She clearly indicated her intention to pledge allegiance to her and Xiao Huayong.
"I don't wish to be your enemy, and you are the only one who can ensure my safe retreat." Bu Shulin only wanted to trust Shen Xihe. If anyone else were to truly ascend the throne, using this to threaten her would be effortless. "Since you've chosen him, I stand united with you."
Already burdened with the responsibilities of the Northwest and her father and brothers, Shen Xihe now carried the added weight of Bu Shulin and Shu Nan. She knew that without Bu Tuohai's permission, Bu Shulin wouldn't have spoken these words. She felt the burden on her shoulders grow heavier. "A Lin, what if I've made the wrong choice?"
In the past, Shen Xihe had been fearless, brimming with confidence. She always believed that even if she and Xiao Huayong were to confront each other, her chances of winning were fifty-fifty. Now, however, she no longer possessed that confidence.
"What happened?" Bu Shulin keenly sensed the change in Shen Xihe's attitude toward Xiao Huayong—no longer as composed as before. "Has the Crown Prince done something to betray you?"
Her intuition told her that Xiao Huayong had wronged Shen Xihe, causing her to become so solemn.
"His Highness has done nothing to harm me," Shen Xihe said after careful consideration. "It's just that I've come to realize how unfathomable the Crown Prince is. If we were to become adversaries in the future, our chances of winning would be slim."
"Why would you become adversaries?" Bu Shulin frowned. "Youyou, are you completely unaware of your own beauty? Have you never considered conquering him, making him utterly devoted to you for life?"
"Are you suggesting I use my looks to serve a man?" Shen Xihe's expression darkened.
She despised the idea of using beauty to gain favor. Why must women rely on selling their charms to obtain what they desire?
"You misunderstand—" Bu Shulin hurriedly explained, accidentally tugging at her wound and paling slightly. "That's not what I meant. Besides, someone like the Crown Prince, with his extraordinary talents, is not swayed by mere beauty. If the Crown Prince favors you, it must be because there's something about you that captivates him. Simply leverage your strengths."
"And spend the rest of my life studying how to make myself a woman men can't bear to part with?" Shen Xihe scoffed. "A Lin, you've truly started to think like a man. I will not change myself to please a man, nor will I live for a man. I would rather face him openly in a life-or-death struggle than survive in such a humiliating way."
"Youyou, that's not what I meant either," Bu Shulin said, flustered and unsure how to express her thoughts. "I just feel that the Crown Prince has feelings for you. Why not respond with genuine affection? Stand side by side as a true immortal couple. Make him someone like your father and brothers, and let him see you as equally important. Then he will always prioritize you and never do anything to hurt you."
Shen Xihe's expression softened slightly. "A Lin, in my view, affection should flow naturally, like water finding its course. If it exists, it exists; if it doesn't, it doesn't. One shouldn't pretend to be deeply devoted for ulterior motives. Sincerity or pretense—no one is a fool."
Initially, she had wanted to attract Xiao Huayong to achieve her goal of marrying into the Eastern Palace. But this attraction did not involve feigning love for him. Instead, it meant revealing her strengths and conveying her intentions, making Xiao Huayong realize, as she did, that she was the most suitable choice.
"I didn't mean for you to pretend—"
"But I have no feelings for him," Shen Xihe interrupted Bu Shulin.
Bu Shulin was stunned. "No feelings? Then why are you marrying him?""How many in this world marry for love?" Shen Xihe countered.
Bu Shulin fell silent.
Indeed, arranged marriages through parental orders and matchmakers' words were the norm. Considerate families might allow a brief meeting, while lenient ones might permit conversation or outings with siblings before the wedding—that was the utmost concession.
In stricter households, one wouldn't even know whether their lifelong partner was beautiful or plain, plump or slender until the wedding veil was lifted.
For noble-born women like them, love was irrelevant in marriage. A single moment of delusion into romantic entanglements could lead to the annihilation of an entire clan.
"Youyou, does His Highness the Crown Prince know about your stance?" Bu Shulin worried.
"He knows. I've hidden nothing from him," Shen Xihe nodded.
Bu Shulin's eyes widened: "He knows, yet still wishes to marry you? What if he grows resentful later? What if love turns to hatred? What will you do then?"
"What does that have to do with me?" Shen Xihe responded indifferently. "Can I stop him? I originally intended for us to respect each other like guests, but he refused. He insists on forcing this. Whether unrequited affection makes him retreat or turn vicious depends entirely on his character.
I'm telling you this so you can reconsider your choices—this concerns the survival of your Bu family.
If you still choose to stand with me, you must carefully gauge how to handle His Highness the Crown Prince moving forward."
She had to make this clear. Otherwise, if Bu Shulin mistakenly believed she and Xiao Huayong were deeply in love and let her guard down around him, potentially harming Shu South and the Bu family, she would carry that guilt for life.
"You mean..." Bu Shulin grew more concerned after hearing this, "His Highness's intention in marrying you is impure? He's using you to secure the Northwest's allegiance before contending for the throne, eliminating a major concern to focus on court affairs?"
"Let's not jump to conclusions," Shen Xihe felt this was unfair to Xiao Huayong. "When His Majesty was in distress in the Northwest back then, I believe his gratitude toward my grandfather and father was genuine."
Bu Shulin understood: "Hearts change easily. His Highness might be sincere now, but no one can predict the future. Once he ascends the throne, no longer Crown Prince but ruler of a nation, his thoughts will inevitably shift with his changed status."
This was common. When Youning Emperor was still a prince in distress, he felt genuine gratitude toward the Shen family for risking the late emperor's displeasure to aid him. After becoming emperor, his considerations changed. One couldn't exactly call him ungrateful—after twenty years on the throne, he'd bestowed twenty years of honor upon the Shen clan. Probably in an emperor's view, the old debt had been repaid.
He was no longer a prince in distress—he aimed to become the emperor who unified the realm!
"Youyou, thank you for the warning." Without Shen Xihe's advice, she might not have considered things so thoroughly.
"Focus on recovering," Shen Xihe said, then added, "You and Cui Shaoqing should have a clear conversation. This endless entanglement benefits neither of you."
Shen Xihe was decisive by nature and disliked this kind of avoidance and indecisiveness. Still, this was ultimately between Bu Shulin and Cui Jinbai—she merely offered her opinion casually, leaving it to Bu Shulin to accept or disregard as she saw fit.
Bu Shulin took Shen Xihe's advice to heart: "Alright, when he visits tomorrow, I'll speak clearly with him."
Noticing Shen Xihe rising to leave, she added plaintively: "Youyou, you're being unfair—when the Crown Prince was injured, you prepared food for him."Shen Xihe sized her up with a few glances: "He is soon to be the one who shares my pillow—what gives you the right to compare yourself to him?"
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