HomeAfter I Bloom Hundred Flowers DieChapter 508: Young Master Bu as a Tool

Chapter 508: Young Master Bu as a Tool

Xiao Changfeng didn’t follow through with probing questions, not wanting to walk into a trap the Crown Princess might have set. Every move the Crown Princess made now was intricately connected to the Northwest King, and the Northwest King’s every action affected the stability of the entire court.

“Your Highness, please sit for a moment longer. This prince will not disturb your peace further,” Xiao Changfeng withdrew with perfect courtesy.

After finishing her morning meal, Shen Xihe received news from the relay station that Xiao Changfeng hadn’t easily taken the bait. This was within her expectations: “This is truly someone His Majesty has personally cultivated.”

This method was the least likely to arouse Xiao Changfeng’s suspicions that Shen Xihe could think of. Upon suddenly learning that she had been replaced under his nose, Xiao Changfeng should have had his attention drawn to this, perhaps even panicking about where the real her had gone.

Only someone rational and calm would consider this might be deliberately revealed to him. That he could still restrain himself from probing made Shen Xihe regard him even more highly.

“It doesn’t matter. Let him remain half-suspicious,” Shen Xihe handed the message to Zhenzhu. “Let Young Master Bu make his entrance.”

Bu Shulin had long known Shen Xihe was in the city, not far from her. During this time, following these people, while exposed to the elements, she felt she should continue to lay low. Without Shen Xihe’s instructions, she dared not seek her out rashly, fearing rebuke. Having finally received Shen Xihe’s permission, she naturally rushed over at full speed.

Putting on an act was what she did best.

It wasn’t difficult to make several detours, deliberately letting people lose track of her several times, then coincidentally allowing those who thought they’d lost her to suddenly discover her again. She quickly located where Shen Xihe was staying and purposely led those tracking her in circles.

Everyone knew of her deep friendship with Shen Xihe. They frequently sought each other’s company before Shen Xihe’s marriage, and at the wedding, she shocked the capital by contributing three chests of dowry. Since this matter involved both Shen Xihe and Shen Yueshan, she was naturally a person of interest under close surveillance.

Bu Shulin made several rounds, using several alleys to definitively shake off her pursuers. Then there was a wall with a hole neither too big nor too small. If the secret guards were determined enough and sufficiently decisive, they could crawl through the dog hole and happen to see her, who had taken a detour to shake them off, swagger casually into the inn.

From the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a figure quickly poking its head out and then withdrawing. Though Bu Shulin couldn’t see clearly who it was, she could guess it must be someone tracking her. With a slight smile, she entered the inn.

She rushed upstairs toward Shen Xihe’s room, but just as she reached the top, she saw a figure flash by. She wondered if her eyes were playing tricks on her and wanted to investigate, but just then Moyu opened the door. Hiding her doubts, Bu Shulin entered.

Seeing the table full of delicacies, she immediately brightened and rushed over to hug Shen Xihe, showing her excitement.

However, Shen Xihe stepped aside, nearly causing Bu Shulin to fall. Fortunately, her agility allowed her to quickly steady herself.

Turning around, she pouted angrily at Shen Xihe: “Youyou, if I had fallen and ruined my face, I’d have held you responsible for life!”

“You stink,” Shen Xihe mercilessly uttered a single word before moving to the window.

“Stink?” Bu Shulin quickly raised her arm and sniffed her armpit. Though not fragrant, it wasn’t stinky either.

She had been escorting the Crown Princess to Langzhou, always among rough men, and couldn’t bathe daily like a lady. But she was quite clean, bathing every two days, and even the Imperial Guards said Young Master was particular.

Moyu brought an incense burner with a strong fragrance and deliberately held it near Bu Shulin, fanning the smoke toward her.

Bu Shulin: …

She felt greatly insulted.

But the table of good wine and food before her prevented her from getting angry. After weighing it for a moment, she surrendered to the temptation of fine food, sat down with chopsticks, allowed Moyu to perfume her, and began eating heartily.

Full of food and drink, and now sweetly perfumed, Bu Shulin became extremely lazy and drawled: “If you dislike me so much, why not have your maid prepare fragrant hot water for me to bathe?”

Wouldn’t direct bathing be simpler? Shen Xihe’s perfume was precious, and Moyu had been fumigating her for a quarter hour, wasting people, effort, and fragrance.

Shen Xihe lowered her eyelids and glanced at her: “If you come to see me, Prince Xun will receive news immediately. Coming here and leaving after a bath? Are you tired of living?”

“Hm?” Bu Shulin didn’t understand why seeing Shen Xihe and taking a bath would mean being tired of living.

Sometimes Shen Xihe doubted Bu Shulin’s intelligence. In front of others, she always remembered she was disguised as a man, but in front of Shen Xihe, she seemed to forget she was playing a male role.

“The Crown Princess and Young Master Bu, meeting privately, lingering for half an hour, Young Master Bu leaving after a bath,” Shen Xihe explained plainly.

“Oh!” Bu Shulin suddenly understood, then smiled mischievously. “Young Master Bu having an affair with the Crown Princess, I’d be giving His Highness the Crown Prince a green…”

As she spoke, she winked suggestively, appearing eager to try.

Shen Xihe’s expression immediately softened: “You probably don’t know, he’s also in the city, not a hundred paces from me. Shall I relay these words to him for you?”

Bu Shulin: …

“No, no, no…” Bu Shulin waved her hands repeatedly while shaking her head like a rattledrum. “Dear sister, don’t treat me like this.”

Since learning Xiao Huayong’s true nature, Bu Shulin had feared him like a tiger. How would she dare provoke him? Look at what happened to those who opposed His Highness the Crown Prince!

Shen Xihe had no interest in teasing Bu Shulin further. Looking at the food table that Bu Shulin had cleared like a whirlwind, she directly dismissed her: “You can leave now.”

“Hm?” Large confusion appeared on Bu Shulin’s forehead. She looked at the food table, then at Shen Xihe. “Did you especially call me here just to eat a meal?”

This was too good, she had thought Shen Xihe had some instructions for her, that this was a reward.

Just as Bu Shulin was getting tearfully emotional, Shen Xihe coldly spoke: “Your purpose was simply to let Prince Xun know I’m here. I don’t wish to speak much with you, but needed you to stay long enough, so I ordered a meal for you.”

Her warm heart doused by a bucket of ice water, Bu Shulin felt her chest grow cold. She put on a lifeless expression: “You didn’t have to tell me the truth.”

“I never deceive others’ feelings,” Shen Xihe answered straightforwardly.

Bu Shulin clutched her chest. She silently stood up and walked toward the door, afraid that staying longer would make her vomit blood.

With her hands on the door latch, she remembered something and turned back: “When I came in earlier, I seemed to see His Highness Prince Lie.”

That fleeting figure had been in the room opposite Shen Xihe’s, though she hadn’t seen clearly.

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