Yuezhang Palace.
Mu Qingshuang picked up her chopsticks, about to eat, when she saw someone slowly walking in from outside.
Her face instantly turned cold, and she slammed the chopsticks down heavily, “What’s the matter?”
Di Ronghua curved her lips slightly, “Why such a big reaction?” She walked up to her, glancing at the dishes on the table, “The Emperor just said the imperial kitchen didn’t prepare portions for me and Fenghua, yet it seems you’ve got some?”
Mu Qingshuang’s eyelid twitched, almost immediately realising it wasn’t that the imperial kitchen hadn’t prepared anything, but rather that Xiao Hanjin wanted to dine with this woman and had deliberately made an excuse.
Her expression grew even colder, “If you’re here to flaunt something to me, then congratulations, you’ve succeeded.”
Heh.
Di Ronghua chuckled lightly, “Where would I find the time to come all the way here just to show off to you?”
Mu Qingshuang looked at her stunning face, now tinged with a few hints of seductive charm, and an instinctive fear welled up in her heart. Her tone turned hostile, “Then what do you want?”
“I…”
Di Ronghua’s red lips gradually curled upwards, “Naturally, I want your life.”
Mu Qingshuang’s pupils contracted.
Before she could react, a cold glint flashed in Di Ronghua’s eyes. In an instant, she grabbed Mu Qingshuang’s wrist, pinning her entire body against the table. Then, from somewhere unknown, she drew a dagger, its sharp tip aimed directly at the woman beneath her!
“Di Ronghua!”
Mu Qingshuang cried out in shock, “You dare attack me in the imperial palace?”
Di Ronghua laughed, her cool amusement laced with a bone-chilling scorn and disdain, “This princess is open and aboveboard. There’s nothing I wouldn’t dare do in front of others, unlike you, who can only skulk around in the shadows for everything.”
“Di Rong… ah!”
Her furious shout was abruptly replaced by a piercing scream.
Di Ronghua struck swiftly, cleanly severing one of Mu Qingshuang’s fingers!
Blood splashed onto her eyelashes, staining her vision red.
Di Ronghua narrowed her eyes slightly. Amidst the agonised cries, she enunciated each word slowly, “Mu Qingshuang, it’s truly… been a long time.”
“Di Ronghua!” Mu Qingshuang screamed hysterically, “You’re mad! Have you lost your mind?!”
“Don’t rush, this isn’t madness yet.” She leaned down, unhurriedly whispering into her ear, “Turn around and see who’s arrived outside.”
Mu Qingshuang was nearly fainting from the pain, but she instinctively twisted her head to look.
The scarlet sunset framed a man’s handsome yet tense face, his brows furrowed tightly with a hint of gloom. His ink-black figure strode purposefully towards them.
Xiao Hanjin!
Tears streamed down Mu Qingshuang’s face as if she’d seen her saviour, “Hanjin… Xiao Hanjin, save me!”
Di Ronghua curved her lips, her smiling gaze meeting his directly. Yet her hands didn’t hesitate for a moment—the blood-stained dagger plunged once more towards Mu Qingshuang’s fingers!
“Di Ronghua!” A man’s voice rang out from the doorway.
“Ah!” Mu Qingshuang let out an even more harrowing scream.
This time, it was her entire right hand.
Gushing blood splattered across Di Ronghua’s face, blurring her vision.
When she could finally see clearly again, Xiao Hanjin stood before her, his dark eyes fixed on her intently, “What are you doing?”
Di Ronghua let out a laugh, “My Fenghua, he’s missing a finger…”
Her smile, drenched in the vivid red of blood across her face, was bewitchingly eerie, yet her eyes shone with an unparalleled purity and innocence, “So anyone I find displeasing doesn’t deserve to have hands.”
