Feicui was stunned for a moment, then pursed her lips in frustration.
Xiao Hanjin spoke in a deep voice, “What’s the matter?”
“The storeroom is on fire!” the guard exclaimed in panic. “The Red Feathers that arrived today, except for the few you took, the rest have all been burned!”
“What?” Feicui cried out in shock. “How could it catch fire out of nowhere?”
The guard hesitated, glancing at Xiao Hanjin. “It was… it was the princess. She knocked out the guards at the storeroom entrance and set it on fire.”
Since it was within the residence, there weren’t many guards stationed there. Normally, no one would dare to touch anything in the storeroom.
But of all people… the princess actually did it!
The more the guard thought about it, the more terrified he became. “Your Highness, I deserve to die!”
Xiao Hanjin’s face darkened to the extreme, a violent aura almost boiling over. He abruptly strode towards the backyard.
…………
Di Ronghua was lazily sitting in the courtyard, basking in the sun.
Although the sun was almost set, and the courtyard was beginning to feel chilly, she remained seated there, covered with a thick blanket, picking up peanut kernels one by one that Juye had shelled for her, and popping them into her mouth.
She looked completely at ease, just as she had been when he left earlier.
When she saw him, she even raised her eyelids slightly. “You’re back?”
Back?
If she hadn’t done such a thing, if this were just an ordinary greeting…
Xiao Hanjin’s expression grew even darker than before, the anger in his eyes unmistakable. He strode over to her, yanked her up from the lounge chair, and growled, “Di Ronghua.” His icy voice carried a chill sharper than the weather. “What have you done?”
Di Ronghua winced as her arm was gripped tightly.
Yet her gaze was one of amusement as she looked at him. “What have I done to make you so angry?”
The man’s hand, which had been gripping her arm, suddenly lifted.
For a moment, Di Ronghua thought he was going to strangle her.
But his hands only landed on her chin, though the force was so strong it nearly crushed her jawbone. “Did you burn the Red Feathers?”
“Yes.”
“Di Ronghua!”
His furious roar pierced her eardrums. Di Ronghua’s eyes narrowed slightly, and the curve of her lips gradually widened. “Didn’t you say it yourself? Other than leaving, I can do whatever I want.”
The man’s sinister gaze fixed on her face. “She’s critically ill. The Red Feathers were meant to keep her alive.” His thin lips enunciated each word clearly. “You knew there are no Red Feathers in Beixi. You knew they were transported from thousands of miles away. Did you deliberately want her dead?”
“Yes.”
Xiao Hanjin was visibly shaken, his handsome face freezing in her sight.
[Yes.]
Did she really want Mu Qingshuang dead?
Di Ronghua spoke indifferently, “I told you long ago, don’t push me. You said you forced me to come back, fine. But you dared to force yourself on me, and then you let her come to me with contraceptive medicine. Aren’t you deliberately provoking me to direct my hatred towards her?”
Hatred.
Xiao Hanjin was stunned again, his eyes darkening heavily.
She actually said hatred?
In just one day, she had gone from someone who liked him and waited to marry him, to someone who now used the word “hatred” towards him.
During lunch, he had even thought that perhaps she had compromised, even if just a little.
He had even thought that, given time, she might come to accept him again.
