A brief speech made the young girl's body tremble uncontrollably.
The days and nights of torture came flooding back like a tide, making it almost impossible for her to catch her breath.
The maid beside her looked discontented upon seeing this. She quickly stepped forward to support her young mistress.
"Miss, are you okay? Young Master Lan is really ungrateful. Our young mistress clearly showed concern for you. How could you say such venomous words?"
The young man snorted coldly. He didn't take the girl's state into account at all. Instead, he sneered.
"I can't bear your so - called concern. Some people's concern is real, while your young mistress's concern can be fatal."
The maid couldn't hold back any longer. Just as she was about to say something, her young mistress stopped her.
"Miss! Look at his attitude! You even wanted to speak up for him before."
"Xiaojun, forget it. It's all my fault after all, and I should make up for it."
"Miss! You even spoke for his family in front of the King. It's just too much for him to make things difficult for you like this."
The young girl pursed her lips. Finally, she didn't let the maid say anything else. She gently placed her umbrella beside the young man, barely shielding him from the snow.
"I know you hate me, but it's useless for you to kneel here. You've seen how heartless the King is. Instead of kneeling here, you'd better think about how to curry favor with the King next."
The young man mercilessly threw the oil - paper umbrella aside. His voice was cold, even colder than the falling snowflakes. "Miss Lin, you'd better take care of your own health. Don't accidentally fall one day, and then your maid blames it on me. I won't be able to defend myself then. Maybe I'll end up like my relatives."
The oil - paper umbrella was thrown aside. The plum blossoms on it formed a sharp contrast with the white snow. As the snow dripped on it, the plum blossoms quickly disappeared, just like the young girl's feelings. They were obvious at first but then had to be completely covered up.
Lin Sun forced a helpless smile at the corner of her mouth. "If you don't trust me, then just keep kneeling here."
She flicked her sleeve and walked into the main hall. Lan Xi looked up at the door that was quickly closed by the eunuch, then lowered his head again.
Memories slowly flooded back. Lan Xi's smile gradually turned sinister. "You pulled me into hell and separated me from my family. Did you ever think that you would end up like this one day?"
"Sure enough, you can never let go of what happened back then. The King killed your whole family but spared your life. Aren't you satisfied?"
"Humph, should I be grateful? Thank you for not killing me? Have you ever thought about how painful it is for me to live alone in this world? If it weren't for revenge, I'm afraid I'd be a cold corpse by now."
Lin Sun's face turned pale. She tightly grasped the table beside her.
"So this is the reason why you betrayed the Western Region?"
"Isn't this reason enough?"
Lin Sun couldn't find any words to refute this man. He was indeed right. With his whole family killed, the only thing that had kept him alive until now was revenge.
Seeing that if the two of them continued to talk, they might even fight.
Cui Qizhou quickly stepped forward to interrupt them.
"Lin Sun, if you explain your purpose and plan for coming here in detail, I can consider letting you and your grandmother leave."
But Lin Sun was just like her grandmother. Neither of them would ever betray their master no matter what.
"You can give up this idea. We will never betray the King."
"It seems that you and your grandmother are really of one mind. In that case, I'll give you one night to think it over and see if your so - called King is really worth your loyalty."
Saying this, he led the people behind him away.
Mainly because if he didn't leave, the people behind him might have the urge to kill Lin Sun.
Cui Qizhou returned to his room exhausted. Just as he took a sip of tea, he suddenly noticed a slight movement behind the screen.
Out of instinct, he quietly took out his sword and slowly approached.
Just as the sword was about to strike down, a shrill cry suddenly came out. "Ah! What do you think you're doing? Mother didn't say that she sent me here to die."
This sudden words almost made the man unable to react.
"Who are you?"
He put the sword away with a gloomy face. Although there was not a single ray of light in the room, he could intuitively tell that the person opposite didn't mean to harm him.
The woman covered her body and shivered. "I was sent by my mother. She said I could rest here tonight. She didn't say there would be a man in the room. So how did you break in?"
Cui Qizhou was a bit confused. "Who is your mother?"
"The wife of the county magistrate! Scared now, aren't you? If you are, get out quickly. This is my room. It's wrong for you to break in without my permission. But since you're a first - time offender and haven't caused any big trouble, I won't bother with you. I hope you won't make the same mistake again, or I can't guarantee that your head will still be on your shoulders."
Listening to her words as if she was doing everything for his own good, the man put the sword away and twitched the corner of his mouth.
"Don't you even know that there's already someone in this room?"
These words were like a thunderbolt to the woman, striking her dumbfounded. "What did you say? How is that possible? My mother said this room was specially prepared for me tonight. You're just a man who suddenly appeared. How could you be the owner of this room?"
"Since you don't believe me, go and ask your dear mother. Well, I'm going to rest. If you have nothing else to do, miss, please leave quickly. It's not appropriate for you to stay in a man's room in the middle of the night. If someone sees you, there's bound to be misunderstandings. Even if you have ten mouths, you won't be able to explain it clearly."
The woman didn't react for a long time. She couldn't digest the information she had just heard. Could it be that, as she had guessed, her mother had actually given her to a man today?
No, it was impossible. She was her mother's darling since childhood. How could her mother treat her like this?
The woman staggered out of the room. Holding onto her clothes, she ran out, apparently going to ask her mother for clarification.
Cui Qizhou was too lazy to care about these trivial matters. He was just about to lie down on the bed to rest when a familiar voice suddenly came from outside.
"I didn't expect the State Preceptor to be so thirsty."