In the dead of night, soldiers dozed in small groups scattered across the flat areas of the forest. Xia Jingshi was still conversing with several Jinxiu officers who remained as guards. Feng Xiyang, clutching a felt blanket, wandered nearby for a while before reluctantly returning to the campfire.

“Xiyang, come here,” Feng Suige, sitting shoulder to shoulder with Yi Xiao, smiled and beckoned her to sit beside him. “You’ve never been on a military campaign before. It must be quite tiring, isn’t it?” Feng Xiyang nodded, carefully spread out her felt blanket, and then sat down.

For a moment, the three of them were silent.

After a while, Yi Xiao stood up and stretched. “We can still rest for a bit. I’m going to lean against something nearby. You two chat.” Feng Suige made a sound of acknowledgment and stood up to remove his cloak, offering it to her. Yi Xiao didn’t reach out to take it, instead quietly pointing at Xiyang. Feng Suige paused, but Yi Xiao had already made a face and run off. Feng Suige could only withdraw his hand and turn to ask Xiyang, “Xiyang, are you cold? This cloak…”

“Does Imperial Brother think that I would want something she doesn’t?” Xiyang asked without turning her head, her eyes already filled with tears. “Is that how Imperial Brother sees me?” Feng Suige sighed helplessly, “Xiyang, must you be so harsh?”

Feng Xiyang remained silent for a long time before sobbing, “Imperial Brother, am I very annoying?” Feng Suige carefully wrapped the cloak around her and embraced her, comforting her softly, “How could that be? You’re still ill, so your emotions are a bit unstable. Once we settle down and you rest for a while, you’ll feel better.”

“I don’t know… I don’t understand…” Xiyang lay on Feng Suige’s knee, her tears falling one by one, soaking his clothes. “I’ve always tried so hard to please him, but why does he distance himself from me the more I try? Why did everyone like me before, but now…”

Feng Suige was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, “Imperial Brother asked you before, why do you love him? Do you remember how you answered then?” Xiyang choked out, “I remember. I said because he is Xia Jingshi…” “And now?” Feng Suige patted her shoulder. “Now, is he no longer Xia Jingshi?”

Xiyang suddenly forgot to cry and slowly sat up, staring blankly at the flickering campfire.

Feng Suige leaned forward to pick up a few twigs and threw them into the fire. He turned back and asked, “Xiyang, let Imperial Brother ask you, is Xia Jingshi truly the one you love?” Xiyang sat for a while before answering woodenly, “Of course. If I didn’t love him, why would I marry him?” Feng Suige shook his head, “That’s not what I mean. I’m asking, do you understand him?” Xiyang was silent for a long time. She first nodded, then shook her head, and then hastily argued, “Even if I don’t understand him, so what? Didn’t Imperial Brother not understand Fu Yi Xiao before? Aren’t you two together now?”

“Yes, I didn’t understand her before, but people are different,” speaking of Yi Xiao, Feng Suige’s face softened involuntarily. “She’s simpler and more direct than Xia Jingshi. When you’re with her, you can understand her joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. If you treat her badly, she’ll return it in kind. If you treat her well, she’ll accept it and try hard to repay you…”

Noticing Feng Xiyang’s slightly annoyed look, Feng Suige smiled apologetically and turned the topic back to Xia Jingshi. “Xia Jingshi is probably the most inscrutable person I’ve ever met. A man like him won’t easily open his heart to you without years of companionship and understanding.”

“If Fu Yi Xiao can do it, so can I,” Feng Xiyang couldn’t help but cry out. “I’m not greedy. I just hope to be by his side, to hear him talk—even if he doesn’t talk, just being with him makes me happy…” “Xiyang,” Feng Suige sighed, “You can’t. If you could, you wouldn’t compare yourself to Yi Xiao, and you wouldn’t dislike her so much—when we were in Su Sha, you liked her very much, didn’t you?”

A gust of night wind blew by, and Feng Xiyang shivered, instinctively tightening the cloak wrapped around her, burying half her face in its warm folds. “I was indeed jealous. I didn’t want to be… but his life is full of Fu Yi Xiao’s presence. I… I just can’t get rid of it!”

“That’s why I say you don’t understand him,” Feng Suige tenderly tucked her wind-blown hair behind her ear. “Although I don’t understand why he would push Yi Xiao away from his life with his own hands, I know that he cherishes Yi Xiao more than anything. If I were you, I wouldn’t think about how to drive Yi Xiao away. I would consider how to coexist with her.”

“Is that what Imperial Brother did?” Xiyang asked softly as if coming to her senses. “When Fu Yi Xiao was thinking about her husband, Imperial Brother, were you not jealous at all? Not angry at all?” “How could that be possible?” Feng Suige chuckled softly. “Of course, I minded it in my heart, but then I thought, no matter what, between the two of us, she ultimately chose me. That’s when I found peace in my heart.”

“Imperial Brother,” Feng Xiyang called out softly. Feng Suige responded and turned his head, only to be startled by her resentful gaze. “You won. That’s why you can sit here and gloat about your victory to me… You think I deserve this, don’t you? You think I brought this upon myself, don’t you? You’re all focused on making excuses for Fu Yi Xiao. You don’t understand my pain at all!!!”

After shouting out this outburst, Feng Xiyang stood up and stumbled towards the forest. She hadn’t run more than a few steps when she tripped and fell heavily to the ground. She struggled to sit up, the intense pain in her limbs mixing with the grievance in her heart, and she began to cry loudly, no longer caring if she woke anyone.

She had only cried for a few moments when her wrist was suddenly seized roughly. Before she could react, she was forcefully pulled off the ground, startling her into forgetting her tears.

It was Yi Xiao.

Yi Xiao frowned as she brushed the dirt off Xiyang’s clothes, scolding her lightly, “Stand up straight! How can the dignified Marquise of Zhennan be rolling on the ground and throwing a tantrum in front of everyone?” Before Xiyang could react, Fu Yi Xiao had straightened up and, grabbing her arm, walked towards the forest without looking back.

“Yi Xiao,” Feng Suige followed worriedly, “What are you going to do?”

Yi Xiao didn’t answer.

Feng Suige stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Xia Jingshi. He was watching them with concern. Seeing Feng Suige turn back, he slowly raised his right hand and lightly tapped his left chest with his fist.

Feng Suige hesitated briefly, but then nodded and sat back down by the campfire.

He understood Xia Jingshi’s meaning.