Xia Chujian: "..."
Bai Cuiwei added, "If I defy you and you beat me to death, the Crown Princess will think well of me."
"She'll continue treating my parents and family well."
"But if I listen to you and trick the Crown Princess into coming here, then even if you don't beat me to death, I'm doomed!"
"Even my entire family will be doomed!"
"Do you think I still have a choice?!"
Xia Chujian slowly lowered her gun, nodded, and smiled. "Not bad. Looks like I underestimated you. You're quite ready to face death."
"But have you considered that if you do as I say and ask the Crown Princess to come over, she might not come."
"Yet if you tell her that you've been taken hostage and tell her not to come, given how suspicious she is, do you think she'll come?"
The color drained from Bai Cuiwei's little face, leaving her even paler than before.
She looked at Xia Chujian in terror, her entire body going limp as she collapsed onto the bed.
Xia Chujian had indeed hit the nail on the head.
Only then did Bai Cuiwei remember that Crown Princess Tantai Jing truly was that suspicious by nature.
Or rather, every Royal Member was suspicious by nature.
Their birth determined that they pursued supreme power, and that they had never learned from childhood to place complete trust in others.
They would only ever trust thirty percent. For the other seventy percent, there had to be all manner of alliances and mutual interests before they could reach fifty percent trust.
The final twenty percent of trust would never be entrusted to anyone.
Xia Chujian herself was somewhat like that.
But she distrusted everyone not because of power, but because she had too many secrets that others could