In the past few days, whenever Shen Youying thought of the fleeting figure from that time, she would be in a daze, but she probably didn't want Xue Shen to worry, so she pretended to be nonchalant.
Xue Shen saw this but didn't expose it. He simply sent out more spies, who practically ransacked the entire city of Xizhou.
After searching for four or five days, the scouts finally brought back a clue.
Upon receiving the report, Xue Shen immediately instructed his servants to invite Shen Youying over.
Fearing she might be anxious on her way, Xue Shen didn't have his servants tell Shen Youying why she came. When Shen Youying entered the study and was helped to sit down by Xue Shen, she was still a little confused: "Why did you suddenly call me here?"
Xue Shen closed the study door, signaled the guards to stand watch outside, then gestured to the scout waiting for a report and said softly, "There is news of my elder brother."
Shen Youying was startled and instinctively grabbed Xue Shen's sleeve.
These past few days, she's been involuntarily replaying the scene on the street in her mind. On one hand, she feels that the man is her elder brother, but on the other hand, she doubts his identity because he avoids her. She's tormented but doesn't want to show it and worry others, so she can only force a smile and secretly count how many days it's been since the spies were sent out.
But now that Xue Shen suddenly said that his spies had found out about her elder brother, she felt a sense of trepidation, as if she were returning home and fearing that the news was not what she wanted to hear.
Xue Shen noticed her worry and fear, squeezed her hand back, and said to the scout, "Tell me, what have you found out?"
The scout first presented a confession before replying, "These past few days, I have been ordered to secretly search for General Shen's whereabouts in the city, but I unexpectedly discovered a group of Tibetans disguised and infiltrating the city. Those Tibetans are well-trained and are definitely not ordinary people traveling between the borders. After I sent a message to the secret police to keep watch for several days, the secret police found the Tibetans' meeting place, captured three of them, and interrogated them to find out that they infiltrated Xizhou to investigate the whereabouts of the gold mine."
Shen Youying listened to the spy's words, but didn't hear anything about her elder brother. She bit her lip slightly, but still patiently listened on.
Xue Shen noticed the change in her expression and asked directly, "What is the relationship between this group and Shen Xiuyi?"
The spy said, "Since I thought that General Shen was also dressed as a Tibetan, he might have been to Tibet. These Tibetans might have seen him before, so I took the portrait to the criminals to identify him. As it turned out, the criminals recognized him."
At this point, the spy paused before continuing, "According to the Tibetans, the person in the painting is one of their leaders, named Aye. Half a month ago, he was ordered by the third prince of Tibet to come to Xizhou City to search for gold mines. But just five days ago, the third prince of Tibet urgently recalled him, and he is no longer in Xizhou City."
Shen Youying was taken aback upon hearing this, and retorted, "Impossible, that's my eldest brother, I wouldn't mistake him."
But then she realized that if it really was her elder brother, how could he associate with the Tibetans, let alone serve the third prince of Tibet?
Thinking of this, her face paled, and she clenched her fist tightly, the hand that Xue Shen had been holding.
Xue Shen patted her arm and asked, "Did you find out Aye's background? Judging from his appearance, he is not Tibetan."
"I inquired about it, but it is said that this Aye's origins are a mystery. He was someone the Third Prince suddenly brought back from outside, and then groomed him as a confidant and entrusted him with important responsibilities. He is exceptionally capable and has secretly done a lot for the Third Prince."
Xue Shen looked thoughtful, and after a long while said, "How did the Tibetans know that there were gold mines in Xizhou?"
The scout said, "In order to clean up the origin of the gold, Cai Wenxuan and the Xu family have been using the sale of tea and spices as a cover to transport large amounts of gold to the Tibetan royal court and then bring it back as profit. Over time, the Third Prince's men discovered the truth."
Xue Shen nodded, signaling the scouts to leave, before turning to the pale-faced Shen Youying: "What does Zhaozhao think?"
Shen Youying bit her lip: "I think it's the eldest brother."
A man from the Central Plains whose origins are shrouded in mystery yet who is highly valued, and who looks exactly like her elder brother—Shen Youying cannot believe that such a coincidence could exist in the world.
“But if he really is the eldest brother, he would never risk his life for the Tibetans.”
As the Prefect of Qin Prefecture and the Pacification Commissioner of Qin-Feng Circuit, Shen Xiuyi held supreme military and political power in the Northwest, and countless Tibetan soldiers had perished under his command. He once told Shen Youying that his lifelong ambition was to recover the Northwest and ensure that the Tibetans would never dare to invade again.
Such a person would never risk his life for the Tibetan prince.
"Actually, I have a guess," Xue Shen said slowly. "I sent people to check the place where my brother fell off the cliff. At that time, none of the groups could find my brother's remains. One possibility is that there are many wild animals below the cliff, and the remains had already been eaten. But that doesn't make sense. If he really fell to his death, even if the remains were eaten by wild animals, there would still be some traces of clothing left. So I think the most likely possibility is that my brother did not fall to his death and may have escaped death."
"The place where my elder brother fell off the cliff was on the border of Qin Prefecture. At that time, the Tibetans were invading the border, and the two sides were stationed at the border and confronted each other. If my elder brother was found by the Tibetans after falling off the cliff, but lost his memory due to severe head injuries, then it would make sense why he was alive but did not return and would still serve the Third Prince."
As the garrison commander of Qin Prefecture, Shen Xiuyi was a renowned figure in the northwest and among the Tibetan army.
There's no reason why the Third Prince wouldn't recognize Shen Xiuyi. It's more likely that after discovering that Shen Xiuyi was seriously injured and had lost his memory, he took advantage of the situation and used him to do some shady things for himself.
Xue Shen's words made Shen Youying understand, but a greater worry followed: "If my elder brother really has amnesia and has been used by the third prince of Tibet, then he is in danger without even realizing it. And Father..."
She became even more anxious when she thought of how her father had also suddenly defied the imperial decree and gone to the northwest border, and then disappeared in Tibet: "Did Father also guess that my elder brother was in a predicament, which is why he was willing to defy the imperial decree and take people to Tibet?"
Overwhelmed with anxiety, tears welled up in Shen Youying's eyes, trembling in her sockets, yet stubbornly refusing to fall.
Xue Shen sighed, placed his hand on her back, and pulled her into his arms.
In fact, Shen Youying's guess was exactly his guess. Although Shen Mingjiang was rough in character, he was actually shrewd beneath his rough exterior and was never a reckless person. He must have known the consequences of disobeying the imperial decree, but he still went to Tibet with his personal guards without hesitation, which must have meant that he had already guessed Shen Xiuyi's predicament.
Even later, when he shook off Xue Shen's men within the Tibetan territory, Xue Shen guessed that it was because he discovered that Shen Xiuyi was working for the Third Prince and was worried that he and Shen Youying would be implicated again, so he shook off his spies and acted alone.
He simply didn't want to voice these speculations, fearing they would only cause Shen Youying more worry and distress.
But he didn't say it, yet Shen Youying guessed it herself.
Shen Youying nestled in his arms, and after a long while, she raised her head and stared at him intently before saying, "I want to go to Tibet. I want to see Father and then find a way to bring my elder brother back."
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