"Of course not!"
Qin Kou'er looked at Lan Xiuyuan and said softly, "The prince is of a high status, and this time he is an imperial envoy who came with the emperor's decree. If Kou'er gets too close to the prince and others hear about it, it will not be good for the prince!"
"But why are you so close to my brother, Kou'er? As far as I know, you always call him Lan Linxue in private!"
Lan Xiuyuan stared intently at Qin Kou'er.
Qin Kou'er lowered her head and smiled, "The prince knows the Crown Prince's temperament. There are some things I can't do even if I don't go along with them!"
Qin Kou'er said something vague and unclear.
However, Lan Xiuyuan knew that a single form of address could instantly distinguish between close and distant relationships. Although Lan Linxue was stubborn, if Qin Kou'er persisted, probably no one could force her.
The atmosphere immediately became slightly awkward.
After sitting facing each other for a while, Lan Xiuyuan spoke first: "Kou'er, don't you want to know why I came to see you?"
Qin Kou'er looked up at Lan Xiuyuan, deliberately thought for a moment, and then said with a smile, "I guess Fifth Master came for that chess game!"
"Hahaha!"
Lan Xiuyuan threw his head back and laughed loudly.
"Qin Kou'er is indeed incredibly intelligent! Indeed, if I don't play this game today, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep well! So, no matter what, I must experience Kou'er's superb chess skills!"
"Fifth Master's persistence is truly admirable! How about we play a couple more rounds of games after dinner?"
"That suits me perfectly!"
Looking at Qin Kou'er, Lan Xiuyuan felt that as long as Lan Linxue wasn't there, the next night would be perfect.
Lan Linxue was completely unaware that someone was talking about him behind his back.
He was stunned by what he saw.
A short walk down the passageway leads to Qin Kou'er's secret chamber.
These are two adjacent rooms.
The outermost room was covered with paintings! All of them were portraits.
Lan Linxue looked at each of them, her expression growing increasingly grim.
There are many portraits of him here.
Various expressions, various appearances, even different clothes. The best one is the one where he is carrying Qin Kou'er on his back.
Qin Kou'er clearly put a lot of effort and emotion into her painting.
Whether it's the brushstrokes or the colors, you can see how deeply Qin Kou'er was moved at that moment.
However, besides Lan Linxue, there are portraits of other people here.
There are portraits of Lan Xiuyuan, Lan Jiayuan, Lan Shanyang, and even the sixth prince who has always lived a simple life in the palace.
Even the portraits of the empresses in the palace were arranged in order.
What surprised Lan Linxue even more was that not only were there portraits of all members of the Lan family, but also portraits of important officials in the court were hung up in order.
Some of them were even painted several years ago, and they already show faint traces of time.
Lan Linxue looked at each portrait one by one, imagining Qin Kou'er wandering among these portraits every day, touching each one with her fingers. She wondered what Qin Kou'er's feelings must be.
But why does she need so many portraits?
It's clearly much more than just doing business!
What's even more noteworthy is that she placed portraits of her husband, Hu Tianyong, and several others separately at the very back. Below each portrait, their birth dates and origins were meticulously written in small regular script, clearly indicating that she attached great importance to them.
Lan Linxue's mood began to grow heavy.
There were more and more things behind Qin Kou'er that he couldn't understand.
The room was large, and in addition to the portraits, there were many notebooks.
Lan Linxue walked over, picked up a book, and looked at it. Inside were the names of all the members of Xu Ming's clan, along with some annotations.
Lan Linxue looked at the others, which were all about officials.
Looking at the numerous portraits around her, Shuanghua felt a little heavy-hearted. She walked over to Lan Linxue and whispered, "What is Qin Kou'er doing? Why are there so many portraits hanging here?"
Lan Linxue didn't speak, but frowned and rummaged around the room for a while.
But they still haven't found anything more crucial.
He turned and walked toward another room.
Gently push the door open, and a whiff of incense wafts out.
The room was very large, divided into two layers, an inner and an outer layer, separated by a screen and white gauze.
Lan Linxue carefully stepped inside, and for some reason, the fragrance here suddenly reminded him of a mourning hall.
Gently lift the white veil.
Lan Linxue was stunned.
Frostflower, who was following behind, was also stunned when she saw the scene in front of her.
This is a large mourning hall, surrounded by white banners and veils.
Sixteen luminous pearls were inlaid around the mourning hall, making it feel bright and new even without candlelight.
In the center of the mourning hall was a huge portrait.
If the portraits outside are only half a person's height, then this painting is a full two people's size.
The painting depicts a woman wearing a purple pleated palace dress, smiling gently.
However, this woman's beauty cannot be described in any language in the world, and her charm is absolutely unmatched by anyone else in the world.
Her eyebrows and eyes were very similar to Lan Linxue's, but she was gentler and more charming; her smile was like a white lotus blooming on a snowy peak, so pure and noble.
She sat by the flower-lined stream, but the flowers and the water were merely a touch of tenderness on her fingertips, coming and going gently, as elegant as the wind.
Lan Linxue stared blankly at the portrait, no longer even noticing how he had gotten there.
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