The remnants of winter had not yet passed as early spring emerged. The spring breeze broke through the encirclement of frost and snow, causing plum blossoms to fall from their branches, scattering cold fragrance across the ground.

Shen Xihe scattered fish bait while leaning against the railing. She glanced at Bu Shulin, who was slouched over the railing looking dejected, her eyes unfocused and face full of distraction.

“Did Cui Shaoqing insult you?” Shen Xihe hadn’t forgotten seeing her confronting Cui Jinbai yesterday.

Bu Shulin absently shook her head.

“Is Cui Shaoqing still refusing to acknowledge you?” Shen Xihe asked again.

Bu Shulin woodenly continued shaking her head.

“Did Cui Shaoqing say something hurtful?” Shen Xihe inquired further.

Bu Shulin lifted her head, still gazing at Shen Xihe with dim eyes, and remained silent while shaking her head.

Shen Xihe glanced at the calm pond below where not even fish bait could attract any fish, and set down the dish of bait. “Spring is about to arrive, you shouldn’t appear half-dead like this, ruining my mood.”

Bu Shulin pouted: “He broke off our bond and ordered me not to entangle with him anymore.”

This was indeed serious. Shen Xihe was slightly startled: “How did this happen…”

Cui Shaoqing was the model of a noble family’s young master. Given his upbringing and cultivation, unless dealing with his family’s murderer, he wouldn’t be so absolute even with political enemies.

“I don’t know either. I just got drunk and vomited on him, and then…” Bu Shulin racked her brains but couldn’t figure out which taboo she had violated. “And said some frivolous things to him, but I’ve said such things before and he never took them to heart.”

She had also kissed Cui Jinbai but was too embarrassed to tell Shen Xihe about it. Though she had accidentally bitten his chin before, and while he was furious enough to want to kill her then, he hadn’t truly despised her afterward.

“Is this why you’re so gloomy?” Shen Xihe asked.

Bu Shulin denied it: “I just think he’s being inexplicable. I can’t understand why he’s acting this way. I’m wondering if I violated some major taboo of his, and struck a nerve. If I truly was thoughtless, I should apologize properly.”

Listening to her rapid explanations, Shen Xihe couldn’t help but smile: “Why don’t you tell me the details?”

It wasn’t that Shen Xihe had developed Ziyu’s curiosity, but she felt that with Bu Shulin’s limited intelligence, she’d never figure it out on her own.

She didn’t want Bu Shulin coming around with a depressed face every day, bringing down the atmosphere.

Bu Shulin seemed troubled, hemming and hawing for a while before finally recounting everything from what she’d said at the brothel while drunk to what happened at the Bu residence. She truly couldn’t understand what Cui Jinbai was thinking.

She was so preoccupied with this that she couldn’t eat or sleep well, which was quite annoying.

Shen Xihe deliberately avoided entangling herself in male-female relationships that could potentially transform her completely, but that didn’t mean she didn’t understand them. Moreover, with Gu Qingchi’s lifetime of experiences, she naturally understood even more.

Therefore, as soon as Bu Shulin finished speaking, she understood: “Cui Shaoqing must have developed feelings for you.”

Bu Shulin instantly froze. Her eyes widened and her rosy lips formed a perfect circle as she stared at Shen Xihe in disbelief.

Her expression made Shen Xihe smile knowingly: “You heard correctly. I said Cui Shaoqing is acting this way because he has feelings for you.”

In the transitional period between winter and spring, the cold wind carried the cool fragrance of plum blossoms into Bu Shulin’s nose, finally bringing her back to her senses. She jumped up in fright: “He… he… he…”

After stammering for a while, Bu Shulin finally managed to straighten out her tongue and stumbled through her words: “You’re saying he has feelings for me, but he only knows me as a man, so he’s suffering because he’s fallen for another man, and that’s why he doesn’t want to see me?”

Shen Xihe nodded.

Bu Shulin paced anxiously, so flustered she didn’t know what to do with her hands: “How could he have feelings for me? How could he fall for a man? This… this… if he finds out later that I’m not a man, won’t he hate me even more?”

Shen Xihe: …

So Bu Shulin thought Cui Jinbai had discovered his attraction to men, and that she was the one who had triggered this attraction, which was why he was so distressed.

Although Shen Xihe didn’t rule out this possibility, based on her understanding of Cui Shaoqing, he wasn’t attracted to Bu Shulin because he liked men, but rather was suffering because he had fallen for Bu Shulin as a person.

“I understand now. I’ll never bother him again, I’ll keep my distance,” Bu Shulin suddenly brightened up and made her resolution.

Shen Xihe held her forehead.

She felt she might have done more harm than good. While Bu Shulin had figured something out, Cui Shaoqing would probably be furious.

Opening her mouth, Shen Xihe ultimately didn’t advise Bu Shulin to reveal her true gender to Cui Shaoqing. To Shen Xihe, any emotion ranked above what she considered the most unreliable thing – romantic love between men and women.

Bu Shulin’s secret could endanger her entire family if revealed – how could she let others know easily? Moreover, Bu Shulin didn’t seem to have any feelings for Cui Shaoqing. Otherwise, why would she react this way upon learning of his feelings?

“Yoyo, shall we go for a walk?” Bu Shulin suddenly suggested.

Shen Xihe raised her eyebrows: “It’s cold.”

When the weather was cold, Shen Xihe didn’t like going out. Unless necessary, she wouldn’t step foot outside the Princess’s manor.

“Come on, please! I’m feeling down and want to clear my head,” Bu Shulin tugged at Shen Xihe’s sleeve, shaking it.

Shen Xihe reversed her earlier conclusion – it wasn’t that Bu Shulin had no feelings for Cui Jinbai, she just hadn’t realized it herself. That’s why after deciding to avoid Cui Jinbai, her heart ached.

She didn’t point this out though. Whether these ambiguous feelings would bring fortune or misfortune to Bu Shulin, she couldn’t determine. So she couldn’t easily interfere – everything would follow its natural course, depending on whether fate brought them together.

Ultimately sympathizing with Bu Shulin’s unconscious love, she changed clothes and went out with her for a walk, planning to check on the Du Huo Tower as well.

Bu Shulin loved horses and visited the horse market daily, always ready to pay handsomely for good steeds.

Usually, she would remember Shen Xihe’s love of cleanliness and avoid such dirty, chaotic places as the horse market, but today she had forgotten everything and just wanted to spend money freely. Shen Xihe waited for her in a restaurant outside the horse market.

Half a cup of tea later, she heard arguing. Looking over, she saw two Tubo people in conflict with a merchant. Seeing that the patrol guards who should maintain order were nowhere in sight, she ordered Biyu: “Go fetch someone from the government office.”

Before Biyu could bow and withdraw, the arguing died down somewhat. Shen Xihe looked over and saw it was Shen Xihe and an unfamiliar maid who had entered.

Shen Xihe was undoubtedly talented – she understood the Tubo language, so after some explanation, both parties reconciled and completed their transaction.

“Princess, that seems to be the Tubo prince,” Zhenzhu bent down and said to Shen Xihe.

The one who came from Tubo this time wasn’t the prince, but the prince had disguised himself as an attendant to come along.