As Ning Fei’s figure disappeared around a corner, Yixiao turned to look at Xia Jingshi. “The day before yesterday we went boating on the lake, yesterday we paid respects to Buddha, and today we’re strolling through the streets. Your Highness, no matter how big Lucheng is, there will come a day when we’ve seen it all. When that day comes, what excuse will you use to keep Yixiao here?”
Xia Jingshi didn’t answer her question. Instead, he asked, “Pingling—is there someone waiting for you there?”
Yixiao scoffed, “Is Your Highness concerned about Yixiao?”
Xia Jingshi just looked down at her bare feet on the black carpet. “You’ve changed a lot.”
In their exchange, neither answered the other’s question.
Yixiao felt a bit uncomfortable under his gaze. She pulled her feet up onto the couch, covering them with her skirt, and stretched, trying to cover her discomfort. “Does Your Highness not like the current Yixiao?”
“I don’t,” Xia Jingshi said flatly, averting his gaze. “This Prince liked the straightforward and pure Yixiao from years ago.”
She suddenly laughed loudly, “The person who made me change was you, Your Highness—or are you regretting that arrow from years ago?”
Xia Jingshi frowned, “This Prince never regrets his actions. If time were to flow backward and we returned to that day, with you aggressively killing a military general in front of me, I would still shoot that arrow without hesitation—but I would personally capture you, not giving you any chance to jump off the cliff!”
Yixiao clenched her fists, suppressing her emotions. “If Your Highness had captured Yixiao that day, how would you have dealt with me?”
Xia Jingshi hesitated slightly, then answered frankly, “I’ve thought about this question many times over these four years, and again when Ning Fei reported discovering your whereabouts in Pingling, but I’ve never been able to find an answer.” He leaned forward slightly, tilting up her chin to look directly into her ink-black eyes. “Yixiao, if you feel that the rank of Commander is too low, I can promote you to Deputy General. With future military achievements, you could even become a General. Isn’t that good? Why must you keep testing me?”
Yixiao didn’t move, a small flame flickering in her eyes. “Does Your Highness insist on misinterpreting Yixiao’s feelings as a roundabout way of seeking rewards? Is Yixiao’s existence to Your Highness merely a strong bow in your military camp? Are Yixiao’s feelings just a heavy burden to Your Highness?”
Xia Jingshi sighed, “Don’t ask anymore. You, just come back to my side. Let’s treat everything that happened in these four years as a misunderstanding…”
“A misunderstanding?” Sparks almost flew from Yixiao’s eyes as she tilted her chin up to glare at Xia Jingshi. “Why have you always been so hypocritical? You have no sense of responsibility, you don’t understand love at all!” At this point, she pushed him away forcefully. “Take your hands off me, don’t insult me!” She took a deep breath, “This time, it’s me who doesn’t want you—from now on, Yixiao will never see you again!”
Holding back the moisture welling up in her eyes, Yixiao quickly walked towards the inner chamber. Xueying hadn’t returned yet, but she couldn’t stay here any longer. With the understanding between her and Xueying, even if Xueying returned and couldn’t find her, she would know where to look.
This time, Xia Jingshi didn’t stop her. Instead, he watched her with a strange, sad look in his eyes as she changed her clothes, gathered her belongings, and left his sight for the second time without looking back.
As night fell, in the dense forest outside Lucheng, a group of tall, robust guards closely protected a large black carriage in the center. The carriage windows were covered with heavy black gauze, only faintly letting light through.
Feng Suige leaned against the cushions, thoughtfully examining the captive sleeping at his feet.
The Prince of Zhennan from the Jinxiu Dynasty had canceled the marriage agreement halfway and returned to Lucheng, greatly displeasing his father. To make matters worse, Princess Xiyang was stubborn and insisted she would marry no one but the Prince of Zhennan, causing endless discussions throughout the court. After countless memorials from officials requesting a new husband be chosen for Princess Xiyang, he finally couldn’t bear it anymore. Leaving a letter for his father, he disguised himself and secretly entered the Jinxiu Dynasty, just to investigate what kind of urgent illness the Prince of Zhennan had suddenly contracted.
Thinking of this, he smiled coldly. From various signs, it seemed the Prince of Zhennan had no illness at all, and this woman… He stood up and walked to her side. In the past battles, she always wore a vibrant coral-red battle robe, as bright as flames, wielding a powerful bow with unerring arrows. Even in the most chaotic battles, she always maintained a very close distance from the Prince of Zhennan, her expression quite protective.
Four years ago, she had vanished without a trace in Jinxiu. The best spies of the Susha Kingdom had investigated exhaustively but only learned that her disappearance was due to the Prince of Zhennan dispatching her on an extremely secret mission. Recently, she had suddenly reappeared, personally escorted into the city by the Prince of Zhennan’s two most trusted generals and sent back to the Commander’s mansion. The Prince of Zhennan, who had claimed illness and had not left the royal city for four years, had personally visited her several times. It was clear that Fu Yixiao was very important to the Prince of Zhennan.
Four years—that was exactly the year the Prince of Zhennan and Xiyang had become engaged.
But they couldn’t find out exactly what secret mission the Prince of Zhennan had sent Fu Yixiao on, nor what had happened in these four years that made Xia Jingshi use the excuse of an old illness to repeatedly avoid fulfilling the marriage promise made back then.
Yixiao woke up from the jolting and immediately recalled everything that had happened when she opened her eyes and saw the carriage ceiling. She sat up abruptly.
After leaving the Commander’s mansion, she had planned to hire a carriage at the market. To save time, she had taken a familiar alley she had walked many times before. Her back, scorched by Xia Jingshi’s gaze, was still hurting, almost bringing tears to her eyes. She blinked. If Xueying were here, she would probably scold her for being weak again.
Suddenly, she heard a man ask, “Miss, do you need to hire a carriage?” Before she could see who was speaking, a strange, pungent smoke enveloped her face. Before losing consciousness, she heard an excited voice say, “We’ve got her!”
“Are you too calm, or has the drug not worn off yet? Your expression doesn’t look like that of a captive,” a male voice beside her mocked. Yixiao trembled slightly and quickly looked towards him.
The man leaning lazily against the carriage wall with his arms crossed wearing a black brocade robe with floral patterns. His open collar revealed a patch of bronzed, sturdy chest. In the soft candlelight, his handsome face was almost devilishly beautiful, with deep, bright black eyes.
Yixiao’s fingers unconsciously clenched into fists. “Feng Suige!”
Seeing her utter his name at a glance, Feng Suige raised his thick eyebrows in surprise. “As expected of the Prince of Zhennan’s woman, your memory is indeed impressive!”
Yixiao, on the contrary, calmed down. “I’m not his woman—but you, the noble prince of the Susha Kingdom, coming into our Jinxiu Dynasty’s territory and capturing a military commander from the Prince of Zhennan’s camp, hmm, that sounds quite extraordinary.” She secretly tried to move her numb limbs, her peripheral vision glancing toward the swaying curtain nearby.
Feng Suige snapped his fingers, successfully drawing back her attention. “If you’re smart enough, you won’t think about escaping. The thirty escorts outside the carriage are Susha’s most formidable warriors, and you, Fu Yixiao, are useless without your bow and arrows!” He almost gritted his teeth on the last three words.
As Yixiao’s gaze fell on him, the scar on his shoulder seemed to ache again faintly.
There was once an extremely difficult battle where he had almost captured Xia Jingshi. It was because of this woman in front of him that he not only suffered severe injuries but also lost three of his guards. He would never forget those beast-like sharp, beautiful eyes that flashed with pride and mockery the moment he was shot and fell from his horse.
“You think you can harm him?” her eyes seemed to say, shining brightly like Sirius in the night sky.
Back at the camp, when the military doctor dug out the arrowhead from his shoulder, there was a small character for “smile” carved on it. He was so angry he almost tore down the royal tent. This hateful woman, even her arrows were meant to provoke.
It was much later that Feng Suige realized he had misunderstood. What was carved on the arrowhead was her name. Her name was Fu Yi Xiao.
Coming back to his senses, he found Yixiao looking at him with interest. “The Prince’s eyes seem to be torturing Yixiao,” she even recklessly continued to provoke him, “Do we have a grudge?”
His cheek twitched unnaturally. He reached into his bosom and took out a sachet, throwing it into Yixiao’s lap. He said gruffly, “This, don’t say you don’t remember!”
Yixiao hesitated for a moment, picked up the sachet, then put it down again with a puzzled look. “Yixiao is not skilled in needlework…” Feng Suige almost shouted, “I’m telling you to open it and look!!!”