“You're playing the scoundrel! Refusing to own up.” The other party accused.
Playing… playing the scoundrel? Hey! Clearly you're the one doing that, right? You save someone and then force them to repay you—can't you just have the spirit of Lei Feng?
“Besides, I gave my first time to you. Shouldn't you repay me and take responsibility?”
This time, it was Xiao Qianyin who felt thunderstruck, left utterly disheveled by the shock. In slow motion, she extended a finger to point at herself and asked, “Your first time was given to me? What first time?”
“First time saving someone, first time hugging someone. Doesn't that count?” Qin Xiaoran smiled as he looked at her, and Xiao Qianyin suddenly felt her cheeks heat up.
“You… you aren't planning to pledge yourself to me?” she asked cautiously.
Qin Xiaoran smiled gently, like a bright moon rising over the sea, like an evening breeze brushing past the mountain peak. “Mmh, that's quite a good choice. If you hadn't said it, I wouldn't have thought of it!”
Loose lips! She really wanted to curse herself out. Even if she had brought up anything else, it would have been better than this!
“Promise me one condition, within your ability. I won't make you do anything bad.”
“What condition?” She didn't let down her guard.
“I can't think of one right now. Consider it a debt; I'll collect it from you later.”
He rubbed his chin, smiling meaningfully. Xiao Qianyin bristled, feeling like a pitiful mouse being toyed with in the palm of a cat. Was this the legendary “one thing subdues another”? No, she didn't want a natural nemesis!
“You don't mind if I sit here, do you?”
He'd already sat down, so why was he even asking? A classic case of acting first and reporting later!
A stretch of silence fell. She ultimately couldn't resist breaking it.
“You're the crown prince of Western Qin? Is Western Qin the former Qin Dynasty?”
Recall how the First Emperor cracked his long whip to govern the world, devoured the Two Zhous and destroyed the feudal lords, stepped upon the supreme throne to control the six directions, wielded his rod to lash the world, his might shaking the four seas.
In the south, he seized the lands of Baiyue to establish Guilin and Xiang Commanderies. Meng Tian built the Great Wall in the north to guard the frontier, driving back the Xiongnu seven hundred li. The Hu people dared not head south to pasture their horses, and soldiers dared not bend their bows to vent grievances.
What magnificent feats! What magnificent momentum!
However, at least in this era, the Qin Dynasty had existed for several centuries, while in her era, the Qin perished with the Second Emperor, lasting only a few decades.
“Yes. My original surname should have been Ying. After Western Qin was established, all descendants changed their surnames to Qin.”
“Why? What made you change your surnames?”
Qin Xiaoran shook his head. He himself didn't know; how could he answer her? The merits of his ancestors had finally faded into the passage of time. They were no longer as powerful as they once were.
“Truly a pity. This world originally belonged to you.”
“The emperors were fatuous and devoid of virtue, poor at governing. Falling to such a state was their own doing.”
Xiao Qianyin was somewhat surprised. She hadn't expected his thinking to be so open-minded. Generally speaking, no one was willing to admit their ancestors' mistakes, right?
“What? Did I say something wrong?” Seeing the girl's surprised expression, he reached out and rubbed the top of her head. The soft sensation caused an indescribable feeling to surge in his heart. “I'm not a pedantic person.”
“Your way of thinking really transcends the era.”
“Transcends the era?” Qin Xiaoran didn't understand. He always felt that from time to time, she would blurt out words he couldn't understand. For example, that “narcissism” from last time. Intuitively, it probably wasn't anything good.
“Uh, it means you possess a magnanimous mindset that ordinary people don't have.” Xiao Qianyin hurriedly corrected herself. How had she let a modern word slip?
“I see. So I'm not too bad in your heart.”
Yeah. Aside from being overbearing, taking advantage of others' misfortunes, and scheming against people behind their backs, you were still quite a good person.