The Slender Waist-Chapter 284 - 197 Shameless Pervert

"I do not understand your words, Qi Jun," she said. "The General has been very kind to me."

Feng Yun’s almond eyes narrowed slightly, losing the sharpness in her gaze and appearing somewhat bewildered. She was, after all, only seventeen, looking innocent at a glance. With but a gesture, one couldn’t tell that beneath her exterior lay a concealed blade, a complex soul.

Xiao Cheng’s face turned even uglier.

Chunyu Yan, on the other hand, appeared quite amused, "Brother Zicheng, please, take a seat and we can talk."

His smile was full of teasing, and he turned back to whisper an order to Sang Jiao.

"Why not show Qi Jun to his seat and serve tea?"

The guest had been here quite a while now, standing and talking for so long – was it only now that the host remembered to attend to him?

Feng Yun glanced at him.

Chunyu Yan was also looking at her, his eyes alight with mischief, utterly shameless, asking for a beating. Feng Yun pursed her lips, giving him an eye roll for him to interpret as he pleased. Chunyu Yan chuckled softly, his appearance radiant.

The two did not speak much, but their small actions spoke volumes.

Once Xiao Cheng sat down with a grim expression, it seemed as if Feng Yun had only just remembered him. She took a sip of tea and said indifferently,

"My father never taught me much in the way of principles, but there is one thing I remember clearly: he said, ’A person is born with their fate.’

She tilted her head up ever so slightly, looking at Xiao Cheng. The fire’s glow reflected off her face, which was porcelain white with a delicate flush, as if coated with a glaze, dazzling and compelling. Such a face, both gentle and firm, captivating the heart and yet, wrenchingly poignant.

"Qi Jun has married my sister and will henceforth be my brother-in-law. Once our countries make peace and stop warring, there will be no harm in visiting relatives, don’t you agree?"

Xiao Cheng’s brow furrowed.

"You are my wife, pledged to me even before you left your mother’s womb. Our being together is also the shared wish of our mothers..."

Feng Yun raised her eyebrows slightly and asked with a smile, "Now that Qi Jun and I both have our own families, the engagement can no longer hold. Shouldn’t all of yesterday’s events be forgotten? You and Aying are now a couple, and Mr. Pei and I are deeply devoted to each other. This is surely a cause for joy for all involved. Why do you persist, Qi Jun?"

"I cannot bear to see you struggle in the muck." Xiao Cheng tensed, as if threads were tightly wound around his heart, tightening with every coil, a subtle pain threading through him. He still refused to believe that the young girl before him would speak such heartless words with such an easy tone.

"You are a woman of Qi, Jin is not your home. How can you be at peace? Pei Jue is bewitched by you now, but what about in one year, two years, or five? Have you ever considered how you two would manage?"

Normally a refined and easygoing gentleman, he seemed a bit agitated now, his heart full of unwillingness.

Unwilling for her to go through the abandonment and betrayal she suffered in a past life once more.

"Come back with me," he said, his eyes slightly moist, "Pei Jue is not the man for you."

Pei Jue is not the right man.

And he is?

Feng Yun almost laughed.

Seeing him gaze at her intently, as if trying to read something from her face, she forcefully suppressed the unwarranted anger welling up and gave a faint, shallow smile.

"Sure, if Qi Jun is sincere, then go now and kill Feng Ying. Send her head to Xinzhou, and then I’ll go back with you."

Xiao Cheng looked at her, his eyes deepening.

"Ayun, what are you saying?"

"I’m saying, if you kill Feng Ying, I will go back to Tai City with you," she said slowly and seriously, her eyes fixed on Xiao Cheng, this man she truly loved since her naive younger days.

"Won’t you?" she asked with a laugh.

Her laugh was peculiar, not like the Feng Yun he knew.

"You’re not that kind of person," Xiao Cheng said. "If I killed your own sister for your sake, what kind of person would you become, and what kind of person would I become? If I were so heartlessly disloyal, how could I gain the trust of the people, how could you rest assured?"

So he could not be heartlessly disloyal to Feng Ying, but he could be so towards her.

In other words, all his carelessness and heartlessness were reserved solely for her.

In dealing with Feng Ying, he could be magnanimous, saintly in heart, tolerant, upright, and rational...

But towards her, he could not tolerate anything.

He could not tolerate that she had once been with Pei Jue, could not tolerate her child, could not tolerate a single tear she shed...

The smile on Feng Yun’s face grew wider.

As she looked at this man she had admired, married, and lived with for years, she smiled so hard she was almost in tears.

"Are you afraid to kill, unwilling to kill, or simply can’t bear to kill? Xiao San, admit it, you’re not soft-hearted. You won’t kill her not because of anything else, but from the day you married her, you’ve acknowledged that Feng Ying is your wife. She sees you as her sky, and you’re bound to protect her, unchangeably for life—because you two are husband and wife..."

"She’s also your sister, why would you say such cruel words?" Xiao Cheng frowned at her, seeming to want to see the root of her unusual emotions on her face.

"Feng Ying is not and has never been the obstacle between us. I have no personal affection for her, but having married her, I have a responsibility to her..."

"Then go fulfill your responsibilities and why come to find me?" Feng Yun suddenly raised her voice, almost as if carrying the emotions of Feng Yun from the previous life in Qi Palace, her look almost glaring, full of anger and disgust.

"Do you feel that my heart isn’t broken enough, so you have to come and trample on me a few more times, not satisfied until you see me die before you?"

"Ayun..." Xiao Cheng’s gaze was heavy.

Suddenly, he laughed, his face softened.

This woman, who would roar at her in anger, made him feel close to her. This was the Ayun he knew, the Ayun who would get jealous and angry over Feng Ying.

"I can divorce her," said Xiao Cheng, frowning slightly as he continued, "But you need to give me some time to make arrangements..."

"Haha!" Feng Yun’s laughter was somewhat cold.

"Weren’t you going to take responsibility for her? Is this how you treat your wife?"

Her eyes, dark as lacquer, stared at Xiao Cheng, then suddenly her lips curled into a smile, "How can I trust you? Just as you can abandon her, you can also abandon me..."

"It’s not the same." Xiao Cheng, looking at the deep sadness on her face, felt as if he could almost sense her pain, his heart in turmoil.

He ignored the mocking smile on Chunyu Yan’s face, and looking at his quiet and gentle wife, he clenched his fists, wishing he could go back to the year when he had just married her.

They had love when the times were right.

"I neglected you before and did not recognize myself. From now on... I will change. Whatever you want, I will give you; Whatever you want to do, I will not stop you."

"I want you to... get out. Now."

Feng Yun looked straight into his eyes.

She roared like a beast, pointing at the door, and shouted.

Then, she slowly lowered her hand again and sighed with a melancholy laugh.

"Qi Jun, please return. Don’t let this critical moment affect the peace negotiations between our two nations. You are the one who knows the importance of the bigger picture, aren’t you?"

"Ayun..." Xiao Cheng’s throat tightened.

"After you go back, please convey a message to my father for me. Tell him that the heartless words spoken that day were just a moment of anger, and as his daughter, how could I truly harbor resentment against my father? Especially after marrying Mr. Pei, I am even more grateful to him. Without my father’s blessing, how could I have found such a happy marriage..."

She spoke each sentence lightly.

But each sentence was like a knife, stabbing into Xiao Cheng’s chest.

Feng Yun didn’t want anyone to notice her emotions, just as if she had resigned herself to being sent into enemy territory. After saying this, she turned her head to look at Chunyu Yan again.

"The benefits the Princely Heir has collected don’t include sending me to him, do they?"

Chunyu Yan narrowed his fox-like eyes, slowly straightened up, grabbed her hand in front of Xiao Cheng, and pulled her close, looking directly at Xiao Cheng.

"Are you done speaking, Brother Zicheng? If so, you may leave."

Xiao Cheng looked at his hand, at the intimacy of their actions, his pupils changing color.

"Princely Heir, please let go of her."

Feng Yun didn’t struggle and remained silent.

Chunyu Yan was very pleased and chuckled softly, "Brother Zicheng, Feng Twelve and I, we are close friends."

That term "close friend" made Feng Yun smirk slightly. She glanced at Chunyu Yan and said warmly, "Do close friends use each other like this? I don’t care what benefits you’ve obtained from him; you need to share half with me."

Chunyu Yan’s lips curled, patting the back of her hand, "Whatever you say, I’ll comply."

After saying that, he looked at Xiao Cheng with a complex and provocative gaze.

"Brother Zicheng, can you see clearly now? Is she the Feng Twelve you knew?"

Xiao Cheng’s brow furrowed tightly as he silently watched the man and woman holding hands in the glow of the fire’s warmth, as if their intimacy pricked his eyes like a sharp blade. His face was filled with sorrow, the once carefree and aloof image of Xiao San, the noble son, was gone. All that remained was endless desolation and barely concealed gloom.

No wonder Chunyu Yan had agreed so readily to arrange their meeting.

He had such intentions...

Xiao Cheng felt choked up and powerless.

He couldn’t understand why Pei Jue could, Chunyu Yan could, she could be intimate with anyone, but never with him.

Was this what it meant to love deeply and hate intensely?

Xiao Cheng’s fingers clenched into fists, almost leaving blood marks, finally stabilizing his emotions.

"Ayun, there is still time until the peace negotiations. You should reconsider..."

"There’s nothing to reconsider. A woman follows her husband, whatever he is."

Feng Yun smiled slightly, "Qi Jun, rest assured and return. At the Peace Negotiation Hall, the Princely Heir and I will surely reach an agreement that satisfies you."

"Ayun..." Xiao Cheng was still not giving up, "Tell me, is someone threatening you..."

"Brother Zicheng," Chunyu Yan’s voice grew heavy, "Feng Twelve has made it very clear. Don’t pressure her."

Chunyu Yan was reminding him, not to cause trouble on his territory, and was also showing him through his actions that beside Pei Jue, Feng Yun also had him for protection.

Xiao Cheng retracted his hand, staring intensely at Chunyu Yan, his face uglier than ever before.

"Sang Jiao, see the guest out." Chunyu Yan’s smile was mocking as he pulled Feng Yun into a gesture of farewell.