It's done.

Seeing Dongfang Xiao's choice, Xu Shi smiled with satisfaction.

Of course, he probably didn't feel a great sense of accomplishment—this wasn't the first time he'd done something like this, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he did it with ease.

Even if he doesn't possess the genuine mind-reading ability of his foolish apprentice, he is still quite adept at observing and understanding people, and can easily find the little empress's biggest pain point.

It was an extreme, even twisted to the point of madness, desire to break free from the shackles and constraints.

On a smaller scale, it refers to Cheng Gujian in front of us; on a larger scale, it refers to the Papacy, which has always been at odds with the royal family.

Both of them are entities she wants to overthrow; the only difference is their proximity.

What she wants to do is to be the unique and absolute ruler of the Hualan Empire, whose power will not be touched by anyone else.

But if it were just her alone, how easy would it be to realize this wish? Xu Shi didn't believe that the other party hadn't been secretly preparing something all these years, but in the end, she could only watch helplessly as Cheng Gujian's influence grew, while she herself became increasingly vulnerable...

Under such circumstances, he was confident that he could break down Dongfang Xiao's psychological defenses by focusing on this one point. Empathy was naturally one of the steps involved. Of course, he had indeed experienced something similar before, but even if he hadn't, this bad man would probably make one up.

Anyway, Dongfang Xiao doesn't know anything about his past, so what can he say?

And that's exactly what he did, and the result was as smooth as he expected... In comparison, the other conditions seemed like icing on the cake, including the part that Dongfang Xiao was most concerned about: "Will you interfere with me like Cheng Gujian did?"

In such a situation, even a vague promise is enough to tip the scales in her heart.

So she made her choice.

But that's not enough.

"It seems you've already made up your mind."

Xu Shi smiled and pressed his advantage, saying, "Since that's the case, let me see some sincerity first... Release your Holy Light Protection and let me leave a mark on you."

That's right, the impact of the previous "increased entropy of evil thoughts" is not enough.

Even if Dongfang Xiaozhen made a tremendous decision and resigned himself to becoming his own slave, this seed still had to be planted.

In any case, Xu Shi would not completely lower his guard against her just because of empty promises. Such a guarantee was necessary, otherwise, given her personality, who knew if she would turn around and bite him in the future?

The best way to solve a problem is always to nip it in the bud before it happens.

"..."

The little queen's hands trembled slightly; clearly, she was not as resolute as she had appeared earlier.

She was well aware that the so-called "alliance" proposed by Xu Shi could not be settled so easily, and that this man must have a backup plan to control her.

If she had any lingering hope just now, it has now vanished—agreeing to his condition means there's truly no turning back.

But...should we give up?

The answer is obviously no.

So, after a moment's struggle, she helplessly closed her eyes and lowered her arms, "You... come on."

Xu Shi didn't stand on ceremony and leaned closer to lift her chin.

He really is a devil, even his methods are so... Dongfang Xiao felt a mix of emotions. No matter what, she was still very pure in this respect, and Xu Shi was the first man to make such a presumptuous move towards her.

There was definitely some resistance, or perhaps she wasn't prepared at all; was she about to lose her first kiss?

But considering that this was also due to her own choice, the little empress had nothing to say.

Well... let's just say it got chewed up by a dog...

But Xu Shi didn't actually kiss her. In the end, he just mischievously pinched her cheek and said, "Okay, that's fine."

"That's it?"

The scene he had envisioned did not occur, which surprised Dongfang Xiao.

She said it was some kind of mark, but she couldn't see where the mark was, and she didn't even feel anything unusual.

"Otherwise what? What else do you want?"

Xu Shi said jokingly, "Congratulations, Your Majesty. Now, the contract between us is officially complete."

This is quite interesting. He had actually asked Xia Wuyou once before out of curiosity whether she felt anything when he first implanted the seed into her.

After thinking hard for a long time, Xia Xiaomao's answer was just that, as if she had experienced a momentary unease, she asked Jiang Chengcheng and Gu Yi, and the results were not much different.

Therefore, it can be seen that the process of planting a seed is actually very gentle, and you can't feel it at all if you don't pay close attention... not to mention that this usually happens when girls are in a very unstable state of mind, so they would not really notice anything strange.

Even the process of a seed taking root and sprouting is the same... Only when the closed loop is completed can the person who has been infected feel that complete change in mentality and mindset.

However, realizing this at that time was somewhat too late; the die was cast.

In any case, Dongfang Xiao didn't feel anything, and even felt a little relieved—the Hualan Empire itself still had a system of slavery. She had previously wondered if Xu Shi's so-called "planting a mark" was really the same as the common practice of the empire, such as branding a unique badge with a branding iron...

Thank goodness it wasn't. Phew.

"Now that the contract is in effect, why not put it on yourself? What are you waiting for?"

However, his joy lasted less than half a second before Xu Shi poured cold water on him, saying, "By the way, Miss Dongfang's way of addressing you should also be changed. Why don't you call me 'Master' first?"

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