Yi Xiao arched her back, poised to leap forward. “Bring more torches!” An urgent voice called out. “We must hold this position at all costs!” Feng Suige? When did he return? But now was not the time to ponder such things. If she delayed any longer, it would be difficult to escape once he finished deploying his forces.
Yi Xiao hesitated, then gritted her teeth and darted out. Several shouts rang out from nearby, “The Junior Consort is there!” “Junior Consort!” “Yi Xiao!” Feng Suige practically lunged towards her.
He didn’t want to always see Yi Xiao’s hot and cold behavior, so he had provoked her earlier. But after she ran away, he regretted it and soon started rushing back. While still considering how to coax her forgiveness, he encountered two servants hurrying to report—Yi Xiao was angry, very angry.
Seeing him fly over to block her path, Yi Xiao’s gaze turned fierce. She held the broken arrow close to her arm, lowered her head, and bent her elbow, mercilessly charging toward Feng Suige’s chest like an arrow. The guards who couldn’t reach him in time cried out in alarm, “Prince, be careful!”
Feng Suige instinctively slid back slightly, barely avoiding the arrowhead that grazed his chest. His clothes were torn a bit, causing him to break out in a cold sweat.
Yi Xiao’s strike missed, but she didn’t engage him further. She spun around to leave, and Feng Suige didn’t hesitate to quickly chase after her. He desperately grabbed her, urgently saying, “Don’t go, I need to explain…” “No need!” Yi Xiao’s eyes reddened as she violently shook off his hand, quickening her pace.
A painful, numbing sensation spread from his hand to his heart. In that brief moment their eyes met, hers held only wariness. Behind that wariness, how much suspicion and anger lay hidden? He dared not look too closely, and called out sternly, “Gu Yu, stop the Junior Consort!”
A tall, dark figure appeared in front, blocking Yi Xiao’s path. She paused briefly, then raised the broken arrow and pounced on him.
As the sharp arrowhead pierced Gu Yu’s chest, his body only reflexively flinched, but he didn’t dodge or resist. Yi Xiao quickly pulled back her hand and stepped away, angrily saying, “Why didn’t you dodge? Are you so certain I wouldn’t kill you?” Gu Yu stammered, “Junior Consort… is good person. Won’t kill Gu Yu.”
“Good person?” She laughed coldly, pressing the arrowhead to Gu Yu’s chest again. “My hands are stained with Du Sha people’s blood, yet you still call me good?” “Junior Consort never called Gu Yu stupid, even took Gu Yu to Moon Palace,” he struggled to speak more clearly, then pointed at his now bloodied chest, “Also didn’t kill Gu Yu…”
Yi Xiao froze, staring at Gu Yu’s clear eyes. She stood there, stunned, as Feng Suige cautiously approached and moved the broken arrow away from Gu Yu’s chest. She didn’t object.
Many years ago, she too had possessed such a pure soul…
In the firelight, a faint glimmer crossed Yi Xiao’s cheek and quickly vanished. Feng Suige became alarmed, excitedly grabbing her hand and pulling her into the light. “Why are you crying? Are you unwell? Why are you shaking?”
Yi Xiao suddenly laughed, reaching out to roughly grab Feng Suige’s long hair. He bit his lip silently, allowing her to pull. Her voice circled in her throat a few times before becoming audibly hoarse, “Why did you barge into my life? Why bring me to Du Sha? Why do you keep entangling me, why won’t you let me go?”
Feng Suige just silently gazed at her, his complex gaze more intense, tender, and resolute than ever before.
Suddenly, he grasped Yi Xiao’s right hand, gripping it firmly as if to prove his existence. Yi Xiao glared at him, instinctively trying to break free from his restraining hand, but he held on even tighter, using greater force to press her hand against his heavily heaving chest.
Feng Suige stared intently at Yi Xiao, saying softly, “If you’re willing, from now on, I’ll give you everything I have.” Yi Xiao shook her head stubbornly, using her free hand to pry his fingers open one by one. “I don’t want it. I don’t want anything of yours!”
“You must take it because I only want to give it to you,” he insisted, pressing her hand tightly to his chest, his fingertips digging deep into her wrist. As he spoke, the vibrations from his chest nearly drove her to the brink.
Yi Xiao took a breath and screamed like a madwoman, “I said I don’t want it… I don’t want it! I hate social niceties, I hate status and reputation, and I hate those schemes and machinations even more. I just want to be an ordinary person. Why won’t you let me go? I’m so tired, I beg you to let me go!”
Feng Suige suddenly smiled charmingly, leaning close to her body. “Yi Xiao, you like me a little. Why won’t you admit it?” He sighed lightly. “Why are you so stubborn about not accepting me?”
Stubborn? Not daring to admit it?
He stared at her unrelentingly. Yi Xiao felt she couldn’t bear it anymore. The heat from his palm was unbearable. She knew her expression must be hideous now because she could see it reflected in his pupils—his eyes were smiling. What right did he have to smile? He had destroyed her life, yet he could still smile.
Yi Xiao was furious.
“Feng Suige, if this is some ploy you’re playing, then you’ve succeeded,” Yi Xiao suddenly laughed, a crazed and gloomy laugh. “If you insist on dragging me down to ruin, then let’s go together! Who’s afraid of whom?” “Alright,” he agreed softly, grinning to show a row of neat white teeth. “Then let’s see who gets scared first!”
Yi Xiao’s face looked bewitching in the firelight, a fox-like cunning flashing in her eyes. She leaned in close to him playfully and said softly, “But remember what you said—that you would never let go of me. You must remember not to release your hand, or I’ll fly away, vanishing without a trace. You won’t be able to find me or catch me. Don’t hate me then—you shouldn’t have let go!”
Feng Suige listened with a smile, then said solemnly as if taking an oath, “I won’t. As long as I have breath in my body, I will never allow you to leave!”
“I’ll remember too,” Yi Xiao smiled bitterly. “Someone once said that marrying is worse than attacking a city. One shouldn’t think that entering the city settles everything. Now I finally understand—after entering the city, the troubles truly begin.”