Seeing that the woman was sensible, the King of Qin was somewhat pleased. "If you don't want me to kill your disciple, then you'd better please me."

Chen Mianmian was taken aback. [To please? This... could it be... that the King of Qin intends to...?]

"..." The King of Qin immediately realized he had said the wrong thing, and the woman began to think in some strange directions.

really,

Chen Mianmian was on tenterhooks. [No way? But… the word "please"… it's hard not to overthink it! Especially with someone like the King of Qin, whose word is law and who never goes back on his word.]

The person who was about to change their tune and explain, "..."

[He's up in the middle of the night, calling a woman out and forcing her to please him... How can he please her? It's just that kind of thing, isn't it?]

The King of Qin couldn't stand it any longer and snorted coldly, "No need."

"Ah? Yes, this humble woman obeys." [Phew, the crisis is over.]

"..." King of Qin.

He turned around and slowly walked towards the pavilion, saying as he went, "Tell me about Prince Bai."

"?" Shen Mianmian asked, puzzled. "Why does Your Highness want to listen to the Heir Apparent?"

The King of Qin's eyes turned cold. "Pleasure, or talk. Choose one."

"Speak!" Shen Mianmian hurriedly followed, but carefully kept her distance from the King of Qin.

She wouldn't be too far away, ensuring the King of Qin could hear her; nor would she be too close, lest the King of Qin become lustful in the middle of the night and have her please him again.

She didn't think all men were lustful, but... the face she used was just too beautiful; if she were a man, she probably would have a hard time resisting it too.

Having taken her place, Chen Mianmian began, "Where shall we begin? Let's start with the young master's tragic past. He was dealt a good hand at birth. His father was a young marquis, his mother was the marquis's only beloved woman, and he was the legitimate son. But who knew..."

Thus, from the moment Marquis Anning was injured and worried that his family would be ruined, to the moment his temperament changed drastically and he forced his young heir to learn martial arts in an almost abusive manner.

The heir apparent failed the military examination and was beaten half to death by the Marquis of Anning. The Marquis of Anning's wife was in critical condition, and the Marquis of Anning completely gave up on raising the heir apparent and went to work in the military camp on the outskirts of the capital.

When the young master Bai reached marriageable age, Marquis Anning worried that after his death, the Marquis's mansion would lose its pillar and the young master would be bullied. Therefore, he insisted on arranging a marriage between the young master and the Jiang family, who had a promising career and a scholarly background.

When the prince's rebellion failed, he went to Jiangnan with his friends to relax. There, he saw a beautiful woman trying to seduce him, and he had a sudden idea. Before the wedding, he brought the woman home in a grand manner, hoping that the Jiang family would back down.

To everyone's surprise, the Jiang family did not annul the engagement, and the two got married. Later, by chance, they participated in the imperial examination and won the top three honors. The Marquis recovered his health, and his wife became pregnant.

The story is wonderful and could be adapted into a storybook.

But the King of Qin said unhappily, "I asked you to talk about Prince Bai, not about the Marquis's mansion."

Shen Mianmian explained in a low voice, "Your Highness, please calm down. I believe that a person's character is formed not only by their innate nature, but also by their childhood experiences and life encounters. If I don't talk about the past of the Marquis's family and only say that the young master has a pure and kind character, I'm afraid Your Highness won't believe me. After all, there are very few pure people among the scions of noble families."

[What else could it be? A self-inflicted injury to make you pity Fengchu and stop you from picking a fight with him. Although from a profit-maximizing perspective, you won't expose the Crown Prince's faked death, who knows if you might suddenly have a brain fart and reveal it?]

"..." King of Qin.

The cracking sound of bones breaking after clenching a fist was particularly jarring in the quiet winter night.

Chen Mianmian was startled and quickly peeked over. [Did I say something wrong? Why did he suddenly clench his fist?]

The King of Qin frowned, loosened his clenched fist to control his temper, and still couldn't help but let out a cold snort.

Chen Mianmian didn't know why the King of Qin was angry, and she didn't dare to ask. She could only silently review what she had just said.

Even after checking every punctuation mark, I still couldn't find anything wrong. [Was he angry or not? You can't tell from his expression. These domineering CEO characters always have a poker face, either expressionless or sneering.]

The King of Qin was puzzled—poker face? Poker? Those playing cards? What does that have to do with a face?

[Why isn't he saying anything? Is it passive-aggressive behavior? A tense atmosphere? Mainly, I don't even know what I did to offend him.]

The King of Qin acquired a bunch of incomprehensible terms. He found that it was actually quite interesting to just stare at the woman with a blank expression, put pressure on her, and listen to her inner grumbling.

So he turned around and faced the woman who was two feet away from him, and secretly exerted his pressure.

Shen Mianmian felt pressured. [Why is he staring at me like that?]

The overwhelming pressure made her lose her breath, and she even subconsciously took a half step back. [No way? Is this guy up to his old tricks again, trying to take me? Sigh… so many innocent young women he doesn't want, why does he have to force himself on me, a married woman?]

"..." King of Qin.

Chenmianmian, [I've heard before that there's a type of man who specifically likes married women, like Cao Cao. He held a high position and wielded great power, yet he preferred married women to young girls. Could the King of Qin have been like that too?]

The King of Qin finally couldn't take it anymore and said, "Enough."

"???" Chen Mianmian was puzzled. [What does that mean? No one was talking just now, why did he suddenly say 'enough'?]

To avoid revealing the existence of the Heart-Communicating Gu, the King of Qin could only cough and say, "I say, there's no need to talk about Prince Bai."

"Yes, Your Highness," Chen Mianmian replied respectfully immediately. [Didn't Prince Bai finish speaking long ago? Why is it only now, after such a long interval, that he's reacting so slowly? Is Prince Qin suffering from a severe slow reaction time?]

"..." The King of Qin did not know what a reflex arc was, nor did he understand why a reflex arc had to be wrapped around the waist, but he intuitively knew that it was not a good thing.

"Go back now."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Having been granted a pardon, Chen Mianmian didn't even utter a word of complaint before turning and running away, her figure quickly disappearing at the hanging flower gate of the garden.

A moment later, the steward of the main courtyard stepped forward and said respectfully, "Your Highness, it is cold at night. Please go back and rest."

"Hmm." The King of Qin turned around, left the pavilion, and went down the steps.

The steward followed the prince at a respectful distance, pondering as he walked—the prince seems to be in a good mood? But he was clearly in a bad mood tonight, so why is he suddenly in a good mood?

...

On the other side.

Chenmian returned to her guest room.

As soon as he entered the room and took off his cloak, his teeth started chattering.

Jiang Yinjin came up to her and asked with concern, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell again?"

"...No, it's just...very...cold..."

"cold?"

Jiang Yinjin then remembered that she had just returned from outside, and ran out, "Someone! Make some ginger and brown sugar water, and prepare hot water bottles!"

The maid outside agreed and went to make the preparations.

When Jiang Yinjin returned, she asked in surprise, "Why are you so cold? Where did the Prince send you? Did he punish you by making you freeze? I'll make the bed for you now, so you can get in and warm up."

Chen Mianmian answered with chattering teeth, "No...the two of us...frozen together...in...the garden..."

She knew she was trembling violently, but it wasn't entirely from the cold; fear also played a part—why had the King of Qin abducted her? Why had he summoned her specifically after dinner? And why had he made her appease him?

Why?

Although she had suspected that the male lead was attracted to her face... could it really be that he was simply attracted to her?