Chapter 569: Yandere

Because it was not the proper path, Xue Qinghe was not injured, so after adapting, she relied on her Spirit Master physique to fight alongside Qin Jian until almost dawn.

"This guy... is just too strong..."

Lying prone beside Qin Jian, Xue Qinghe watched his sleeping profile quietly.

Even though they had gone to sleep together, she was the first to wake up; it was hard to tell if she had even fallen asleep at all...

"I never expected... that I would so quickly... with him..."

A flush of crimson appeared on her face, then slowly faded away.

"It exceeded my expectations... at this level, how can this still be called playing along..."

She watched Qin Jian quietly by her side, experiencing the feeling of having someone to rely on, and a strange sensation welled up in her heart.

Twenty years of lurking—that kind of loneliness and isolation was truly terrifying, so terrifying that the bit of affection she had felt back then remained unforgettable until now, so terrifying that even after calculating everything, she still wanted to bind him to her side, but...

Xue Qinghe leaned quietly against Qin Jian's shoulder, watching his profile, her expression shifting and unpredictable.

But he would not, and was not willing to, belong only to her alone; he had many attachments, his heart broken into several petals, and even Bibi Dong was but one of his petals...

"Hum!"

Xue Qinghe's expression suddenly turned fierce; she pressed her slender hand against her chest, and a dagger appeared in her palm, the tip hovering over Qin Jian's chest, poised to strike yet not striking.

"If I kill him, turn him into my own Soul Ring, and fuse his soul bone into my body, he would belong to me alone, wouldn't he..."

The expression on Xue Qinghe's face flickered between light and shadow, one moment fanatical, the next reluctant.

Perhaps even Qin Jian did not expect that after her soul power level rose to level 78, Xue Qinghe would actually have the thought of killing him...

"Hum..."

The dagger in her hand vanished, and Xue Qinghe pressed tightly against Qin Jian, her face full of reluctance.

"He is the first man to walk into my heart... If he were gone... I would have to become one person again..."

She reached out to wrap her arms around Qin Jian's neck, her cheek pressed against his neck, breathing deeply to memorize Qin Jian's scent, feeling very attached...

"Your Highness the Crown Prince! This is bad!"

The next morning, before Qin Jian had woken from his deep sleep, Xue Qinghe was still watching him in a daze when a subordinate suddenly rushed in to report.

Xue Qinghe frowned, then climbed out of bed on tiptoe.

"What is the matter?" she asked, looking at the subordinate waiting outside the door.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, overnight, the entire Heaven Dou City has been filled with these little slips of paper, look!"

The subordinate handed over a palm-sized piece of white paper, and Xue Qinghe took it with a frown.

As she read slowly, the expression on her face did not change in the slightest, but the hand clutching the paper slowly tightened.

"I am already aware of this matter; you may withdraw first and await my orders," Xue Qinghe said indifferently.

The subordinate seemed to have found their backbone and slowly withdrew.

"Pfft!"

Just after the subordinate left, Xue Qinghe suddenly clenched her palm, crumpling the slip of paper into a ball and throwing it away fiercely.

"What is it? What happened?"

At this moment, Qin Jian's voice suddenly sounded from behind; Xue Qinghe turned her head to see Qin Jian just walking out of the inner chamber.

She took a deep breath and said slowly, "Qin Jian, I am in trouble..."

"What is going on?" Qin Jian asked, standing by her side.

Xue Qinghe looked at him and said, "Overnight, the whole city is in an uproar; someone has distributed at least one hundred thousand slips of paper, spreading it all over the place."

"What kind of slips?" Qin Jian frowned.

Xue Qinghe said, "It is similar to that Judgment Verdict of yours, a small piece of paper filled with writing."

"What does it say?" Qin Jian asked.

Xue Qinghe clenched her fists and said, "It is filled with an analysis of me, starting from Xue Beng's accusation of me murdering the prince and poisoning Xue Ye, to the claim that I am a woman, and so on, supplemented by other clues to argue for the validity of Xue Beng's accusation..."

Qin Jian asked in confusion, "There is no real, useful evidence, just speculation at best, right? What kind of impact could that have?"

"Impact... there is..."

Xue Qinghe said in a low voice, "In many cases, the mastermind cannot be found, but as long as you grasp who benefits the most, the mastermind is basically that person; these slips of paper seize upon this point, and combined with various detailed analyses and arguments, although there is no evidence, it is enough to make most people who see it believe it, especially..."

"It is written inside that if he hadn't sensed the poisoning of his elders and brothers by the Crown Prince, why would Xue Beng have played the part of a playboy for so many years, and why would he grasp this straw, believing that as long as Xue Ye's body was examined, he could turn the tables?"

"Oh right, it also argues that Xue Beng's playboy identity is fake, to prove that I have a problem..."

She looked up at Qin Jian, her expression flickering: "Now, my reputation is completely ruined."

"Little slips of paper... ruining your reputation..."

Qin Jian's expression was strange: "Isn't this the tactic I just used two days ago? Who learned the essence of it so quickly..."

The two of them exchanged a look with great tacit understanding, then turned their heads back with the same tacit understanding.

"Now... I basically only have one political opponent left..." Xue Qinghe said gloomily.

Qin Jian tucked his hands into his sleeves: "The way of thinking of the Pagoda-Bearing Ning Tianwang has always been quite erratic..."

"So, you will not help me from now on, is that it?" Xue Qinghe said after a moment of silence.

Qin Jian tucked his hands into his sleeves: "I actually don't think this is a big problem; although your reputation is ruined, you are the Crown Prince after all—who can strip you of your position as Crown Prince?"

"So, you won't help the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect either, right?" Xue Qinghe looked up and asked.

"Hmm..."

Qin Jian stroked her light golden hair that had not yet been tied up; the smooth strands slid through his fingertips, feeling very comfortable.

"It is not appropriate for me to participate in your subsequent power struggle; I will go to the Star Luo Empire in these next few days, and while the prestige of the Spirit Judgment Hall is high, I will go there to stir up some trouble too—it would be best to judge a few princes or nobles or something..."

Xue Qinghe narrowed her eyes at him: "You want to leave right after having me? To go find your little lover in the Star Luo Empire, Zhu Zhuqing?"

Qin Jian was embarrassed: "No, at most I will see her in passing; this time I really want to strike while the iron is hot and expand the influence of the Spirit Judgment Hall..."

"Qin Jian..."

Qin Jian then picked him up and returned to the room...

Morning exercise, everyone likes it.

(End of this chapter)