The fuse burned out!
The next second!
BOOM!
An ear-splitting, earth-shaking explosion roared, making the ground tremble violently.
Numerous dowry attendants instantly became the most tragic sacrificial offerings.
Hard sandalwood boards mixed with priceless snow satin, cloud brocade, jade artifacts, and precious curios shattered into countless whirling fragments.
The explosive shockwave surged like an invisible tidal wave, violently crashing against the dowry chests tightly packed on both sides.
Thick smoke billowed, instantly swallowing nearly half of the entrance courtyard!
“Waaah!”
“Protect His Highness! Protect His Highness!”
“Run! Quick!”
Screams of surprise, cries of pain, the sound of panicked fleeing footsteps, and the shattering of objects blended into chaotic cacophony!
The originally solemn and majestic regent’s procession instantly descended into utter chaos, like a pot of furiously boiling porridge.
The black-armored guards reacted swiftly. Some instinctively threw themselves toward Xiao Lin’s location, forming a tight protective circle around him, using their shields to forcefully block the flying debris.
The scene was a complete mess, resembling a battlefield of carnage.
At the epicenter of the chaos, a small figure wearing an indigo-blue jacket and two little hair buns wobbled as she stood up.
Her hair was as messy as a bird’s nest, her little face blackened by soot, revealing only a pair of exceptionally bright, large eyes and a strikingly visible set of little white teeth.
Luo Luo rubbed her ears, still ringing from the blast, coughed while patting the black ash off her clothes, and lifted her small head.
Placing her hands on her hips, she flashed an incredibly bright, triumphant, soot-smudged grin at the scumbag dad she had just “bombed.”
( )
“Gwah gwah! Stupid daddy! Let’s see you try to call off the engagement now?”
Xiao Lin’s complexion, visible through the lingering smoke, appeared several shades darker than his Prince’s Formal Attire.
Dust and ash settled on his shoulders, his hair crown slightly askew. His icy, deep-pool-like eyes were fixed intently on the small, hands-on-hips silhouette within the thick smoke.
In the entire Great Qian Empire, who would dare throw something like this before his Regent’s procession?
And even dare to blow up the Duke Zhen Country Estate’s dowry.
“Your Highness! Are you unharmed?” The guard captain’s voice trembled, carrying the terror of a narrow escape.
Xiao Lin didn’t speak. His gaze pierced through the smoke, locking directly onto the culprit responsible.
Luo Luo shivered under his stare.
The look in her scumbag dad’s eyes was practically screaming he wanted to skin her alive!
Σ(°△°|||)
She instinctively shrunk her neck. The excitement from the explosion instantly faded considerably under the weight of this palpable killing intent.
A wise man knows better than to fight when the odds are against him!
Luo Luo made a snap decision and bolted!
Her small figure moved like a nimble bolt of lightning, weaving left and right through the not-yet-fully-formed guard wall and the debris-littered ground, whooshing into a narrow alleyway nearby.
“After her!” the guard captain roared, his previous fright now transformed into humiliated fury.
“Unnecessary.”A voice cold as grinding ten-thousand-year ice stopped everyone in their tracks, carrying a heart-shaking residual authority.”
Xiao Lin slowly raised a hand, brushing the ashes from his sleeve.
His eyes remained fixed on the alley entrance, and the corner of his lips even twitched into an extremely cold, faint curve.
Chase her?
In front of the Pei family servants, before the lingering “reverberations” that hadn’t yet dissipated across the city?
A Regent Prince, covered in dust and soot from an explosion, personally giving chase to a mere five-year-old madcap girl?
He couldn’t afford that loss of face!
He turned, his gaze sweeping over the tightly shut vermilion lacquer gates.
It seemed calling off the engagement today was no longer possible.
The ground was littered with fragments of treasures, accompanied by the deafening noise and lingering smoke.
Was there any more “grand” or “memorable” scene for calling off a engagement than this?
“Clean up this area. Investigate! Find out for me where that explosive thing came from!” Each word was squeezed out like shards of ice from between his teeth.
“If even a single whisper of today’s events spreads to any corner of the capital…” He left the threat hanging, but the chilling killing intent made all the guards instantly fall silent, kneeling in unison.
“As you command!”
The guard ranks began cleaning up this unprecedented “battlefield” in deathly silence.
The golden-topped sedan chair had one of its wheels damaged by the blast wave, now tilted to one side, its former splendor gone.
Without further delay, Xiao Lin, his face dark, strode briskly towards the nearby Regent’s Residence under the close protection of his personal guard.
He needed an absolutely quiet place to digest this entire absurd situation.
*
Duke Zhen Country Estate.
Sandalwood incense curled upwards, curtains hung slightly lowered.
Ming Xue hurried in with quick steps, slightly out of breath as she lifted the curtain.
“My Lady! Something terrible has happened!” Her voice was tense. “His Highness the Regent Prince personally led his men, carrying the entire dowry, marching grandly through the city streets, and came to our door to call off the engagement! By now, the whole capital knows!”
Behind the red sandalwood desk, Pei Qingci sat adorned in brocade robes, her cloud-like hair dark as ink.
Holding a white jade teacup between her fingers, her expression remained calm and unruffled.
“The misunderstanding runs deep. His actions today were inevitable.”
“But, My Lady, you and His Highness…” Ming Xue’s voice choked with a sob.
Pei Qingci lowered her eyelashes, like a butterfly resting on a cold branch.
“Enough.”
She set down the teacup, stood up, and flicked her sleeves. “I will personally go and call off this engagement.”
As the words fell, she moved with light, lotus-like steps and walked straight out.
Outside the Duke Zhen Country Estate, the vermilion gates stood wide open.
Looking out, only scorch marks and debris were visible on the bluestone road; the dazzling procession of carriages and horses was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is Xiao Lin?” Pei Qingci stopped at the top of the steps, her gaze deep as a still pond. “Was today not the day to annul this marriage agreement?”
The gatekeeper standing nearby trembled at her question, cold sweat dripping.
“Reporting to My Lady, His Highness the Prince did indeed arrive at our gates earlier, with golden gongs clearing the way, carrying the dowry intending to perform the annulment rites. But… but for some unknown reason, a thunderous sound suddenly erupted on the bluestone path. Smoke and dust billowed, and then His Highness immediately led his retinue and turned back!”
Pei Qingci nodded slightly, uttering only a soft: “Hmm.”
Before the sound faded, her sharp gaze suddenly swept towards the side wall.
Nearby, behind a stone lion, a round little head was peeking out stealthily.
It was none other than the instigator of the earth-shattering scene, Xiao Luoning.
“This is Mother from her youth!” she thought excitedly. “Young Mother is so beautiful!”
(′▽〃)
Sensing that cool, penetrating gaze sweep over, the small figure hurriedly ducked back, instantly hiding behind the stone.
Ming Xue stepped forward, inquiring in a low voice, “My Lady, what are you looking at?”
Pei Qingci withdrew her gaze, lightly waving her wide sleeve. “Let’s return inside.”
Her slender figure turned and stepped back into the estate, leaving only the wind chimes under the eaves gently swaying on their own.
The vermilion lacquer gates slowly closed, shutting out the mess and clamor beyond the threshold.