The Prince of Nanliang had always known that ever since the Crown Princess Consort passed away, the Heir of Marquis Changning’s attitude toward him had plummeted; or rather, from the very beginning the Heir of Marquis Changning had opposed his younger sister marrying into the Royal Family, only imperial edict was hard to defy.

If Zhao Xu were to rebel against the court, it would be extremely easy for him to win over the Heir of Marquis Changning, and behind the Heir of Marquis Changning stood General Shi.

If General Shi developed disloyal thoughts toward the court, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Thinking of this, a flash of killing intent passed through the Prince of Nanliang’s eyes.

Back to Xie Jingchen and Dong Chenglang: after watching Zhao Xu leave, neither of them was in the mood to stroll around anymore and planned to return to the camp.

Along the way, Dong Chenglang kept looking at Xie Jingchen, his eyes filled with dense confusion and puzzlement.

Earlier Zhao Xu hadn’t known Xie Jingchen; it was he who had helped introduce them.

But when they were leaving, Xie Jingchen had chased after Zhao Xu and said a few words to him; Zhao Xu’s excitement and disbelief had all fallen into his eyes.

The two not only knew each other, they looked like old acquaintances who hadn’t seen each other in a long time.

Xie Jingchen glanced sideways, and his gaze met Dong Chenglang’s.

Dong Chenglang instinctively shifted his eyes away, feeling guilty.

After all, Xie Jingchen had saved him many times, sincerely helped him, and had been just as unreserved in helping the Zhao Family.

He shouldn’t be doubting him.

But after what had happened today, he couldn’t help it.

Dong Chenglang looked at Xie Jingchen again and said, "Your face..."

"I’m in disguise," Xie Jingchen said.

Dong Chenglang, "...!!!"

The tone was light and casual, yet it was like a huge boulder thrown into a lake, splashing all over Dong Chenglang’s face.

In disguise?!

He was actually in disguise?!

After saving him so many times, after living in the same tent for so long, he actually had never even seen what the man really looked like?!

He’d always wondered how Xie Jingchen’s face didn’t match his talents; turns out his intuition had been right!

This was a fake face!

"If you’re in disguise, why didn’t you tell me?" Dong Chenglang demanded.

"It wasn’t time yet," Xie Jingchen said.

Dong Chenglang’s brows knitted into the character "川".

To tell him he was in disguise—did such a small thing really need to wait for the right time?

Knowing Dong Chenglang was curious, Xie Jingchen looked at him and said, "When General Shi and Young Master Zhao coordinate from within and without, I’ll tell you."

"What if my uncle regrets it?" Dong Chenglang asked.

"The Crown Prince already knows that you and Young Master Zhao have been secretly in contact. Does your uncle General Shi still have room to regret?" Xie Jingchen’s voice was scattered by the wind.

Dong Chenglang’s heart took a heavy blow.

Preoccupied with killing the assassins and puzzling over why Zhao Xu didn’t know Xie Jingchen, he had long since thrown to the back of his mind the matter of the Prince of Nanliang sending a Hidden Guard to shadow them.

With Xie Jingchen’s reminder, Dong Chenglang secretly cried, This is bad!

He looked at Xie Jingchen, his gaze tinged with scrutiny. "You didn’t deliberately let that Hidden Guard go, did you?"

Although Xie Jingchen was also very much on his side, in the end Young Master Zhao was his true master.

He would definitely lean more toward Young Master Zhao.

Xie Jingchen shook his head.

He hadn’t deliberately let the Hidden Guard go, it was just that the man’s escape was more advantageous than disadvantageous to him, that was all.

With the Duke Huguo dead, in the court no one was more suitable than General Shi to lead troops into battle.

With no one else he could use, the Emperor of Nangang would inevitably put General Shi to heavy use.

He just hadn’t expected the Prince of Nanliang to come to the camp to take over the military command left by the Duke Huguo.

But he was, after all, the Prince of Nanliang; he wouldn’t stay at the border forever. The more important purpose of this trip was still to cultivate his own power.

Xie Jingchen had stayed in the camp for quite some time; aside from the deep-minded Prince of Nanliang, whose ability to command troops was still unclear, none of the other Generals could contend with General Shi.

In order to resist Daqi, the Prince of Nanliang would inevitably put General Shi to heavy use.

Once he was heavily used, General Shi might very well not fulfill the promise he’d made to Zhao Xu.

After all, even if General Shi agreed, the Generals under his command would not be willing to take such a risk.

But—

If the Prince of Nanliang discovered that General Shi harbored disloyalty, would he and the court still put him to heavy use?

Not only would they not, they would also do everything possible to weaken the military power in General Shi’s hands and eliminate him, to root out future trouble.

Letting that Hidden Guard escape was equivalent to cutting off General Shi’s chance to go back on his word.

Perhaps heaven truly intended to doom Nanliang. If the assassins targeting Zhao Xu had come even a bit later, even if he hadn’t killed the Hidden Guard, once Dong Chenglang reacted he would have killed him.

With that interruption, the Hidden Guard escaped; the Prince of Nanliang should already know about this matter.

Dong Chenglang looked at Xie Jingchen and said, "Brother Li, hurry and help me think if there’s any way to smooth this over..."

Xie Jingchen pondered for a moment, and as they entered the camp, he leaned close to Dong Chenglang’s ear and whispered a few words.

After returning to camp, Dong Chenglang went straight to the Prince of Nanliang’s tent.

He went in bristling with anger.

The guards tried to stop him and were shoved aside by Dong Chenglang with one push.

Inside the tent, the Prince of Nanliang was reading a Military Book; seeing Dong Chenglang enter, his expression was displeased.

Dong Chenglang stepped forward and braced his hands on the desk. "Why did you send people to watch me?!"

The Prince of Nanliang’s brows furrowed.

"You knew I sent someone to follow you?" he asked.

"If I hadn’t known that man was sent by you, do you think he could’ve come back alive?" Dong Chenglang said coldly.

Dong Chenglang’s preemptive strike made his meeting with Zhao Xu appear open and aboveboard, unafraid of the Prince of Nanliang’s suspicion.

The Prince of Nanliang looked at him. "If I hadn’t sent someone to keep an eye on you, I really wouldn’t have known your relationship with Prime Minister Zhao’s son was so close."

"My relationship with him has always been good," Dong Chenglang said.

With Dong Chenglang admitting as much, the Prince of Nanliang instead felt that he’d been overthinking earlier.

If Dong Chenglang had known of Zhao Xu’s treason, he wouldn’t have gone to meet him after discovering the Hidden Guard was following him.

Just as he thought this, Dong Chenglang looked at him. "Brother Zhao said the court sent people to hunt him down. What crime did he commit?"

"He didn’t tell you?" the Prince of Nanliang asked.

"He told me to come and ask you," Dong Chenglang said irritably.

A cold gleam flashed in the Prince of Nanliang’s eyes.

He had sent people to seize the Beimo Princess Jing Shan, only to have Zhao Xu snatch her away halfway. How could he possibly speak of such a sinister, crafty, and humiliating affair to outsiders?

The Prince of Nanliang turned a page of the Military Book. "I’m tired. Withdraw."

Dong Chenglang stared at the Prince of Nanliang for a moment; the guards came over to escort him out.

Dong Chenglang turned away in anger.

But in his heart he secretly let out a breath of relief. When he returned, Xie Jingchen was in the middle of pouring tea.

He picked up a teacup and downed two mouthfuls.

He looked at Xie Jingchen. "Why aren’t you asking whether the Crown Prince has dispelled his suspicions of me?"

Xie Jingchen looked at him. "I can tell just by the look of you."

The reply was artfully put.

In Dong Chenglang’s ears, it sounded like praise for his acting skills.

But what Xie Jingchen meant was certainly not what he understood.

Just as Dong Chenglang had said, the Prince of Nanliang was suspicious by nature. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Once a seed of doubt had been planted, how could it be so easily dispelled?

Even if it was temporarily pressed down, it would poke its head out from time to time; the more things stirred, the greater the suspicion might grow.