"How can we wake him?" Bu Shulin asked with concern.
She hadn't expected things to be so coincidental. Originally thinking that Cui Jinbai would indeed need half a month to move freely as Xie Yunhuai had said, she hadn't yet figured out how to face him when he unexpectedly avoided everyone to seek her out ahead of time, and happened to witness...
He had been devoted to her, even before knowing she was a woman, he had made his feelings clear.
In truth, he remained a noble son raised with strict propriety and self-restraint. That he admitted his admiration for a man showed he wasn't deceiving himself, though there must have been inner struggle and self-reproach.
But so what? His heart belonged to this person - so much so that even if the other was a man, he was willing to face worldly judgment together. Despite this, he still hoped their affection could be open and acknowledged by all, without needing concealment or secrecy.
Therefore, when he suddenly discovered she might be a woman, one could imagine his joy and excitement. Yet this joy was not only shattered by what he had just witnessed, but also forced him to face the fact that he had already been unfaithful to her!
He had been intimate with another woman, and likely had lingered over the memory during this time. This was enough to destroy his convictions, making it unacceptable to him - perhaps why he refused to wake.
"Young Master, Vice Minister Cui is unconscious but not completely unaware. Perhaps speaking words he wishes to hear could awaken his consciousness and help him rouse sooner," Sui Axi suggested, though she had never treated such a patient before.
Bu Shulin pressed her lips together and nodded to show she understood. Soon, only the two of them remained in the room.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Bu Shulin looked at Cui Jinbai's pale face and bloodless lips. Apart from his shallow breathing, he seemed scarcely alive. She closed her eyes in anguish.
If before today she had intended to confess everything to him, now she didn't dare.
She had just met someone who secretly came to the capital - her father's trusted aide. Her father's health was failing, his life nearly extinguished. Hearing she was pregnant had pleased him, and he sent word for her to prepare early. Once news of his passing came, she must immediately return to Shunan.
She was going back to Shunan. His Majesty would never let her return safely - the journey would be fraught with danger. She might not survive to return alive. Given these extreme risks, what purpose would confessing everything serve except to implicate him?
Moreover, her identity would soon arouse His Majesty's suspicion. Further entanglement with Cui Jinbai would only deepen the emperor's distrust, leading to relentless probing that might drag both Cui Jinbai and the entire Cui family into the turmoil.
They needed to end this. Her identity and the stakes in Shunan involved too many lives - there was no room for carelessness.
"Cui Shitou... in the end... I've failed you," Bu Shulin whispered so softly even she could barely hear, remembering Sui Axi's words that he wasn't completely unconscious.
Taking a deep breath and gathering her emotions, Bu Shulin finally said, "Please wake up. I have much to tell you. We need to talk properly. Don't you want to know what I have to say? Don't you want to know what I truly feel about you in my heart?"I... never thought I'd end up provoking such a stubborn and unyielding rock like you. Are all scholars this rigid? Once you set your mind on something, even nine oxen couldn't pull you back? Though that's not entirely true... they say chivalry is often found among butchers, while heartlessness tends to dwell in scholars.
Why couldn't you be just a little more heartless? Perhaps then both of us could have been more at ease.
Or maybe I shouldn't have provoked you in the first place back then...
Back when she was trying to avoid the imperial marriage arrangement and make the princess unwilling to marry her, she had followed Shen Xihe's advice and chosen Cui Jinbai as a shield. Shen Xihe selected Cui Jinbai because she knew he was the Crown Prince's man - initially it was meant as a test.
Bu Shulin followed Shen Xihe's suggestion for two reasons: first, she trusted Shen Xihe, and second, she thought someone like Cui Jinbai would pose no future complications, making him the safest choice.
"Yet fate works in mysterious ways. The person who seemed safest ultimately became the one I fell deepest for, and I ended up trapped by my own schemes. I know all these years, you've constantly been mocked and attacked because of this. I thought... eventually, you wouldn't be able to bear it and would become like a stranger to me. I never imagined you'd remain so steadfast."
As someone serving in the imperial court holding an important position, Cui Jinbai naturally had many watching him. Being the hope of the Cui family's next generation, those wanting to bring him down were countless.
Cui Jinbai handled everything with perfect composure, never giving anyone an opening - until he got entangled with her. Though no concrete evidence of their "cut-sleeve" relationship was ever found, plenty of harsh words were aimed at his heart. Yet he turned a deaf ear, single-mindedly clinging to her.
He completely forgot that those ugly rumors were directed at him, while they didn't bother her reckless self in the slightest. Instead, he worried more that hearing these gossips would make her distance herself further from him.
"You really are a fool..."
Bu Shulin kept chattering beside Cui Jinbai for a long time, but he showed no signs of waking. She didn't send him back to the Cui residence, instead sending a message to inform them, truthfully explaining why Cui Jinbai had fainted.
Soon, the news spread everywhere: Cui Shaoqing had gone to the Bu residence looking for Worldly Son Bu, accidentally saw him bathing, and fainted from shock and anger.
The news inevitably reached Shen Xihe's ears, naturally through her informant Ziyu.
"What is A Lin trying to do?" Since this happened at the Bu residence, it couldn't have spread without Bu Shulin's approval. Without Bu Shulin, that rake who frequented brothels, spreading it herself, Shen Xihe didn't believe it could have become common knowledge so quickly.
Many people wondered why Cui Shaoqing fainting and vomiting blood upon seeing Worldly Son Bu bathing. Naturally, someone provided an explanation: apparently Cui Shaoqing had once been intimate with a woman in a brothel, mistakenly thinking she was Worldly Son Bu. Only later did he discover Worldly Son Bu was actually male, meaning he had spent the night with some unknown woman. The love-struck Cui Shaoqing couldn't bear the shock and fainted.
These stories were undoubtedly fabricated by Bu Shulin.
"The Prince of Shunan isn't doing well." This news came directly from Bu Tuohai to Xiao Huayong and was being kept extremely tight. If Bu Tuohai hadn't delivered the message himself, even Xiao Huayong wouldn't have noticed, meaning Your Majesty was likely still in the dark too.
"This... hasn't the Prince of Shunan always been in good health?" Shen Xihe was astonished.
Xiao Huayong put his arm around Shen Xihe's shoulder: "The reason the Prince of Shunan only has one child is because someone drugged him to make him sterile. On the surface it looks like harem jealousy, but actually... I suspect it was Your Majesty's doing."Bu Shulin was merely a survivor who slipped through the net. Before the Prince of Shunan was drugged, he had a fleeting affair with a respectable maiden—otherwise, the Shu Southern Royal Manor would long have ceased to be a concern for Your Majesty. Once the Prince of Shunan passed away with no heir to inherit the title, it could naturally be reclaimed.
To counteract the effects of the drug, the stubborn Bu Tuohai exhausted himself with relentless efforts. Compounded by battle injuries from his youth, by his fifties, Bu Tuohai was already a spent force.
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