Ying Di spent the entire evening and most of the night trapped in the bathroom. Every time he thought his stomach had finally settled enough for him to leave the porcelain throne, another violent cramp would twist through his insides, forcing him to rush back before his bowels could betray him again. By the time several hours had passed, he was exhausted, sweaty, irritable, and so thoroughly miserable that even breathing seemed to annoy him. His once-proud new clothes were ruined, his stomach was still churning, and the humiliation of what had happened at dinner kept replaying in his mind no matter how hard he tried to push it away.
But the more he thought about the day, the angrier he became.
His mind kept returning to Jua's face.
That calm, irritating face.
That little smile.
Those seemingly innocent eyes that had looked at him as though nothing in the world could possibly bother him.
Ying Di's fingers tightened around his knees as he sat there, his expression becoming darker with every passing thought.
He was laughing at me.
There was no doubt about it.
First the accidents, then the flowerpot, and finally the expired milk. And when Ying Di had returned home covered in dirt and leaves, Jua had even dared to laugh at him.
The bastard had been enjoying it.
It wasn't the milk.
Ying Di's breathing grew heavier.
Jua poisoned me.
There was no other explanation.
His hands curled into fists so tightly that his fingernails dug into his palms. The humiliation, pain, and helplessness he had endured throughout the day suddenly boiled over, transforming into something far more dangerous.
Jua had made a fool of him.
How dare that bastard?
Ying Di's chest heaved as rage surged through every part of him. His eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion, but there was something even darker burning behind them now.
He doesn't deserve to live.
The thought repeated itself.
He doesn't deserve to live.
Ying Di abruptly stood.
He was still exhausted, but the fury coursing through his body gave him enough strength to move. He hurriedly pulled on a fresh pair of pants and stormed out of the bathroom, his face twisted with murderous anger.
He wasn't going to wait until morning.
He was going to deal with Jua himself.
I'll kill that bastard.
His footsteps thundered through the hallway as he made his way toward Jua's room. His anger grew with every step, until there was barely any room left in his mind for anything else.
When he reached the door, he didn't bother knocking.
He slammed it open and rushed inside.
The room was dark and quiet. Moonlight spilled faintly through the curtains, illuminating the bed in the corner.
Jua was fast asleep.
Ying Di paused, staring at the unmoving figure beneath the blankets, his chest rising and falling with slow, peaceful breaths.
That sight only made his rage worse.
After everything Ying Di had suffered that day, Jua could still sleep peacefully?
His jaw clenched.
You bastard.
Without making another sound, Ying Di rushed toward the bed. He climbed onto the mattress and grabbed Jua by the neck, his fingers tightening around his throat as all the rage he had been holding inside finally exploded.
"Die…"
His voice came out low and trembling with fury.
"Just fucking die!"
Jua, who had been sleeping soundly only moments earlier, never expected to wake up with someone strangling him. The sudden pressure around his throat dragged him violently from sleep, and he jolted awake with a strangled gasp. His eyes flew open, immediately meeting the furious face hovering above him.
Ying Di looked nothing like the composed young master he had been earlier that day. His hair was disheveled, his face flushed, and the veins along his forehead stood out beneath his skin. His eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion and rage, and his entire body trembled as though the fury inside him was barely being held together.
For a brief moment, Jua simply stared at him.
What the hell happened to this idiot?
He immediately tried to push Ying Di away, but this body was nowhere near strong enough to overpower him. Jua's arms strained as he shoved against the man's chest, yet Ying Di refused to budge. The grip around his throat only tightened, forcing Jua to gasp for air as he desperately tried to pry the man's fingers loose.
It didn't work.
His lungs were beginning to burn, and his vision was already becoming unpleasantly hazy. Fighting Ying Di with strength was clearly useless. Jua quickly realized he needed another way to get him off.
So he chose the simplest one.
His knee drove sharply upward.
Ying Di immediately released him with a strangled groan and rolled away, curling up as he instinctively clutched himself.
Jua sucked in a deep breath and sat upright, coughing as he rubbed his throat. His heart was pounding from the sudden attack, but he didn't waste time feeling sorry for himself. He shoved the comforter aside, grabbed it, and quickly wrapped Ying Di up with it, pulling the blanket tightly around his body in an attempt to restrain him.
For a few seconds, it worked.
Then Ying Di began thrashing.
"Let me go!"
He twisted violently inside the blanket, finally managing to tear himself free. His hair was even more disheveled now, and the fury in his expression had reached an almost frightening level.
"You fucking bastard!" he roared. "You did this to me! You poisoned me!"
Jua stared at him, still trying to catch his breath.
"Trust me," he said, pushing Ying Di's reaching hands away before they could grab him again, "I didn't."
"Liar!"
Ying Di lunged toward him again, his expression twisted with rage.
"You think I don't know what you did?! You were laughing at me! You watched everything happen and sat there pretending you didn't know anything!"
Jua blocked his hands again and frowned.
"You're the one who drank the expired milk."
"I know what I drank!"
"Apparently not."
That only seemed to make Ying Di angrier.
His chest heaved as he glared at Jua, his fists trembling at his sides. Every humiliation from the day seemed to have gathered inside him and turned into one enormous ball of hatred. The accidents, the ruined clothes, the stomach pains, the servants laughing behind his back—he had spent hours sitting alone and convincing himself that none of it had been coincidence.
And now Jua was standing in front of him, completely calm, acting as though Ying Di was the unreasonable one.
"You think this is funny?" Ying Di hissed. "You think you can ruin my life and just get away with it?"
Jua's hand remained around his aching throat as he looked at him.
"You came into my room in the middle of the night and tried to strangle me because you had diarrhea."
Ying Di's face turned scarlet.
"Shut up!"
Jua raised an eyebrow.
"I didn't even do anything."
"Don't lie to me!"
Ying Di's voice cracked with fury as he glared at him, convinced that Jua was somehow responsible for every miserable thing that had happened to him.
Jua, meanwhile, could only stare at him in disbelief.
This guy really has lost it.