The Slender Waist-Chapter 627 - 452: Unexpected Incident

Feng Yun woke from her sleep with regret.

She shouldn’t have let her guard down and made a rash promise to Pei Jue to spend the New Year in Xijing.

There were too many things to handle in Andu, and she simply couldn’t free herself on such short notice.

But she was a woman of her word, and even though the promise was made in a moment of pleasure, it didn’t seem right to go back on it immediately.

Also, she truly did wish to visit the ancient capital of Xijing. Thus, she summoned Alou, Xing Bing, Sister Xu, the village’s Wa Chang, and others. She also sent for the foremen from the mines and workshops in Little Jieqiu and notified Hou Zhun along the way.

For the entire day, she sat in the parlor, meeting with one group after another to delegate her affairs for the time she would be away.

The tortoise hatchling seemed to sense something and refused to leave her side, sprawling at her feet as if it wished it could wrap itself around her legs.

Taking the tortoise hatchling to Xijing would be very inconvenient.

Yet, after making eye contact with it, Feng Yun couldn’t bear to refuse.

It was New Year’s.

The tortoise hatchling also wanted to spend the New Year with her.

"I’ll take you with me," Feng Yun said as she patted the tortoise hatchling’s head, looking down and smiling. "Don’t look at me like that; your sister won’t abandon you. Why do you look so pitiful..."

The tortoise hatchling licked her palm and rolled on the ground.

It would do this when it was happy.

Feng Yun couldn’t help but be filled with joy.

Suddenly, she heard a sneer through the window curtain.

She was startled.

"What is the Princely Heir doing lurking outside the window?"

Chunyu Yan’s voice was thick with resentment.

"Don’t you see I’m the one who’s pitiful?"

Feng Yun: ...

She walked over and pulled open the curtain, looking at the man outside the window.

The weather was cold and the wind outside was fierce. His hair was in disarray and his robe flew about him. He did look rather pitiable.

But she couldn’t find it in herself to sympathize.

"No one asked you to stand out here in the cold wind. Who can you blame for that?"

"Feng Twelve." Chunyu Yan’s eyes narrowed as he stared intently at her. "You’re going to Xijing?"

Feng Yun: "Yes."

Chunyu Yan’s lips curled up, revealing a mocking smile. "Well, congratulations then."

"Thank you," Feng Yun said politely, bowing. Seeing him remain still, she added, "The New Year is fast approaching. Are you not returning to Yunchuan, Princely Heir?"

Chunyu Yan laughed coldly, leaning his back against the chill wall, languid and disinterested, his eyes oozing disdain for worldly matters. Standing there alone and elegant, he seemed a picture of melancholy.

"No need to answer." Feng Yun said and was about to close the window.

Chunyu Yan suddenly turned, fixing his gaze on her. "You have so little patience with me? Do you let Pei Wangzhi ask for whatever he pleases?"

Caught by his stare, Feng Yun only managed a slow smile.

"Of course. He’s my husband."

Chunyu Yan tilted his chin up, "Don’t think I don’t know what’s really going on. Feng Twelve, you might deceive Pei Wangzhi, but you can’t fool me."

Feng Yun raised an eyebrow slightly, dismissively responding: "What have I deceived him about, I’d like to hear it?"

Chunyu Yan said, "You don’t love Pei Wangzhi."

Feng Yun was momentarily taken aback.

Then she slowly broke into a smile.

"I don’t love him, so I should love you instead?"

Chunyu Yan gave her a sideways glance, his gaze carrying a hint of a cold smile.

"Obviously, you don’t love me either."

Feng Yun withdrew her gaze. "It’s deep winter, Princely Heir; please go back. Love, feelings, what are they - can they be eaten or drunk?"

"Feng Twelve." Her mercilessness was written all over her face, in every look she gave him.

Even though he knew she didn’t care at all about his life or death, Chunyu Yan couldn’t help but tell her.

"I’m injured, don’t you see?"

Feng Yun was startled, her gaze quickly sweeping over him.

His sky-blue broad-collared fur coat made the Crown Prince Chunyu look tall and upright, his skin beneath it fair and smooth as porcelain, delicate and pale. Although his face was masked, and his expression unseen, nothing about him seemed to suggest injury...

She asked, "Where are you hurt?"

Chunyu Yan slowly lifted his wrist, pulling back the wide sleeve to reveal a wound about an inch long.

His fair skin, even with an ointment applied, made the wound appear stark and distressing.

Feng Yun pursed her lips, looking at him. "Did your half-brother do this?"

Chunyu Yan slowly lowered his sleeve, remaining silent.

Feng Yun looked at his tightly pressed lips and suddenly felt a twinge of pity for him.

No one knew better than she how difficult it was to grow up under cold glances and torment when unloved by parents and relatives.

Even without physical harm, those scars left on the heart never truly heal...

For life.

No, they still hurt even after a lifetime has passed.

"Haven’t you seen Doctor Yao?" Feng Yun stared at him. "Doctor Yao’s medicine is the best."

Chunyu Yan looked down, "It’s not fatal."

Feng Yun: "It’s not fatal, but it’s a miserable existence. It’s nearly New Year; better to recover sooner to enjoy food and drink freely..."

Chunyu Yan turned and stared at her, a sudden smirk on his lips. "Feng Twelve, you’re concerned about me."

Feng Yun had no time to respond before the fellow climbing up smoothly suddenly propped himself up on the window sill and leaped inside.

His sleeve brushed against Feng Yun’s cheek, startling her.

"What are you doing? In broad daylight..."

Chunyu Yan nonchalantly closed the window, "Now nobody will see..."

After finishing his words, he glared at the turtle hatchling marching toward him with a menacing look and pointed at its nose, "Don’t be an ingrate, at least I took care of you for a few days. If not for merit, there was hardship."

The turtle hatchling stopped in its tracks.

Feng Yun rolled her eyes.

"Speak, what mischief are you up to?"

Chunyu Yan pursed his lips lightly, a hint of a smile emerging.

"I am here to grant your wish, Feng Twelve."

"Grant my wish?" Feng Yun looked puzzled.

Chunyu Yan remained silent, locking eyes with her, slowly... ever so slowly, he reached out to remove his mask, his voice clear and captivating.

"Haven’t you been longing to see me?"

Feng Yun: ...

Chunyu Yan was probably the only man who was so narcissistic to the extreme yet undeniably handsome.

As the mask lifted, his face, spared from the light of day, finely chiseled as if carved from jade, with its sharp contours and transcendent aura, fluttered lightly in the breeze, accentuating his bright, spirited eyes that seemed untainted by the mundane world, a vision of peerless grace...

Sometimes Feng Yun truly wondered.

Facing a man like Chunyu Yan, whose mind was full of cunning plots, but upon removing his mask and revealing that face, it was as though the whole world glorified his presence, as if all his wrongs were forgivable...

"You really are..." She sighed, unable to continue.

Chunyu Yan slightly curled his lips, a faint smile undetectable at the corner of his mouth, "Well?"

Feng Yun thought for a moment and then said, "Some rely on their face to make a living, others on their shamelessness."

"Feng Twelve." Chunyu Yan’s eyebrows shot up in anger, but after steadying his emotions, he huffed heavily again, "I thought you were like me, with no home to return to, nowhere to spend New Year’s... yet, in the end, it turns out I am alone again."

A single word ’again,’ expressing all the bitterness.

It wasn’t that he had no home; he simply couldn’t return.

That Yunchuan, abundant and prosperous, his royal residence had everything, just one person too many.

Feng Yun asked, "Your younger half-brother treats you that way, does your father really not discipline him?"

Chunyu Yan looked at her, "I thought you would understand the most."

Feng Yun was momentarily speechless.

Indeed, when Lady Chen and Feng Ying treated her that way, had Feng Jingteng ever intervened?

Where there is a stepmother, there will be a stepfather.

Feng Yun said, "If you have nowhere to go, come to Changmen for New Year’s. The manor has many people, it’s lively."

"No need." Chunyu Yan slowly picked up the iron mask, preparing to put it on, his beautiful eyes slightly downcast, showing a sense of melancholy, "Without you, what meaning would it hold?"

Feng Yun raised her eyebrows, "There’s Jiang Ji. She will stay in the manor for New Year’s."

She paused for a moment, then emphasized.

"Jiang Ji’s parents are both deceased, she’s also alone."

Chunyu Yan’s lips quirked slightly, his gaze deep as he watched her, slowly placing the mask back on.

"Thank you for granting me this favor."

Once the mask was on, his entire demeanor turned cold, his eyes and mouth seeming to harden.

He was not angry.

Nor did he exhibit any other emotion.

He just looked at Feng Yun for a long time before smiling lightly.

"Safe travels."

Having said that, he hopped out as lightly as he came in.

The cold wind poured in fiercely.

Feng Yun paused before looking out again.

In the whistling wind, there was only a fleeting human figure.

-

Feng Yun wrote a letter to Wen Xingsu, telling him that she would be spending New Year’s in Xijing and also inquired indirectly about the situation at his home—

She was worried about her eldest brother being there alone.

Unexpectedly, before she could send off her letter, Wen Xingsu wrote back.

Aside from ensuring his safety, there was a silk handkerchief in the envelope.

"Please trouble Waist to pass this to the County Lord."

Was it something Puyang Yi sneakily gave to Wen Xingsu?

That couldn’t be right, as it had been a long time since Puyang Yi mentioned Wen Xingsu in front of her.

From Feng Yun’s observations, she must have given up long ago, so Feng Yun had also given up on trying to matchmake the two; yet her eldest brother unexpectedly sent a silk handkerchief out of the blue, leaving her utterly perplexed.

Was it something previously given by Puyang Yi that her eldest brother had kept?

That wasn’t right either.

If he had meant to return it, he would have done so long ago, so why choose to do it now?

Feng Yun picked up the handkerchief and examined it for a moment...

She noticed something.

It was not a fabric from Dajin but from Gusu.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she took the object to Xiaoman, "Find a box to keep this in, and when we arrive at Baihe, we’ll pass it to the County Lord."