Letting Go? Like Hell

Qin Wangchuan watched Jiang Xuanli for a moment, then crouched down to meet her gaze.

"Now I'm the one who doesn't understand."

"You possess extraordinary talent, command a magnificent Imperial Dynasty, and are destined to become an Empress."

"Besides, I've already agreed to help you."

"Instead of walking the path above tens of thousands, you insist on following me."

"That's utterly foolish."

"You're only acting on impulse. Give it a few days, and you'll come to your senses. I'll pretend I never heard what you said today—"

With that, he stood, turned, and started to leave.

"Qin Wangchuan."

Jiang Xuanli interrupted him, calling him by name.

It was the first time she had done so.

Qin Wangchuan paused and looked back.

She was still half-kneeling on the ground, her face tilted up toward him.

The probing look in her eyes from when she had arrived was gone. Only tranquil determination remained, so still it bordered on stubbornness.

"There was impulse, yes."

"But not the kind of sudden whim you imagine."

"On the contrary, I have considered this for a long time, and hesitated for just as long."

"The Imperial Dynasty is both glory and shackles to me."

"Now that those shackles have broken, my heart is clear."

"I, Jiang Xuanli, am willing to devote this body to following the Divine Son."

Qin Wangchuan looked at her with newfound interest and crouched down again.

"It's meaningless."

"You and I are friends, and we were fellow students who went to Wandao Academy together. Even without becoming a follower, you can remain by my side."

"Besides, how is following me not another set of shackles?"

"What you're doing now is merely leaping from one set of shackles into another."

Jiang Xuanli was slightly older, of the same generation as Eldest Brother.

Though she