Han Jing stomped on Han Yan's fingers as she held onto the edge of the riverbank!
"Ah!" she screamed in pain.
Han Yan held the riverside's edge layered with flagstone as she waited for Prince Ling's help. All of a sudden, Han Jing stepped on her hand with no mercy. The pain was excruciating to her!
After all, the nerves of her fingertips were linked to her heart.
"Han Jing! You lunatic woman!" Prince Ling's eyes were flaming red with anger. He could not be bothered about his image and rationale anymore and he raised his arm to strike Han Jing.
Instead of provoking the mad prince, she expressed her annoyance as she held a grudge against him from when he slapped her. Perhaps, she could not fight against him at the moment, but she could still annoy the two daft women!
Besides, she was prepared this time and she would not let him hurt her again!
However, Prince Ling, who was furiously charging towards her, stumbled a few steps back. He nearly fell before she could attack, stabilizing himself in a humiliating manner.
Su Yu's mellow voice came from the carriage.
"Yan, this is on you. Jing'er is your betrothed! You hitting her in public was already a huge mistake, yet you're not concerned about her life because of a laywoman. Where are your manners?"
Han Yan, who was already tearing up from the pain, felt another blow on the inside when she heard Su Yu used the word 'laywoman' to describe her.
Although her mother was just one of her father's concubines, she was still the righteous daughter of an official of Qing'an, a security officer under Minister Jing Yang. How could she be inferior to Han Jing, an illegitimate child brought back by Princess Yi Feng?
The pain in her fingers was nothing compared to the pain inside! How could Han Jing—an ugly orphan with an unknown origin—have a higher standing than her, the proud daughter of an official?
Prince Ling tightened his fists and muttered, "Your Highness, Second Lady Han is the daughter of an official in Qing'an. As her elder sister, Lady Han shouldn't be treating her this way!"
He continued acting self-righteous while obtaining the kneeling crowd's support.
"Exactly, the Second Lady of the Han family is gentle and lovely. How could Lady Han treat her sister like that?"
"Does she not know how concerned Second Lady Han was as she looked for someone to rescue her while she was unconscious?"
"How could two people from the same family be this different?"
"Heh," Su Yu laughed, "Yan, you should take more lessons on manners!"
Prince Ling's expression changed drastically after hearing Su Yu's words. He pursed his lips for a moment before he muttered, "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness."
He shifted his cold gaze to Han Jing, "Are you moving aside or not?"
"What an empathetic, good man!" Han Jing sniggered, "Why are you so worried about her? Are you interested in her? Both of you seem to have mutual feelings. Should I take a step back to fulfill your wishes?"
Prince Ling was stunned.
'Is she really willing to break off the engagement?" he thought. 'No, that is impossible!'
He knew that Han Jing starved herself to beg the princess to make arrangements for her to get engaged to him. The princess went to the palace to request the decree out of love.
'Unless… that woman has some tricks up her sleeves.'
Prince Ling gave Han Jing an icy stare and warned, "Han Jing, I'm not going to be merciful next time if you harm anyone again!"