The sky was bright.
When Emperor Ronghua woke up, her entire body ached. She was already dressed in sleeping robes, but her fair neck was covered in bruises.
A cold feeling filled her heart. The next second, she noticed someone sitting on a chair in the room.
Her gaze paused, and the chill in her eyes deepened.
Mu Qingshuang forced a smile. “Your Highness, there’s no need to look at me like that. Do you think I want to be here?” She pointed to the dark, bitter medicinal liquid on the table in front of her. “The contraceptive medicine—Han Jin asked me to watch you drink it. Once you finish, I’ll leave.”
Hmph.
Emperor Ronghua closed her eyes. She wasn’t wrong—that scoundrel was indeed a piece of trash.
She walked over and drank the medicine without hesitation.
Mu Qingshuang’s eyes stung as she took in the marks on Emperor Ronghua’s body. She couldn’t help but say, “Yixun is still kneeling in the palace, begging the Emperor to grant his wish for you two. Yet here you are, doing such things with Han Jin in the Crown Prince’s residence. How do you think he would feel if he found out?”
Emperor Ronghua glanced at her. “Consort Mu, you couldn’t wait to move into the Crown Prince’s residence even before receiving your divorce papers. What, is it only acceptable for you to flirt shamelessly without any boundaries, while everyone else has to be a moral benchmark to highlight your uniqueness?”
Mu Qingshuang’s eyes widened in shock. “You forced my husband to divorce me, and now you’re saying I have no boundaries?”
Emperor Ronghua couldn’t be bothered to respond.
At that moment, the door was pushed open.
Xiao Hanjin, seeing Mu Qingshuang still there, paused for a moment. His gaze swept over the empty medicine bowl on the table before settling on Emperor Ronghua. “Just woke up?”
Emperor Ronghua turned and walked away.
Xiao Hanjin’s eyes darkened, but then he noticed she was barefoot. His expression shifted, and he strode forward, scooping her up into his arms. He carried her to the bed and set her down, his voice low and stern. “How many times have I told you to wear shoes when you get out of bed? Aren’t you the one who’s most afraid of the cold?”
His scolding tone was unmistakably laced with concern. Mu Qingshuang’s eyes widened in surprise.
She had never imagined that Xiao Hanjin could be so meticulous in caring for a woman.
Emperor Ronghua let out a mocking laugh.
She didn’t say a word, but the icy sarcasm in her eyes was almost overflowing.
Xiao Hanjin crouched in front of her, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “What do you want to eat? I’ll have someone prepare it.”
For a moment, Emperor Ronghua felt the urge to slap him, but she didn’t want to hurt her own hand in the process.
“Xiao Hanjin,” she said, looking down at him with a cold, mocking expression. “Weren’t you so impatient with me? Didn’t you say you were too good to me in the past? So what are you doing now? After one night, you realized you want more, so you’re trying to win me over?”
“Ronghua,” the man’s eyes darkened. “I don’t want to argue with you. Stop saying things that upset me.”
“…”
Was this man seriously playing the victim now?
She laughed in anger. “You’re the one who did all this, and now you don’t want to argue? Then what do you want?”
Xiao Hanjin’s gaze remained fixed on her. “I just want us to be good together.”
Emperor Ronghua was about to mock him again, but then her peripheral vision caught sight of that delicate, aggrieved face. A surge of malice rose in her heart. “You don’t seem like you want to be good with me. Didn’t you say you wouldn’t interfere with her matters anymore? Yet not only is she living here, but she’s also standing in front of me, flaunting her presence. Is this your way of being good with me?”
The man’s eyes deepened. “Her being here upsets you?”
“What if I said yes?”
Mu Qingshuang’s pupils contracted. “Han Jin…”
Xiao Hanjin seemed not to hear her. His gaze remained fixed on Emperor Ronghua’s face, his voice low and even coaxing. “If I make her leave, would you be willing to start over with me?”
