Lan Shanyang glared at Lan Linxue and snorted fiercely, then turned his head and reached out to Qin Kou'er again.

Lan Linxue's eyes widened: "He's so old, yet he's still flirting with his future daughter-in-law in public. Doesn't he have any shame?"

Just as Lan Linxue was about to pull Qin Kou'er over again, Qin Kou'er moved her other hand slightly, and Lan Linxue immediately felt a numbness in her body, as Qin Kou'er had accidentally pressed an acupoint.

Seeing that Lan Linxue had finally behaved, Qin Kou'er gently reached out her hand again.

Just as Lan Shanyang and Qin Kou'er's hands were about to touch, Lan Shanyang's hand suddenly sank down and gently pulled Qin Kou'er's sleeve into his hand.

Qin Kou'er was startled, but she immediately understood Lan Shanyang's intention. She raised her eyes and looked at the man in front of her with a flickering gaze.

Lan Linxue was only numb for a moment, and she recovered instantly.

He was about to jump up and give his father a good beating, but when he caught a glimpse of Lan Shanyang actually holding onto Qin Kou'er's sleeve and examining her closely, he managed to hold back.

Lan Shanyang looked at it very carefully, not even missing the hidden patterns.

Qin Kou'er remained motionless, simply raising her hand quietly, allowing Lan Shanyang to look at her to his heart's content.

Lan Shanyang quickly saw what he wanted to see. Sure enough, the invisible pattern on Qin Kou'er's cuff was a faintly blooming datura flower.

Looking up again, Lan Shanyang gave Qin Kou'er a meaningful look, then gently loosened Qin Kou'er's sleeve and, in full view of everyone, helped her up by the hand.

Lan Linxue felt like she was about to explode with anger. That bastard had blatantly tricked her. Wasn't she just looking at clothes? Why did she have to hold his hand at the end!

You old rogue!

Lan Linxue knelt beside him with an extremely ugly expression, glaring fiercely at her father.

Lan Shanyang acted as if he hadn't seen anything, and instead looked at Qin Kou'er with a hint of tenderness in his eyes, "Miss Qin's family heirlooms are indeed excellent! In the future, send a few more of these items to the palace so that the ladies of the harem can broaden their horizons!"

With that, Lan Shanyang released Qin Kou'er's hand, turned around, and walked back with an upright posture.

Qin Kou'er watched Lan Shanyang's retreating figure, lost in thought.

Lan Shanyang not only did not make things difficult for her, but also did not even reveal her identity.

Qin Kou'er was very curious about the identity Lan Shanyang had played all these years. She always had a feeling that Lan Shanyang had been secretly searching for the Qin family all these years. However, his search was very secretive, and many times he would get very close to the Qin family, but then immediately withdraw.

So today, she wore Qin Meiying's clothes from back then and made a bold attempt to test Lan Shanyang.

She needed to see if Lan Shanyang truly wanted the Qin family wiped out. Only by figuring out Lan Shanyang's intentions could she proceed with the next step.

Does this mean her first test was successful? What is the emperor really thinking?

Although Qin Kou'er was becoming increasingly curious about Lan Shanyang, she maintained a smile on her face. Upon hearing Lan Shanyang's words, she quickly bowed and said, "Yes, Kou'er will obey Your Majesty's command!"

Lan Shanyang nodded and sat back on the dragon throne.

Turning his head, he found Lan Linxue glaring at him fiercely and angrily, and his face darkened. "Qin Kou'er, do you know why I summoned you to court today?"

"Your Majesty, I do not know!"

Lan Shanyang reverted to his usual cold and indifferent demeanor, looking at Qin Kou'er and asking, "The Fifth Prince said that the Crown Prince sent people to Yangzhou to blow up the dikes of the Qinhuai River, and also bombed four counties! I wonder if you, a native of Yangzhou, have heard about this?"

Qin Kou'er glanced down at Lan Linxue, then said nonchalantly, "Your Majesty, I have not heard of this matter!"

Lan Linxue sneered. How could his Kou'er speak ill of him!

Lan Xiuyuan immediately stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, Miss Qin was only responsible for rescuing people at the time and knew nothing else!"

Lan Shanyang frowned unhappily. "I haven't even asked you yet!"

Lan Xiuyuan quickly lowered his head: "Yes! It was your son's rashness!"

Lan Shanyang glared at Lan Xiuyuan, then continued to look at Qin Kou'er and asked, "Qin Kou'er, I've heard that your Qin Tian Pavilion is all over Jiangnan and has excellent information network! If someone really breached the dike, such an important matter, you wouldn't have been completely unaware of it, would you?"

Qin Kou'er looked up at Lan Shanyang and replied calmly, "Your Majesty! Although Qin Tiange appears to have a large number of people, they are all men from poor families who are busy making a living. Especially recently, because of the Crown Prince's decree, we have been busy building dikes and have not had time to worry about anything else. As for the matter of bombing four counties, I have never heard of it!"

"The Crown Prince ordered you to move all the people from those four counties out, and you never questioned it at all?"

Lan Shanyang wouldn't budge on Qin Kou'er at all; he just wanted to see if this woman surnamed Qin was really as clever as the legends said.

Qin Kou'er nodded: "Your Majesty, I not only had my doubts, but I also argued with the Crown Prince about it!..."

"Oh? You even had a fight with Lan Linxue?" Lan Shanyang found this quite interesting and couldn't help but glance at Lan Linxue sideways.

Lan Linxue rolled her eyes. What was so strange about it? She had her men throw her out yesterday!

So what? This prince is happy to do so! Hmph!

"Yes! Because of this matter, the lady and the prince dared to offend the prince! But I have never regretted it!"

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