A Plot Hole?

"Young Master Jiang, could you give me some time to consider it? This all happened so suddenly..." Su Qinghan said, intending to stall for time before seeking a way out.

"My patience is not very good."

"Miss Su had better take advantage of the little patience I have left. If it runs out, I may well do something that will make Miss Su regret it for the rest of her life." Jiang Lan's gaze swept across her exquisitely curved figure, seemingly laden with meaning.

Su Qinghan's breath caught slightly. Her delicate body trembled as she instinctively shrank back.

Jiang Lan looked down at her from above and said unhurriedly, "Then let us do this. I will have someone take Miss Su to bathe first. The night is so cold; I would hate for a beauty to catch a chill."

Su Qinghan choked again. Looking at the empty wooden bucket nearby, she gritted her silver teeth. Had she not been drenched by Jiang Lan in the first place? And now he was pretending to be a good man?

Yet she said nothing more on the surface. Her silence counted as consent.

Jiang Lan lightly clapped his hands, and several women stepped out from behind him. They approached Su Qinghan with practiced familiarity, supported her, and led her out of the dungeon.

But because chains still bound her hands and feet, she could not walk quickly. They clattered as she moved, their rattling exceptionally clear in the silent night.

Jiang Lan narrowed his eyes.

Even now, he still could not make sense of the original plot.

Why had there been no guards around him when Su Qinghan came to rescue her younger sister, allowing her to succeed?

A plot hole?

Or was there some other reason? But there was no way to investigate it now. After all, since he had transmigrated here, the plot had already stopped following its original course.

Not long after.

Having bathed and changed into a fresh dress, Su Qinghan arrived at the pavilion with the support of several maids.

However, the shackles on her hands had already been removed on Jiang Lan's orders.

Jiang Lan stood with his hands behind his back. He turned to look at her and gestured for her to sit.

The jade table before them was laden with exquisite delicacies, their fragrance filling the air. It was extravagance beyond measure.

"Young Master Jiang, Great Xia's iron laws are strict today, and during the Xia Emperor's reign, he has repeatedly decreed..."

After sitting down, Su Qinghan tried to invoke the Great Xia Law and make Jiang Lan retreat in the face of difficulty.

Yet as she spoke, a streak of light flashed in the jade hand hidden beneath her sleeve. A smooth, crystalline Recording Stone appeared, tightly clenched in her palm.

This was the method of escape she had thought of earlier.

Under the Xia Emperor's rule, four departments jointly assisted in governing and overseeing the realm.

The four departments were the Sky Monitoring Department, Immortal Suppressing Department, Night Pacification Department, and Law Enforcement Department.

Among them, the Law Enforcement Department was responsible for overseeing the laws.

If Jiang Lan dared violate the Great Xia Law and forcibly seize a civilian woman,

then even though his father was Great Xia's Prime Minister, he would have difficulty answering to the Law Enforcement Department.

If he openly scorned the law and trampled upon Imperial Power, then his crime would be even more severe...

This was the only way out she could think of.

As though he had not noticed Su Qinghan's little movement at all, Jiang Lan casually waved a hand and interrupted her.

He smiled carelessly. "Since Miss Qinghan knows who I am, then you should understand how laughable it is to bring up the Great Xia Law in front of me."

"But that does not matter. If Miss Qinghan finds this troublesome, if rules are standing in your way, I can send someone to quietly dispose of your son-in-law husband. What do you think?"

"Or I could help you annul your marriage contract with him? Then you would be free from this day onward."

At the final sentence, Su Qinghan's pupils trembled in her beautiful eyes.

Why had she cultivated diligently all this time, never daring to slack off?

Was it not to seize control of her own freedom and prevent her family from deciding her marriage for her?

But if her marriage to Lin Fan were annulled under such circumstances, would that not make things even worse?

Lin Fan might be somewhat of a good-for-nothing, but at least he could never interfere with her affairs, much less lay a finger on her.

A Second Generation Scion like Jiang Lan, however, treated her purely as a plaything.

Once his novelty wore off and he grew tired of her, what would become of her?

"Young Master Jiang certainly has a bold tongue, utterly disregarding the Great Xia Law..."

Su Qinghan remained outwardly composed, but her hand tightened around the Recording Stone.

Jiang Lan looked at her with great interest and chuckled. "Miss Qinghan, do you think there are not enough crimes of mine in the Law Enforcement Department already?"

"You may as well try and see whether you can send me in."

At those casually spoken words, the jade hand hidden beneath Su Qinghan's sleeve trembled, and her breathing stalled.

She looked at Jiang Lan's relaxed, natural expression.

She only felt a chill rise from her back.

Even in the height of summer, she could feel that terrifying cold.

He was clearly scorning and trampling Great Xia's iron laws, yet from his lips, it sounded like he was discussing some utterly ordinary triviality.

That attitude clearly told her that some people were born destined to stand above iron laws.

Such terrifying power nearly suffocated her.

Su Qinghan fell silent. Then, without a sound, she put away the Recording Stone hidden in her jade hand.

Jiang Lan smiled faintly, sat back down, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

This Female Protagonist was even smarter and more rational than he had expected. She had not made any pointless struggle.

However, there was still a long road ahead before he could truly subdue her and make her serve him.

Su Qinghan's character meant she would never genuinely submit to power. Making her wholeheartedly loyal to him was even more impossible for now.

What a pity the original owner had not possessed the slightest cultivation. If he had some forceful method like Demonic Heart Cultivation, why would this need to be so troublesome?

Cultivation...

Sure enough, cultivation was still the most important thing in this world.

As long as his constitution recovered, with the Prime Minister's Manor's resources and the assistance of his mother's faction, overtaking others later would be easy.

However, Jiang Lan searched through the memories in his mind and combined them with the plot he knew. He suddenly discovered that his parents had also been scheming and planning something regarding his cultivation and his body.

The later execution of the entire Prime Minister's Manor, and the destruction of his mother's faction after it was implicated, were also greatly connected to this matter.

Parents' hearts were truly pitiable everywhere under heaven.

Though they were a family of villains, they absolutely doted on him, their son, beyond measure. They had not even had another child for fear that he might Read into it.

Throughout the vast Prime Minister's Manor, he was the sole shoot of the family line.

Yet for the current Great Xia Dynasty, a useless prime minister's son who indulged in wine, women, and sensual pleasures was actually more beneficial to stabilizing the situation.

"The most urgent matter is still to get the Immortal Embryo Creation Dew that can reshape my spiritual roots and forge an Immaculate Immortal Body into my hands..."

"With strength, nothing will be a castle in the air."

The Immortal Embryo Creation Dew was an exceedingly precious heavenly treasure in the early plot; one could tell as much from its name.

It was said that a single drop could turn a fool utterly devoid of cultivation aptitude into a genius seen only once in a century.

This was what Jiang Lan needed most at present.