Qin Kou'er realized she was wrong!

Even now, as the effects of the alcohol intensify and her thoughts become increasingly hazy, she knows she is wrong.

Qin Kou'er had always believed that she would never tremble or panic in any situation. But at this moment, her palms were slightly sweaty, she was trembling gently, and every inch of her body felt burning hot as if it were about to explode.

Is this what a real kiss should be like? Why is it so different from the one this morning?

Her nostrils were filled with Lan Linxue's scent, rich and alluring, making her feel as if she were about to faint. His hands tightly gripped hers, his body pressing against hers, as if trying to embed them together. He plundered her lips, and she could only submit to his every whim, her resistance turning into even more intoxicating moans.

Time turned into quicksand, washed away again and again by Lan Linxue's persistence. Finally, when the two of them were about to suffocate, Lan Linxue released the lips that he had kissed until they were slightly swollen.

Lan Linxue raised her head slightly, her deep, star-like gaze fixed on Qin Kou'er, who was panting slightly and had a dazed look in her eyes. Neither of them spoke, as if they were both processing the shock of their kiss.

After a long while, Qin Kou'er reached out and gently pushed Lan Linxue aside. She lay flat on her back, looking at the luminous pearl on the top of the bed curtains, and said softly, "Lan Linxue, you're bullying me!"

"Pfft!"

Lan Linxue couldn't help but laugh, and then lay down next to Qin Kou'er, turning to look at her charming profile, and said softly, "I can't beat you either, so I can only bully you!"

As he spoke, Lan Linxue actually stretched out his finger and gently traced the lines of Qin Kou'er's face, stopping only at her lips. Feeling the soft touch, Lan Linxue was somewhat mesmerized, murmuring, "Qin Kou'er, this is the first time I've seriously kissed a woman. If you're talking about losing out, I've actually lost out! Your lips are mine now. If you dare let anyone else touch them, if you cuckold me, I'll kill you, that adulterer, and his whole family! Then I'll grind your bones to dust and throw them into the Suzhou River to feed the fish!"

Qin Kou'er turned her head slightly, gazed at the man beside her, and asked seriously, "Are you going to marry me?"

Lan Linxue's eyes darkened, she withdrew her hand, straightened her posture slightly, and said expressionlessly, "I didn't say that!"

Qin Kou'er wasn't angry at all. She smiled slightly and looked at the top of the bed curtains again, saying, "It's okay, you'll marry me sooner or later!"

"Do you really want to marry into the royal family? To become the Crown Princess? To become the Empress?" Lan Linxue's voice was slightly hollow, yet her calmness was oppressive.

"Hmm!" Qin Kou'er looked at the luminous pearl that emitted a soft, eerie light, and felt a bitter taste in her mouth. "Do you think a woman like me is too materialistic and boring? That I can't even pretend or hide anything, and that I'm so blatantly making a power-for-sex deal with you?"

Lan Linxue surprisingly smiled gently, turning to look at Qin Kou'er, "You're doing quite well! At least you haven't hidden your purpose and ambition from me. It's so much better for you to be open about it than to hide it in the dark. Do you know that if you hadn't told me the truth, I would have killed you countless times already! Let alone one Qin Tian Pavilion, even ten Qin Tian Pavilions, I could make them disappear in an instant!"

Lan Linxue spoke calmly, and Qin Kou'er listened attentively.

Qin Kou'er turned her head, looking at the man in front of her for the first time, scrutinizing every inch of his expression, from the corners of his eyebrows to the tips of his hair. After a long while, she spoke softly with a complicated look in her eyes: "Gao He told me about your background."

Lan Linxue's face immediately turned cold, and she froze for a moment before gritting her teeth and saying, "Gao He deserves to die!"

With that, Lan Linxue rolled over and got out of bed.

Qin Kou'er didn't stop him from leaving, but instead said softly, "Did you send someone to investigate my background? No need to investigate anymore, I'll tell you. I wasn't born from a stone, my parents are dead, burned alive—right before my eyes!"

Lan Linxue froze in his tracks, as if he had been frozen in place by a thousand-pound weight. After a long while, he turned around and looked at Qin Kou'er, whose face was expressionless, with a complex and complicated expression.

“I was only five years old that year, and all I could do was stand in the fire and cry. I thought I would forget everything, but I remember every detail of when my parents burned to death. My father carried me out, but he was shot by an arrow. He threw me down and tried to run back to save my mother, but he was shot in the leg and couldn't walk anymore, so he could only crawl back. In the end, he grabbed my mother's hand, but my mother was already engulfed in flames and could do nothing but roll and scream. In the end, my father held my mother tightly and burned to death together! I saw it. My father pulled the arrow out of his body and stabbed my mother in the chest himself, so that my mother wouldn't be in so much pain and wouldn't scream!”

As Qin Kou'er recounted the past, it was as if she had returned to that night. Every calm word she spoke caused Lan Linxue a strange pain.

Lan Linxue walked back to the bedside, gently lay down next to Qin Kou'er, and pulled her into her arms, holding her tightly. The moment Qin Kou'er turned over, a tear slid from the corner of her eye and landed on Lan Linxue's hand.

Gently wiping away the tears welling up in Kou'er's tightly closed eyes, Lan Linxue stroked Kou'er's loose hair as if comforting a child, and whispered softly in her ear as if in a dream, "It's all over! Everything is over! No one will bully us anymore! There will be no more fire burning around us. Sleep now, I'm by your side, no one will dare to disturb our sweet dreams!"

Perhaps Lan Linxue's comforting words had an effect. Qin Kou'er gently wrapped her arms around his waist, buried her head deep in his chest, closed her eyes tightly, and instead of dreaming, more tears streamed down her face, wetting Lan Linxue's clothes.

Lan Linxue didn't speak, but simply held the woman in his arms tightly. He didn't know why he was doing this; perhaps it was simply because they both needed the other's body heat to warm their cold and helpless hearts.

As night deepened, Lan Linxue and Qin Kou'er embraced and drifted into a deep sleep. All around was silent, save for the sound of their hair becoming increasingly intertwined until they could no longer be separated.

---Aside---

The Crown Prince said, whoever pops up first will get their name on the list. Hahahaha!