For three consecutive days, Xia Jingshi had not returned to Mingde Palace. After much hesitation, Feng Xiyang summoned a carriage and headed towards the mausoleum behind Shuxiang Temple in the suburbs.
Although autumn had arrived, the weather had not noticeably cooled. Each afternoon still felt like midsummer. Feng Xiyang gently dabbed her forehead with a damp silk handkerchief handed to her by a maid, looking out at the bustling crowd on the construction site. All she could see were bare-chested men rushing back and forth. In her shyness, she couldn’t spot Xia Jingshi’s figure.
Someone noticed the two women nearly fainting in the sun and shouted. Almost half the workers on the site put down their tasks and swarmed to put on their shirts. The remaining few carrying heavy wood and stone slabs quickened their pace. Faced with dozens of curious and inquiring eyes, Feng Xiyang had no choice but to steel herself and walk towards them.
Xia Jingshi, wearing only a snow-white silk jacket, emerged from the crowd. He told everyone, “Take a break,” then approached Feng Xiyang with a displeased expression. “What brings you here?” he asked coldly. Feng Xiyang’s heart ached as she lowered her head and asked softly, “My lord hasn’t returned for the past few days…”
“The grave relocation is in a few days, and there’s still much to be done. So, I won’t be returning for the next few days either,” Xia Jingshi explained briefly, carelessly dusting off his already filthy jacket. “If you’re bored, tell the steward at Mingde Palace to find you a servant who’s lived in the capital. They can take you around to play.”
After a moment of silence, Feng Xiyang suddenly raised her head and asked defiantly, “Why are you willing to do so much for her, but won’t spend half a day with me? Back in Su Sha, you promised Father you’d take care of me!” Xia Jingshi just smiled faintly, “Whatever you lack, just ask. When we return to Lu City, I’ll do my best to provide it for you.”
“I don’t need those things!” Feng Xiyang’s voice suddenly rose in excitement, drawing furtive glances from the distant soldiers. “You ignore me all day, yet you’re so devoted to helping an outsider. Have you ever thought about what others might think of me?”
“Put away your princess’s temper,” Xia Jingshi’s eyes flashed with anger. “If you cared so much about what others think, you wouldn’t be standing here.” Feng Xiyang’s eyes trembled, her voice quivering slightly, “What about me? Have you ever considered my feelings!?”
“If you could consider others a bit more, perhaps I would consider you more,” Xia Jingshi said coldly. “Go back, don’t embarrass yourself here.” “Xia Jingshi, you bastard!” Feng Xiyang shouted angrily as if she had been slapped. “Whatever she can do for you, I can do too! Why is she the only one in your heart? I can’t accept this! Tell me, how am I inferior to her?!”
Xia Jingshi abruptly turned to leave, shouting furiously, “Wei Ran, take her away!” Xiao Wei Ran responded from afar and quickly ran over. Feng Xiyang had already rushed forward to block his path.
Xia Jingshi stopped, coldly watching the seemingly frantic Feng Xiyang. Xiao Wei Ran had arrived and was gently tugging at Xiyang’s sleeve, softly persuading, “Princess, please return first. Whatever the matter is, you can discuss it when His Highness returns…” “Don’t touch me!” Feng Xiyang violently shook off Wei Ran’s grasp. “I won’t leave until he explains himself clearly!”
Xiao Wei Ran frowned, but before he could advise further, Xia Jingshi suddenly grabbed Feng Xiyang’s wrist and forcibly dragged her toward the construction site. Wei Ran only managed to cry out “Your Highness” before hurriedly following.
People parted to make way as Xia Jingshi walked by. He dragged Feng Xiyang to the center of the area where various stones were piled. Pushing her away, he angrily said, “You keep pestering me at this time, all because you want to know why everyone favors Yi Xiao.”
He gestured vaguely at the surrounding people. “Look carefully. Except for a few craftsmen, the rest are all my former subordinates. After the war, they were granted titles and stayed in the capital. When Yi Xiao’s late mother was posthumously awarded an imperial title, before the Emperor could arrange craftsmen, they had already come to me volunteering to help. Since you like to ask, today you can ask them openly why they would do this. Then think carefully – can you do what she has done?”
Feng Xiyang roughly dragged all the way here, was already quite frightened. Now, being shouted at like this, she was at a loss for words. As she stammered, a burly man with a bushy beard and fierce eyes emerged from the crowd, declaring boldly, “When my mother passed away, the frontline was in a critical situation. Colonel Fu learned of it and requested leave from Your Highness on my behalf, taking over all my military duties. I only found out later that Colonel Fu’s mother was gravely ill at the time and had sent word asking her to return. But because she was covering my duties, by the time I returned to the army and she hurried back to the capital, she still couldn’t see her mother one last time.”
At this point, the military officer’s eyes reddened. “I was so remorseful that I wanted to die before her. I vowed then that if I couldn’t repay Colonel Fu in this life, I’d be her ox or horse in the next to repay this debt!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd erupted with emotion, all talking at once. Suddenly, Feng Xiyang felt surrounded by opening and closing mouths, with a swarm of buzzing voices enveloping her, all centered on one name.
Colonel Fu, Colonel Fu, Colonel Fu, Colonel Fu…
Fu Yi Xiao, Fu Yi Xiao, Fu Yi Xiao, Fu Yi Xiao…
“I don’t want to hear it,” Feng Xiyang suddenly cried, covering her ears. “I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want to hear it…” She shouted in one breath, tears streaming down her face. “I’ve made a mistake, I married the wrong person, and I loved the wrong person!” She sobbed, “I shouldn’t have loved you. I almost worshipped you like a god, but you don’t care at all…”
In the silence that followed, Xia Jingshi laughed dryly. “This is the biggest difference between you and Yi Xiao. To you, I am a god, but to her, I’m just an ordinary person.”
Just one sentence froze all the blood in Feng Xiyang’s body.
Indeed, she couldn’t see him as an ordinary person. In her heart, Xia Jingshi had always stood like a god at an unreachable height. She even felt he should have been in heaven. How could she ever see him as an ordinary man of this world?
She never imagined she would lose on this point.
Feng Xiyang suddenly let out a wild cry and stumbled out of the crowd, running towards the carriage waiting in the distance. Xiao Wei Ran looked at Xia Jingshi with concern, “Your Highness, should we…?” Xia Jingshi smiled bitterly, “Let her go.”
As Wei Ran was about to say something more, they suddenly heard a faint sound, “Boom…”
The ensuing rumble, mixed with the crowd’s cries, reached Feng Xiyang’s ears as she ran. “Your Highness—” “Adjutant Xiao—”
Feng Xiyang instinctively stopped and looked back. Where a cloud of dust rose, the towering pile of logs had vanished. The entire construction site was in chaos.