Jiang Yinjin held onto the corner of the table, slowly sat down, and shook her head.

Chen Mianmian rushed over, "Are you feeling unwell? Wait, let me pour you a glass of water. Drink it slowly to calm your nerves."

A moment later, Jiang Yinjin took the water glass from Chen Mianmian's hand and slowly drank it.

After drinking most of the glass, his pale complexion finally improved.

Shen Mianmian didn't dare to ask, and could only stare at her with worried eyes, waiting for Jiang Yinjin to speak on her own initiative.

After a while, Jiang Yinjin raised her eyes and looked at Chen Mianmian with a complicated expression. "Mianmian, I'm in trouble."

Shen Mianmian was startled because Jiang Yinjin had always addressed her as Shen Shi or by her full name, never as "Mianmian".

"Tell me what difficulties you have, no matter how big or small, I'll be on your side." Fearing Jiang Yinjin might be holding back, he emphasized again, "Don't be suspicious, I'm definitely on your side!"

Jiang Yinjin nodded and said in a deep voice, "I know that from the time we met until now, you have never attacked me. If you wanted to harm me, you would have had plenty of good opportunities."

Chen Mianmian asked softly, "So, what exactly happened?"

Jiang Yinjin remained silent for a moment, as if struggling fiercely, "The prince... knows my secret."

"?" Chen Mianmian was taken aback. "Know your secret? What secret?"

Jiang Yinjin gave her a reproachful look, "I said before that I wanted to exchange secrets with you, but you refused. Now you're asking me what those secrets are?"

Shen Mianmian suddenly realized—what other secret could the female protagonist possibly have? Rebirth, of course.

"I understand! You don't need to tell me! How do you know the King of Qin knows your secret? Did he show it?"

Jiang Yinjin's face paled slightly. "I didn't just show it; I asked directly."

"Ask!?" Shen Mianmian was also shocked. "How should I ask? Should I just say you... 'that'?"

Jiang Yinjin nodded.

Shen Mianmian gasped in shock, "He wouldn't have 'done that' too, would he? No, that's not right. If he had 'done that' too, why would he ask if our Prince Jin would rebel? Is he sure we haven't 'done that'?"

Jiang Yinjin frowned and asked in a deep voice, "Now that things have come to this, let's be honest, what exactly are you...?"

Shen Mianmian hurriedly shook her head, "I won't confess! It's not time for me to confess yet!"

"..." Jiang Yinjin had no choice but to stop the conversation. "At first, I also thought that His Highness 'had that,' but after calming down, I felt that was unlikely. Because I had my elder brother leak some information before, if His Highness 'had that,' we would have noticed it at the time. Unless His Highness didn't 'have that' then, but only recently."

It was rather comical for the dignified and virtuous female lead to use such vulgar language, but Shen Mianmian couldn't care less about the teasing and asked nervously, "Did you tell him?"

“I…” Jiang Yinjin bit her lip, “No, I don’t know why, I just don’t want to tell him.”

Shen Mianmian was both amused and exasperated. "You're willing to be honest with me, so why aren't you willing to be honest with him?" That's your future husband!

Jiang Yinjin looked at her, her eyes sharp. "It's different. Although you and he both know about my 'that,' you're willing to give me some dignity, even if you know it, you won't expose it. He won't. He doesn't respect me at all, and when he talks to me, it's like he's interrogating a criminal."

"This..." Shen Mianmian thought for a moment, "Maybe it's an occupational hazard? You know what the King of Qin does for a living, could it be that he's just used to speaking that way? Maybe he didn't mean any harm?"

Jiang Yinjin pursed her lips tightly, her eyes filled with resistance, and shook her head.

Chen Mianmian plopped down in a chair, resting her chin on her hands, and sighed – how is this plot going to work? Will the male and female leads still be able to get together?

No, what exactly went wrong? Why can't she figure it out?

Could it be that because she saved the Marquis's mansion, it created a butterfly effect, leading to a series of mistakes?

The question is, how did the male lead know that the female lead had been reborn? The novel clearly doesn't mention the male lead being reborn! This shouldn't be the case.

Just as Shen Mianmian was deep in thought, Hongye's voice came from outside the door, "His Highness requests Miss Shen's presence."

Chen Mianmian was taken aback.

Jiang Yinjin was also startled, then lowered her voice, "Do you want to go? If you don't want to go, then continue to pretend to be sick. Tomorrow I will try to persuade the King of Qin to send you away, although... I'm not very confident."

"..."

Shen Mianmian looked on in surprise—the woman's eyes were filled with panic, her face was pale, and her body was trembling slightly, yet she was trying to save her and leave.

For a moment, I felt conflicted.

Jiang Yinjin also noticed Shen Mianmian's loss of composure, awkwardly glanced away, and snorted coldly, "I said I would repay your favor, and I definitely will! Even if it costs me my life, I will repay it."

Shen Mianmian's feelings became even more complicated. She stood up and said, "Don't worry about me. The King of Qin has no motive to kill me yet. I'll be right back."

After saying that, he left in a hurry.

...

Hongye brought Chenmianmian to the Prince's Garden.

There were no flowers in the garden, only pure white snow.

The moonlight reflected off the snow, making the entire garden as bright as day.

In the white and blue light, a man in a black cloak stood motionless in the middle of the snow, like a statue, or rather, a statue of a god of death.

Even without getting close, you could feel the intense hostility emanating from the man.

At this moment, even Chen Mianmian, who was focused on getting out of the book and didn't care much about her life, felt a chill run down her spine.

She adjusted her cotton cloak and stepped forward. "This humble woman greets Your Highness. I am truly sorry, but I was unwell just now and was unable to serve the meal. Please forgive me, Your Highness."

The King of Qin snorted coldly, "I'm in a bad mood."

Chen Mianmian feigned surprise, thinking to herself, [I see. They found me not to make fun of me, but to make fun of me, right?]

The King of Qin said, "I'll give you the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Think of a way to make me happy."

"..." Chen Mianmian, [No, what exactly happened between him and the female lead? The female lead said he pressed him about the rebirth, scaring her half to death, and now he's unhappy? There should at least be a reason for his anger, right?]

The King of Qin said coldly, "I never expected that I would kill you."

"Your Highness, no! Your Highness, spare my life!" Chen Mianmian thought, [Heh, does she really think this old lady is afraid of death? Anyway, the plot has already fallen apart like this, so what if I die?]

"..." King of Qin.

Although the woman had not yet come up with a way to amuse herself, half of the King of Qin's anger was diverted.

He turned his head and looked at the woman, who was acting like a servile lackey.

He knew that the woman was pretending on purpose.

In reality, she showed no fear of flattery whatsoever; in fact, she was inwardly cursing it vehemently.

Aren't you afraid of dying?

The prince raised an eyebrow. “Killing one isn’t enough. Kill a few more. For example, bring your skinny apprentice, Liu Xiangning, here and kill her.”

Chen Mianmian's knees buckled, and she almost knelt down. "Your Highness, please don't! I'll think of something, okay? Your Highness, would you like to play mahjong?"