lowered his head, staring at his empty hands: “While I despised myself, I also felt fortunate to have married her. I dared not tell her of my actions, yet I felt I had given so much, while she never showed me even the slightest warmth.”
At this point, pain spread through Xiao Changqing’s eyes: “I loved her, hated her, felt complete yet ached. I just wanted her to be moved by me for a moment, to prove that I existed in her heart, to make me feel that all my sacrifices were worth it. But she never gave me even a glance more than necessary…”
“Elder Brother.” Xiao Changying’s brows knotted.
Laughing bitterly while shaking his head, Xiao Changqing continued: “I used to think, I’ve done so much, why can’t I warm her heart? I felt wronged, confused, and tormented, but never regretful – until she died in my arms. Only then did I suddenly realize that what I thought was giving me all was merely one-sided infatuation and self-gratification. She never needed any of it – what right did I have to demand her response?”
“Elder Brother, can you not forget her?” Xiao Changying’s heart ached for his brother.
“I can’t forget.” Xiao Changqing closed his eyes, “I tell you all this hoping you can recognize your own heart early on, and find out what Princess Zhaoning truly needs. Don’t miss your chance, and don’t make mistakes. Your elder brother hopes you can have the joy that I never had.”
Xiao Changying’s brows remained deeply furrowed.
He admitted that ever since Shen Xihe had saved him that day, he had remembered her. When Shen Xihe stole the evidence he had painstakingly gathered, he had been angry but didn’t blame her. When he obtained the defense map, his first reaction wasn’t to hand it to His Majesty, but to seek her out.
Xiao Changqing wanted to use this point to test his brother’s feelings and help him see his own heart. Additionally, he naturally wanted to follow others in exposing Fourth Brother’s ambitions once more.
In best best-case scenario, they could use this to arrange their people in Hexi. Even if they couldn’t replace Ye Qi, they needed to establish roots there.
That way, whatever happened in the northwest in the future, they could maintain some flexibility, unlike how he had been forced by His Majesty with his wife’s life to become the executioner of her entire family.
“Brother, don’t put your hopes in His Majesty. He promised me he wouldn’t execute the entire Gu family, at most reducing them to commoners.” Xiao Changqing laughed sarcastically, mocking his past naivety, “But what was the result?”
“Elder Brother… what do you want to do?” Xiao Changying was deeply worried, his brother’s resentment toward their father ran extremely deep.
“What do I want to do?” Xiao Changqing revealed an eerie smile, “I want to turn the royal family upside down, I want to let His Majesty taste what it feels like to have one’s fate controlled by others…”
“Elder Brother, where does this leave Mother?” Xiao Changying felt Xiao Changqing had gone mad.
“Our mother only has her Fourth Son.” Emperor Youning was the fourth son. “She knew your sister-in-law was with child, knew how important your sister-in-law was to me, yet she still helped the Fan family, delivering the fatal substance to her hands.”
The child he had waited so long for, not yet fully formed, he had to watch helplessly as it turned into a pool of blood.
“Elder Brother, Mother she…”
“No need to say more. One day you’ll understand that in Father’s eyes, we are merely useful tools, and in Mother’s heart, we are just objects to please Father.” After speaking, Xiao Changqing stood up and left.
In the silver moonlight, his figure gradually disappeared into the darkness, and Xiao Changying’s heart was increasingly shrouded in twilight.
No one knew of the conversation between the Xiao Changqing brothers, and no one thought much of Xiao Changying spending the Mid-Month Festival with Xiao Changqing.
Shen Xihe accompanied Shen Yun’an to stroll the streets, and when the lanterns were first lit, they secured the best moon-viewing spot in a restaurant. However, they saw three people there: Imperial Censor Zhao Zhenghao, Junior Lord of the Court of Judicature Cui Jinbai, and imperial examination candidate Guo Daoyi!
Just missing Hua Fuhai to complete the set.
She hadn’t noticed before, but now she realized the three men were about the same height.