The Slender Waist-Chapter 542 - 386: Heroines_2
"Your uncle is here," Feng Yun said.
Ao Qi was silent, gripping Feng Yun tightly, pushing his stubbornness and strength to the extreme.
Feng Yun struggled, but couldn’t break free, and sighed helplessly.
The footsteps grew closer.
Pei Jue entered the room alone.
He didn’t speak, just gave Ao Qi a deep look, profound as an abyss.
That gaze seemed to crush Ao Qi...
The self-imprisonment brought by transgression had left him powerless to resist.
With a gentle tug from Pei Jue, he loosened his grip and knelt down weakly, his head bowed in shame.
"Uncle, I’m sorry... I restrained myself, I really did, and I tried... but I didn’t succeed..."
Pei Jue’s Adam’s apple moved slightly, "Lift up your head, look at me."
Ao Qi covered his face, unable to speak.
Pei Jue’s tone became heavier, "Lift up your head!"
Ao Qi looked up, facing that expressionless face.
Pei Jue: "Continue." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
Ao Qi met his gaze, his suppressed emotions magnified in those eyes.
He was passive.
He was in pain.
He was beyond redemption.
Because the person he hurt was precisely the one he least wanted to hurt.
"I am guilty," Ao Qi gave a bitter smile, revealing the greed, anger, and foolish affection buried in his heart in front of Pei Jue, "In my heart, the lady is like the stars in the sky, compelling me to look up, to stop and gaze, to feel her radiance. I know... the stars would never be mine, yet I can’t pull myself away..."
His voice, tinged with a drunken quality, was deep and sorrowful, his red eyes, amidst profound sadness, held a heartbreakingly poignant beauty.
He didn’t shed tears.
Even though he wanted to weep bitterly.
But in front of uncle, he couldn’t cry.
That was a sign of weakness, contemptible both to him and to the lady...
He would rather have Pei Jue pull him up and beat him, mercilessly, until he was jolted awake.
His wish was granted.
Pei Jue’s arm tensed slightly, pulling him up by his clothes.
No punches fell, only a faint voice at his ear.
"Ye Chuang, Lin Zhuo, take him back."
Ye Chuang and Lin Zhuo were waiting just outside the door, the other guards even further away.
The two of them acknowledged and quietly stepped forward to support Ao Qi.
"Uncle..."
Ao Qi turned back forcefully.
He met Pei Jue’s indifferent gaze.
"Make a fuss again, and you’ll be thrown into the pond."
Ye Chuang said quietly, "Yes."
Ao Qi gave a silent, bitter smile.
His uncle wasn’t going to hit him.
At this moment, his uncle resembled his father so much.
Angry at his non-competitiveness, resentful of his disloyalty, yet reluctant to truly discipline him, to hurt him.
Such profound love, yet he had failed it time and again.
Tears moistened Ao Qi’s eyes.
Yet Pei Jue no longer looked at him, silently drawing Feng Yun into his embrace, gently straightening her clothes, not speaking, nor asking.
Feng Yun merely smiled faintly, casting him a pair of smiling eyes, no explanations, no fear.
As if the incident of him holding Feng Yun had never happened, not affecting them in the slightest.
The two of them, so harmoniously and in such unison, acted as if he had never existed, just as they had remained silent during his agitated confession of suppressed feelings, quietly accompanying him through his sobs, calm as ever.
Ao Qi closed his eyes.
The lady said, there would come a day when he would grow up, when he would forget the emotions of his youth.
He hoped that day would come soon.
-
"Pei Gou."
Feng Yun looked at Pei Jue and suddenly spoke.
"Will you take me horseback riding?"
This address was fatal.
The guards outside were twitching.
Yet Pei Jue remained silent, holding her hand without a word, stepping out of the courtyard with large strides.
Jiu You led Ta Xue out of the stables, and Pei Jue lifted Feng Yun onto the horse’s back, then leapt up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and with a "giddy-up" urged the horse forward.
As night fell, there seemed to be a lingering streak of twilight on the horizon, a grey-brown tint that outlined the distant mountains, adding bizarre golden edges to the magnificent clouds above, incredibly beautiful.
Feng Yun spread her arms against the wind, lifting her chin and closing her eyes, feeling her chest open wide, the gloom brought by Ao Qi swept away.
"Are you angry?" Feng Yun still asked.
She asked when they were alone.
She asked in the warm summer breeze.
Leaning against Pei Jue’s chest, listening to the beat of his heart, she asked.
"Hmm."
Pei Jue’s response was faint, almost imperceptible.
"No, you’re not," Feng Yun’s lips curved into a smile, "that’s your most beloved nephew, how could you be angry with him? And if you were, how could you just let him go? Let me go?"
Pei Jue lowered his head, unable to see her expression, and gave a soft grunt, gathered her slender waist into his arm, slowing the pace of the horse. His back straightened even more, his towering figure completely enveloping her, exuding strength.
