When the Spirit Jade Palace Lord's Ring Spirit awoke, he was merely a youth of fourteen years old. And as he was born to be rather frail, his body's constitution had not been very healthy then. After his plant type Ring Spirit awoke, the Spirit Ring did not manifest physically, hence the Spirit Jade Palace Lord most probably did not even know that his Ring Spirit had awoken.
Even more so, he wouldn't know why he was suddenly prone to feelings and emotions that completely did not arise from himself.
If it had been feelings towards other things, it would not have affected him that badly. But, Tenacious Snow Plum Blossom had no feelings towards females and only liked young youthful boys.
