The Slender Waist-Chapter 290 - 202: Turning the Tables

The sky seemed to have opened its water chest, and the torrential rainfall, with its silent force, washed down, drenching the two fighting men, primal and tumultuous.

Chunyu Yan had practiced martial arts since childhood, his moves flowing like clouds and water, his punches hitting flesh with extreme fierceness. Pei Jue, however, had been in the army for a decade and possessed rich combat skills. Plus, when fist met fist, it was a contest of strength, and in no time, Chunyu Yan began to feel overwhelmed...

Just as he was being pummeled by Pei Jue into the mud, Feng Yun suddenly cried out.

"Stop fighting!"

No one listened to her.

The two men were relentless, their eyes filled with resentment, as if they would not stop until the other was dead.

Feng Yun, holding a half-wet blanket, "Achoo—"

A sneeze, like the pulling of a trigger, made the two men fighting tooth and nail in the mud glance at each other with a chill, and simultaneously they stopped and looked toward her. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Chunyu Yan withdrew swiftly, shaking off the rainwater, and stood beside Feng Yun, pointing at Pei Jue with gritted teeth.

"Pei Wangzhi, don’t be ungrateful! If it wasn’t for me coming to the rescue today, Feng Twelve would have already fallen into the hands of the Imperial Cavalry Division. Wait for you to come back to save him? It would be more like collecting his corpse."

He clenched his fists, taking credit with a shameless thick-skinned bravado.

Feng Yun had already agreed on their story, quietly watching Pei Jue with a cold, powerless gaze, allowing Chunyu Yan to lie unabashedly.

"The Princely Heir merely saved me. Why is the General so furiously upset? Are you angry that my disappearance spoiled your good time in Pingyang?"

Pei Jue, "You know that’s not the case."

Feng Yun, "How would I know if you don’t say it?"

Pei Jue’s face darkened, his black eyes in the rainy night were as dense as ink, deep as an abyss, but he remained silent.

Feng Yun thought of what he had said earlier, "The one who should be angry is me."

She also remembered him saying, "If you want, you can leave with him."

Upon calming down, these words now seemed even sharper than before.

She asked, "If I had chosen to leave with Xiao Cheng earlier, would you really have not stopped me, General?"

Pei Jue frowned, "I wouldn’t have."

"How magnanimous." Feng Yun lifted her chin, asking him coldly,

"Then why bother pretending to care about me, brutally beating my friend who rescued me, putting me in a difficult position?"

Chunyu Yan raised an eyebrow and laughed, feeling as if the pain on his body had lessened.

Pei Jue looked on coldly, silent.

Feng Yun remained quiet as well.

Their gazes collided in the air as if their language had been sealed off—not only to others but even Chunyu Yan, caught between them, could not bear to watch anymore.

He raised his eyebrows slightly, "Feng Twelve, you don’t have to be afraid of him. If he treats you poorly, just come back to Yunchuan with me..."

Saying such words in front of Pei Jue could only be done by Chunyu Yan.

Zuo Zhong and Jiu You couldn’t stand it anymore, exchanging glances before Jiu You stepped forward, bowing and saying:

"The General rushed back from Pingyang on a fast horse upon learning of the lady’s disappearance, not resting his eyes on the journey, and has not eaten since arriving in Xinzhou; he is still starving..."

Feng Yun looked at the tall man before her, drenched, with rainwater dripping down from his black hair at his temples, flowing along his eyelashes toward that stern profile, standing with the might of a mighty army, unwilling to bow down or lose his edge.

Then she looked at Chunyu Yan, his beautiful peach blossom eyes slightly squinting, his luxurious robe ruined, standing beside her protectively, looking utterly aggrieved however you saw him.

Feng Yun slightly lowered her gaze and bowed to Chunyu Yan.

"This time, I am grateful for the Princely Heir’s assistance; I owe you a debt of gratitude."

After speaking, she approached Pei Jue, her face expressionless.

"Let’s go, we’ll settle our score back in Xinzhou."

Chunyu Yan’s mouth curved slightly, smiling, his eyes cold.

She would always firmly choose Pei Wangzhi, no matter what.

The light from a paper lantern fell on her fair, translucent face, a faint blush spreading across it, all the way to her earlobes.

Pei Jue stretched out his hand to clasp her waist, his palm touching her forehead.

"Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"

Feng Yun’s body was ice cold, yet the places where she pressed against him were sticky and burning hot, as if a raging fire was approaching.

But she firmly shook her head, unwilling to show weakness in public.

"No. Let’s go back to Xinzhou, my brother must be worried sick."

She was anxious to return, fearing that Wen Xingsu would worry, oblivious to her flushed face, her eyes with spring tides, an obvious sign of abnormality.

She was exceptionally beautiful; even when she was angry, her eyes were seductive, looking clear and shiny, but at this moment they were scorching, boiling hot, beguilingly hazy and bewildering. That pretended strength could not hide the changes in her body...

This was not normal.

Others might think she had caught a chill and fallen ill.

But Pei Jue knew exactly what was wrong with her.

He didn’t dare let her travel in the rain any longer, he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into his embrace, shielding her from Chunyu Yan’s gaze.

"The downpour makes it hard to travel; my wife and I need to seek shelter for the night at your residence, Princely Heir, if you would be so kind..."

Chunyu Yan’s lazy smile froze on his face.

After fighting to the death just moments before, with clothes not yet dry, how could Pei Wangzhi have the audacity to say such a thing?

He sneered, "You want to stay the night? Sleep together?"

His shamelessness was boundless and disgustingly flirtatious.

Without any regard for how Feng Yun and Pei Jue might feel upon hearing his words, he let out another cold laugh.

"This is a convenience I’m offering on account of Twelve."

It was as though Pei Jue hadn’t heard him; he gestured for the guard to bring Chunyu Yan’s umbrella over, held it above Feng Yun, then bent down to pick her up and turned his head to instruct Zuo Zhong.

"Be on guard."

Zuo Zhong responded, "Yes, sir."

Nobody would defy the General’s orders, but even Zuo Zhong and Jiu You, who were closest to Pei Jue, couldn’t understand why he did this.

They said the rain was inconvenient, but they had come in spite of it.

Unless, he was worried about the lady’s discomfort...

Pei Jue looked down at Feng Yun’s complexion with furrowed brows and quickened his pace.

Chunyu Yan, seeing him taking over like he owned the place and barging into the estate, was so mad he cursed.

"Pei Wangzhi, you’re just taking advantage of my presence, aren’t you?"

-

The rain tonight was strangely heavy and showed no signs of letting up, pouring over the eaves as if it had intensified from earlier.

As the group returned to the estate, Chunyu Yan ordered the servants to heat water and prepare food, treating Pei Jue’s attendants with utmost politeness as they were ushered to the side hall.

He simply refused to deal with Pei Jue himself.

Pei Jue paid him no mind either, his face cold as he carried Feng Yun inside.

"Where is your room?"

Feng Yun’s soaking clothes warmed at his touch, tingling against her waist, her expression full of coquettish charm.

"The side courtyard. Ah-choo..."

Right now, she felt unbearably uncomfortable, alternately cold and hot, her breathing becoming somewhat muddled.

"General, go and eat something. Don’t worry about me. Let the maidservant take me back to change and after a good sleep, I’ll be fine."

Pei Jue watched her with lowered eyes, carrying her through the long, windy, and rainy corridor, noticing her severe shivering, and suddenly spoke up.

"Having escaped danger, why didn’t you go back earlier? You knew they would be searching for you everywhere."

Feng Yun turned her head away indifferently, not meeting his burning gaze, "People from the Imperial Cavalry Division infiltrated Xinzhou. I feared they might repeat their old tricks, I value my life..."

"Is that all?" Pei Jue’s eyes bore into her with a hint of a dark light, suggesting both suspicion and scrutiny.

Feng Yun slightly pursed her lips.

She had indeed set fire to Liufeng Garden and used Ye Chuang as a mouthpiece to warn Zuo Zhong, exploiting the incident to recall Pei Jue to Xinzhou from Pingyang. All of this had been her doing, fueled by selfish motives.

She hadn’t expected Pei Jue to return so swiftly, leading to a multitude of slip-ups, a botched job that cost more than the intended gain.

She had intended to set a trap for others, yet it had revealed her own ruthlessness and ambition.

The other twist was that asshole Chunyu Yan had summoned Xiao Cheng over and allowed Pei Jue to catch them red-handed.

"If the General suspects something, feel free to speak your mind," she said leisurely while encircling Pei Jue’s neck, as if she had no concerns, her eyes proud and smiling.

"Eventually, I am but a pawn to be manipulated by you all, my life and death resting on your facial expressions. Even self-preservation seems to be wrong."

Her fiery gaze lifted to meet his face, so close at hand, calm and indifferent, pale and somber. For some reason, it enraged her.

"If the General is displeased, you didn’t have to come back. You saw yourself, even in your absence, I managed to live well..."

Pei Jue asked, "What would you have done if I had come back later?"

Feng Yun smiled faintly, "If the General had come back later, I would have arranged things better, not letting you see any flaws."

Since she couldn’t hide it, she wouldn’t bother hiding it.

After all, defying fate in a second life was never going to be smooth sailing. As it was essentially a fight for her life, there was no harm in Pei Jue thinking of her as a woman cruel and heartless as a viper.

Pei Jue had always been wary of her, never truly trusting her. Why should she bother with pretense?

"Why would you do that?"

Feng Yun looked at his cold face, "For one, he harassed me. And secondly, he bears a face that resembles the General’s."

Her face flushed red, but her eyes were cold, "Just thinking about this face being intimate with the Empress Dowager nauseates me."

"Well said."

Pei Jue tightened his grip around her waist, pulling her flush against his body, and then leaned down to kiss her.

"It wasn’t in vain that I came back through storm and strife."

The kiss was lingering and gentle, their breaths hot, resembling a loving couple reunited after a long separation, eager to find a place to indulge their passions uninhibitedly, and he walked briskly.

Feng Yun, already feeling ill, her body fluctuating between hot and cold, could hardly bear his sudden passion. She shivered in his embrace, struggling like a fish, nearly causing Pei Jue to drop her. He frowned and slapped her soft backside.

"Behave yourself."

Feng Yun, already weak, nearly shrieked at the slap.

"What are you doing? This is the Princely Heir’s estate, isn’t it?"

Pei Jue retorted, "Wouldn’t it be better to infuriate him?"