Double Rebirth: The Scumbag Heroine is Terrified of the Yandere Prince! - Chapter 20

On the way back to the capital, inside the carriage.

Shen Ruoli hadn’t expected Xie Xuanyin to actually ride with her. Didn’t this man say he never wanted to see her face again?

Who cares! As long as he was by her side, her heart felt as sweet as honey.

Watching Xie Xuanyin sitting at the far end of the carriage—with enough space between them to fit several people—Ruoli raised an eyebrow and prepared to scoot her backside over toward him.

However, after the “lessons” of last night, the moment her eyes darted, Xie Xuanyin knew exactly what she was thinking. He slowly picked up his sword and laid it horizontally between them. “Sit properly. Do not move.”

Ruoli stiffened and slowly lowered her backside back to its original spot. Truly, the moment she twitched, he knew exactly what kind of trouble she was brewing!

“Your Highness, I’m cold,” Ruoli immediately found a legitimate excuse.

Xie Xuanyin grabbed a nearby blanket and tossed it at her.

“I’m still cold,” she wrapped herself in the blanket.

Xie Xuanyin frowned, took off his heavy outer cloak, and threw that over as well.

Ruoli wrapped the cloak over the blanket and continued to blink pitifully at him. “Your Highness…”

“Shut up!” Xie Xuanyin was at the end of his rope.

Looking at her current ridiculous appearance—looking like a “fashionable vagrant” while blinking at him like a kicked puppy—the corners of his mouth twitched, and he looked away. “Shen Ruoli, do not force me to throw you off this carriage!”

“Oh.” Seeing that he was genuinely annoyed, she curled into her corner, huddled in his cloak.

Thinking back, this man’s mood had soured the moment Xie Xuansong opened his big mouth at their departure. Damn that Xie Xuansong! Even when he wasn’t there, he managed to ruin their atmosphere.

Ruoli gnashed her teeth, trembling with rage. She narrowed her eyes, plotting her next move against Xuansong. But to Xie Xuanyin, her trembling looked like she was actually freezing. After all, in the previous life, Ruoli truly was susceptible to the cold. Every winter, her hands and feet were like ice.

Back then, Xie Xuanyin would climb into bed first to warm the sheets for her. Once she crawled in, he would hold her hands and feet to warm them up. Those simple, beautiful days were the ordinary happiness he had once cherished.

But that warmth vanished as quickly as it came when he remembered that every day she spent by his side had been a calculated lie. His heart hardened instantly. He reached out, yanked his cloak off her, and put it back on himself.

Shen Ruoli: “???” I was just planning how to ruin Xie Xuansong; I didn’t even touch you! Why are you angry again?

She took the opportunity to push the sword aside and stuck to him like a piece of medicinal plaster. She naturally began helping him adjust the cloak. “The weather is so cold; Your Highness must stay warm. Don’t catch a chill!”

Cough, cough! She punctuated her sentence with several coughs right in his direction.

Xie Xuanyin: “…” He pushed her hand away in disgust. “Shen Ruoli, if you want to pass your illness to me, just say it!”

“I didn’t!” She cried out, feeling wronged.

But since he only pushed her hand away and didn’t push her away, she shamelessly stayed glued to his side. “Your Highness is so warm!” She hugged his arm.

That familiar, haunting fragrance drifted into his nose again. He held his breath, his body tensing. She must be wearing some kind of spell-binding incense! Otherwise, why is it that every time she gets close, my resistance crumbles?!

“Your Highness, do you think Sixth Uncle and Xie Xuansong are fighting right now?” Ruoli asked, breaking the silence.

“What does it have to do with you?” Xie Xuanyin asked tonelessly. “Are you worried about Xie Xuansong?”

He paused, his voice unreadable. “Sixth Uncle has spent years on the battlefield; he is a man of iron. It’s only natural for you to worry about Xie Xuansong.”

In Xie Xuanyin’s eyes, Xuansong’s martial arts were mediocre at best. When they were kids, if the brothers had a disagreement, they fought it out and were friends afterward. Only Xuansong was different—arrogant yet deeply insecure, never handling things like a man. He coveted the throne but used women to pave his way.

“Yes! I am indeed worried about him!” Ruoli looked up at him with utter sincerity. “I’m worried that the King of Zhenbei won’t beat him to death!”

Her answer stunned him. Her eyes were clear and pure, as if he could see right through to her soul. For the first time since his rebirth, he felt a genuine conviction that she wasn’t lying. She truly wanted Xie Xuansong dead.

But why such a drastic change in just a few days? Was it just because she couldn’t marry him, and was betrayed by him and Song Xuerou?

Suddenly, a bold suspicion surfaced in his mind: Could it be… that Shen Ruoli is also reborn?!

Otherwise, why the personality shift? Why move the prayer trip up by two days to eliminate Qingying? How did she know Sixth Uncle was a problem?

His eyes flickered as he studied her. “Shen Ruoli, that maid of yours isn’t dead yet. Aren’t you afraid that when she wakes up at the Zhenbei Manor, she’ll tell Prince Chu everything?”

Ruoli didn’t realize he was testing her. She said seriously, “Your Highness, the person at the manor right now is indeed Qingying. But in two days, who knows if she’ll be ‘Qingying’ or ‘Red-Ying’? She’s just a maid; Xie Xuansong won’t keep a constant eye on her.”

“You plan to switch her out?”

“Your Highness is brilliant!” She gave him a thumbs up.

“You have quite the nerve,” he sneered. “But Xie Xuansong isn’t a fool. Do you think you can deceive him with just anyone?”

Since her “sincerity” still hadn’t won his trust, Ruoli decided to stop hiding things. She sat up straight. “Your Highness, you might not like to hear this, but no one knows Xie Xuansong better than I do!”

“He is paranoid, yes. But once you break through his suspicion, he won’t doubt again! As for the current Qingying as long as I don’t want her to wake up, she will never wake up again!”

Currently, the woman at the manor was the real Qingying. Once Xie Yuanxun and Xie Xuansong finished tearing at each other, Xuansong would suspect Qingying told the King everything. He’d want to kill her, but since she was “useful,” he’d have to keep her.

Once he believed that person was the real Qingying, her true plan would begin. She would return everything he did to her tenfold. Her brother had already prepared everything.