He must have his reasons for doing this

Zhang Lanhe's spies still brought back no valuable intelligence, only scattered scraps of news from here and there.

The leads they uncovered showed that Xie Huizhou had spent that entire day drinking with friends. After taking a drink on behalf of someone at the next table, he had gone back to rest.

"Ah, how boring."

Once he confirmed that Xie Huizhou was not the person he was looking for, Zhang Lanhe quickly lost interest and tossed the portrait onto a bookshelf.

"You really know how to hide, you little rascal."

Always hiding and refusing to come out to see him. He really was hard to catch.

His green eyes grew increasingly excited by the hunt, and he nearly revealed his snake pupils in public.

A colleague poured him wine, very curious about Zhang Lanhe's progress in searching for someone. "National Preceptor, you still haven't found him?"

His colleagues at the National Preceptor's Residence were very curious about that mysterious youth. A month had passed without any sign of him; it seemed he truly had no interest in wealth or glory.

"No. It's all misdirection." Zhang Lanhe drank his wine, concealing the turbulence in his eyes. "Much of it is false information released by his side. I've even lost a few spies. The good news is that there have been no reports of anyone matching his description leaving Capital City. There's still a chance."

He refused to believe that the youth would never slip up.

As long as he remained in Capital City, sooner or later he would reveal his whereabouts.

The National Preceptor's persistence left his colleague sweating, and he inwardly sighed for that mysterious person.

Who was unlucky enough to catch Zhang Lanhe's attention?

His colleague thought for a moment, then remembered a recent piece of news. "My lord, I heard that Eighth Highness is planning a Spring Hunt and has invited quite a few people from Capital City. Events like this always draw a crowd here. Since he appeared at a tavern, perhaps he likes lively, crowded places?"

He was dropping every possible hint for Zhang Lanhe to leave the National Preceptor's Residence. Having a superior watching him work was unpleasant.

Zhang Lanhe's eyes lit up. "You have a point."

In previous years, he had never liked joining in such festivities.

But what a shame it would be if that person happened to attend and he missed him. Better not risk it.

After confirming that Xie Huizhou had nothing to do with it, Zhang Lanhe did not seek him out again for some time.

With no one watching him, Xie Huizhou enjoyed his freedom immensely. After spending some time bored out of his mind, he received an invitation from the eighth prince, Xie Tingchun.

The eighth prince invited him to join the Spring Hunt. His letter was warm, as though he were a good elder brother full of brotherly affection.

If only they had not just fallen out.

"Is he setting a trap for me? The Spring Hunt is a perfect opportunity to strike underhandedly. If someone has ill intentions, you could easily lose an arm or a leg, or even die on the spot."

Xie Huizhou frowned as he spoke, but his brow soon relaxed when something occurred to him.

"Judging by the timing, it's almost time for the leads to meet again at the Spring Hunt. The thought of seeing the actual pair up close is pretty exciting."

Before the Imperial Examination, the scholars had arrived early to find lodgings in Capital City, and the eighth prince had invited them to the Spring Hunt as well.

Zhou Yanqing was also on the list. The eighth prince had set his sights on him, and in this part of the story, Fang Yuanke helped him out of trouble, improving Zhou Yanqing's poor impression of him.

This was such a sweet moment!

I really want to see it in person!

But the eighth prince's invitation was ill-intentioned.

Although Xie Huizhou had been secretly training hard in martial arts ever since the last armed conflict, and his skills were now fairly decent, an open attack was easier to dodge than a hidden one.

His life mattered more. He had better decline.

Xie Huizhou was about to pick up his brush and steel himself to refuse when he accidentally knocked his teacup to the floor, where it shattered with a crisp crash.

He was about to call a palace attendant in to clean up when someone dressed in night-black clothing suddenly darted into view and knelt before him, fully equipped with all manner of assassination weapons.

Every one of them had a resolute, death-defying gaze, their eyes fierce like those of deathsworn guards.

At first glance, he thought they had come to assassinate him.

This gave Xie Huizhou quite a fright. Drawing his sword, he demanded, "Who sent you?"

His skills should just barely allow him to escape them. As long as he got out, he could deal with everything else.

"You broke a cup as the signal, and we have come. Young master, what important orders do you have?"

The Shadow Guards looked at Xie Huizhou with boundless anticipation, their mouths full of treasonous remarks.

"Young master, have you finally run out of patience and decided to send us to kill the emperor and seize the throne? We're ready."

Xie Huizhou had not expected these to be his own Shadow Guards. He froze. "My Shadow Guards?"

How had he lived this long without knowing he had Shadow Guards?

Only after their explanation did Xie Huizhou learn that these Shadow Guards had been left to him by Consort Yu, the mother he had never had the chance to know. She had died before she could explain anything, and since Xie Huizhou did not know the signal, he had never known he had Shadow Guards.

Still, the Shadow Guards had been protecting him faithfully all along. It was enough to move heaven and earth.

By a stroke of chance, the Shadow Guards had answered the agreed signal and come to serve Xie Huizhou.

With an odd expression, Xie Huizhou asked, "Then did you see what I did?"

Such as drawing all those erotic pictures and other strange drawings, and even getting involved with the National Preceptor.

Where was his dignity now?

The Shadow Guards answered tactfully, "We have been protecting you from the shadows all along, young master."

So they had seen.

Xie Huizhou's face burned fiercely, and even his ears turned red. Having the people around him see those things was rather embarrassing.

"Young master, don't worry. We know our place. We only dared to protect you from a distance, and wouldn't dare listen to or look at anything we shouldn't."

The more they spoke, the more embarrassed Xie Huizhou became.

"Then why didn't you pull me away at the time?" Xie Huizhou was deeply puzzled. "Didn't you think it was strange that I was rolling around with a man?"

What sort of Shadow Guards watched their master do that without reacting, merely enjoying the show?

Xie Huizhou kept feeling that his own Shadow Guards were a little unreliable.

"Young master, you were so proactive that we didn't feel it was right to spoil your fun."

They had intended to pull him away, but when they saw Xie Huizhou kiss him outright, so eager and enthusiastic, they fell silent too.

It would hardly have been appropriate to interrupt then. What if they startled Xie Huizhou so badly that he could never get it up again?

Their young master surely had his own reasons for doing this.

Without consulting one another, they had all become deaf and blind.

Xie Huizhou figured something else out as well. "You're the reason the National Preceptor hasn't been able to trace it back to me, aren't you?"

Everyone knew how capable Zhang Lanhe's spies were. Xie Huizhou had already found it strange that they had never traced the matter back to him.

"Young master, don't worry! We've cleared away most of the clues. The National Preceptor won't trace it back to us." The Shadow Guards had long since made preparations. "We muddied the waters behind the scenes, and he's already lost his target."

Seeing Xie Huizhou's reluctance, the Shadow Guards had swiftly disposed of the clues pointing to him, and had even sent various doubles out to appear in different places and confuse the trail.

The two sides were evenly matched. Every one of Zhang Lanhe's investigations had been blocked by Xie Huizhou's spies.

Otherwise, Zhang Lanhe would have flushed Xie Huizhou out long ago.

Xie Huizhou suddenly felt that these Shadow Guards were not entirely useless.

No wonder the National Preceptor's spies had never managed to trace it back to him. Someone had been secretly cleaning up after him all along.

"Do you know how to disguise yourselves? Can other people spot the doubles you use to confuse the trail?" Xie Huizhou suddenly thought of something he could put to use. "Tell me, just how far can you go?"

The Shadow Guard answered honestly, "No one can tell."

They were very confident about that.

Xie Huizhou suddenly had an excellent idea.

"Then perhaps I can go and have some fun at this Spring Hunt after all."