Rebirth: After Becoming the Villainess-Chapter 328: What Took You So Long?

Song Xilan’s eyes widened. She stared nervously at the curtain as it was lifted...

The person standing outside was tall and slender. The first thing she saw was a White Jade Token hanging from the man’s waist.

In that instant, Song Xilan was overcome with joy! 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

She recognized it!

It was Chi Xiao’s token!

Zhou Cangyan never hid anything from her, so of course he wouldn’t keep something like this a secret.

And Chi Xiao was Zhou Cangyan’s personal guard!

Which meant...

’It’s Zhou Cangyan!’

Only at this moment did Song Xilan realize that she was far happier to be rescued by Zhou Cangyan than by Zhou Junlin!

It was a secret delight she couldn’t share with anyone, but the more she kept it to herself, the more it made her heart flutter...

"Zhou..."

But just as she was about to call out his name, the person outside poked their head in.

Song Xilan froze.

It was a pale-skinned, refined, and courteous scholar—handsome, elegant, and good-looking.

But it wasn’t Zhou Cangyan.

"Princess Consort Ling, you must have been frightened."

’It’s not him...’

Song Xilan lowered her eyes in disappointment. She hadn’t realized just how much she had been looking forward to it.

’Still, since he’s wearing Chi Xiao’s White Jade Token, he must be one of his men.’

With that thought, the disappointment in her heart eased somewhat.

"You’re one of King Qing’s men?"

The man nodded. Without saying much more, he added, "I cannot stay long. If Your Highness will just wait here a moment, I imagine people from your mansion will arrive soon."

Song Xilan nodded lightly.

Seeing that he was about to leave, she called out to stop him. She stepped out of the carriage, glanced around, and asked softly, "King Qing... is he nearby?"

’They had to avoid suspicion, so it would be inconvenient for him to show himself. She could understand that.’

’He must be watching over me from somewhere, which is why he was able to save me at the first opportunity.’

A trace of sweetness welled up in her heart. How could she not be moved, being loved so secretly and wholeheartedly?

The man stood outside the carriage. He appeared handsome and scholarly, without a hint of ferocity, yet when he looked over at her in silence, he exuded an invisible pressure.

Song Xilan couldn’t help but take a step back.

"I was just wondering..."

The man suddenly looked up into the distance. "Someone’s coming."

With a quick "Farewell," he used his Qinggong and vanished from her sight in the blink of an eye.

Song Xilan watched, stunned and inevitably disappointed.

"Look! It’s the Princess Consort’s carriage!"

"Ah! We found her!"

"Princess Consort!"

A group of people rushed over. Seeing them, Song Xilan actually felt a little resentful.

’Couldn’t have come a minute earlier or a minute later, could they!’

"Make her leave!"

"That’s right, make her leave! She’s a jinx!"

"Ever since this woman showed up, all these strange things have been happening!"

"That hawk just now was terrifying! Maybe she’s the one who summoned it!"

Master Chen lay on the ground, still wailing. Every so often, he would grit his teeth and glare at Song Lianhe.

Kong Qing was crying nonstop. The gray falcon had torn her clothes to shreds in front of everyone, forcing her to run around the camp nearly naked! Thankfully, everyone was too busy running for their lives to notice, otherwise, how could she ever show her face again?!

’But in the end, it was still all Song Lianhe’s fault!’

She clutched the cloak around her, shot to her feet, and confronted Song Lianhe. "That beast was clearly here to help you!"

Everyone looked over, their eyes filled with suspicion and anger as they stared at Song Lianhe.

That beast was indeed too unnatural. It was as if it had dropped from the heavens to protect Song Lianhe, turning everything upside down! Its gaze was terrifying, too. It was hard to believe you could see such a threatening look from an animal—as if it would bite all their heads off the very next second if they dared to touch Song Lianhe again.

Not to mention, it had deliberately shredded Kong Qing’s clothes. This was no mere warning; it was more like a humiliation!

Just like what Kong Qing had done to Song Lianhe earlier.

Considering all this, the whole situation was truly bizarre.

For their own safety, everyone glared at Song Lianhe, yelling for her to get out.

"Get out!"

"Hurry up and get out!"

"You’re not welcome here!"

Someone even picked up a horsewhip and cracked it viciously by her feet. "If you don’t get out now, we’ll let you have a taste of this whip!"

"Get out!!"

Song Lianhe looked up at the sea of indignant faces and shook her head with a wry laugh.

’Fine, I’ll leave. As if I wanted to be associated with them anyway.’

She turned to get on the carriage, but another crack of the whip struck the top of her foot, making her hiss in pain.

Kong Qing glared at her venomously. "These things all belong to the Prince Mansion! You’re not allowed to touch them!"

Song Lianhe retorted angrily, "These are my medicinal herbs!"

Kong Qing sneered and gestured behind her. The sound of flower pots smashing on the ground, one after another, followed.

"Stop!"

Song Lianhe couldn’t bear to see her herbs destroyed. Just as the person was about to throw the last pot, she jabbed a needle into their neck. With a yelp, they let go.

She caught it and hugged it to her chest.

’It’s safe, thank goodness.’

When she looked up again, she found that everyone had armed themselves and was slowly closing in on her.

Even Master Chen, one arm dangling uselessly, was walking toward her step by step, clutching a cleaver in his other hand with bloodshot eyes...

Song Lianhe’s beautiful eyes narrowed. She suddenly looked down, gave a cold laugh, and muttered under her breath, "There’s no point in staying in this godforsaken place anyway."

Since they wouldn’t let her take anything from the carriage, she simply held the pot of five-split yellow gentian, lifted her head, straightened her back, and walked straight away in the other direction.

Watching her finally leave, Kong Qing let out a smug chuckle.

Just then, someone asked worriedly, "But what if the Prince asks..."

Kong Qing shot them a sideways glance. "What’s there to be afraid of? She fled because of a guilty conscience. What does that have to do with us?"

The person had an epiphany. "Right, right! She left on her own!"

Immediately, others chimed in, "Yes, yes, she ran away herself! It has nothing to do with us!"

On a small path near the main road, Song Lianhe walked alone, clutching a flower pot. She sniffled, occasionally lifting her sleeve to wipe the corners of her eyes.

"So I left... You think I liked being with you all? I’m so much freer, so much happier on my own! Who needs you?"

Despite her words, she still felt wronged!

"A bunch of blind fools! If I really wanted to harm you, not a single one of you would have walked away today!"

"And they drove me out... even hit me with a whip..."

The more she spoke, the more aggrieved she felt. Finally, she just sat down on the ground and, like a bullied child, scrunched up her face and began to cry.

"You just wait... I won’t rest until I get my revenge! I-I’ll tie you all up, and give each of you a good five... no, ten lashes! Ten lashes for every single one of you!!"

"Such a long whip... and they hit so hard... my foot is practically broken..."

Suddenly, a scornful laugh sounded from above. "Getting bullied like this, and a mere ten lashes is enough for you? You’re really something, aren’t you?"

She froze. She opened her tear-filled eyes to the blurry silhouette of a man looking down at her, his own eyes half-lidded.

Song Lianhe’s vision blurred with fresh tears.

She suddenly scrambled up and threw her arms around him...

"*Sob*... They bullied me so badly... What took you so long?"