“Exactly! If not for the County Princess, who would care who the Crown Prince is?” Zi Yu chimed in emphatically.

“We’re not speaking on behalf of the Crown Prince,” Pearl declared, then added, “County Princess always thinks we favor His Highness, but between you and him, His Highness is in the weaker position. When we speak of him, we naturally become a bit gentler.”

“His Highness is in the weaker position?” This phrase was quite novel, and Shen Xihe couldn’t help but smile.

The weaker position?

Thinking carefully, Shen Xihe realized there might be some truth to it.

Xiao Huayong had been considerate of her in every way. Though he often teased her verbally, he had never done anything truly intolerable. Instead, he considered her feelings in everything he did.

“County Princess, you lack a maiden’s softness toward His Highness,” Pearl said carefully after some consideration.

“I was never born with a maiden’s softness,” Shen Xihe replied quietly. “I know what you’re all thinking. Princess Yaoxi’s feelings for His Highness are obvious, and by all rights, I should have some reaction rather than appearing so indifferent.”

Pearl and the others all lowered their heads silently, as this was exactly what they thought.

Shen Xihe didn’t blame them, knowing the issue lay with her difference from others: “I simply don’t feel the need to take it to heart. Firstly, I trust him. Secondly, even if he hesitates to act, as long as he truly intends to refuse her, I can step in. Princess Yaoxi is someone I could deal with at the lift of a finger – why should I feel troubled or concerned about her?”

She felt it unnecessary, or rather, Shen Xihe didn’t consider Princess Yaoxi worthy of attention – she wasn’t even a worthy opponent.

Though Pearl couldn’t fully grasp Shen Xihe’s thinking, she understood her meaning and couldn’t help but sigh: “County Princess, forgive this servant’s presumption, but perhaps what seems trivial and unreasonable to you might be crucial to others. Like this matter with Princess Yaoxi – this servant thinks His Highness wants you to care.”

This wasn’t about trust or overwhelming strength – it was something else entirely.

Shen Xihe lived too straightforwardly, too logically, and completely ignorant of matters of the heart. Sometimes these didn’t require excessive rationality – they needed impulse, needed to set aside reason, needed to forget about weighing pros and cons.

If Shen Xihe hadn’t shown any softening toward Xiao Huayong, if Pearl didn’t think he was worthy of trust, she would never have said these things to Shen Xihe, lest she harm her mistress.

Now the County Princess was beginning to feel differently about the Crown Prince, showing unconscious care from her heart, and they had all witnessed Xiao Huayong’s actions toward her. If the County Princess hadn’t realized this by now, it would surely have caused conflicts after their marriage.

Then, as the County Princess’s maid, Pearl naturally couldn’t side with the Crown Prince, and if the County Princess hadn’t understood this aspect, she might think herself blameless, potentially causing a rift between them.

Pearl’s words made Shen Xihe pause her work. After careful thought, she suddenly smiled: “If the rumors grow stronger tomorrow, we’ll go to the palace to see His Highness the Crown Prince.”

When she first heard about Princess Yaoxi’s lengthy stay at the Eastern Palace, Shen Xihe had assumed Xiao Huayong was being straightforward, unafraid of rumors. But after hearing Pearl’s words, she wondered if perhaps Xiao Huayong had deliberately let her hear about it.

As for his purpose…

Just as Pearl said, he wanted her to care about Princess Yaoxi. Perhaps only her showing concern would make him feel she cared about him. At this moment, he wanted her concern, not her trust.

Although Shen Xihe felt that men were truly difficult creatures to understand, and couldn’t fathom why Xiao Huayong was being so… well, sensitive.

But since he treated her so well, she didn’t mind being tolerant and understanding, even trying to comprehend his sensitivity.

The next day, the rumors indeed grew stronger, eventually suggesting that Princess Yaoxi would be equal to Shen Xihe as a consort in the Eastern Palace. Shen Xihe was certain that without Xiao Huayong’s allowance, such rumors could never have spread so far.

He had done it deliberately, wanting her to hear.

Shen Xihe brought carefully prepared food boxes to the Eastern Palace. Xiao Huayong deliberately sat sideways, holding a book, pretending not to see her, making his sulking clear.

After setting down the food boxes, Shen Xihe sat down on a long couch and quietly watched him, her expression gentle.

At first, Xiao Huayong tried to resist, waiting for Shen Xihe to speak first. But after waiting for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, and seeing that Shen Xihe remained silent, just quietly watching him, he couldn’t hold back anymore and put down his book.

He spoke sarcastically: “Why are you here? To question me about the position of Crown Princess?”

“Pfft.” Shen Xihe couldn’t help but laugh when she heard him speak.

She hadn’t understood his feelings the past two days, so she hadn’t come to the Eastern Palace to see him. Now that rumors were spreading about her position as Crown Princess being threatened, she came. He thought she was here for her interests, so he put on this face and wouldn’t even look at her while speaking.

“Yes, I’m very concerned about the position of primary consort,” Shen Xihe said seriously.

Though Xiao Huayong was sitting sideways to her and trying not to show it too obviously, Shen Xihe could still see his chest heaving dramatically and his nostrils slightly flaring – clear signs of anger.

His hand resting on his leg instantly clenched into a fist.

Shen Xihe stood up, walked slowly to his side, and gently sat down beside him. She placed her soft hand on his tightly clenched fist, feeling his body momentarily stiffen.

She spoke softly: “That day at the banquet, I knew there was nothing between you and her. So I’m not here to question you. Later when she came to seek you out and you received her in the Eastern Palace, I could guess that she must have come to express her feelings, wanting to marry into the Eastern Palace, and that you must have warned her harshly. No matter how unpleasant the rumors outside become, I always trust you.”

Xiao Huayong slowly turned his head, his deep eyes gathering a piercing silver light.

Shen Xihe met his gaze, her hand on his tightening slightly: “Your Highness, I am a woman who doesn’t understand romance. I don’t know how to be passionate about someone, I only know how to be sincere. Some of the jealousy you want to see – I might never show you in this lifetime.

If I care for you, I’ll trust you even if the whole world doubts you; if I don’t care for you, I wouldn’t mind even if you had three thousand concubines.”

Shen Xihe was such a person without romantic sensibilities, her rationality far exceeding her sensitivity.

Yet she had met Xiao Huayong, a man whose heart and eyes were full of only her, and who could handle anything with his vast power. She believed there was nothing he couldn’t resolve unless he chose not to.

Such a person as her could not produce jealousy.

His heart beating rapidly, Xiao Huayong asked quietly: “Therefore?”

Her obsidian-like bright eyes filled with smiles as she said: “Therefore, not showing jealousy doesn’t mean I don’t care about Your Highness.”