Su Qiuge took a deep breath, still pondering how long this dream would last and when she would wake up. Suddenly, she heard the sound of chaotic footsteps outside the hall. Shortly after, a small eunuch shouted loudly, “Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!”

Su Qiuge turned her gaze towards the entrance and saw a figure in black walking in. As the person approached, and she recognized who it was, a slight twitch appeared on Su Qiuge’s face.

Damn it, Su Yuanzhou could be the Crown Prince!

The fate of the country is in danger!

The fate of the country is in danger!

Following Su Yuanzhou were a group of cautious eunuchs who walked in with a fierce and menacing demeanor. His gaze fell upon the bound person inside the hall, and he gritted his teeth, saying, “How dare you! You lowly scum, do you think you can seduce my imperial sister?!”

“Guards, take him away and give him fifty lashes with a cane!”

Su Qiuge: ?

No need for that.

To her surprise, the man in red inside the hall did not beg for mercy. Instead, he slightly raised his eyes and locked his gaze onto Su Yuanzhou, a glimmer of light flashing in his eyes.

Seeing this man daring to meet his gaze directly, Su Yuanzhou’s face turned purple with anger. “Be careful, I’ll gouge your eyeballs out!”

However, Xie Xinglin remained unchanged, and a mocking smile even appeared at the corner of his lips. His lips were crimson, and this smile added a touch of charm to his exquisite facial features.

This enraged Su Yuanzhou even more. He unsheathed the decorative sword from within the hall and strode towards Xie Xinglin.

Su Qiuge, sensing that he might be serious, hesitated for a moment and immediately spoke up to stop him. “Hold on!”

Su Yuanzhou’s motion of raising the sword paused slightly, and Xie Xinglin, who was kneeling on the ground, glanced at her. He then lowered his gaze again and nonchalantly concealed the corner of his sleeve sword with his wide sleeve.

Thinking that she might be swayed by the handsome appearance before her, Su Yuanzhou showed an anxious expression and said, “This person’s background is unknown, we cannot let him stay. Besides, he looks like nothing more than a treacherous thief. Don’t let him deceive you. If you want a male companion, I will find one for you, but this person…”

Seeing Su Yuanzhou, dressed as he was, Su Qiuge couldn’t help but imagine an upgraded version of “He has no background, looks like a two-faced flirt. Don’t let him fool you!” and found it amusing.

So, she pondered for a moment about her own character and envisioned how an arrogant princess should behave, doing whatever she wanted and saying whatever she pleased. Moreover, this was just a dream where she could do all the things she normally couldn’t. With that in mind, she started to let herself go and said, “I don’t appreciate your words. Am I such a shallow woman?”

Su Yuanzhou: “…”

Her gaze fell upon Xie Xinglin, and she calmly said, “Although he looks good, he’s nothing more than a plaything in the palm of my hand. How can a mere plaything stir up any waves?”

Xie Xinglin: “…”

Su Qiuge felt an incredible sense of liberation, especially when she saw the astonishment on everyone’s faces, their eyes wide open in disbelief.

At that moment, a palace maid whispered outside the side hall, “The princess used to be infatuated with Xie Gongzi from the Jade Tree Garden. She said she would give him everything if he followed her. She even went to the Jade Tree Garden every day to listen to Xie Gongzi play the piano. It was like those foolish emperors and enchanting concubines in the past. But now… she seems so indifferent?”

Another palace maid rolled her eyes and whispered, “Are you silly? The princess is protecting Xie Gongzi! The Crown Prince can’t stand any male companions by the princess’s side. The more indifferent she acts, the safer Xie Gongzi is.”

“I see… I didn’t expect the princess to be so unconcerned about status and position, showing such dedication to Xie Gongzi…”

Su Yuanzhou, hearing their conversation, showed a slight bewildered expression. He had heard rumors that his imperial sister had concealed her identity and gone to a brothel. She even fought with another notorious wealthy woman over the top position, accidentally revealing her identity when her hat was knocked off during the scuffle. The wealthy woman trembled in fear upon realizing that the person she bit and kicked was none other than Princess Pingqiu, the Crown Prince’s own sister.

This incident quickly reached his ears.

He had never seen her so devoted to any man before, so he had wanted to investigate the background of this top courtesan. However, he couldn’t find any flaws in the man’s background. On the contrary, the more impeccable it seemed, the more suspicious it became. So when he heard today that they had snatched him back and planned to have him serve in bed, he hurriedly came to find out the truth.

But he never expected her to say such things.

Her words shattered all the arguments he had prepared. He was dumbfounded for a moment, and then his gaze fell upon Xie Xinglin. He raised his eyebrow and coldly snorted, “Only those who recognize their true identity can live long.”

After saying those words, he flicked his sleeve and walked out of the hall, followed closely by the group of eunuchs.

Su Qiuge watched everything from afar and found it quite fascinating.

After she had someone untie the ropes on Xie Xinglin’s body, she waved her hand at him and said: “You can rest in the side hall for today. I’ll take my rest as well.”

She thought that once she fell asleep, this absurd dream would probably come to an end.

The man in red robes inside the hall lifted his gaze and looked at her through a thin layer of gauze. He raised an eyebrow slightly. Then he stood up slowly, smoothing out the wrinkles from kneeling. The corners of his eyes were lined with a touch of crimson, resembling peonies. When he looked at people, there was always a hint of seductiveness in his demeanor. He took a step closer and calmly said, “Princess, don’t you need my service?”

For some reason, beneath his calm tone, Su Qiuge sensed a hint of coldness. It was as if something terrifying would happen if she agreed.

So Su Qiuge quickly shook her head and said, “I’m tired. You may leave.”

Unexpectedly, as soon as she said that, the man directly lifted the curtain in front of her and lowered his gaze, staring at her intently. Being this close, Su Qiuge noticed a red birthmark on his forehead, adding a touch of allure to his originally clear and refined eyes. This… it was exactly the same as she had imagined him in ancient attire, with the plum-red color highlighting his snow-white complexion and exuding a sense of extravagance.

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