A Gentleman Deliberately Soiled Himself, Hiding His Clumsiness

"Actually, it's because there's a lone man and a lone woman here, and I just so happen to have no cultivation whatsoever. Even if I wanted to make a move on Miss Su, I'd have the heart but not the strength."

Jiang Lan sighed, wearing an expression of helpless regret.

The moment Su Qinghan heard this, she could not help recalling how he had taken liberties with her at Snow Moon Pavilion that day. Her pearly teeth clenched lightly, and a flush of embarrassment and anger surfaced in her cold eyes.

What did he mean, a lone man and a lone woman, with the heart but not the strength?

Had they not been alone then as well?

To tell barefaced lies with his eyes wide open—she had truly seen it tonight.

"What would it take for Young Master Jiang to let me go?" Su Qinghan took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.

"'Let you go' sounds terribly harsh and distant."

Jiang Lan shook his head lightly and turned around. His long fingers tapped unhurriedly against the jade table. "How about Miss Su considers the conditions I mentioned during the day? Look at your father—if you hadn't stepped forward in time and gotten your sister out of that bind, he would probably have wanted to send her to me as a concubine."

"You wouldn't want to watch your sister be pushed into a pit of fire either, would you?"

Su Qinghan froze. Her lustrous red lips moved, and she nearly trembled with rage.

Remembering that she had already called him "shameless" earlier, she forcibly swallowed the word back down.

She had never imagined that Jiang Lan could say such things so calmly and shamelessly. Even he knew he was a "pit of fire"?

Yet the more Jiang Lan spoke this way, the more it confirmed the many suspicions and associations in her heart.

What she was about to say and do might be somewhat bold, but she had to try.

Su Qinghan took another deep breath.

Her beautiful, jade-like eyes reflected Jiang Lan's handsome face as she said directly, "Young Master Jiang is the sole son of the Chancellor, a man of noble and exalted status. Why trouble a weak woman like Qinghan?"

"Though Qinghan has a bit of beauty, I know my own worth. A figure such as Young Master Jiang has surely seen countless Heavenly Chosen Daughters. Among them, what could Qinghan possibly amount to?"

Sure enough, since ancient times, no one believed the truth. Only well-worn tricks won people's hearts.

Jiang Lan clicked his tongue inwardly.

But aloud, he still said leisurely, "Miss Su ought to have more confidence in yourself. By my experienced eye, having admired three thousand women, your looks would rank among the finest in all the Great Xia Dynasty. Perhaps not beauty unrivaled through the ages, but surpassing all within a region would be effortless."

He was not saying this at random.

After all, Su Qinghan was the Female Protagonist who received the most attention in the original plot. The descriptions of her beauty might not have praised her to the heavens, but they came close enough.

"To receive such praise from Young Master Jiang truly is Qinghan's good fortune."

Although Jiang Lan had praised her beauty, Su Qinghan was not foolish enough to believe that he had truly been captivated by her appearance.

Such words were merely to be heard and forgotten, especially coming from his mouth.

Had she not experienced what happened during the day, she might have thought Jiang Lan was a Second Generation Scion given over to sensual pleasures, ignorant and incompetent.

But after interacting with him now... she only found him deep-minded, unfathomable, and incomparably dangerous. It was best to keep her distance and treat him with respect from afar.

"Since you think it fortunate, why have you kept rejecting my goodwill, Miss Su?" Jiang Lan regarded her with amused interest.

"Qinghan's life is lowly and her fortune thin. I cannot climb this lofty branch hanging before me..." Su Qinghan shook her head.

The smile faded from Jiang Lan's face as he interrupted her. "Miss Su, are you refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit?"

"If Young Master Jiang insists on forcing Qinghan, then Qinghan would rather end her life here."

Su Qinghan lifted her exquisite, jade-like face. Her tone was cold and resolute.

Her dark hair danced in the night wind, making the determination on her face appear all the more absolute.

In saying this, she was actually gambling.

Gambling on all her earlier suspicions and inferences—gambling on what she believed she understood about Jiang Lan...

"Miss Su, do you know what you are saying?"

At those words, not a trace of a smile remained on Jiang Lan's face.

A chill seemed to enter his eyes, and his voice became indifferent. "In the vast Great Xia Dynasty, no one has ever dared reject me like this."

"Do you know the consequences?"

"I do. Whatever the consequences, Qinghan will accept them."

Su Qinghan's expression remained unchanged, still firm and resolute.

Even beneath Jiang Lan's gaze, she tried her utmost to remain composed and calm, without the slightest panic.

If she had guessed wrong, then at worst she would die. She had long prepared herself for the worst outcome.

This had always been a desperate gamble for her.

"Clap, clap, clap..."

"What a fine 'rather end my life here.'"

The anger Su Qinghan had expected did not appear in the next moment.

Instead, Jiang Lan applauded, smiling faintly. "Miss Su truly is different from the rest—both brave and resourceful. No wonder that person from the Dao Cang Sword Sect took you as a disciple."

"Still, I actually admired that aloof, lofty air you had during the day. Now, though, you're being hypocritical..."

"People change." Su Qinghan answered bluntly.

Seeing Jiang Lan like this, she knew she had made the right bet.

Yet Jiang Lan's words still left her somewhat puzzled—the one from the Dao Cang Sword Sect?

Was he referring to her master?

But to the Prime Minister's son, even the Sect Master of the Dao Cang Sword Sect should amount to nothing, shouldn't he?

But there was no time for her to dwell on it.

Jiang Lan smiled, then sat down with what seemed like fading interest and sighed. "You make me seem rather boring when you put it that way."

"How were you so certain I wouldn't make things difficult for you?"

Su Qinghan's gaze fell upon his face, and for once, her tone carried a trace of admiration. "As the ancients said, 'A gentleman deliberately soils himself, hiding his clumsiness upon his person.'

"Know the white, yet keep to the black, and become the model of the world. Become the model of the world, and constant virtue will not stray; one returns to the limitless.

"During the day, Young Master Jiang used himself as bait to lure Lin Fan into revealing himself and making a move. Only then were you forced to take liberties with me, provoking Lin Fan's fury and making him expose a flaw. At the evening banquet, with Great Scholar Zhao Tianhe present, Young Master Jiang deliberately soiled himself and hid his clumsiness, having me pour wine at your side—yet that, too, was merely to silence gossip..."

Everyone believed that the Prime Minister's son was nothing more than a worthless Second Generation Scion, wallowing in wine and women, ignorant and incapable. Even she had thought so from the beginning.

Only after coming into contact with him did she finally understand completely: this so-called "wastrel" was merely a disguise Jiang Lan wore for the world to see.

The current Prime Minister held power enough to blot out the sky, while Imperial Power had fallen into others' hands. Within Great Xia, powerful clans and noble houses, aristocratic families and sects, were tangled together like roots and branches, each step fraught with calculation.

If the Prime Minister's son had not been a wastrel known throughout the realm, Great Xia would likely have long since descended into unbearable chaos and turmoil.

The imperial clan would be even more unable to sleep or eat in peace. How could they remain this calm? They would likely have already stirred up countless internal conflicts out of fear of the Prime Minister's power.

And once Great Xia fell into internal strife, it would inevitably lead to regional division and fragmentation.

The other dynasties and foreign races would certainly seize the chance to invade. From then on, Great Xia would weaken, and its former splendor—the sight of myriad kingdoms coming to pay homage—would never return.

It might even vanish from that day onward, utterly destroyed.