The Slender Waist-Chapter 41 - 34 Old Grudges from the Past

In her previous life, Feng Yun didn’t know that Wen Xingsu had secretly visited Andu before the start of autumn.

At that time, Feng Yun didn’t ask for any estate; she just waited quietly in the back residence of the General Residence, hoping for good news about the Qi Army. Wen Xingsu could not see her, and she was oblivious to these affairs.

It was only after Xiao Cheng proclaimed himself Emperor at the start of autumn and Chunyu Yan spearheaded the peace negotiations between Qi and Jin that Wen Xingsu, representing the leaders of the Qi Army, came to pay a visit in Andu County, and the siblings finally met.

Feng Yun saw that he was injured and walked with a limp; she assumed he had been hurt on the battlefield...

Wen Xingsu said nothing, and Feng Yun didn’t know he had come to Andu or that his injuries were so severe; she didn’t even ask him about it.

All she thought about was returning to Qi Country, to Xiao Cheng’s side, and for that, she was almost driven to madness.

However, the day before Xiao Cheng’s declaration as Emperor, Feng Ying had already entered the Jingling Royal Residence under the identity of the legitimate second daughter of the Feng Family of Xuzhou, becoming the true Princess of Jingling...

When Wen Xingsu told her about it, she was only focused on her own heartbreak, hating not only Feng Ying and Xiao Cheng but also Wen Xingsu for trying to advocate peace between the two sides...

She uttered many cruel words to Wen Xingsu, drove him out of the General Residence, and declared that they should never meet again in this life.

But Big Brother seemed never to blame her.

Whenever she needed him, Big Brother would be by her side—

Even later, when she returned to Qi Country and all the court officials, including his father, sided with Feng Ying, clinging to the fact that she had served beside Pei Jue for three years and opposed her being named Empress, it was Wen Xingsu who stepped forward and said to her:

"Who says you have no support? Big Brother is your support."

"If Xiao Ziceng dares not to name you Empress, Big Brother will overturn his Dragon Throne!"

Feng Yun would remember those two sentences until her death.

Big Brother was Xiao Cheng’s confidant from his youth and had played a major role in his ascent to power.

It was Wen Xingsu who stepped forward, vociferously chastised the ministers, spoke of her contributions to Qi Country, how she was instrumental in driving Pei Jue to flee Pingcheng, and it was then that Xiao Cheng named her Empress.

She was both sorrowful and joyful, ascending to her position through Big Brother’s military exploits, wanting to be a good Empress, a role model for her children.

Wen Xingsu’s life was a testament to his promise, winning battles for Xiao Cheng and Nanqi, all to protect her noble status and safeguard her son, whose paternity was questioned from the day he was born...

Unfortunately, Big Brother died before her.

Such a gentleman, upright and refined, a scholarly General—he died, died in the war against Jin, fell at the hands of Pei Jue...

She didn’t know how much Pei Jue hated him, enough to order his dismemberment, but every time she thought of that scene, she couldn’t help feeling terror...

After Wen Xingsu’s death, she was left without any protection, a woman in the harem with no one trustworthy by her side, her servants and palace attendants all spies for the Feng Family. She wanted so badly not to let Big Brother’s sacrifice be in vain, to stand on her own, to protect her child, but she was powerless.

She struggled even to survive, and ultimately fell into Feng Ying’s trap, writing a bloody letter to Pei Jue.

"The eldest son of Qi Country... is of General bloodline."

This letter ultimately reached Xiao Cheng, becoming the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

Xiao Cheng condemned her to the Cold Palace, and no matter how much she wept and pleaded, they never saw each other again.

Only in death did she learn from Feng Ying that since the day she was driven out of Central Capital by Pei Jue, they had a plan to induce her to rebel against Jin, and throughout her time as Empress, she was but a pitiful pawn in their vile scheme...

Feng Ying had been poisoned and rendered infertile years ago.

"If not for using your womb to bear a legitimate heir for him and me, to solidify my position in the court, do you think Xiao Lang would lay a finger on you?"

"Big Sister, do you know how much Xiao Lang detests you? He said, just thinking about you under Pei Jue for three full years makes him feel nauseous and want to vomit; every time he could only be with you by imagining my face..."

"No one has ever liked you. Your uncle, your father, everyone from the Feng Family has been ashamed because of you; there’s no one who doesn’t see you as the disgrace of the Feng Family."

"Only my poor Big Brother— he died for you. Can you still have the face to live on?"

"Big Sister, rest assured in your death."

"After you die, I will take good care of Yuchu."

"Yuchu won’t remember you, only me, his mother..."

"Oh, and one more thing I forgot to tell elder sister, your bastard with Pei Jue, he’s locked up in Zhaode Palace, nearly starved to death. Do you think his real father will save him in time?"

That term "real father" inflicted such pain on her that it felt as if her liver and intestines were being torn apart.

Her entire life, she was abandoned by her kin, estranged by Pei Jue, humiliated, deceived, scorned by Xiao Cheng, and her dearly beloved elder brother was brutally killed by Pei Jue’s hands. One of her sons would follow her in death, while the other would regard the enemy as his mother, forever forgetting her through all his lifetimes...

"Pei Jue has attacked, hasn’t he?"

She heard her own laughter, though using Pei Jue to provoke Feng Yun was not the most honorable act, she felt fortunate that there was still someone who could make Feng Yun lose her composure.

The Pei Jue who killed Wen Xingsu and then marched triumphantly into Tai City...

She hadn’t seen him for many years by then.

The abandoned Empress in the Cold Palace could not see an enemy General.

She closed her eyes.

Strangely enough, as death approached, she saw Pei Jue covered in blood, storming into Tai City, looking unkempt, just as they first met outside Andu City at Swallow Cliff, with his beard ragged and his eyes fierce, as though he wanted to behead everyone...

He came charging in on horseback. The doors of the Cold Palace were too low, making his towering frame seem particularly grand, his stature so tall, his gaze so sharp, his breath so heavy...

It seemed as if he walked a very, very long distance before he reached her, holding the dripping Biyong Sword, watching as Feng Yun took her last breath.

"Waist..."

Feng Yun didn’t know if that was a dying hallucination or illusion.

Pei Jue called out to her.

She kept her mouth wide open, wanting to tell him, "Save the crown prince, Queque is our son..."

She opened her mouth in silence, and Pei Jue couldn’t hear her.

Pei Jue would never know that she had borne him a son.

But even if she had the chance to say it, Pei Jue probably wouldn’t have believed her. Three years barren, and then to conceive as soon as they part, how could someone as clever and cautious as him believe her just by such a statement?

She later recalled, and even doubted, that those visions were nothing but her dying yearning, her desperate hope that someone would come to save her Queque, which led to the illusion of Pei Jue leading troops to storm the palace and break into the Cold Palace...

Perhaps, Pei Jue had never come at all, never...

If that were Pei Jue, why would his eyes carry such a look of unbearable pain?

Pei Jue loathed her for believing the lies spun by Feng Jingteng and Xiao Cheng, for causing the Beiyong Army’s defeat on the battlefield, leading to countless deaths and injuries. She was the reason for the most humiliating defeat in Pei Jue’s life; that man should have wished to tear her to pieces...

Alas, his revenge fell upon Wen Xingsu.

"Waist?" Wen Xingsu noticed her abnormality, "Why are your eyes red?"

Feng Yun held back the sourness in her eyes, inhaled through her nose, and barely stabilized her emotions before pursing her lips into a smile, "Isn’t it because I am heartbroken to see you suffering from such a serious injury? Look at me, I’m so clumsy..."

As the fabric stuck to the wound, she began to tear it away but couldn’t continue. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The fair skin on that leg was tainted red with the blood gushing from the wound, making it look incredibly ferocious—

Feng Yun’s eyes appeared as though they were dripping blood.

In her previous life, she had never seen Wen Xingsu’s injuries, nor had she witnessed Wen Xingsu’s death.

Seeing it again in this life, the pain carried twice the force.

She could not let Wen Xingsu die...

The mistakes she made in her last life, she would not repeat in this one; she was determined not only to change her own destiny but also the fate of her elder brother...