“Youyou, if I had met you earlier, perhaps…”

“Perhaps you wouldn’t have lived until now,” Shen Xihe cut off her words.

Bu Shulin: …

If not for Gu Qingzhi’s lifetime of memories, Shen Xihe wouldn’t have such a broad-minded attitude. When Bu Shulin kidnaps Lingling that day, the purpose is to make Prince Kang’s household wary of her and take action against her, so Bu Shulin can stay out of it and observe Shen Xihe’s capabilities.

Then decides how to deal with Shen Xihe, who knows one of her deadly secrets.

That Shen Xihe could think of this point – without having experienced major trials, she wouldn’t have thought so far ahead. She and Bu Shulin might have become enemies from their first meeting. Bu Shulin might not have been her match; her way of dealing with people was even more ruthless than Gu Qingzhi.

Only she wouldn’t have had today’s sophistication and decisiveness and might have caused discord between her father and the Prince of Shunan.

“My father sent word saying His Highness the Crown Prince wants to be involved in the matter between Shunan and the Northwest,” Bu Shulin sought confirmation from Shen Xihe. “What do you think?”

“My father also sent word. He has no objections to His Highness the Crown Prince’s involvement.”

After all, from the moment Shen Xihe was betrothed to Xiao Huayong, the Shen family was tied to the Eastern Palace. They needed to fully assist Xiao Huayong in ascending to the throne. Once Xiao Huayong became emperor, having this matter openly known to him would be better, saving them from his future suspicions about collusion between Shunan and the Northwest.

Xiao Huayong knew about Bu Shulin’s female identity. Even without Shen Xihe as a connection, if Bu Shulin wanted to survive, she could only temporarily trust Xiao Huayong. However, without Shen Xihe, the Bu family would guard themselves more carefully to prevent Xiao Huayong from betraying them after achieving his goals.

With Shen Xihe, although they still couldn’t rely completely on him, at least they could have more hope in their hearts.

“Oh right, Youyou, Cui Shitou says he wants to stay at the Bu residence!” Bu Shulin thought of a troublesome matter and looked pleadingly at Shen Xihe. “Help me think of a way – how can I let him stay at my residence?”

“Ka ka ka…” Shen Xihe had just taken a sip of tea when she heard Bu Shulin’s words and almost spat it out. Fortunately, her good breeding made her swallow it forcefully, causing her to choke. Zhenzhu immediately stepped forward to help her catch her breath.

After coughing until her throat hurt, she took some pear paste for her throat that Zhenzhu brought. Once she felt better, she looked up at the worried and guilty-looking Bu Shulin: “Stay at your residence? Why does he need to stay there?”

The Cui family was wealthy and powerful – how could they not have a residence for Cui Jinbai, the most promising young member of the Cui clan?

“It seems his young brother keeps crying and being difficult. His stepmother consulted a master who said that this year, Cui Shitou and her young son’s fortunes clash, so she needs to take her children back to her maiden home to temporarily avoid Cui Jinbai.” Bu Shulin had inquired about the reason and was quite angry.

What temporary avoidance – it was a threat: with them there, there would be no place for Cui Jinbai.

“What do Lord Cui and the clan members say?” How could such a major matter be left to a woman’s whims?

“Cui Shitou’s father did tell the mother and son to return to her maiden home, and clan members are divided in their support.” Bu Shulin knew the details. “But Cui Shitou himself wants family harmony above all, saying that for the sake of household peace, he’ll move out for a year…”

Hearing this, Shen Xihe smiled. Cui Jinbai was a young prodigy who had become Junior Minister of Justice in his early twenties. Looking across the entire court, there wasn’t a single young man more accomplished than him.

How could his wisdom and tactics be compared to ordinary people? If not for Bu Shulin, whom he desperately wanted to stay with, he had countless ways to make the Cui family side with him. The reason he chose to “compromise” and show his magnanimity this time was simply because this situation played right into his hands.

Shen Xihe even suspected that the master’s consultation and the fortune clash might all have been orchestrated by him.

Cui Jinbai was convinced that Bu Shulin was a man, and he had fallen in love with this man. Yet Bu Shulin was only using him for protection and didn’t seem to truly care for him as a man. He was trying everything possible to make Bu Shulin accept him, unwilling to suffer alone.

Seeing Shen Xihe’s amusement, Bu Shulin became more depressed: “Youyou, Cui Shitou has gone mad. When I told him I’m the only child of the Bu family, he suggested I find a lady to bear a son, give it to my father to fulfill my filial duty, and then I would belong completely to him!”

When she heard those words at the time, Bu Shulin was stunned. She truly felt Cui Jinbai’s madness.

“To be willing to compromise to such an extent, his feelings for you are truly rare to find.” Shen Xihe sighed.

“Youyou, stop talking about these meaningless things, quickly help me think of a solution.” Bu Shulin had a headache.

“I suspect his wanting to stay at your residence is firstly to be close to you, and secondly to prove to you he’s not afraid of rumors.” Shen Xihe said seriously. “Junior Minister Cui is fixated on you. Even if I think of a solution, he’ll find other ways. You can’t expect me to always fight with Junior Minister Cui for you. You must think of your solution – this is between you two, I don’t want to get involved.”

“Youyou…” Bu Shulin was desperate.

Hong Yu came to say Xue Jinqiao had arrived. Shen Xihe forcefully sent Bu Shulin away and gave Xue Jinqiao the gifts her brother had instructed to be given to him. Xue Jinqiao was very happy and always opened them in front of Shen Xihe, asking her about anything he didn’t understand.

As Shen Xihe had predicted, Meng Chang’s side couldn’t investigate further – there wasn’t a shred of evidence.

On the fifth day of the third month, Xie Yunhuai came to bid farewell, saying he wanted to make a trip to the Western Regions.

Shen Xihe personally saw him off at the city gate. Three days after Xie Yunhuai left, news spread that Xie Ji wanted to take a concubine.

However, this matter didn’t attract much attention. Xie Ji had no children, and Xie Yunhuai was not on good terms with him. Taking a concubine to continue the family line was a common affair.

On the twelfth day of the third month, the spring examination results were posted. The streets and alleys of the capital were filled with sounds of result announcements, celebrations, gongs, and drums interweaving into a tapestry of joy. However, this joy didn’t last two days before an examinee went to the Capital Prefecture to report that someone had obtained the examination questions in advance – there was fraud in the examination hall.

The new successful candidate was someone of shallow learning, and this revelation caused huge waves.

The imperial examination system had only recently flourished in this dynasty, and there had never been reports of fraud. “All pursuits are low, only studying is high” – people naturally respected scholars and ordinary folk didn’t dare to tarnish it.

“Is the person who reported this Guo Daoyi?” Shen Xihe asked Zhenzhu.

Zhenzhu nodded: “That’s right.”

Shen Xihe thought of how Xiao Huayong had previously said he wanted to pave the way for Tao Zhuanxian to compete for the position of Minister of the Secretariat that Xue Heng would vacate, saying he had other plans for the Minister of Rites position. The person who set the questions for this metropolitan examination was the Minister of Rites, and the examiner was the Vice Minister of Rites.

If the spring examination fraud was proven true, the Minister of Rites would lose his position at best, and at worst, would lose his head.