One cannot blame Bu Shulin for being overly cautious, for Henan Prefecture was truly abnormal. From the regional inspector down to the local magistrates, not a single one was decent. Wherever she went, countless eyes followed her. She thought Cui Shitou's excuse of using her as a cover was a joke—even with a secret imperial decree, she remained completely exposed.
Bu Shulin naturally didn't know she was merely a decoy, deliberately given the secret decree only for the news to be leaked, drawing everyone's attention while His Majesty had already dispatched Embroidered Uniform Envoys separately to investigate the matter.
This was Cui Jinbai's complete strategy. As for His Majesty's intention to target Bu Shulin, this was not explicitly stated to Cui Jinbai but only hinted at to gauge his reaction. Thus, how His Majesty would act against her remained unknown to Cui Jinbai.
Not knowing didn't matter—it would likely involve sending assassins or creating conflicts to make Henan Prefecture's officials eliminate Bu Shulin. Cui Jinbai leaned toward the latter.
Let the Embroidered Uniform Envoys find evidence, then make Henan's officials believe Bu Shulin possessed it, diverting attention so they would pursue her while the envoys withdrew unnoticed. By the time Bu Shulin was hunted, the evidence would already be in His Majesty's hands.
Eventually, Bu Shulin would be honored as dying in the line of duty, and eliminating Henan's vicious elements would serve as an explanation to Bu Tuohai.
Such a multi-purpose strategy—why wouldn't His Majesty embrace it?
"Young Master, this is from the Eastern Palace," Jinshan reported. "I saw the Eastern Palace token. Besides you and the Princess, who else would know she is aiding you? Even the Crown Prince, without the Princess's confession, would only suspect without certainty."
Reassured, Bu Shulin eagerly rushed to write a reply, including some exquisite items she had acquired in Henan Prefecture for Shen Xihe.
However, when her gifts arrived at the designated location, they were returned—only the letter remained.
"Why were my prepared gifts sent back?" Bu Shulin frowned.
"They said only letters are permitted," Jinshan answered truthfully.
"But I stated in the letter that I was sending gifts to the Princess!" Bu Shulin fumed.
"They mentioned they would include an explanation for you, Young Master," Jinshan replied helplessly.
Pacing back and forth, Bu Shulin snorted, "It must be the Crown Prince's jealousy over the Princess's closeness to me!"
"Young Master, I suspect..." Jinshan voiced his long-held doubt, "the Crown Prince likely already knows you are..."
Otherwise, why would he tolerate his young master frequently visiting the Princess Manor and facilitating their correspondence?
Bu Shulin:!!
She staggered back in fright. She had always believed her disguise was impeccable—aside from Shen Xihe, whose sharp nose was heaven-sent, no one had ever doubted her identity. If Xiao Huayong knew, it couldn't have been from Shen Xihe; he must have figured it out himself!
This was disastrous—her greatest secret was now in Xiao Huayong's hands.
"Young Master, don't panic," Jinshan reassured. "Since the Crown Prince has long known yet never exposed you, confronted you, or moved against Shu Nan, he likely means no harm. Moreover, he now holds the Princess in high regard and knows of your friendship with her. He certainly won't act against you.""Am I brainless? I naturally know all this." Bu Shulin said furiously. "What I dislike is him knowing my identity. How can I stand firm against him in the future?"
Jinshan:
To be blunt, even if the Crown Prince didn't know the Young Master's weaknesses, the Young Master would never be able to stand firm against His Highness.
Shen Xihe first received the Crown Prince's affectionate letter. Xiao Huayong had sent Bu Shulin's letter via another eagle, immediately having Haidongqing deliver his own letter to Shen Xihe.
Since you left, day after day, longing constantly lingers in my heart
The mountains are green, the sunset bright, the sky high, the road long
No one to meet as dusk falls
Only half a month has passed, yet I grow thinner each day
After reading just the first few lines, Shen Xihe couldn't stand the cloying sweetness and folded the letter, directly burning it over a candle. Since Xiao Huayong knew she was worried about Bu Shulin yet still had the leisure for such frivolity, it must mean Bu Shulin was safe.
"My lady,
There's also this in the letter..." Zhenzhu steeled herself and presented a strand of hair from the letter. A strand of black hair, a strand of love.
Since ancient times, both men and women could only give their hair to their spouses.
Xiao Huayong sending this single strand, and placing it in the most eye-catching spot within the letter where it would be seen immediately upon opening...
If one said he did it intentionally, he would surely argue it accidentally fell while writing the letter. If one said it wasn't intentional, his motives were as plain as day to everyone!
"Burn it along with the letter," Shen Xihe ordered coldly.
Zhenzhu could only place it back in the envelope and burn it. But what Shen Xihe didn't expect was that from this day onward, Xiao Huayong would send one letter every day, each containing a strand of black hair.
"If the lady stays in Linchuan much longer, won't the Crown Prince worry about plucking himself bald?" Even Hongyu couldn't help but comment.
Though she complained, she was growing increasingly fond of the Crown Prince, feeling that only someone like him could make their lady more down-to-earth. She looked forward more and more to the lady marrying into the Eastern Palace early, wanting to see how the Crown Prince would dote on their lady.
"My lady, aren't we going to reply?" This was already the fifth letter, and the lady had burned every one. It really wasn't that the lady was heartless - once she had accidentally glimpsed the Crown Prince's words and nearly fainted from shock.
In her eyes, the Crown Prince was that supremely noble, dignified, and lofty deity. Although he occasionally teased the lady, he would never say such explicit words. It was so frivolous she suspected someone might be impersonating the Crown Prince.
But since Shen Xihe had first contacted Xiao Huayong and shouldn't burn bridges after crossing them - she still needed to rely on him to contact Bu Shulin - she could only endure it daily. Yet wasn't it also inappropriate to never reply?
"Tomorrow is Third Cousin's wedding. Send him a wedding cake," Shen Xihe ordered with a cold expression.
She discovered that Haidongqing was extremely fast - the wedding cake could reach Xiao Huayong in less than half an hour. Her intention was to make him understand she was using food to shut him up.
However, when Xiao Huayong received the wedding cake wrapped in oil paper and a handkerchief - though somewhat crumbled, the bright red double happiness character was still particularly eye-catching - the moment he saw it, his gaze softened almost to the point of dripping water.
"Tianyuan, look, Youyou sent me a wedding cake." Xiao Huayong immediately brought it to show Tianyuan. "I knew Youyou was thinking of me."
Tianyuan:Though he didn't quite understand why the princess had sent back a wedding pastry, he knew it certainly couldn't be a good omen. But whatever Her Highness thought, as long as it pleased her, that was all that mattered.
"You don't suppose Youyou is hinting that I should start preparing for the grand wedding, do you?"
Tianyuan:
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