"Such an interesting young girl. What a shame that you have to die," Prince Ji Shu said to himself and leaned back to the chair.

A young noble girl who could do martial arts and knew how to scheme behind the screen so perfectly… if not for Wei Xiao Hua, he would never think that the seemingly ordinary young girl could be hidden so deeply.

The Wei Hong Zheng that he met in the mountain should have been Wei Liuying. The men he ordered to stay here to monitor the servants' movement found out that the food was delivered to Wei Hong Zheng through a door. It meant that the one who performed so spectacularly was not the young master, but instead the young miss.

To be able to act as another person and mimicked his movements, he was intrigued.

Unfortunately, Wei Xiao Hua and Wei Liuying were clashing against each other. Between one that was more interesting and another who was slightly intriguing, he clearly chose the former. Since it was impossible for him to bring Wei Liuying to his side, he had to destroy her at all cost.

He would never leave such variable to roam freely.

"Is Imperial Father looking for me again?" Prince Ji Shu asked.

"Replying to Your Highness, His Majesty is in the Plum Garden playing with Madam Su."

Prince Ji Shu arched his eyebrows. Even though he was so angry yesterday, today he was already in the mood to play with his women. It seemed that his father couldn't care less for the incident that occurred in the capital city.

"Proceed with the execution as ordered. I'll be going now."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Within a moment, Prince Ji Shu had disappeared from his place. He had gotten used to go incognito without anyone knowing where he went. Most of the time, people would be thinking that he was still in his residence, training and training again. In truth, he had traveled to many place using this method.

Prince Ji Shu stopped when he arrived in Wei Family Household. Slowly, he made his way to Wei Xiao Hua's quarter and slipped to her room. The young girl was still sleeping soundly. Looking at her side figure, a smile formed on the corner of his lips.

It was unknown since when, but the mere sight of the young girl was enough to invoke heartwarming feeling within his heart.

"Mhm."

Wei Xiao Hua was stirred. She opened her eyes slowly and glanced up. Upon seeing Ji Shu, she frowned. "What are you doing here?"

"I come to visit you."

"So early?" Wei Xiao Hua glared at him in suspicion.

Prince Ji Shu chuckled. In front of his woman, he was more relaxed. He took a seat and tapped the table. "Do you know what happened last night?"

"There's commotion, right?"

"And you're sleeping through it?"

Wei Xiao Hua stretched her body. "Since it's located at the north area of the capital city, it shouldn't affect me that much. Besides, what can a young girl like me do in front of those men? I can only possibly outtalk them one way or another."

"You're such a little vixen." Prince Ji Shu reached his hand forward and pinched the tip of Wei Xiao Hua's nose.

"Hey! I can't breathe."

"I can't help it."

Wei Xiao Hua glared and rolled her eyes. She turned her body and let her legs dangled on the edge of the bed while looking at Ji Shu. "Wei Liuying had escaped?"

"You know?"

"I guessed."

"That's only guessing?" Prince Ji Shu couldn't believe it. What Wei Xiao Hua knew were far more than what she was supposed to know. Be it in the past or present, he found her to be so intriguing.

"What else if it's not guessing?" Wei Xiao Hua asked back. "There's a breach in the prison and Wei Lu disappeared, right?"

"Indeed."

Prince Ji Shu had realized right away that Wei Liuying target when she came to the prison was exactly Wei Lu. However, the officials who were captured back didn't include him and many others have already escaped. Once the matter reached his imperial father's ear, he was sure that the guard would be punished.

Thinking of his men that he inserted inside, Prince Ji Shu felt a bit annoyed.

Wei Xiao Hua pursed her lips. "Wei Liuying is the one who helps them, right? Has she died?"

Prince Ji Shu didn't immediately reply. He understood that Wei Xiao Hua longed for Wei Liuying's death more than anyone. After all, with Wei Liuying around in the residence, her movements were partially restricted because Concubine Feng managed to rise in power by relying on Wei Liuying's advice.

Wei Xiao Hua wanted full control of the residence.

"She had died," Prince Ji Shu replied.

Wei Xiao Hua beamed. "That's good."

There was never any sisterly feeling between them. Since Wei Liuying stood on her way, it was clear that she wanted to eliminate the other party. The same goes for Wei Liuying. Since Wei Xiao Hua had something that Wei Liuying wanted, it wouldn't be weird for her to scheme against Wei Xiao Hua.

It was all the matter of survival and living well.

Wei Xiao Hua had been worrying since the plot had some derailment ever since she came here. Now that the course was back on tract, she hoped that everything would be back on the way it was before. The capital city should be fine, but she was a bit worried about the north.

Hopefully Princess Ji Xiaoli's different fate would not change the course of event too much.

She had to rely on the impeding war to eliminate Prince Ji Sheng and his men from hindering Prince Ji Shu's path to the throne.

Oh well, it was still a long time.

There was no need for her to worry so much.

"It's going to be the time for breakfast soon. You should go," Wei Xiao Hua said when she recalled that it was almost morning.

Prince Ji Shu arched his eyebrows. "Are you telling me to leave?"

"Yes."

"Why? It's fine for you to be seen with me, isn't it?"

"That's…"

Before Wei Xiao Hua could say anything else, Prince Ji Shu had leaned in and kissed her forehead. "This is my payment today."

"You…" Wei Xiao Hua was stunned. Before she could react, Prince Ji Shu had already gone from the room and her servants knocked the door. Wei Xiao Hua was sure that her cheek was red, so she didn't immediately answer.

"Miss, it's already morning."

"Wait a moment."

Wei Xiao Hua lightly fanned her face. Though she was embarrassed, there was a faint smile tugging on the corner of her lips. She felt happy.

…

Wei Hong received the news of Wei Liuying's disappearance at the same time as the outbreak from prison. His face turned livid. Even if these two incidents were unrelated, it wouldn't do him any good for either one.

One of the few who managed to escape was Wei Lu!

"Why is that imbecile have to be the one to escape?" Wei Hong gnashed his teeth in anger and swung his hand. The plates in front of him shattered upon reaching the ground.

The servants around him all kneeled on the ground in fear. They knew that their Master was angry, but there was nothing that they could do.

"What did the Emperor said?"

"He said that there won't be any morning court today and ordered everyone to search for the missing criminals. If all failed to find them, he'll punish you severely," the servant replied with trembling body. He felt that he would die if he dared to speak more than this.

Wei Hong's gaze was cold. He turned his body around and waved his hand. "Tell all servants to begin searching for the missing officials around this area. As long as they hide here, we'll find them."

"Yes, Master."

Afterwards, some servants left the hall. Wei Hong was still angry, but he still hadn't said anything about Wei Liuying's matter. It took him some time before he could calm down.

"When is my useless daughter disappear?"

"We only found out this morning, Master. Third Miss never made any sound when she's inside, so we thought that she's just sleeping as usual," one of the guards replied while trembling. He came to report the matter as soon as he found out that Wei Liuying disappeared.

No one noticed it at all.

Rubbing his forehead, Wei Hong sighed. "Dispose them."

"Yes, Master."

"No! Master, please forgive this servant!"

"Master no!"

The two guards were gagged and dragged out of the main hall while Wei Hong was still there. The only one left was only the steward who had the highest position among the servants around him.

"Keep the matter of my useless daughter's disappearance a secret from now. Cut the tongue of anyone who dared to speak about it."

"Yes, Master."

Wei Hong sighed and leaned back on his chair. He felt that his head hurt so much just form thinking about this problem. No matter what, he had to make sure that the disappearance of his daughter didn't leak out. If people found out that she disappeared on the same day as the outbreak, the matter could be connected to him.

He didn't want to get into more trouble.