“What must be done to wake him?” Bu Shulin asked worriedly.

She hadn’t expected such a coincidence. She’d thought Cui Jinbai would need half a month to move freely as Xie Yunhuai had said. Before she could figure out how to face him, he’d avoided everyone to seek her out, only to happen to see…

He had loved her wholeheartedly, declaring his feelings even before knowing she was female.

In truth, he was still a noble young master raised with traditional ethics and propriety. His admission of admiring another man showed his honesty with himself, though surely not without inner struggle and self-reproach.

But what of it? He simply loved this person, loved them enough that even if they were male, he was willing to face society’s judgment together. Even so, he had hoped their love could be open and acknowledged by all, not hidden in shadows.

Thus, when he suddenly suspected she might be female, his joy and excitement were understandable. But that joy was not only shattered by what he’d just witnessed, but he also had to face the fact that he had been unfaithful to her!

He had been intimate with another woman and had surely savored those memories in recent days. This was enough to destroy his convictions, making it unbearable – that must be why he refused to wake.

“Young Master, though Lord Cui is unconscious, he’s not entirely senseless. Perhaps speaking words he wishes to hear might stimulate his consciousness to wake sooner,” Sui Axi had never handled such a patient before.

Bu Shulin pressed her lips together and nodded, indicating she understood. Soon only the two of them remained in the room.

Bu Shulin sat on the bed’s edge, looking at Cui Jinbai – bloodless face, pale lips, barely breathing, hardly seeming alive. She closed her eyes in anguish.

If this had happened before today, she would have considered confessing everything to him. But now she dared not.

She had just met someone who’d secretly come to the capital – her father’s confidant. Her father was very ill, near death. Hearing of her pregnancy had made him happy, and he’d sent someone to inform her to prepare – once news of his passing arrived, she must return to Southern Shu immediately.

She had to return to Southern Shu. His Majesty would surely not let her return peacefully; the journey would be fraught with danger. She might not even survive. This time was extremely perilous – confessing everything would only implicate him, what other meaning could it have?

Moreover, her identity would soon raise His Majesty’s suspicions. Further entanglement with Cui Jinbai would only deepen His Majesty’s mistrust, leading to relentless testing, possibly drawing both Cui Jinbai and the entire Cui family into it.

They should end it. Her identity, Southern Shu’s fate – too many lives hung in the balance. There was no room for carelessness.

“Cui Shitou… in the end… I failed you.” Bu Shulin’s voice was extremely low, barely audible even to herself, remembering Sui Axi’s words that he wasn’t completely unconscious.

Taking a deep breath and suppressing all emotion, Bu Shulin continued: “Wake up. I have much to tell you, we need to talk properly. Don’t you want to know what I have to say? Don’t you want to know my true feelings for you?

I… never thought I’d get involved with such a stubborn stone like you. Are all scholars so rigid? Once decided, not even nine oxen could pull you back? But no… they say butchers show more loyalty while scholars are fickle.

Why couldn’t you be a little more fickle? Perhaps we both could have been more at ease.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have approached you back then…”

Initially, to avoid an arranged marriage and make the princess unwilling to marry her, she followed Shen Xihe’s advice and chose Cui Jinbai as a shield. Shen Xihe had chosen Cui Jinbai because she knew he was the Crown Prince’s man – initially to test him.

Bu Shulin had followed Shen Xihe’s advice firstly because she trusted her, and secondly because she thought someone like Cui Jinbai wouldn’t cause future troubles – the safest choice.

“But life is unpredictable. The safest person became the most deeply involved, and I too became entangled in my web. I know these years you’ve often been mocked and criticized for this. I thought… eventually you’d grow tired and become a stranger to me. Never did I imagine you’d be so steadfast.”

Being in court and holding an important position, Cui Jinbai naturally had many watching him. As the Cui family’s next-generation hope, those wanting to break him were countless.

Cui Jinbai was always careful, never giving others weaknesses to exploit. Only after becoming entangled with her, though no concrete evidence of their relationship was ever found, did hurtful words start stabbing at his heart. Yet he ignored them, fixating only on her.

Completely forgetting those unspeakable words were aimed at him – while she, thick-skinned, remained unaffected, he worried more that hearing such rumors would make her distance herself further.

“You are a fool…”

Bu Shulin spoke at length by Cui Jinbai’s side, but he showed no signs of waking. She didn’t send him back to the Cui residence, instead sending a message explaining truthfully why he had fainted.

Soon, news spread that Young Lord Cui had gone to the Bu residence seeking Young Master Bu, accidentally saw Young Master Bu bathing, and fainted from shock and anger.

The news even reached Shen Xihe’s ears, naturally through the gossip-messenger Zi Yu.

“What is Alin trying to do?” Events at the Bu residence couldn’t spread without Bu Shulin’s intent. Without Bu Shulin, that brothel-frequenting playboy, spreading it, Shen Xihe didn’t believe it could become common knowledge so quickly.

Many wondered why Young Lord Cui would be so shocked to vomit blood upon seeing Young Master Bu bathing. The explanation came: Young Lord Cui had spent a night with a woman at a brothel, believing she was Young Master Bu. Learning Young Master Bu was male meant Cui had spent the night with an unknown woman. Young Lord Cui, who admired Young Master Bu, couldn’t bear the shock and fainted.

These stories must have been orchestrated by Bu Shulin.

“The King of Southern Shu is unwell.” This news came directly from Bu Tuohai to Xiao Huayong, kept strictly secret until now. If Bu Tuohai hadn’t sent the news himself, Xiao Huayong wouldn’t have noticed – presumably His Majesty was also in the dark.

“This… hasn’t the King of Southern Shu always been robust?” Shen Xihe was shocked.

Xiao Huayong wrapped his arm around Shen Xihe’s shoulders: “The reason the King of Southern Shu has only Young Master Bu as his child is that someone gave him a sterilizing drug. Though it appeared to be harem jealousy on the surface… I believe His Majesty was behind it.”

Bu Shulin was merely a survivor – before the King was drugged, he had a one-night encounter with a respectable woman. Otherwise, the Southern Shu King’s mansion would no longer be in His Majesty’s concern. After the King’s passing, with no heir to inherit the title, it could be reclaimed.

Refusing to accept this, Bu Tuohai had struggled greatly to counter the drug’s effects. Combined with battle wounds from his youth, Bu Tuohai, now past fifty, was at his limit.