“Audacious!” cried Ning Shu coldly as she swung her whip, catching the sword in Duan Xinghui’s hand and flinging it away with a flick of her wrist. The sword stabbed into the wall and stayed there, quivering slightly.
All this had taken place within a few seconds. Duan Xinghui was stunned to find that the sword was no longer in his hands, then looked towards Ning Shu blankly. Today Ning Shu was wearing a very simple outfit – lady’s riding garments – and looked very valiant and heroic.
The gorgeous clothes and hairpins had been removed and there was not a single superfluous item left on her. Duan Xinghui had never seen Jiahui like this before. She was incomparably refined and cold; her gaze with which she looked at him was incomparably cold and indifferent.
For some unknown reason, Duan Xinghui felt a strong sense of loss in his heart. He had gotten used to Jiahui looking at him with a gaze filled with adoration. Having something that had always been there suddenly disappear inevitably made people feel frustrated.
Duan Xinghui felt that it was a man’s glory to have a high-status woman like a princess admire him, so he couldn’t help but feel vexed and disappointed when something that should naturally be there was no longer there.
“This general greets Princess.” Although he wasn’t willing, he still had to salute her. This was something Duan Xinghui couldn’t bring himself to accept. He, a man, actually had to salute a woman, and it was even to his future wife! He had no way of accepting this with his lofty ego.
Ning Shu scoffed. “This general? Duan Xinghui, has Imperial Older Brother restored you the rank of general for you to dare refer to yourself by ‘this general’?”
In the original storyline, Duan Xinghui hadn’t been dismissed by Li Wen, but now that he has been, his status matched Er Ya’s ironically well. Ning Shu gave a contempt-filled smile. Jiahui, who was a noble princess, even had to lower herself to look after Duan Xinghui’s egoistic male chauvinism.
But now that Duan Xinghui no longer had a status for Er Ya to look up to, how would this pair of true love mandarin ducks fare?
>Mandarin ducks stand for a loving couple, this article has more information.
Duan Xinghui’s heart sank and he said in a low voice, “This worthless commoner knows that Princess holds a grudge against this one, but this one’s mother is innocent.”
Jesus ah. So, right now Duan Xinghui was trying to get justice for Madame Duan? Ning Shu gave a cold laugh, then said, “This princess didn’t do anything to Madame Duan, but even if this princess had, what can you do?”
Oppressing someone with your status was seriously too refreshing of a feeling. When she saw that Duan Xinghui was clenching his fists with suppressed fury, she just had to give him an extra kick in his most painful spot.
Since Duan Xinghui was the male lead of this world, he instinctively felt as if the entire world should revolve around him.
Now that he had been humiliated by Ning Shu like this, there was only one thought on his mind, which was that it was fortunate he hadn’t married this scorpion-like woman.
“Audacious and wicked commoner! Not only did you want to break into the Princess Residence, you even wanted to attack this princess!” Ning Shu articulated this loudly and clearly, causing Duan Xinghui’s ears to turn red from embarrassment.
He abruptly lifted his head to look towards Ning Shu with eyes filled with unconcealed disappointment and disgust. “Princess Jiahui, I never thought that you were actually someone like this – arrogant, despotic, unreasonable and merciless! You don’t have a trace of the virtue that women should have.”
“Do you know why I don’t like you? It’s because you’re always like this. Every single move of yours is based on etiquette, bound by rules, rigid and unnatural. You’re always flaunting your high status. Your birth doesn’t give you the right to show disdain for other people!”
“Er Ya is different. She’s lively and bright like the sun, and she never puts on artificial airs. Her simple and pure beauty is like a fresh spring wind.”
Ning Shu: Pfff…
Her lungs hurt from choking on her own saliva. What kind of logic was that? Could it be that it was Princess Jiahui’s fault for being born in a well-off family, that it was a sin to have a high status? Jesus ah, this logic was unbelievable.
Ning Shu translated the spiel that Duan Xinghui had given. He had pretty much said, your status was too freaking high and oppressed me to the point I couldn’t breathe, that’s why I don’t like you.
Fuck that. Ning Shu lifted a middle finger in response.