The Slender Waist-Chapter 285 - 198: The Dream Come True

Xiao Cheng’s eyes were fixed deeply on Feng Yun for a long while before he lifted his sleeve to perform a courteous bow.

"I take my leave."

Feng Yun’s lips curled, her beautiful eyes glinting with mockery.

This was Xiao Cheng, seemingly eager to make amends, yet very clear about what he wanted, making the most appropriate and beneficial choice for himself. He would not offend Chunyu Yan, nor would he fall out with him over her.

Xiao Cheng rose and left.

Walking very slowly.

But he did not look back at Feng Yun. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

The curtain fluttered slightly, and the cold air brushed in, a bit cold.

For a good while, Feng Yun sat without moving, nor speaking, the smile on her face unchanged, as if it had been frozen there...

A moment later, the curtain was lifted once again.

The person who came in was Sang Jiao.

He carried a warm and lustrous sandalwood box, walking up to Feng Yun with a slightly bowed head, "Qi Jun asked me to give this to the lady."

Feng Yun gestured for him to place it on the wooden case.

The lid of the box opened, releasing a mellow fragrance that wafted to her nose, a subtle, enduring scent as if carrying with it the elegance and dignity of history, not overpowering, but light and faint...

Inside was a brush holder, and within it, a writing brush.

"Le Zhengzi made," the four characters were engraved inside the box.

Feng Yun’s eyes darkened ever so slightly.

Le Zhengzi was an old craftsman from Huzhou, famous for making brushes, and nearing the venerable age of ninety, his brushes were esteemed by scholars and literati. With increasing age and blurred vision, his works became rare.

The majority of the brushes from Le Zhengzi’s workshop were produced by his apprentices, and only those bearing the seal "Le Zhengzi made" were crafted by him personally, priceless treasures.

The brush was new.

But the sentiment was old.

That year Feng Yun was twelve, her hair still styled in twin buns of a young girl, not yet blossomed into the stunning "beauty of the eight counties in Xuzhou." She had no birth mother; living under the open and covert oppression of her stepmother, she became timid and cowardly...

On the sixtieth birthday of the Feng Family’s head, Xiao Cheng presented his gifts, bringing along an additional brush by Le Zhengzi.

Given the marriage arrangement between the two families, Feng Yun had always known he was her future husband. So, when Xiao San’s servant delivered the brush to the back yard, saying it was a gift from the young master to the lady, she naturally thought it was for her...

Back then, she even recalled the day when she ran into him at Qingfeng Garden, casually mentioning to Kong Yun’e while admiring the flowers under the moonlight that she had been practicing "Letter of Recovery" but couldn’t write it well, lamenting the lack of a fine brush.

She had even mentioned that a brush by Le Zhengzi was her most coveted dream.

Her lord had taken her words to heart and especially sent the brush over...

You could imagine how ecstatic she was at the time.

She hardly had the time to contemplate as she picked up the pen box lying on the case, her face blushing with embarrassment, her heart pounding like thunder.

"Put that down!" Before Feng Jingteng’s voice had fallen, the Chen Family matriarch snatched the pen box from her hands.

"How can you be so ill-mannered? Guest gifts are to be stored and managed by the head of house. Has no one taught you this?"

"But Xiao San said..."

"He said, and that means it’s for you? Is there only one girl in this house? How can you be so naive and disgraceful?"

Indeed, there were more girls in the Feng Family.

But the only fiancée of Xiao San was her.

Feng Yun was made to feel deeply ashamed and self-pitying by her words; she couldn’t help but retort, uttering a few offensive remarks.

The Chen Family matriarch instantly assumed the authority of the household, reprimanding her sharply. As she left, however, she wept everywhere, complaining about the difficulty of managing a stepdaughter who was beyond discipline and reproach.

Feng Jingteng, naturally, defended his wife.

If it hadn’t been for the birthday celebration of his elder brother, a joyous occasion, he might have punished her with confinement and reflection.

The house was filled with the Chen Family’s people. Gossip spread that the legitimate eldest daughter from the side room had sneakily pocketed a brush from Le Zhengzi, a move too befitting of a petty family, that such a shallow-eyed girl was not a worthy match for Xiao San.

The noble ladies and wives in Tai City were especially prone to idle gossip. Xiao San was a coveted suitor among the ladies. Feng Yun was already a target for many, and the story, growing ever more embarrassing with each telling, eventually turned into accusations of Feng Yun stealing from the household and disobeying her stepmother, unruly and insolent to the point of backtalking.

With everyone speaking against her, Feng Yun had no chance to clear her name; the brush, too, remained out of reach...

Later, that very brush sat on the windowsill desk of Feng Ying, who used it to scribble nonsensical poems and writings, then sent them to Xiao Cheng for his critiques.

As for Feng Yun, those foul rumors were accumulated slowly by Lady Chen through minor incidents like these, and the filth stuck to her throughout her life, never fully washed away.

If only Xiao Cheng had stood up at that time to tell everyone that the brush was originally meant for her, that it was only right for him to give his belongings to his betrothed, Feng Yun would have been grateful to him for life.

But he did not.

The ever-strategic Xiao San, always thinking of the bigger picture.

Even if he knew, how could he publicly offend Lady Chen for her sake?

And now...

He had returned her dreams of her youth.

Yet he still hadn’t figured it out.

What she wanted was never just a pen.

"Would such a jade-like lover, hidden deep within the pen’s heart, have moved you at twelve?" Chunyu Yan’s light and indifferent laugh carried an enigmatic hint of jealousy, almost scornful.

Feng Yun closed the case and turned her expressionless face to look at him.

"The Princely Heir may now speak, what benefits did Xiao Cheng offer you to make you do such sneaky things for him?"

"If I said there were none, would you believe me?" Chunyu Yan hooked his lip, his fingers lightly resting on the iron edge of his mask, and asked with a half-serious, half-mocking smile:

"Don’t you find this quite satisfying?"

Making Xiao Cheng hear Feng Yun’s rejection firsthand, letting her words, sharper than knives, painfully but uncomplainingly wound him...

"My dear twelve, I’m doing this all for you, making Xiao San give up hope and stop pestering you. Isn’t that to everyone’s satisfaction?"

"Don’t pretend to be kind." Feng Yun coldly chuckled in retort, "The Princely Heir never does anything without benefit. And I am not someone to be used at will. If you won’t offer me any benefit, I’ll go to Pei Jue with a complaint that my disappearance from Xinzhou is due to your kidnapping and plotting..."

Chunyu Yan’s eyebrows lifted as he sized her up.

"You’ve reminded me."

He waved the maids away, approached Feng Yun, and watched her unblinkingly, his laugh low, "With such a rare opportunity, I really should keep you here unnoticed. Build a solid cage, lock you inside, keep you hidden so no one can find you, and then you belong to me alone, wouldn’t you?"

How sick!

Feng Yun looked at his smiling, yet not so smiling face, a flicker of chill in her eyes, her back stiffened slightly, and goosebumps involuntarily sprang up on her skin.

"Madman. Don’t you dare entertain such wicked thoughts."

"Why not? You know, I want you, even in my dreams..."

"I’m afraid the iron cages in Yunchuan are not as good as the ones I can build." Feng Yun scrutinized him, shaking her head, "You’ve reminded me as well. From now on, I need to be wary of you."

Her voice turned cold, her face wore a smile, true intentions indiscernible.

Chunyu Yan was the same, the two locked eyes, tangled emotions spinning between them amidst the sound of rain...

"Princely Heir!" Yin You’s voice suddenly came through, anxious and urgent, breaking the tense showdown.

"Princely Heir, it’s bad, Pei Jue is leading troops here..."

At that moment, a burst of rapid horse hoof beats came from outside the villa, faintly audible through the heavy rain, their speed extremely fast.

Chunyu Yan chuckled lightly, "This fast?"

He then looked meaningfully at Feng Yun, "It seems you hold considerable weight in Pei Wangzhi’s heart. Happy, aren’t you?"

Feng Yun was somewhat surprised.

She had calculated the timing, even if Pei Jue received the news and abandoned receiving the Empress Dowager to return to Xinzhou, he would only arrive tomorrow.

By then, she would already have been ’pitifully’ rescued by her troops.

No one would know where she had been hiding, and the blame for her disappearance would fall on Song Shou’an...

Who knew Pei Jue would return to Xinzhou so quickly and even find his way to Chunyu Yan’s villa.

Tactical error!

Indeed, I shouldn’t have used Xiao Rong’s method.

This dim-witted strategy was naturally cursed with failure.

-

Dark clouds piled up, torrential rain poured down, and the howling wind roared like a beast, plunging the land into darkness; the gleam of blades reflected a cold light as if thirsting for blood in the quiet night.

"Great General, it seems to be the Qi Army ahead—"

Before Zuo Zhong’s call could finish, Pei Jue, riding Ta Xue, had already flashed past like lightning.

Chunyu Yan’s villa was cunningly chosen, the front faced the river, with Jin-controlled Xinzhou on one side of the river and Qi-controlled Chunning on the other. Divided by the river, both armies usually faced each other without conflict, especially in the midst of truce talks.

"The Qi Army crossing the Zhuye River at night, what do they intend to do?"

No one answered him.

Pei Jue’s speed was alarmingly fast.

As if facing an invading enemy...

He charged at the forefront, the downpour splattering on his body, his expression cold as frost; Ta Xue sensing his master’s mood, neighed long and loud, cutting through the silent rainy night, also causing Xiao Cheng, preparing to depart at the ferry, to look back.

"Your Majesty, quickly board the boat." Jixiang, seeing the crowd in the rain curtain, spoke anxiously, "The Jin Army is coming..."

Even with the truce so close, both sides were still in a state of war; the Emperor crossing the Zhuye River at night was already risky, the guards were already on edge, so when they saw a Jin troop charging, they readied for battle and urged the Emperor to board.

Xiao Cheng didn’t move, taking the umbrella from Jixiang, he held it overhead.

"I’ll wait for him."