Across the open space before the city, one looking up, one gazing down, their eyes met in a flash. An indescribable ache rose from Yixiao’s heart to her throat. She felt as if all the blood had been drained from her body, and she had to cling to the stone wall to barely stand.
She could only see those eyes, as deep as a soul-devouring magical spring, as hot as an erupting volcano.
Her waist tightened as Feng Suige pressed against her again. He flashed a wicked smile at Xia Jingshi, forcefully suppressing her trembling and resistance. His branding lips and teeth grazed Yixiao’s neck, his challenging eyes meeting Xia Jingshi’s once more.
So what if she’s your woman, his eyes seemed to say.
Ignoring the sharp pain of nails digging into his palm, Xia Jingshi smiled and said, “What a great surprise. If I hadn’t come to marry the princess, I wouldn’t have known that the missing Major from our army would appear in Susha.”
Feng Xiyang looked embarrassed, biting her lip as she turned to Feng Suige. She stomped her foot and said, “Brother, what are you doing?”
Xueying was being dragged towards the back of the caravan by Ning Fei. She struggled and cursed, “Get your pig snout off Yixiao, you fever-ridden swine who won’t have teeth to eat porridge with tomorrow morning… Ah!” Amidst Xueying’s screams, Ning Fei finally couldn’t resist hoisting her over his shoulder and running towards the rear.
Feng Suige had already burst into laughter. “She’s much more creative at cursing than you are.”
Yixiao had stopped struggling. Meeting Xia Jingshi’s gaze, she said softly to Feng Suige, “Give up. You’ll never match him in wit or bearing.”
Feng Suige snorted dismissively, but his grip tightened.
By now, all the nobles on the city wall had sensed the unusual atmosphere and began to discuss among themselves.
Amidst the buzzing, Feng Qishan frowned and stood up. All private conversations ceased abruptly, and all eyes focused on him. “I was negligent. I had only heard that the prince brought back a woman from Jinxiu, but I didn’t know she was a military officer under the Prince of the Southern Border.”
Xia Jingshi smiled gently. “Your Majesty is too kind. The prince just wanted to give me a surprise.” He nodded to Feng Suige, “I’ll remember the prince’s deep friendship.”
Feng Suige raised an eyebrow, about to respond, when Feng Qishan barked at the ceremonial official, “Quickly invite our honorable guest into the city to rest!”
The ceremonial official, who had been frozen in shock, suddenly jolted awake and hurriedly chanted, “Welcome the Prince of the Southern Border into the city!”
On the bustling streets inside Susha City, a couple dressed in foreign attire was arguing, attracting the attention of many passersby.
“Ling Xueying! Will you be reasonable?!” Ning Fei shouted this sentence for the second time.
“No!” Xueying answered for the second time, putting her hands on her hips and confronting Ning Fei. “I came to Susha to find Yixiao, not to sit there drinking tea and laughing with a bunch of people with ulterior motives!” She turned and scolded a bystander who was staring dumbly, “What are you looking at? Haven’t you seen people argue before?” The bystander sheepishly rubbed his nose and ran away.
Living with this uncouth man for less than a month, she had already thrown away all the etiquette and refinement she had learned since childhood. Father said that one becomes like one’s company, and he was indeed right, Xueying thought bitterly. Fortunately, they were in a foreign country, so no matter how embarrassing it was, it wouldn’t reach her father’s ears.
Ning Fei spread his arms, intending to carry Xueying away as he had when entering the city. Seeing his posture, Xueying quickly stepped back, threatening, “Don’t you feel pain anymore?”
She had thought of many ways to make all the women in Susha weep with regret for not being born as ladies of the Jinxiu Dynasty. But when they arrived, she was unceremoniously carried into the city on his shoulder, with no grace to speak of. Besides feeling dizzy and nauseous from the blood rushing to her head, her keen ears also caught the whispers of women in the crowd, “Look at that Jinxiu general… how enviable…”
Enviable!! Xueying still wanted to scream.
At that moment, Xueying, overcome with anger, had pulled out her hairpin and stabbed it into his buttocks like crushing garlic, eliciting a collective gasp from the crowd…
Ning Fei’s wary gaze fell on her hair. Fortunately, Xueying was wearing an ebony hairpin today, otherwise, his buttocks would now be covered in bleeding puncture wounds.
“His Highness has just arrived, and we must observe proper etiquette. We can’t let the people of Susha laugh at us,” Ning Fei said, showing restraint for the sake of the hairpin.
Xueying snorted and pointed at his nose. “Tell me, are you the Prince of the Southern Border?” Ning Fei was suddenly confused, “Of course not.” Xueying then pointed at herself, “Then am I? Am I the Prince of the Southern Border?” “Of course not,” Ning Fei replied, frowning with concern. “Are you suffering from heatstroke?”
Giving him a withering look, Xueying ignored his last question. “Neither of us is the Prince of the Southern Border, so even if we behave improperly, no one will blame it on the Jinxiu Dynasty. So, Ning Fei, either you come with me to the palace, or you can go back and continue sitting there drinking tea like an idiot!”
Ning Fei blocked her way again. “Yixiao was taken by the Susha prince, and even the Emperor didn’t know about it. So she definitely won’t be in the palace…”
“Who said I’m looking for Yixiao? I want to question the Emperor face to face about how he rules his country, allowing his son to abduct innocent women!” Xueying raised her chin. “You only need to answer whether you’re going or not!”
“Ling Xueying! Will you be reasonable?!” “No!” The two began their third round of confrontation.
Suddenly, Xueying shifted uncomfortably and called softly, “Ning Fei… his gaze doesn’t look very kind.” Ning Fei’s face also showed an inscrutable expression. “Come here.”
For the first time, Xueying obediently nestled into Ning Fei’s arms. Ning Fei comfortingly patted her shoulder and back, then raised his head to look sharply at Feng Suige, who was seated high on horseback.
At some point, the originally bustling street had been divided into three sections by several squads of Susha soldiers. The two sides were still crowded with people, while the middle section where they stood was empty and surrounded by Feng Suige and his troops.
“Pretend I’m not here,” Feng Suige said with a lazy smile on his face. “Please, continue.”
Ning Fei sneered, “Does Prince Feng want to abduct people in broad daylight again?”
Feng Suige exclaimed in surprise, “Why would General Ning ask such a question?”
“So it’s you,” Xueying poked her head out from Ning Fei’s embrace and pointed at the menacing Susha soldiers around them. “Are you blind or am I hallucinating? Are you going to say these are all scarecrows?”
Feng Suige explained with a smile, “I received a report that there were people in the marketplace talking about His Highness and the prince, and it seemed to involve the Emperor, so I came to check. I didn’t expect it to be you two. Clearing the street is just to prevent any ignorant commoners from interfering—I’m only being considerate, please don’t misunderstand.”
Xueying pretended to shiver and nestled back into Ning Fei’s arms. “Ning Fei, today I realized you’re much better…” Putting on a show in public, one person wasn’t enough.
Ning Fei shuddered and warned in a low voice, “Ling Xueying, this is not the time for jokes.”
What an idiot, he doesn’t know how to play along at all, Xueying glared at him. “Do you know, there’s a kind of thing in this world that’s a beast but wears a human skin, trying to speak like a human…”
Ning Fei frowned. “Beast? How can it wear human skin?” Xueying gritted her teeth, deciding not to ask any more questions. “Haven’t you heard of ‘human face, beast heart’?”
Ning Fei suddenly understood, but before he could speak, Xueying continued, “Actually, no one knows what he is. Maybe he’s not even a thing at all. But what exactly is he? Only he knows.” She finished with a smile at Feng Suige. “I’ve heard that the regent prince of Susha is exceptionally knowledgeable. I wonder if you could enlighten Xueying?”
Feng Suige smiled slightly. “This truly puzzles me. It seems I need to read more books—or perhaps we should ask General Ning. He’s been in the military for many years and should be well-informed.”
Xueying was quite annoyed. She grabbed Ning Fei’s hand before he could speak, signaling him not to talk. “We’ve discussed this question many times on our journey but couldn’t conclude. That’s why we thought of coming to ask the prince. It’s a pity that even the prince himself is unclear, let alone able to enlighten us,” she emphasized the words “us” heavily, then flashed an innocent smile. “Let’s put this question aside for now. When the prince knows the answer, he can tell us later.”
Feng Suige raised an eyebrow. “You might as well ask the Prince of the Southern Border. Yixiao greatly admires his wit.” With that, he cracked his whip and galloped away, all the Susha soldiers quickly falling into formation behind him.
Xueying suddenly came to her senses and stamped her foot. “Yixiao… Damn it! I forgot to ask him to release her!”
Ning Fei was dazed for a moment, then muttered, “Um, my hand.” Xueying looked down and quickly released his hand, wiping it disgustedly. “Ugh, I don’t know if you washed your hands after using the toilet today.”
Ning Fei suddenly asked, “What did you say was better about me earlier?”
Xueying’s lips curled into a mischievous smile as she quietly took a few steps back. “He has a human face but a beast’s heart, while you have a beast’s face but a human heart. Isn’t that better?”
“Beast…” Ning Fei suddenly flew into a rage. “Ling Xueying, don’t you run away!”