The eyes of Xiong Liqing were large and bright, and this luminosity was not dimmed in the slightest by her current status as a prisoner.

At the same time,

Zheng Fan could still see hatred in the depths of her eyes.

Hatred towards whom?

Logically, it should be towards himself, but it didn't quite seem that way.

Zheng Fan leaned back slightly.

Si Niang, standing behind him, grabbed a chair and pushed it forward, allowing Zheng Fan to sit down perfectly.

It had become the previous pattern again:

Lord Zheng sat on the chair, while the princess of Chu remained on the bed.

The difference was that the distance between the two had narrowed somewhat.

Zheng Fan tossed the cigarette he was holding onto the ground and took out another piece of mint candy from the iron box, putting it into his mouth.

Lord Zheng had no intention of quitting smoking, but because of the commotion when he came in earlier, he didn't want too many special scents clinging to him today.

The smell of smoke was also a very special scent.

Tobacco had not yet become widely popular in this world; taking powdered medicine was still the mainstream. At the same time, the hand-rolled cigarettes made by the blind man were particular about the ingredients, and for those with sensitive noses, the scent was unforgettable.

Xiong Liqing tentatively stretched out her hand and placed it in front of Zheng Fan.

Zheng Fan fell silent, even the chewing of the candy stopped.

"I… want… candy too."

A hint of a smile appeared on the corner of Zheng Fan's mouth.

He took out another piece of candy and placed it in Xiong Liqing's palm.

Xiong Liqing put the candy in her mouth.

A man and a woman,

facing each other,

both eating candy,

the subtle sound of teeth rubbing against the candy could be heard from time to time.

Si Niang stood behind, silent.

Finally,

Zheng Fan moved.

He reached out and supported the princess's chin.

Her skin was very smooth; being pampered from a young age, with a good standard of living, naturally allowed her to be well-maintained.

"What is Bo'ye looking at?" Xiong Liqing did not resist, allowing Zheng Fan to hold her chin.

"Nothing, just thought it was fun."

As he said that,

Zheng Fan touched Xiong Liqing's nose, forehead, and earlobes,

then continued downward along the way.

Xiong Liqing trembled slightly.

Before Lord Zheng's hand fell,

she still leaned back and dodged.

But she didn't seem to like this retreat, instinctively wanting to move her body forward again, but hesitated for a moment.

Zheng Fan also withdrew his hand.

Previously, it wasn't simply about trying to take advantage, but using this seemingly simple and direct method to make the girl in front of him retreat, thereby restoring the clear distinction in strength and weakness in the conversation.

She,

was still too green,

too much greener than the Junzhu (county princess) of the Zhenbei (Pacifying the North) Marquis household who had once given him a headache.

But this was normal; if there were women like the Junzhu everywhere, that would be truly impossible.

The physical retreat also weakened her mentally.

Xiong Liqing spoke to alleviate her fear:

"Does Bo'ye think I'm using reverse psychology?"

Zheng Fan reached out and waved his hand gently in front of him.

Xiong Liqing was frightened and shrank back again,

but Si Niang behind Zheng Fan did not step forward to slap her.

Zheng Fan said:

"Crude."

"Crude?"

Zheng Fan shook his head.

Si Niang stepped forward,

"Smack!"

With a slap,

Si Niang's slapping was an art, honed from countless times of making an example of other girls in front of her, making it loud and crisp and painful, while at the same time not damaging or disfiguring the girl and affecting business.

Xiong Liqing felt that she might have been slapped numb.

She raised her head blankly,

looking at Zheng Fan.

Zheng Fan put his index finger to his lips,

and whispered:

"Don't talk nonsense."

Xiong Liqing lowered her head and trembled, "Yes."

Zheng Fan said, "Why?"

"Why… No, I hate, I hate."

"Hate who?"

"Hate…"

Zheng Fan raised his hand, interrupting Xiong Liqing's words.

At the moment, the princess of Great Chu could fully understand and obey Lord Zheng's gestures.

"Don't rush to give the answer. I also want to play that game from the beginning. Let me guess."

Lord Zheng rubbed his chin, a thoughtful expression on his face,

and said:

"Who is it that you hate? The Qu family? Qu Peiluo? I heard that Qu Peiluo has a decent reputation; the people of Chu think he has the bearing of his father.

Even if it's an act, to be able to act like this is still quite something.

You probably don't hate him, because you can't bring yourself to hate him.

So who do you hate?

Hate me?

There's no need to say that you hate me, because it's normal for you to hate me. It would be strange if you liked me."

Hearing this, Xiong Liqing nodded in agreement: "Yes."

"Oh."

Lord Zheng opened his mouth,

pointing his finger at Xiong Liqing.

Xiong Liqing was a little confused.

Si Niang stepped forward,

"Smack!"

Another slap.

Xiong Liqing's breathing became a little rapid; she didn't know why.

After Si Niang retreated behind Zheng Fan,

Lord Zheng said:

"Why can't you like me? Like, a love at first sight or something?

Am I, this Bo, that bad?"

"I…"

Zheng Fan smiled gently,

"Remember to be good next time you speak."

"Yes, yes, Bo'ye."

Zheng Fan counted on his fingers and continued, "Then who do you hate? Do you hate your father? The old Chu Emperor passed away long ago, gone with the wind; there's no point in talking about hating or not. Besides, I heard that the old Chu Emperor loved you, his daughter, very much.

Then, then, then,

who do you hate?"

Zheng Fan leaned forward,

bringing his face closer to the princess,

close enough to see the other's eyelashes clearly.

"Whoosh!"

Lord Zheng blew a breath,

Xiong Liqing squinted her eyes.

Zheng Fan's voice rang out:

"You hate your brother, your brother from the same mother, who is also now the Regent of your Chu kingdom."

Xiong Liqing hesitated for a moment, not knowing if she was hesitating over the answer or the wording, but ultimately nodded and said:

"Yes."

"Clap clap clap!"

Lord Zheng clapped his hands,

Si Niang, standing behind Zheng Fan, also clapped.

After seeing this scene, the princess of Great Chu

instinctively raised her hands, hesitated for a moment, and also started clapping.

Cheering for Lord Zheng's analysis!

Lord Zheng pressed his hands down,

and the applause stopped.

"Then let Bo guess again why you hate your brother?"

Xiong Liqing looked at Zheng Fan, not saying anything.

Zheng Fan closed his eyes,

and after a long time,

opened them again,

and said:

"You love him?"

The princess of Great Chu's eyes widened suddenly, her face full of disbelief!

This was a secret,

a secret of the Great Chu royal family,

a secret unique to them as siblings.

Why would he know?

How could he know?

How could he possibly know!

This wasn't guessing at all, how could anyone guess it right on the first try!

Impossible, impossible!

The Yan kingdom's secret intelligence division, the secret intelligence division, actually… actually… actually…

Seeing Xiong Liqing's reaction,

even an idiot would understand

that he had guessed correctly.

Zheng Fan sighed,

shook his head slightly,

and uttered two words in a slightly disappointed tone:

"Crude."

Xiong Liqing was still distraught, while Zheng Fan slowly stood up.

He was indeed guessing.

Perhaps, some secret things might seem incomprehensible to those involved, beyond what a normal person could imagine, but for Lord Zheng,

guessing a family affair was just basic procedure, wasn't it?

He thought he might be able to find some different tricks, new stories, and new points of interest,

but the final answer

was still old wine in a new bottle, cliched and tiresome.

Zheng Fan looked down at Xiong Liqing and suddenly let out a low shout:

"Hey!"

"Ah!"

The princess of Great Chu screamed in fright.

"Hehehe." Lord Zheng laughed.

He reached out and raised Xiong Liqing's face, making her look at him, and said:

"You like your brother, but your brother, for the sake of his own court interests, wants to marry you off to the Qu family. You think this is a betrayal, your brother betrayed you and hurt you, so you hate him, you hate him very, very much, right?"

At this time,

in Xiong Liqing's eyes,

Zheng Fan's image was no different from that of a devil.

But under Zheng Fan's words, Xiong Liqing still nodded:

"Mm."

"He should be hated. A man dotes on his own sister. Even if he doesn't do things that violate human ethics, he can't treat his sister like a piece of merchandise and trade her with others. That's not how a brother should be.

You say, right?"

"Right…"

"So, you said you wanted to take revenge on him, wanted to make this Great Chu's nominal Regent and actual Chu Emperor look bad? Hmm?"

"Mm…"

Zheng Fan brought his mouth close to Xiong Liqing's ear,

and continued:

"The script you just made up is very good; but this play is really hard to perform. Once it's not performed well, it will become another play.

The play says

that the Yan kingdom's meritorious Pingye Bo, loves and is infatuated with the Chu kingdom's princess. Learning that his beloved is about to marry another, he doesn't hesitate to enter Chu alone to try to win back his lover, and is ultimately surrounded by the Chu army, fighting to the death and dying from exhaustion.

That day in Juyun City, the snow fell very, very heavily, as if the heavens themselves were mourning and grieving for this touching love.

Why can't lovers ultimately be together?

Oh dear, oh dear,

you say,

will this play still be able to earn the tears of many young wives and young girls ten, twenty, thirty years from now?"

Xiong Liqing's chest rose and fell. She, she didn't dare to answer.

Zheng Fan took a few steps back,

still smiling,

"Hehehe."

He turned and walked towards the outside of the secret room, Si Niang closely following behind.

The princess of Great Chu, who had been psychologically pressured, suppressed, and frightened by Lord Zheng in this way,

almost hysterically shouted at Lord Zheng's back:

"You're a devil, you're a devil!"

Zheng Fan didn't turn around, but just raised his finger and drew a circle, continuing:

"An angel inside."

……

Leaving the secret room, walking out of the artificial mountain.

Lord Zheng stretched lazily, breathing in the fresh air outside. It was too oppressive inside.

"Master, you just now…"

"Wasn't it good?"

"Even if the Blind Man were here, he wouldn't necessarily be able to do better than Master."

"Tsk, those words would be more pleasing to say in front of the Blind Man."

Si Niang smiled slightly, then seemed to think of something and asked:

"Master wouldn't really want to…"

Zheng Fan's action of stretching paused for a moment,

and he laughed:

"Unless my brain was sucked out."

Si Niang nodded.

"Smack."

Lord Zheng lightly slapped his forehead,

and said:

"How strange, there are mosquitoes even in winter."

……

ps: Regarding the update, because Long, like most men of this age, has just taken on a mortgage, so to be honest, Long is more eager to update than before, because he wants to pay off the mortgage as soon as possible. Writing a little more every day, updating a little more, can bring a little more income, everyone understands the principle.

But one is because of my own physical reasons. After being a dead fatty for a few years, my body is really not as capable as when I was writing "Terror Net Literature", and the second is the change in writing style. For the book "The Descent of Magic", I have poured in my feelings and emotions. It can be said that the book "The Descent of Magic" is very emotionally dependent on the author. When I am not in the state, I can actually write, after all, I am also an old author, how could I not force a water article, but I really don't want to do that, sometimes I would rather cut it off. I would rather code when I am in a good mood, so that the writing and stories are more felt.

Saying this is not to sell miserably, just to say that if the state allows, I am willing and happy to write as much as possible. I don't like to cut off updates. Every time I post "Goo Goo Goo", it actually feels like the rhythm of life has been disrupted and it is uncomfortable.

I hope everyone can understand more, sometimes it is physical reasons, sometimes it is coding state reasons, sometimes it is life reasons, in fact, I have tried to block most of the going out and social interaction in my daily life.

Every time I post a single chapter saying that there will be no update tonight, the reason will be written, there is really no subjective mood to be lazy.

"The Descent of Magic" is almost two million words, and everyone who can follow the update here is considered a die-hard fan. Long actually enjoys the feeling of interacting with everyone after publishing a chapter every day, like a fixed gathering of a group of friends every day.

Don't panic,

Hold Long tight!