It seemed that Xiao Huayong only paid attention to people handling external affairs, caring about loyalty rather than capability when it came to those serving at his side.

Zhenzhu lowered her eyes to conceal her worry. The Crown Prince’s motives weren’t pure, yet their Princess paid no attention to matters between men and women and had no scheming nature, completely failing to notice the Crown Prince’s ulterior motives.

However, since the Princess had temporarily decided to marry into the Eastern Palace, being too rigid would not benefit the future relationship between the Crown Prince and the Princess. Moreover, the Crown Prince’s current ulterior motives were all about pleasing the Princess and finding ways to get closer to her, so Zhenzhu decided not to point it out.

“Zhenzhu, go prepare some Pingzhong leaves. Hong Yu, go to the storehouse and fetch some suitable brocade for His Highness. I’ll sew him a pillow after all.” After much consideration, Shen Xihe felt the pillow was most appropriate.

“Princess, how about this piece?” Hong Yu brought over a batch of dark-colored brocade with gold and silver thread patterns, the design being Pingzhong leaves.

This brocade was made when Shen Xihe visited her young uncle in Jiangnan. The largest fabric shop there, knowing Shen Xihe’s preferences, had specially commissioned their best weavers to make it for her.

Other base colors had already been used by Shen Xihe for bedspreads and quilts. Only this piece with its darker base color remained unused. The black and gold interweaving made it particularly unsuitable for ordinary households, so Shen Xihe had kept it stored in a chest.

Now it would be most suitable as a gift for the Crown Prince.

Shen Xihe reached out to touch it – bright, smooth, with a weighty feel and exquisite patterns: “We’ll use this.”

Since Xiao Huayong wanted her to make it personally, from selecting the Pingzhong leaves to drying the leaves and matching other medicinal ingredients, cutting and sewing, Shen Xihe didn’t delegate a single step to others.

During this time, Bu Shulin had recovered from his injuries and frequently visited the Princess’s mansion. One day, Bu Shulin brought an exquisite box for Shen Xihe: “Today I accompanied Niaoniao to browse the silver shops. When I saw this item, I guessed you would like it, so I bought it.”

Shen Xihe opened it to find a jade backing comb. The jade backing comb was a type of hair ornament. In this dynasty, young ladies greatly valued them. From their coming-of-age ceremony until becoming wives, almost no young lady went without a jade backing comb. They came in gold, silver, jade, and ivory materials.

The one Bu Shulin gave her was made of top-grade white jade, with exquisite patterns on both ends of the comb. The left side was carved with Pingzhong leaf patterns, the right with butterflies spreading their wings in flight, and the center top was inlaid with an extremely large bright red gemstone.

It was luxurious yet elegant. Cool to the touch, Shen Xihe indeed liked what she saw and couldn’t help playing with it for a moment. After handling it for a while, the jade backing comb not only became warm but also emitted an extremely faint fragrance.

Shen Xihe handed it to Bu Shulin: “Smell this.”

Bu Shulin glanced at Shen Xihe’s expression, unable to discern pleasure or anger, and leaned in to smell it, but detected nothing: “There’s no unusual scent.”

Shen Xihe smelled it again: “Hong Yu.”

Hong Yu had the most sensitive nose among her maids, but even when she took it in both hands, she couldn’t detect anything unusual.

“Youyou, what exactly do you smell?” Bu Shulin knew Shen Xihe’s sense of smell was extraordinary.

“It’s the scent of burial fragrance.” Shen Xihe gently placed the jade backing comb back in its box, her initial joy completely gone.

“Hidden fragrance?” Bu Shulin misunderstood the character. “Is hidden fragrance harmful to people?”

That shouldn’t be the case – Hidden Fragrance was an extremely precious synthetic perfume containing all precious medicinal materials from Tibet and Shu regions. Ordinary households couldn’t even afford it. When her unrefined father had bought some to burn in an attempt at sophistication, he became deeply addicted to its scent. However, due to its high price, he could only stubbornly say: “This old man only likes the smell of men’s sweat!”

“It’s burial as in funeral burial.” Shen Xihe corrected.

Bu Shulin instantly froze, her mind going blank: “Funeral burial?”

After receiving Shen Xihe’s confirming nod, Bu Shulin jumped up and vigorously wiped her hands that had been holding the jade comb against her clothes. Still feeling uncomfortable, she quickly called out to Hong Yu: “Quick, quick, prepare some fragrant water, I need to clean my hands!”

Upon hearing it was a burial fragrance, Hong Yu also worried that Shen Xihe had been tainted by ill fortune and personally ran to prepare the fragrant water.

“Son of a bear! How dare they sell dead people’s things to young master!” Bu Shulin anxiously rubbed her hands while cursing, “If young master doesn’t bring the Capital Guard to tear down their silver shop, young master’s name isn’t Bu!”

Shen Xihe didn’t believe in ghosts and spirits, nor did she feel particularly unlucky. She just loved cleanliness and felt the item was somewhat dirty, though she wasn’t as superstitious as Bu Shulin. She looked at her calmly: “Evidence? You want to tear down the silver shop, but do you have evidence?”

Burial fragrance was a type of incense buried in tombs. It usually used the same materials as regular incense used by the living, but due to the cold and damp conditions in tombs, the fragrance inevitably carried a cold air that only Shen Xihe could distinguish. It would be impossible to prove this, so naturally it couldn’t be used as evidence.

Bu Shulin choked – indeed, there was no evidence, which only made her anger flare higher.

Hong Yu brought servants carrying fragrant water, and Shen Xihe used her self-made fragrant cream, washing her hands with elegant, unhurried movements.

Bu Shulin soaked her hands in the basin for a long while before feeling better. She grabbed some fragrant cream from the side and applied a thick layer, washing it several times before feeling clean. Her mind was finally at ease: “The shop manager told me their craftsmen made it, the only one of its kind. I knew you liked Pingzhong leaves, so I bought it, wanting to please you, but I didn’t expect…”

At this point, Bu Shulin was extremely annoyed. She grabbed the box and headed out: “This is no small matter. Someone is robbing graves and collecting money, earning such unconscionable profits. I’m going to find Cui Shitou!”

Cui Jinbai was reliable; it would be best to handle this matter through him.

Bu Shulin rushed to the Court of Judicial Review, where the bailiffs, upon seeing her from afar, rushed inside to close the main gates – when Young Master Bu came to the Court, she was sure to harass Assistant Minister Cui!

Bu Shulin also saw from afar that the bailiffs wanted to keep her out. She immediately leaped up, her toes touching a horse’s back for a moment before springing to the front of the court gates. With a twist of her body, she extended one foot into the nearly closed doors, twisted her leg, chopped with her palm, and forced the gates open.

With a light snort, she strode straight toward Cui Jinbai’s office area.

Cui Jinbai was giving instructions to bailiffs when Bu Shulin swept in like the wind, rushing directly to him and grabbing his hand: “Cui Shitou, I’ve been deceived, I’m the victim, you must help me get justice. Otherwise, won’t the young master’s reputation as the Assistant Minister of the Court’s sweetheart become a joke?”

Assistant Minister of the Court’s sweetheart… reputation?

The bailiffs stood dumbfounded one by one, then looked with sympathy at their wise and decisive Assistant Minister Cui.

Cui Jinbai suppressed the throbbing veins on his forehead: “All of you, go carry out your orders.”

“Yes, sir.” The bailiffs scattered quickly, making themselves scarce.

“What’s the matter?” Cui Jinbai asked expressionlessly.

“The gift I gave to the Princess turned out to be dug up from a coffin! It’s driving young master mad!” Bu Shulin thrust the opened wooden box in front of Cui Jinbai.

Cui Jinbai didn’t hear the latter part clearly, his mind stuck on the words: “The gift I gave to the Princess.”