After refusing marriage, she was pampered by the prince who acted as a shield.

Chapter 42: No Negligence Allowed

"Rusi, King Jinglie has graced us with his presence. What are you still kneeling on the ground for? Get up quickly."

Lin Le was wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with his wide sleeves, forcing a smile onto his face.

He quickly pulled Lin Rusi up from the ground, his face full of smiles, "Prince Jinglie has finally come all this way, so don't neglect him."

Lin Rusi: "..."

Can she just refuse outright?

However, she had no choice but to agree.

Li Jingyang put his hands behind his back, cleared his throat, and looked at Lin Rusi, who looked unwilling, with a half-smile.

"Miss, would you mind showing me around the Lin residence?"

Lin Rusi rolled her eyes at him, nodded slightly, and turned to leave.

Li Jingyang watched her annoyed retreating figure and couldn't help but sneer.

This little girl is getting more and more interesting.

He loved seeing Lin Rusi's reluctant yet forced expression; it was just too funny.

"Hey, is there anything to wander around here?"

"Oh, right."

Lin Rusi suddenly remembered something, so she stopped and walked around to Li Jingyang's back.

Upon seeing the horrifying red scar on his back, she couldn't help but gasp.

"Did my dad hit me hard?"

That whip lashed through the skin and tore the flesh apart.

She thought Lin Lezheng would show mercy out of consideration for Si Yu, but she didn't expect him to be so angry and to be so ruthless.

If that whip had landed on her, she probably would have fainted instantly.

Thinking of the pain Li Jingyang had endured for her sake, Lin Rusi felt even more guilty.

"It looks like it hurts a lot. Let me bandage you up."

Seeing Lin Rusi's nervous expression, Li Jingyang was deeply touched.

In fact, this minor injury was nothing to him; it was quite ordinary.

Li Jingyang nodded in agreement with a serious expression, "It really hurts."

"If you are left with scars, I will not spare you."

Lin Rusi didn't dare to argue, since Li Jingyang had taken the blame for her in the first place, so she could only pout and say, "I understand."

"I will definitely bandage you properly so that there will be no scar."

Lin Rusi's serious expression was quite adorable, and Li Jingyang couldn't help but chuckle.

Lin Rusi rolled her eyes, clearly dissatisfied with Li Jingyang.

"You can still laugh even at a time like this."

“If you hadn’t insisted on keeping me on the mountain, things wouldn’t have gotten this bad.”

"Oh, and now you're the one who got hurt."

Li Jingyang's eyes flickered slightly. "Are you worried about me?"

Lin Rusi snorted, raised her chin, put her hands on her hips, and said in a seemingly domineering manner, "You're injured because of me, how can I not care about you?"

"You're really something, you're clearly in so much pain, but you still insist that you're fine."

"Remember this for the future: if it hurts, it hurts. Don't try to be tough."

Lin Rusi began to lecture Li Jingyang in a serious tone.

"Only when you express your own feelings and thoughts will those who care about you know how to care, right?"

Li Jingyang lowered his eyes and chuckled softly, "What you said makes sense."

"However, no one cared about me that much before."

Even one's own mother.

In order to leave the painful place of the palace, she went to the royal nunnery alone without even telling him.

He was left behind in the deep palace.

Li Jingyang doesn't know how he's managed to get through all these years.

Lin Rusi glanced at Li Jingyang, "How could no one care about you?"

"Isn't there still me?"

Li Jingyang was slightly taken aback and looked at Lin Rusi.

Lin Rusi smiled against the sunlight, as if she were radiating light from head to toe.

"From now on, I will be your wife, and we will share joys and sorrows as husband and wife."

"No matter what you go through, I will be with you."

For a moment, Li Jingyang was so engrossed in watching that his heart stopped beating.

Meanwhile, at the Peony Pavilion.

With a dark expression, Si Yu jumped off the bed aggressively.

"Hmph, that Lin Ruqin is the one who deliberately framed my Rusi!"

"What do you mean by going out and messing around with other men? That's all a lie!"

Granny He hurried after Si Yu, saying, "Madam, you've just woken up, you can't walk so fast."

"Moreover, Miss is now fully recovered and is currently strolling around the manor with Prince Jinglie."

Si Yu abruptly stopped, her face contorted with rage, and demanded, "How can this matter be left like this?"

“Lin Ruqin and Lin Rusi went out together. She must know who she left with in the end.”

"As a result, in order to make the master blame Lin Rusi, Lin Ruqin directly concealed part of the truth, making the master mistakenly believe that my Rusi was having an affair with another man!"

"If this gets out, what will happen to my Rusi's innocence?!"

Si Yu grew angrier the more she thought about it, wishing she could tear Lin Ruqin to pieces.

She always remembered Lin Rusi's words: as long as Lin Ruqin didn't provoke her, she wouldn't go looking for trouble with Lin Ruqin.

But Lin Ruqin is really going too far!

Lin Rusi always protected her and kept saying nice things for her.

As a result, Lin Ruqin not only didn't appreciate it, but also tried to frame Lin Rusi!

Lin Rusi could tolerate it, but she absolutely would not!

This is also a lesson Si Yu learned in the past.

When the First Madam was still alive, she would swallow her anger even when she was bullied.

However, her forbearance did not make the other party realize what she had done wrong. Instead, they took advantage of her and thought she was easy to bully.

"Drag Lin Ruqin out here!"

Granny He, along with a group of maids and servants, rushed into Nuanchun Pavilion and unceremoniously dragged Lin Ruqin out.

Seeing Si Yu's dark expression, Lin Ruqin swallowed hard, her face paling a shade lighter.

She bit her lip, her eyes red, "Mother, what are you doing?"

Si Yu glared fiercely at her, raised her hand, and slapped Lin Ruqin hard across the face first.

"Don't you know what you've done?"

"Still pretending to be stupid!"

Si Yu said arrogantly, "You can fool Lin Rusi, but you can't fool my eyes!"

Lin Ruqin bit her lower lip, her eyes instantly becoming misty with tears.

She looked at Si Yu with a pitiful expression, feeling a lump in her throat, "Mother, I was just telling the truth."

"I... I may not have said the right thing, but I was just worried about my sister."

"Mother, I know I was wrong, please forgive me!"

Si Yu wasn't buying her pitiful act at all and scoffed coldly.

"Lin Ruqin, now you're begging me to spare you! Why didn't you do this before?"

"Rusi almost got punished by family law because of you. Do you know how painful it is to be whipped?"

"How dare you cry here in front of me!"

She raised her hand again and slapped Lin Ruqin across the other cheek.

Lin Ruqin groaned and turned her face toward Si Yushan.

With just two slaps, Lin Ruqin's face swelled up considerably.

Hongzhi hid in a corner, her eyes blurry with tears as she looked at Lin Ruqin, who was beaten unconscious.

"Miss, wait for me!"