"What are you going to do!" Xu Xin shrieked and scurried backward as she saw the short dagger glinting menacingly, getting closer and closer to her.
But unfortunately, with her hands and feet tied, she couldn't move far.
"Chu Qing! You!!! Aren't you afraid that the Prince of Ning will think you're a vicious woman?" Xu Xin pitifully cast a pleading look at Wei Ying beside her.
She didn't care about others' opinions, but surely she would care about the Prince of Ning's?
"Zizhan~" Chu Qing turned to look at Wei Ying.
Wei Ying let out a low laugh and said gently, "Do whatever you want, Qingqing. Just tell me if you need anything. At least... I can hand you the dagger."
Xu Xin: "???"
Why did it feel like a knife had stabbed her heart even before Chu Qing had made a move?
With Wei Ying's response, Chu Qing turned to look at Xu Xin again. The hatred in her eyes was now replaced by fear.
The smiling Chu Qing now looked at her with a chilling coldness in her eyes.
Chu Qing placed the short dagger on Xu Xin's face and tapped it a few times, then said casually, "What? Scared now?"
"I was wrong, Princess of Ning!"
"Oh? Wrong? Where did you go wrong?"
"I..." Xu Xin bit her lower lip hard, her eyes filled with tears.
She was putting on that pitiful act again.
But no one was falling for it.
"Where did you go wrong?" Chu Qing narrowed her eyes and continued.
Xu Xin gritted her back teeth and said reluctantly, "I shouldn't have harmed you!"
Chu Qing smiled faintly and said, "Why are you so reluctant?"
Xu Xin gritted her teeth, and the hatred in her heart surged.
Suddenly, a malicious look flashed in her eyes. With a ferocious expression, she lunged at Chu Qing. Even if she had to die, she would take that bitch's child with her!
Chu Qing had already noticed the malicious look in Xu Xin's eyes and was on guard. So when Xu Xin lunged at her in a distorted manner, Chu Qing simply sidestepped and dodged.
Xu Xin fell directly to the ground and let out a muffled groan.
"Chu Qing! I curse you, you bitch, to die a horrible death!" Xu Xin struggled to sit up, her face twisted in a hideous expression.
Chu Qing walked closer expressionlessly. Without saying a word, she quickly raised the short dagger in her hand and stabbed it hard into Xu Xin's thigh.
"Ah!"
Xu Xin let out a scream of pain.
She wanted to curse, but couldn't utter a word.
Chu Qing looked at her as if she were a dead person and said calmly, "Xu Xin, do you think you managed to escape every time because of your own abilities? Although you made me angry every time before, I wasn't as extreme as I am now. I turned a blind eye to you, but you still didn't repent and kept trying to challenge my bottom line. Fine, this time I'll simply grant your wish. Let you know what will happen if you anger me."
Xu Xin opened her eyes wide and continued to move backward while enduring the pain.
She was wrong.
She shouldn't have provoked Chu Qing.
But... she wasn't like this before!
She used to be so easy to manipulate. Why was she so ruthless now!
Thinking of this, Xu Xin, filled with a sense of horror, suddenly shrieked, "You... you're not Chu Qing! Chu Qing wasn't this ruthless! Who are you! Why are you impersonating the Princess of Ning! Are you using sorcery! Prince of Ning!!! She's not Chu Qing!"
Hearing Xu Xin's crazy words, a strange look flashed across Chu Qing's eyes.
Did she just realize that she had changed?
It was too late!
Just as Chu Qing was about to sneer, Wei Ying stepped forward and said coldly, "Do you think you can escape punishment by feigning madness?"
Xu Xin was stunned for a moment, then shook her head vigorously, "I didn't! I'm not feigning madness! My lord! Chu Qing wasn't like this before! Ever since... ever since she fell into the water... she... she's like a different person! My lord! You must have noticed too, right!"
Chu Qing smiled and said in a somewhat eerie tone, "So what if I've changed? If I were still as weak and incompetent as before, I don't know how many times I would have been killed by you!"
"You!!!" Xu Xin felt a bit guilty and couldn't say a word.
Wei Ying looked at Chu Qing with a hint of pity in his eyes, then pulled her into his arms. Looking at Xu Xin expressionlessly, he continued, "No matter what Qingqing becomes, she will always be my favorite."
Xu Xin was so angry that her face turned pale. She was too weak to say anything more.
At this moment, Chu Qing suddenly leaned closer to her, grabbed her chin forcefully, and tilted her head, saying, "Oh, if you hadn't reminded me, I would have almost forgotten. The first time, you made me fall into the water and I got seriously ill."
When she was first reborn, the last memory left by the original owner was being pushed into the water and having her head held down so that she couldn't struggle free. In the end, the original owner died and she came.
She always believed in returning the favor in kind. And at that time, she was too busy coming to terms with her rebirth to avenge the original owner. It wasn't until Xu Xin came to provoke her and frame her again and again.
She originally thought she shouldn't haggle with a junior, but Xu Xin didn't deserve her mercy.
"You're lying! I didn't!" Xu Xin still stubbornly refused to admit it.
She knew that so much time had passed and Chu Qing surely had no evidence.
Hmm...
Evidence...
This woman didn't seem to need evidence...
Sure enough, upon hearing Xu Xin's words, Chu Qing couldn't help but burst out laughing. But her laughter sounded extremely harsh to Xu Xin.
"It doesn't matter. I don't need you to admit it." Chu Qing said slowly. Then she turned to Wei Ying and said, "Zizhan, can you get me some water? If there isn't much water, some paper will do too."
Wei Ying nodded and ordered Wei Yi to prepare these things.
"What are you going to do!" Xu Xin asked fearfully.
Chu Qing curled her lips and replied with a smile:
"Return the favor in kind~"
Wei Yi was very fast. He came back with a bucket of water and some paper.
Seeing this, Chu Qing reached out and took the paper, then covered it on Xu Xin's face.
"Hold her down." Wei Ying and Chu Qing said in unison coldly.
After they said this, they glanced at each other.
Tsk! Chu Qing couldn't help but think that Wei Ying really suited her taste. Judging from his calm reaction, she knew that Wei Ying must be aware of what she was going to do next.
After receiving the order, Wei Yi and Wei Er immediately stepped forward to hold Xu Xin down to prevent her from struggling.
"Um!" Xu Xin tried to struggle, but she found she couldn't move at all! After all, her hands and feet were tied, and Wei Yi and Wei Er were no ordinary people.
Chu Qing saw that there happened to be a ladle in the bucket. She scooped up a ladle of water satisfactorily and then gracefully poured it on Xu Xin's face.
The paper quickly absorbed the water and stuck tightly to Xu Xin's face.
At this moment, Xu Xin felt that she could hardly breathe.
The strong will to survive made her shake her head desperately, but unfortunately, Wei Yi firmly held her shoulders and Wei Er grabbed her hair to keep her head still.
Everyone knew what kind of person Xu Xin was.
Therefore, Wei Yi and Wei Er didn't show any mercy just because she was a woman.
After Chu Qing poured the water a few more times and saw that Xu Xin was out of strength, she reached out and removed the wet paper.
Xu Xin gasped for breath, looking at Chu Qing with hatred in her eyes.
When she adjusted herself and was about to speak, Chu Qing smilingly covered her face with a new piece of paper.