Qin Lan was shaken awake by Qin Huaiqiu.
She opened her sleepy eyes, glanced at Qin Huaiqiu, then resolutely buried her head and went back to sleep.
"Hey! Qin Lan! Get up quickly!" Qin Huaiqiu kept shaking her. In the end, he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up.
"Little master, I'm so sleepy. Let me sleep." Qin Lan, with two panda - like eyes, yawned and said, "Go play with the emperor quickly."
Hearing this, Qin Huaiqiu said awkwardly, "How do you know the emperor is here?"
Qin Lan rubbed her eyes and said, "Xu Xian is such a big man standing at the gate of Kunning Palace. I'm not blind."
"Okay..." Qin Huaiqiu was extremely embarrassed. Seeing that Qin Lan was about to fall asleep again, he quickly pulled her up and said, "Don't sleep, Qin Lan. How's the investigation going?"
"Can I tell you tonight? I'm so sleepy, master." Qin Lan tilted her head. She had only slept for an hour, and her eyes were still half - closed.
Qin Huaiqiu said anxiously, "Sikong Ting will come tonight! How can you tell me then?"
Hearing this, most of Qin Lan's drowsiness disappeared instantly. She looked up at Qin Huaiqiu and frowned, saying, "What? What did you say?"
Qin Huaiqiu cleared his throat and explained, "Well... I couldn't persuade him!"
Qin Lan looked at him suspiciously. She stared at him for a long time until Qin Huaiqiu felt uncomfortable all over. Then she said, "Master, don't tell me you've fallen in love with him?"
Qin Huaiqiu's expression froze instantly, and he looked dull.
Seeing his expression, Qin Lan knew that she had guessed right.
Qin Huaiqiu had grown up in the military. Even though he had secretly read romance novels and visited brothels with Nie Rong, he had never been in love or had any romantic experiences. But now he had fallen for the emperor, who was his younger sister's husband. This was really hard to justify.
"Master." Qin Lan leaned against the head of the bed, stared at him, and asked tentatively, "Have you ever thought about what the consequences would be if you fell in love with the emperor?"
These words were like a thunderbolt, hitting Qin Huaiqiu hard.
His face instantly turned pale. After a while, he slowly raised his eyes and looked into Qin Lan's eyes.
"I know..." Qin Huaiqiu's voice trembled slightly.
How could he not know that Sikong Ting was Lian'er's husband, and he had only met Sikong Ting because he had replaced Lian'er. Sikong Ting's affection for him was only because of the name of Lian'er. This affection was not based on anything real, so how could he be confident enough to hold on?
Although he had always understood this, during the six months of getting along with Sikong Ting, from the initial disgust when they first met to the current situation where they could kiss without any repulsion, every moment he spent with Sikong Ting had made him sink deeper and deeper, blinding his eyes.
Yes, how could he fall in love with Sikong Ting? How could he?
The entire Qin family and Lian'er's happiness were in his hands. How could he be so reckless as to fall in love in Sikong Ting's gentle embrace?
Qin Huaiqiu gritted his teeth. His eyes were filled with pain and remorse. He felt his nose turn sour, and tears welled up in his eyes. He quickly raised his head and tried to hold back the tears.
"I know..." Qin Huaiqiu murmured. Then, he made a stifled sobbing sound in his throat and couldn't say anything more.
Qin Lan had never seen Qin Huaiqiu like this before. He barely raised his head, trying hard to hold back his tears, and gritted his teeth so hard that his whole body was shaking. Qin Lan's heart ached. She quickly grabbed Qin Huaiqiu's arm and pulled him into her arms.
Qin Huaiqiu gritted his teeth and leaned on Qin Lan's shoulder. He knew that he had fallen deeply in love, and now he was trying to force himself to break free. So he grabbed Qin Lan's clothes and said tremblingly, "Qin Lan, tell me, he doesn't like me, right?"
Qin Lan hugged him, knowing that he was asking for confirmation to cool down his newly - sprouted passionate heart.
But everyone knew that once one fell in love, it was hard to get out unscathed.
"He doesn't even know I'm a man, right?" Qin Huaiqiu said again. His voice was muffled, with a pleading tone.
Qin Lan couldn't bear it anymore. She quickly patted his back and sighed, "Right."
"For the sake of the Qin family, I can't fall in love with him."
"...... Master..."
"I was just bewitched by him..."
"Yes, master. You've never experienced such things before, so it's easy for you to get trapped. It's not your fault. You don't need to blame yourself." Qin Lan said, "Once we find the young lady, I'll take you back. You'll succeed the general and become a famous general of the Great Sheng Dynasty. You'll find a woman you love, and have a large family with many children..."
Qin Lan patted his back, with a look of pity and regret in her eyes. She knew that Qin Huaiqiu needed her to say these words. She also knew that Qin Huaiqiu was now in her arms, experiencing the pain and torture of first love.
But what could she do? Emperors throughout history had always been heartless. Qin Huaiqiu was only sixteen years old and just in the bloom of youth. Moreover, one was the emperor, and the other was the young master of a general's family. Even if they were in love with each other, could all the court officials accept that their most respected emperor marry a man?
As a member of the Qin family, Qin Lan didn't want Qin Huaiqiu to spend his whole life in this deep palace and be scolded by the world. Her young master should strategize on the battlefield and become a famous general praised by generations.
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That night, Sikong Ting returned to Kunning Palace as promised, but what awaited him was a closed door.
He didn't know what was going on and paced back and forth anxiously in front of the door. Everything had been fine before he left. Why didn't Qin Huaiqiu want to see him when he came back?
"The emperor is here!!" After Xu Xian shouted for the third time, Qin Lan opened the gate of Kunning Palace a crack.
Sikong Ting rushed forward in one step, grabbed the gate with both hands, and was about to rush in.
But Qin Lan was pushing against the door from the inside, and Sikong Ting couldn't open it.
"Get out of my way!" Sikong Ting roared impatiently.
"The empress said that she is not feeling well and is not suitable to meet the emperor. Your Majesty, please go back." Qin Lan said coldly.
"What illness? I'm going to see her! If you keep blocking me, do you believe that I'll have you beheaded?" Sikong Ting shouted.
Qin Lan refused, "This servant came into the palace with the empress. I must obey the empress's orders. If Your Majesty wants to kill this servant because of this, Your Majesty can do it right away."
Sikong Ting's veins stood out, and he cursed, "You dare to threaten me?!"
"This servant doesn't dare." Qin Lan lowered her head and said.
Sikong Ting was so angry that he was shaking all over, but he knew that Qin Lan had a close relationship with Qin Huaiqiu, so he didn't dare to really do anything to her.
"What's wrong with her? Tell me!" Sikong Ting took a deep breath, tried to suppress his anger, and gritted his teeth.
"The empress is fine."
"Fine? What does that mean? Explain it clearly to me!"
"The empress is not feeling well..."
"Nonsense!" Sikong Ting cursed, "She was fine this morning. How could she be ill? Do you dare to deceive the emperor?"
"Your Majesty!" Qin Lan spoke up. She wasn't afraid of the emperor's authority at all. Looking directly into Sikong Ting's eyes, she said loudly, "The empress said that she doesn't want to see you."