Jingling Gongzi walked slowly into the bedroom, and Wei Luo hesitated for a moment before following him in a hurry.

  She stood behind him, her head bowed and her hands clasped together.

  The Duke of Jingling walked to the front of the couch, sat down slowly, leaned slightly against the couch, waved his hand and said faintly: "All of you go out!"

  "Agreed."

  The maidservants responded in unison and retreated quickly. Wei Luo was dazed for a moment, just about to take a step out, when she saw the Prince of Jingling glance over at her. She hastily stopped in her tracks and stood still with her head bowed and hands clasped together.

  At this time, there were only two people left in the hall, him and Wei Luo.

  Weiluo's heart began to thud uncooperatively. The sound of her heartbeat was loud, so loud that Weiluo swallowed hard. She lowered her head and gazed at the bright candlelight below, where the majestic figure of Jinling Gongzi loomed large, his noble aura overwhelming. A thought suddenly burst forth in her mind, strong and intense: Something's not right! Something's not right! Why could he evoke such a strong emotional response from me? Was it just because he was too handsome? No, Weiluo, you've fallen for him! You've fallen for this high-and-mighty, powerful man who has killed before!

  The idea came like a pail of cold water, pouring down on Weiruo Lin, making her shiver in an instant.

  Weilo didn't think that Jingling Gongzi would be a good object of infatuation! Absolutely not! She couldn't let this emotion dominate herself! Couldn't let her heart lose control, absolutely couldn't!

  She thought of this, gritted her teeth, took two steps forward, and under the gaze of Jingling Gongzi, Wei Luo slowly knelt down, knocked his head on the ground, and said loudly: "Gongzi, I have something to say."

  Jingling Gongzi turned his eyes towards her.

  He gazed at her deeply, his voice a little softer, "Speak!"

  Wei Luo took a deep breath. At this moment, Wei Luo's heart truly regained its usual calmness and rationality. At this time, the subconscious doubts that she had been ignoring clearly emerged in her mind, and they also gave out answers.

  Wei Luo fell to her knees with a thud and kowtowed heavily, her voice trembling as she said: "Young Master, this humble servant was wrong!"

  Jingling Gongzi stared at her and said again in a gentle tone: "Speak!"

  Weiluo struck again, this time using three-tenths of his strength. In an instant, a patch on his forehead turned iron-blue. Weiluo's head hit the ground, and his voice took on a hint of panic, "Young Master, I've gone too far!"

  The dome is very high, and her words are floating in the vaulted hall, with a lingering echo.

  Wei Luo remained still and silent, waiting for Prince Jing's reaction.

  It was unknown how much time had passed when his low and magnetic voice floated over, "Good!"

  Good!

  He said good!

  As expected, he had known about my disguise all along and saw right through it! Moreover, his tone was very gentle, so it seemed that he only saw through my disguise and wouldn't suspect that I'm actually a woman. Even if he did have suspicions, as long as he wasn't certain, I had to keep up the act. This one thing couldn't be revealed to him, absolutely not!

  Jingling Gongzi gazed at her, his voice faintly tinged with a few unconscious smiles, "Come forward."

  "Agreed."

  Wei Luo responded with a sound, kneeled down on the ground, and slowly crawled to his front. From start to finish, she didn't raise her head, her face was filled with fear, fully expressing her respect and unease.

  A hand gently stroked her hair, and Jingling Gongzi looked at her, "Tell me in detail."

  "Yes."

  Wei Luo responded with a sound, then lowered his voice and said in an extremely honest tone: "Reporting to the young master, my ancestors were from Wei, several generations of nobles. However, during the war, human life was cheaper than grass, and I drifted away several times, settling in Yue. Since birth, I have not been noble again, but at least I can eat my fill. Later, when my family changed, my father died and my mother passed away, I drifted away to a foreign land. Fortunately, since childhood, I had read many books and was somewhat familiar with the art of disguise, which allowed me to protect myself until now."

  She said this with a very sincere attitude, very calm and completely heartfelt.

  Wei Luo hung her head, motionless, and could feel that the Prince of Jingling was staring at her tightly, but she didn't know if he believed her or not. If, if he still had doubts, then she would think of a way to leave, no need for excuses, no need to drag it out. Her current sword skills were barely enough to protect herself. Besides, many things you don't do, how can you know they won't succeed? Maybe in this ancient and backward era, she could also find a way to make a living and establish herself.

  In Weiluo's attentive listening, Jingling Gongzi withdrew his hand and said slowly: "Weiluo, what were you afraid of when I came here at first?"

  Actually, he had been most concerned about this issue all along.

  Wei Luo's face turned pale, she found that this question was really hard to answer, really hard to answer.

  According to worldly ways, a young man like Wei Luo should be eager to rise through the ranks and make a name for himself. However, Wei Luo has been avoiding such noble people from the very beginning, which is extremely unreasonable.

  Knowing that Jingling Gongzi had extraordinary intelligence, Wei Luoluo hesitated for a moment before tremblingly responding: "I'm just a minor character, I don't want to be a child's plaything!"

  Suddenly, the air in the room condensed, and that heavy pressure began to gather again, pressing down on Weiluo's hair until it felt numb and heavy.

  Without him saying a word, Wei Luo also knew that Prince Jingling didn't believe him. It was very clear that Wei Luo's answer wasn't enough to convince him.

  Wei Luo continued to speak hastily: "Although I have read a lot of poetry and books, I was born with a natural feminine appearance. A fortune teller once said that if I could make a name for myself through martial arts, I might be able to protect myself and live a long life. But if I rely on my intelligence and show off my writing skills, I will ultimately fail to achieve fame because of my appearance, and instead be ridiculed by the world, bringing shame to my ancestors."

  This was the only excuse Weiruo could think of in his haste. It wasn't perfect, but people in this era were extremely gullible when it came to these mysterious arts and numerology, and they would rather believe in something that might exist than not at all.

  As for the focus of Gongzi's suspicion, it is none other than why Wei Luo, with her exceptional abilities and humble status, was unwilling to show herself off in front of Gongzi, in order to stand out. And this reply from Wei Luo was precisely telling him the reason behind her hiding herself in front of him in every way.

  Wei Luo finished speaking in one breath, paused for a moment, and then said: "Young master, although I am small in stature and not like a swordsman, but after half a year of sparring with wooden swords, I have made some progress. I believe that with a little more time, I can truly make a name for myself with my sword!"

  She said this with great confidence, so she was very loud. After finishing speaking, she fell to the ground and didn't move for a long time.

  Weiruo perked up his ears and listened attentively to every sound emitted by the Duke of Jingling.

  It was unknown how much time had passed when Jingling's voice faintly rang out, "Get up."

  "Agreed."

  Wei Luo quickly scrambled up, and before she could steady herself, the low voice of the Duke of Jing spoke again, "Your words are not entirely truthful."

  Such a response was beyond Wei Luo's expectations; she had thought that he would believe her explanation and let her get up.

  Wei Luo's small face was pale, her lips trembling as she nervously and tensely glanced at the Prince of Jingling.

  She raised her eyes and met the cold, deep gaze of the Duke of Jingling. As their eyes met, the Duke's gaze shifted to the iron-colored mark on her forehead.

  His eyes softened slightly at this glance.