Ning Shu's heart ached a little. Those feelings were from the original host. She had never acted like a princess around Duan Xinghui—instead, she'd always been like a love-struck girl, looking up to him with admiration and reliance.
Princess Jiahui believed she'd already humbled herself enough in front of Duan Xinghui, but it turned out he still looked down on her.
Ning Shu brushed off the pang of regret and sneered. Reincarnation took skill, after all. If he was so capable, why didn't he just reincarnate as Li Wen and become an emperor himself?
Who did he think he was? In her mind, Ning Shu mentally crossed Duan Xinghui off with a big X.
"If I called you an SOB, would you respond?" Ning Shu asked.
Though Duan Xinghui didn't fully understand what she meant, he sensed it wasn't anything good.
Ning Shu toyed with her whip, sneering. "Who do you think you are? Do you really think you're worthy of this princess's affection? You're just a defeated general. If I had caused such a disaster at the border, I'd be too ashamed to even show my face."
Duan Xinghui's expression tightened, his eyes red with rage, as though she had insulted him to the core.
"There are always wicked people out there who want to harm this princess, ah," Ning Shu remarked casually. She then swung her whip toward Duan Xinghui's face. If the barbs made contact, it would be the end of his so-called handsomeness.
Duan Xinghui's face paled. But as a former general, he reacted quickly, lifting his arm to shield himself.
With a loud "crack," the whip struck his arm, leaving him ghostly pale. The barbs bit deep into his skin.
Duan Xinghui looked at Ning Shu in shock, barely believing what he'd just experienced. She gave a cold laugh, inspecting the whip now stained with blood.
"Princess," Duan Xinghui stammered, trembling all over. His face was ashen, genuinely stunned that she had actually attacked him—and so ruthlessly, too.
Ning Shu laughed coolly. "Guards, arrest him! He attempted to assassinate this princess."
Duan Xinghui groaned, clutching his bleeding arm, the blood dripping onto the stone pavement.
"How can the princess be so heartless?" he asked, his eyes red with accusation.
The audacity! The way he acted, you'd think she'd wronged him. He was the one who'd selfishly gone off to marry someone else, and now he had the nerve to call her heartless?
"Duan Xinghui, is something wrong with you? You tried to assassinate this princess, then accused me of being heartless? SOB really does suit you."
Seriously, these people seemed to live in their own little worlds, blind to their own actions while only noticing when others wronged them. It was just absurd.