A cold wind blew, and a light snow fell from the sky.
Shen Haoxuan, wrapped in a heavy cotton-padded jacket, rushed to Prince Chen's Mansion and entered his study. Luckily Xuanyuan Chen gave him special privileges, otherwise, he would be knocked down by the hidden guards before he could even enter the hall of Prince Chen's Mansion.
"Your Highness, Lin Mu has sent a letter." Shen Haoxuan gasped for breath as he spoke while holding onto a letter.
Lin Mu, Shen Haoxuan and the other two had been specially trained to send pigeons back and forth, so once the pigeons sent a message, they would first pass by Shen Haoxuan's Tianyi Pavilion, where they would reveal the words on the letters and extract them and analyze them before handing them over to Xuanyuan Chen.
It saved a lot of time and effort and unnecessary trouble because of the complexity of the information.
Xuanyuan Chen quickly finished reading the letter, his face turned cold as he placed the map of the Mo Bei on the desk. "According to what Lin Mu said in the letter, Wu Huan will station his army here, but this is a dangerous place, what is their goal?"
Xie Qingrong placed the teacup that had been filled with hot water into Shen Haoxuan's hands, and ignored Shen Haoxuan's thanks to her, walking straight to the desk and looking at the place Xuanyuan Chen pointed to.
The Yongzhou was neighbors to Wu Huan and the Mo Bei, they were two important traffic hubs, and on the other side of the, there was a rolling mountain range and an unfathomably deep rift canyon.
Puckering his lips, he said, "Rumor has it that the Shang family is hidden deep in the mountains, occupying an entire five mountain ranges. Outside of the five mountain ranges, there is an unfathomably deep moat that has guarded the mountain range for generations. Could it be that this broken canyon is the legendary moat? "
This is coincidentally the place closest to the Broken Valley and the Yongzhou. If you break through the border of the Mo Bei, you would be able to take down the Yongzhou in one fell swoop. Tell me honestly, why is the auction held only in Yongzhou, who exactly is the master behind Moon Reflecting Pavilion? "
Xuanyuan Chen shook his head, his expression serious.
Shen Haoxuan said in a cold voice, "This is also a question that the prince had me investigate all along. As for the master behind the Moon Reflecting Pavilion, no one knows about it, and no one has a clue about it. All these years, I have never been able to successfully insert people into the Yongzhou City. "
"I remember Ji Rufeng said that Wu Huan's ruler was one of the top ten families, the Mo family. After so many years, the Shang family had occupied the leading position in the top ten families, could it be that the Mo family wanted to take over the Shang family?" Xie Qingrong analyzed.
It wasn't impossible.
That year, when she became a killer, she was not willing to become a low-ranked killer, and being unwilling to become the King of Assassins was not a good assassin.
It was possible that the Mo family wanted to annex the Shang family, becoming the top ten families.
Then, Xie Qingrong suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "Then, the person in power in this mysterious zone that resides within the five mountain ranges, could very well be the Shang Clan."
After Shen Haoxuan heard Xie Qingrong's analysis, he folded his fan and slapped it shut, then chuckled: "What you said makes sense. "But I don't understand why the Shang family hasn't appeared in the last hundred years."
Xuanyuan Chen's handsome eyebrows twitched, and said: "Maybe someone can give us the answer."
"Who is it?" Shen Haoxuan asked.
"Shang Zhiqing." When Xie Qingrong said this name, she fell silent for a moment.
However, Shang Zhiqing's attitude was extremely ambiguous, as if he did not want her to know, but she also had the intention of making her curious so that she could investigate it for herself.
Even Ji Rufeng was like this, forever evasive, and only told her that he had to be strong enough to know the truth.
The so-called truth?
What was it?
Xie Qingrong's curiosity was piqued, but no one could answer her question.
"Princess, I'm afraid you won't tell us your feelings." Shen Haoxuan said with some difficulty. Although he and Shang Zhiqing had already shared a mutual understanding, it did not mean that Shang Zhiqing was willing to tell him everything.
"Wu Huan's goal is still unknown, so the most important thing right now is not the Yongzhou City. But the border of the Mo Bei, if it is dragged out too long, it will not be beneficial for long-term battles. Once one of the weak points of the border is broken through, the consequences will be dire. " Xuanyuan Chen said with a serious expression.
"However, the Mo Bei is so vast that I'm afraid the border cannot be shortened." Shen Haoxuan said worriedly.
Xuanyuan Chen rubbed his forehead with a slight headache, pursed his lips, and said: "Regarding this matter, I will make a trip to the palace later to report it to royal father."
Xuanyuan Chen had already entered the palace. Xie Qingrong sat at her desk and studied the map that the Mo Bei had drawn up for them. It was slightly different from the map she had drawn up for them back in the Mo Bei.
Shen Haoxuan set the folding fan aside and picked up the hot tea that he had just brewed. He took a shallow sip and, as if he had been exposed to the aroma of the tea, squinted his eyes in comfort.
After drinking the tea, Shen Haoxuan took his leave. "Princess, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave first."
"Wait." Xie Qingrong said, "I still have some things I don't understand. I wonder if Haoxuan can give me some answers."
"I wonder what the princess doesn't understand? I will tell you everything I know. " Shen Haoxuan said, but he was feeling nervous.
"How much do you know about merchants?" Xie Qingrong asked.
Shen Haoxuan shook his head and replied: "I only know that its origin is mysterious and I don't know its background. If Shang Zhiqing is a member of the Shang Clan, then the renowned Shang Huaiyue back then is also a member of the Shang Clan. "
At this point, Shen Haoxuan hesitated for a moment.
Xie Qingrong saw the hesitation on Shen Haoxuan's face, and frowned: "If you have something to say, just say it, no need to stammer to hide it."
"Since the wangfei is Shang Zhiqing's big sister, then the wangfei is also a member of the Shang clan. I just don't really understand. Since Shang Zhiqing knew that Wangfei was a member of the Shang family from the very beginning, why is it that she allowed her to remain in the outside world and not recognize her as her ancestor after so many years? "
Shen Haoxuan said hesitantly. This matter was complicated, even if he managed to understand one point, an even bigger mystery would roll over.
It was like a ball of silk entwined with countless threads. Unless all the threads were wrapped around it, the ball of thread would not be completely untied. Otherwise, there would be no way to cut it, and it would also be disorderly.
Xie Qingrong clenched her fists. She had suspected a long time ago that if the power backing Shang Zhiqing was unimaginably powerful, then it was possible that she was a member of the Shang Clan. However, what Shen Haoxuan said just now was indeed a question that she had been pondering over for a long time, and there was still no reasonable explanation.
Waving his hand tiredly, he said, "Allow me to reflect on this matter a bit more."
"Should I tell His Highness about this?" Before Shen Haoxuan left, she suddenly thought of something.
"I'll tell him myself." With that, Xie Qingrong sat back down on the chair and continued looking at the map.