After the system set its sights on the dragon throne, the princess started courting death every day.

Xiang An continued drinking his tea and nodding perfunctorily, "I know, I know."

"To be fond of her" means to like her, and she understands that.

is not it……

Wait a minute!! You like her?

Fu Qingbai likes her?!

Fu Qingbai likes Xiang An?! What the heck?!

She couldn't catch her breath before she had already drunk a mouthful of tea, and then she coughed violently, which was exaggerated, but more so because she was overwhelmed with shock and seriously doubted that she was hallucinating.

Fu Qingbai gently patted her back to help her catch her breath. After she finally calmed down, she pointed at An Shizhi, still shaken, and asked, "You said you love me?"

The emphasis was entirely on the words "I" and "you," as if it were either the person hearing the words or the person speaking them who had gone mad; in short, one of them must have gone insane.

"Yes." Fu Qingbai replied without changing his expression.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Xiang An pushed away Fu Qingbai, who was standing very close to him, cupped his face in both hands, and ruthlessly squeezed it more than a dozen times until his face turned red. Only then did he let go in shock, stammering, "It's...it's Fu Qingbai, it's Fu Qingbai...no, you're Fu Qingbai's twin brother!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Xiang An felt as if he had lost his mind. He had no twin brother who was innocent!

His three older brothers had all died in battle, leaving him as the only adult male in the Fu family, along with two nephews, one seven years old and the other eight.

What's the difference between her mentioning her younger brother and her older brother now? It's just rubbing salt into his wounds.

He cursed inwardly, "Xiang An, what's the use of your mouth? If you can't speak properly, then shut up. Do you even know how to speak human language? You're just deliberately poking at someone's sore spot. They must be heartbroken and upset now."

Embarrassed, he covered his face with his hands, his eyes sneaking peeks at Fu Qingbai through his fingers. Fortunately, Fu Qingbai did not react in any particular way; his thin double eyelids remained completely still.

"I have no younger brother," Fu Qingbai lowered his eyelashes. "I only have an older brother."

Oh no, I knew it!

Xiang An dared not even look through his fingers anymore, crying out in his heart, "System, system, can you turn back time? Just a few minutes, I need a chance to speak again!"

【cannot. 】

indifferent.

ruthless.

Xiang An stared frantically at the floor, trying to find a crack in the ground to crawl out of.

"What do you think?"

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!"

Xiang An and Fu Qingbai spoke at the same time, then both froze. Just as Fu Qingbai was about to speak, Xiang An reacted quickly and said first, "You speak first."

"...Your Majesty, I wish to request a marriage decree."

Xiang An remained silent for a long time after hearing this, then said, "Have you forgotten what you and I said to Father Emperor a few days ago?"

Fu Qingbai: "..."

"Besides, I don't like you." Xiang An lowered her hand from her face and smiled calmly. "Give up, there's no possibility between us."

She'll be leaving once she finishes her mission. If she were to get married or start a relationship, wouldn't that be irresponsible to him and to herself?

Fu Qingbai explained, "I did not intend to refuse Your Majesty's bestowed marriage that day; I only intended to make military contributions and then..."

"Stop," Xiang An interrupted. "I'd rather cooperate with you than have you bestow a marriage upon me."

Fu Qingbai asked, puzzled, "What is cooperation?"

Xiang An scratched his face awkwardly, racking his brains: "So-called cooperation is...uh...alliance?"

Fu Qingbai: "...An alliance?"

"Yes! It's an alliance!!" Xiang An was enlightened, excitedly slapping his right hand against his left. "Let's form an alliance and become best friends, what do you say?"

Fu Qingbai: "..."

Xiang An listed the benefits of allying with me: "For example, I have a lot of silver; I can teach you to make a shield that will protect you from injury; there are also special weapons... Most importantly, if you anger Father Emperor, I can plead for you. Don't be fooled by the fact that Father Emperor hit me not long ago; he still dotes on me. What do you think?"

Fu Qingbai: "..."

Xiang An looked at him: "What? You don't believe me? Or you don't believe I have these abilities? But then again, it's true, no one would believe me if I said it like this, so how about this..."

Fu Qingbai: "Your subject believes."

Xiang An: "...Really?"

Fu Qingbai: "Mm."

Weird.

Xiang An looked at him with a puzzled expression, thinking to himself, "Are people in ancient times so easily fooled? You think they'd believe me just because I said a few empty words?"

After all, she has nothing but silver right now, and the emperor's favor will only last until Ogiwara Ao arrives next year.

"Then... sign it?" Xiang An took out a square-folded piece of paper from the sachet hanging from her waist, flattened it, and pushed it in front of him. "Take a look and see if there's anything that needs to be changed. If it needs to be changed..."

Before she could finish speaking, Fu Qingbai had already taken out his personal seal and stamped it.

Xiang An was stunned for a moment. After a while, she took the paper blankly. There was a special small red seal on it, and the words "Fu Qingbai" were clearly written on it.

She had just witnessed it with her own eyes; he stamped the paper without even looking at it. Xiang An felt a warm current flow through her heart, deeply moved by his trust in her, and secretly exclaimed, "What a kind person! What a rich man! I wish I had more of these kind people!"

After praising him, she paused, then felt a pang of regret. If she had known Fu Qingbai would cooperate so well, she should have dug some traps for him and ripped him off. What a pity!

"unhappy?"

"No, I just... cough cough," Xiang An stopped herself from blurting out the words unconsciously, and quickly put away the stamped paper. "Since it's done, I'll be leaving now."

"..." Fu Qingbai stood up silently and stood in front of her.

"Is there anything else?" Xiang An asked, his fingers twitching nervously inside his sleeve as he wondered, "He looks so displeased, and he's radiating coldness. Could it be that he's having second thoughts?"

Fu Qingbai was a head taller than her, and he had just returned from the border. Even though he just stood there with a cold face and didn't say a word, the aura and intimidating power he exuded was quite frightening.

Of course, Xiang An hadn't considered the possibility that Fu Qingbai might hit her. As she had said countless times before, Fu Qingbai's character and conduct were just like his name.

Fu Qingbai: "If the princess dislikes me, why does she still form an alliance with me?"

That's for the military power you hold, of course!

Xiang An wanted to say that, but she couldn't.

Firstly, there was no precedent for women holding official positions in the original country, let alone an empress. Revealing this would only create more problems and troubles for herself.

Secondly, although he exuded a strong sense of intimidation, she also inexplicably felt that he seemed to be filled with a deep sorrow. Although she didn't know the reason, considering his actions in the first round when he tried to help her escape, she couldn't bring herself to say anything heartless in the face of such a kind person.

Thirdly, the alliance between her and him is based on mutual benefit, and has nothing to do with whether they like each other or not.

If a businessman learns of a business that will obviously make money, would he really give up an opportunity to easily make a fortune just because the only source of goods is in the hands of someone he dislikes?

The answer is definitely no.

Therefore, regardless of the reason, she had to come up with a milder excuse at this moment.