son, don't mess around

Zhao Xi wasn't really angry. From the moment Lin Jiangnian asked whether she wanted to hear the truth or a lie, she already knew the answer.

"So, you definitely won't agree, right?"

Zhao Xi spoke softly, her expression somewhat forlorn.

Lin Jiangnian said helplessly, "If I agree, the prince will hang me up and whip me."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xi couldn't help but chuckle softly, her eyes crinkling into a smile: "It's not as serious as you make it out to be?"

"How not?"

Lin Jiangnian sighed: "Didn't you even listen to what excessive demands your father was making? Reducing the power of the princes? Relinquishing military power?"

"No matter what the condition is, it could be the death of the Prince Lin's residence. Who would dare to agree to such a condition? Even Empress Dowager Cixi would be impressed."

Who was Empress Dowager Cixi?

"Never mind that... Anyway, if I dared to agree to your father's conditions, I wouldn't even need Prince Lin to lift a finger; all those generals who follow Prince Lin's mansion would chop me to pieces!"

The generals who followed Prince Lin to achieve their current success were able to do so because of the empire that Lin Hengzhong led them to conquer back then. These men have always been dissatisfied with the imperial court, and they don't even really approve of Lin Jiangnian, the heir apparent of Prince Lin.

If it weren't for Lin Heng's presence keeping them in check, they might not have given Lin Jiangnian, the heir apparent of the Prince of Lin, much face. If Lin Jiangnian were to do something like this now, harming their interests, they would truly be ready to chop him down with their swords!

Zhao Xi remained silent. With her intelligence, how could she not know this principle?

The conditions her father proposed were too harsh; Lin Jiangnian would never agree to them.

"What should I do?"

Zhao Xi sighed softly and glanced at him: "If you don't agree to my father's conditions, he will break us up."

"Heh, do you think I'm afraid of him?"

Lin Jiangnian raised an eyebrow, not taking the old man seriously at all: "If it weren't for the fact that he's your father, I would have dealt with him long ago!"

"So you really were planning to harm my father, weren't you?!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xi's eyes widened, and she said angrily, "I already told you not to hurt my father."

"How could I? How could I possibly hurt my future father-in-law?"

Lin Jiangnian vehemently denied it.

But Zhao Xi was furious. She didn't believe this scoundrel's nonsense and pinched him twice more: "Be serious."

Lin Jiangnian shrugged: "Am I not serious?"

"What's so serious about you?"

"I haven't even laid a hand on you today, isn't that being proper?"

"..."

Zhao Xi couldn't help but raise her leg to kick this bastard, but when she thought about how it was a reward for him, she held back.

"Okay, okay, don't be angry. I was just kidding."

Seeing Zhao Xi's displeasure, Lin Jiangnian walked up to her and reached out to pull her into his arms.

Zhao Xi took a step back, dodging his embrace, and asked warily, "What are you doing?"

"I want to hug you!"

Lin Jiangnian said matter-of-factly, "I haven't hugged him for days, I miss him."

"you……"

Zhao Xi was both embarrassed and annoyed, and subconsciously glanced at the courtyard outside not far away: "You, be serious!"

There are guards outside.

"Don't worry, they won't find out."

Seeing Zhao Xi's nervous look, Lin Jiangnian followed up by saying, "Then, shall we go to the room?"

"It's quiet inside, and no one is bothering us."

"do not want!"

Zhao Xi cautiously refused, and at the same time took a step back.

Enter the room?
What is this bastard trying to do?
Once inside the room, things would get out of hand.
Knowing this scoundrel as she did, once they were in the room, it probably wouldn't be just a simple hug.

"It's been so long since we last met, don't you miss me?"

"Do not want to."

"You're making me very sad."

"Ah!"

Zhao Xi responded with a cold laugh, her gaze sweeping over him with disdain: "Having not seen you for days, you're probably surrounded by beauties, how could you possibly remember me?"

"Look at what you're saying, that's absolutely not true!"

"is it?"

Zhao Xi glanced at him, clearly not believing him.

"I've been taking care of serious business these past few days!"

Lin Jiangnian sighed and explained, but seeing that Zhao Xi didn't believe him, he immediately added, "It's absolutely a very important and serious matter, there's nothing to it."

"This matter is also related to the current emperor!"

Hearing that it was related to the emperor, it unsurprisingly caught Zhao Xi's attention: "What is it?"

"That's a long story!"

As Lin Jiangnian spoke, he skillfully took Zhao Xi's small hand in his. It was soft, smooth, and incredibly elastic. Perhaps it had been exposed to the cold wind for a long time, as her hand was a little chilly.

"It's cold outside, look how frozen you are... Come on, let's go back to the room first, I'll tell you slowly!"

Without another word, Lin Jiangnian pushed Zhao Xi back into the room. He then closed and locked the door behind him.

"boom!"

What do you mean by locking the door from the inside?

Back in her room, Zhao Xi finally realized what was happening and, noticing Lin Jiangnian's little actions, asked him in an annoyed tone.

"Isn't it because I'm worried about being disturbed?"

Lin Jiangnian said confidently, "What I'm about to tell you concerns royal secrets and is of utmost importance. It must not be overheard by anyone else."

Zhao Xi was skeptical. She doubted Lin Jiangnian's words and suspected that he was just making up lies to take advantage of her.

But then I thought, this scoundrel probably wouldn't lie about this.

But that scoundrel locked the door from the inside; he probably did it on purpose.

Therefore, Zhao Xi was very wary. She pulled her clothes together, sat down at the table, and kept her distance from Lin Jiangnian: "Then you go ahead and say it."

Lin Jiangnian didn't care about any of that. He moved closer to Zhao Xi, sat down next to her, and naturally pressed himself against her, then reached out and put his arm around her waist.

"What are you doing? Don't you dare touch me!" Zhao Xi warned him.

"Just a hug, just a simple hug. I've missed you so much these past few days."

Zhao Xiyuan's body was tense, and he wanted to issue a warning in a stern but ultimately weak tone. But after hearing Lin Jiangnian's words, his heart softened a little.

Although she knew that this scoundrel was just sweet-talking her, she couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.

However, she didn't show it. But she wasn't too resistant to Lin Jiangnian's groping, so she simply turned a blind eye.

Seeing that Zhao Xi was no longer resisting, Lin Jiangnian was overjoyed, and his hand, which had been resting on her waist, began to wander.

As soon as I made a move, the back of my hand was slapped hard again.

"Behave yourself, let's get down to business!"

Zhao Xi rolled her eyes at him and said irritably.

"Well, shouldn't we take a moment to prepare?"

As Lin Jiangnian confidently fabricated his reasons, his hands slowed down a bit, but he didn't stop. He probed little by little, exploring step by step.

"A lot has indeed happened these past few days..."

Lin Jiangnian spoke up: "Something's happened to the Secret Observatory. Have you heard the news?"

"I've heard that a few days ago, many of the Secret Celestial Bureau's experts were attacked outside the city, and I heard that quite a few were killed?"

"Exactly."

Lin Jiangnian nodded. News of the attack on the Secret Observatory had already spread throughout the capital, and Zhao Xi had naturally heard about it as well.

"Who did this?" Zhao Xi asked in surprise.

She's been confined to her home these past few days and doesn't know the specifics, she's only heard about it.

"Sixth Prince!"

"It's him?"

Zhao Xi was taken aback, but then suddenly realized.

This news wasn't unexpected, but what surprised Zhao Xi was: "How dare he be so audacious?! He actually dared to attack the Secret Observatory?!"

Lin Jiangnian sneered: "He's much bolder than I thought?"

"What do you mean?"

Lin Jiangnian narrowed his eyes: "This Sixth Prince is really good at hiding. He's hiding in the capital, secretly plotting a shocking conspiracy. What he wants is not just that simple..."

Lin Jiangnian slowly recounted the Sixth Prince's actions and his guesses about his motives.

After Zhao Xi finished listening, a look of astonishment finally appeared on her delicate face: "You mean, the Sixth Prince... intends to seize the throne?"

"He..."

Zhao Xi wanted to say it was impossible, but she stopped herself from saying it.

In the past, this would have been impossible; the entire court and the people would not have accepted an emperor with a physical defect.

Moreover, the Sixth Prince had no power or influence in the capital, and had virtually no chance of vying for the throne.

But things are different now!

The world is in chaos, the court is beset by internal and external troubles, and the new emperor is weak and sickly and has no heir.

In this way, the Sixth Prince, who was still in the capital, naturally became the general among the short men.

Furthermore, since Li Cining ascended the throne a year ago, he has been purging his political enemies in the court, offending countless forces. Now that Li Cining's prestige is at its peak and he holds the reins of power in the court, naturally no one dares to oppose him.

However, if anything were to happen to the new emperor, the situation in the court would instantly reverse. For the officials and powerful families in the court, they would naturally prefer to support a puppet emperor to ascend the throne.

Therefore, the Sixth Prince, who is still in the capital, would naturally be the best choice...

Upon realizing this, Zhao Xi immediately understood.

But soon, doubts arose in her mind: "But does the Sixth Prince alone seem to have that much ability?"

"He certainly doesn't have that much ability, but the Sixth Prince still has someone behind him."

"Who?"

"Someone you would never expect."

Stop keeping me in suspense!

Seeing Lin Jiangnian dawdling, Zhao Xi gave him a light tap with her fist, annoyed: "Just say it already."

"Chen Zhao!"

"what?!"

Zhao Xi looked astonished, her delicate body trembled, and she stood there stunned.

She was naturally taken aback when she heard the unfamiliar yet familiar name Chen Zhao, and for a moment she didn't react.

As for the tremor in her delicate body, it was because she noticed Lin Jiangnian's restless hands wandering around.

"you……"

Seemingly snapping out of her shock, Zhao Xi immediately noticed Lin Jiangnian's restless hands: "You, give it to me!"

"Hey, don't worry about the details!"

Lin Jiangnian tried to change the subject: "We're still talking about serious business."

"Say no what!"

Zhao Xi's face flushed red. This scoundrel of a man was so restless that she couldn't possibly talk about serious business.

"Can't you just behave yourself?!"

"Isn't it because I missed you?"

Is this how you think of me?

"This is how my hands miss them!"

I'll chop off your hands sooner or later!

Zhao Xi blushed and gritted her teeth, saying irritably.

Lin Jiangnian leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Are you willing to do that?"

"You... um..."

Before Zhao Xi could say anything, she felt a warm breath close to her ear, and then her earlobe was attacked.

"What...are you doing!"

Zhao Xi's delicate body trembled slightly, a tingling sensation spreading throughout her body, making her feel weak involuntarily. Before she could say anything more, Lin Jiangnian leaned in and kissed her precisely.

Very skilled.

They've become skilled workers.

"No, no..."

Zhao Xi finally found an opportunity and forcefully pushed Lin Jiangnian away. Her breathing was rapid, and her face was flushed with shyness: "No, you, you better behave..."

"Why?"

Lin Jiangnian stared at her intently. Zhao Xi's face was rosy, her eyes were clear and bright, and her skin was delicate and fair. Her snow-white skin was faintly visible under the slightly disheveled hem of her clothes.

"Yes, it will be discovered..."

Zhao Xi felt extremely ashamed, and naturally she still remembered the time her father caught her in the act.

"It's alright, your father has gone to the palace and won't be back for a while!" Lin Jiangnian reassured him softly.

"That won't do either..."

Zhao Xi gritted her teeth, filled with shame and indignation: "What, what if he comes back?"

"It's alright, let's finish this quickly!"

Lin Jiangnian excitedly said, "You know, I'm always very fast."

"you……"

Zhao Xi's face flushed red with embarrassment. This scoundrel was spouting nonsense; he was fast, my foot!

"No, it just won't work..."

Zhao Xi resolutely resisted, clearly still haunted by the previous incident, and refused to agree no matter what.

Seeing her resistance, Lin Jiangnian didn't force her any further. He just looked down at her and said helplessly, "Then what should I do?"

Zhao Xi glanced at it, then quickly looked away, her face flushed as she gritted her teeth and said, "I don't care, figure it out yourself!"

"How about we try another approach?"

"any solution?"

Zhao Xi spoke subconsciously, but suddenly noticed Lin Jiangnian's gaze slowly moving downwards with what seemed like ill intent.

As if realizing something, Zhao Xi's delicate body trembled, and her originally bent legs subconsciously pulled back under her skirt. Her face flushed, and she shook her head frantically.

"No, don't even think about it!"

"You're not allowed to do anything reckless!!"

"..."

Half an hour later.

"Tell me quickly, what happened to Chen Zhao? Wasn't he dead?"

In the warm, fragrant room, Zhao Xi curled up on the soft couch, her face flushed, and she was questioning him through gritted teeth.

Her clothes were slightly disheveled, and her long, slender, snow-white legs were hidden and curled up under her skirt, as if she were extremely disgusted.

Lin Jiangnian, on the other hand, looked refreshed and moved closer to Zhao Xi.

"Stay away from me, you're disgusting!"

Zhao Xi angrily kicked him, but then, remembering something, quickly pulled back.

"Don't worry, there's no need to be so nervous. They won't harm it!"

"Shut up, you!"

Zhao Xi's face flushed even redder. She turned her head away, not wanting to discuss this topic with him, and then demanded, "Tell me quickly!"

Well, that's a long story!

Lin Jiangnian moved closer to Zhao Xi again, reaching out to place his hand on her long, slender, snow-white legs beneath her skirt, gently rubbing them and feeling the smoothness in his palm.

Zhao Xi's face flushed red, but this time she did not resist.

"Chen Zhao, he's not dead!"

"He faked his death and escaped, hiding in the palace for the past year, secretly plotting a grand scheme..."

"..." (End of this chapter)