They were already like water and fire, completely incompatible.

But...

Ah Lian couldn’t help but speak up.

"Marshal!"

Ah Lian spoke, and Dong Huiying looked at Ah Lian with a calm expression.

"You resent the young master, Ah Lian understands!"

"But when the young master had you kidnapped, it was actually because he didn’t know you were the marshal."

"The young master has never given up over the years, always searching for the marshal."

"And that day, if it weren’t for you intentionally provoking him, claiming you were a dead person, and repeatedly angering the young master, he would never have been so harsh on you!"

Dong Huiying: "???"

She was bewildered for a moment.

Then.

"So it’s all my fault."

She scoffed.

"Ah Lian, in matters like this, everyone thinks they are right."

"Xiao Qinghe kidnapped me without permission, separating me from my family, when the enemy was unclear, he pressured me about Dong Baowei’s whereabouts and asked about my relationship with Yun Ge."

"I didn’t know who he was or what his purpose was, how could I have responded?"

"I have people I want to protect too."

"Regardless, the pain of that slap, the injury of a shattered shoulder, I still remember deeply to this day."

She rolled up her sleeves, stepping forward. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Back then, when the tiger fell into the flatlands, I was always unwilling."

"Even when Zhi Chen fought with you and your master in Nanling, helping me regain some losses. But nothing compares to the satisfaction of avenging myself."

"The things you two did, regardless of standpoint or reason, ultimately made me sick."

Ah Lian saw her hostility, wanting to intervene but was stopped by Qinghe.

Qinghe walked out from behind Ah Lian, appearing elegant, calm, and composed.

He looked at her face intently.

"I’m here, standing right here."

Dong Huiying’s hand was already raised, but upon hearing this sentence, she hesitated for a moment.

"It was wrong of me to hurt you."

Dong Huiying: "???"

How the hell am I supposed to hit now?

Xiao Qinghe, you’re the villain, can’t you show some backbone?

Come on, quarrel with me!

If you fight with me, even if I kill you, it would be justified and legitimate.

But instead, you’re retreating to advance?

Her mouth twitched fiercely, but the raised hand still came down.

"Slap!"

Just one slap slightly turned the man’s handsome face.

"This is my payback to you."

Blood seeped from the man’s lips, as he nodded gently.

Dong Huiying frowned tightly and struck the man’s shoulder with her palm again.

Just like how the man shattered her shoulder back then, she replied with equivalent force now.

She heard the sound of cracking bones; the man’s body slightly shook, yet he didn’t make a sound, enduring it coolly and elegantly as always.

Dong Huiying suddenly felt it was all meaningless.

"Stay away from me from now on, or next time I will kill you!"

She turned around to leave.

However.

"Young master!"

Ah Lian rushed over with an arrow step, supporting Qinghe while looking at Dong Huiying with hatred.

"Marshal!"

Ah Lian was so angry that even her voice was trembling.

"You resent the young master, but has he ever wanted things this way? When the Xiao family was exterminated, where were you, Marshal?"

"You say the young master was maneuvering with no sincerity! But those things, even if the young master didn’t do them, someone had to. He, as the eldest son, the big brother among his siblings, had to bear all this!"

Ah Lian’s eyes were red, and Qinghe frowned.

"Ah Lian, be quiet."