"Your Highness! If, and I mean if, my appearance can never return to what it used to be, what should I do?" Shen Miao's eyes glistened with tears as she looked into Xiao Hanzhi's eyes in his arms.
"With my family background, it was already a great blessing for me to be able to marry Your Highness. But now, even my appearance is ruined. How can I be worthy of Your Highness?"
"Miao'er, don't talk nonsense!" Xiao Hanzhi deliberately put on a straight face and looked at Shen Miao seriously. "You! You can't always let your imagination run wild! You were personally chosen by the Emperor as the concubine for this prince. No matter what happens, this prince will marry you into the mansion!"
Hearing this, Shen Miao finally breathed a sigh of relief. Before this, it wasn't that she didn't trust Xiao Hanzhi; she just lacked confidence in herself. There were so many famous ladies in the capital, and the position of concubine wasn't necessarily reserved for her, Shen Miao.
"I believe in Your Highness. I'm still waiting for the day when Your Highness comes to marry me!" Shen Miao's face showed the shyness and innocence of a young girl.
"Good! Good Miao'er!"
"However... Your Highness, what should we do about my cousin, Shen Li? It was she who ruined my face like this. Now she acts as if nothing has happened, while my face is ruined. You must avenge me!"
Xiao Hanzhi pondered for a moment this time and didn't immediately agree. "Miao'er, Shen Li was wrong in the first place, but for the time being, we can't touch her!"
"Your Highness, is it because of Shen Yi?"
"Not only that. Both Shen Yi and Shen Junhong are the Emperor's most trusted people. The Night Phantom Division that Shen Yi is in charge of is an important source of information for the Emperor. And the Night Phantom Division is the most mysterious. It only obeys the orders of my father and Shen Yi. Even I, the Fourth Prince, have no way to get involved in its affairs!"
"If we want to deal with Shen Li, it will surely arouse Shen Yi's dissatisfaction. If he takes revenge, the consequences may be unimaginable!"
Shen Miao showed a surprised expression. "Your Highness, do they dare to harm Your Highness? That would be treason and punishable by death!"
Hearing this, Xiao Hanzhi let go of Shen Miao, walked to the window, and looked out at the street outside. "Shen Yi is a man with a deep mind and is good at scheming. If we really move against Shen Li, maybe he can really do such a thing!"
"Therefore, we can't touch Shen Li for now. At least until I come up with a way to deal with Shen Yi, we can't touch this Shen Li. Miao'er, you should be patient for now. In a short time, I will avenge you!"
"Okay! Your Highness, I'll listen to you! I'll also maintain a superficial friendship with Shen Li and not let her get suspicious!" Shen Miao didn't expect that even Xiao Hanzhi didn't dare to move against Shen Yi easily. Although she had a smile on her face, she hated Shen Li even more in her heart.
"Miao'er, you are really an understanding and reasonable girl! Don't worry, I will never let you down in this lifetime! In the future, we will stand on the top of the mountain together and receive the worship of thousands of people!"
Shen Miao felt that at this moment, her heart was out of control and beating wildly. "Your Highness, are you serious?"
"Miao'er, would you like to?"
Shen Miao nodded vigorously. "I would. As long as I can stay by Your Highness's side, I'm willing to do anything."
It would be a lie if she said she wasn't excited at this time. Xiao Hanzhi's words just now had clearly made an indirect promise to her! If one day Xiao Hanzhi could ascend the throne, she would be the queen who would stay by his side and receive the worship of the people of the world with him.
"Your Highness, since the Night Phantom Division is so important, why don't we take it into our own hands?"
Xiao Hanzhi frowned and shook his head. "Since its establishment, the Night Phantom Division has been under the direct control of the most trusted person around the Emperor. It is not subject to the control of anyone else and is a private organization of the Emperor. Moreover, to avoid suspicion, the Night Phantom Division cannot be controlled by any prince!"
"Even though I've thought about it before, to avoid arousing my father's suspicion, I can't get involved with the Night Phantom Division!"
Shen Miao was also silent for a moment before tentatively saying, "Well, if Your Highness can't control it himself, can we replace the person in charge with Your Highness's confidant? At worst, we can also plant our spies in the Night Phantom Division so that we can know the situation inside at any time."
"This matter is a bit risky. If we're not careful, it's easy for them to find out. Then... it will be difficult for me to explain to my father! Moreover, few outsiders know the specific situation inside the Night Phantom Division. If we rashly plant people in, it's easy for them to get suspicious!"
"Your Highness, you can rest assured and leave this matter to me! Shen Li has been living in the Night Phantom Division recently. I can go there under the pretext of discussing something with her and stay there for a few days to help Your Highness find out the situation."
Xiao Hanzhi looked at Shen Miao suspiciously. Although he knew that Shen Miao was always intelligent, he was still a bit worried about her. "Miao'er, can you handle this matter well?"
"Your Highness, you can rest assured. I'm just going to stay there for a few days. It won't arouse their suspicion!"
"Okay! But you must be extremely careful. It is rumored that the Night Phantom Division is full of mechanisms and there are shadow guards everywhere. It is very strict. After you go in, you don't need to do anything. Just find out about some of the organizations in the Night Phantom Division and their job responsibilities!"
"I'll figure out how to deal with the rest!"
"Okay! Your Highness, I will surely find out the information for you!"
Then the two confided their feelings to each other for a while before separating.
...
When Shen Miao returned to the Shen Mansion, she immediately told Shen Shi the good news. Shen Shi immediately let out a long breath as if a big stone had fallen from her heart.
"Amitabha! Amitabha! May the Buddha bless us! Fortunately, the Fourth Prince is a man of love and righteousness!" Shen Shi put her hands together and devoutly recited a few lines of scriptures.
"Mother, now you can rest assured!" Shen Miao was in the best mood she had been in for more than half a month.
"Good! I can rest assured now! Being able to see you get married in style, I will have no regrets!" Shen Shi held Shen Miao's hand and said with some emotion.
Around the time when Shen Miao's face was injured, among the two concubines that Shen Junming had taken in before, Aunt Liu had been feeling loss of appetite and often vomiting for many days. So a doctor was invited into the mansion to feel her pulse, and unexpectedly, she was pregnant.
Suddenly, Shen Junming was overjoyed. He didn't expect that in his forties, he could add another member to the Shen family. And Aunt Liu's status also rose immediately and became very precious.
Shen Junming wished he could stay in the mansion every day to accompany his two concubines. He would send whatever rare things there were to their rooms and buy whatever expensive things there were to give to them.