The Slender Waist-Chapter 689 - 497: Happy to See Each Other_2

This battle, he insisted on fighting himself.

No one likes to go to war.

When the King rides out, it signifies the war will soon end. Everyone in Changmen was jubilant, energetically setting off firecrackers with a crackling sound...

Feng Yun, hearing the noise, poked her head out for a look and saw Amir rushing in with his hands over his head.

"Auntie..."

Amir was always straightforward; almost before Feng Yun had to ask, he looked at her with wide eyes and a beaming smile:

"Could it be that Uncle is coming?"

Feng Yun chuckled, "He hasn’t set off yet. It’s early."

Amir smiled ear to ear, "But it will be soon."

Feng Yun glanced at his flushed face with a teasing smile, "Are you missing Ao Qi?"

Amir’s face instantly turned red.

He glanced at Feng Yun, burst out laughing, then nodded openly.

"I miss him. Ao Qi is very handsome, isn’t he?"

Feng Yun laughed, "Since he’s your husband, if you say he’s handsome, then he certainly is."

Amir tilted his head, suddenly asking, "He’s good-looking, don’t you agree, Auntie?"

Feng Yun’s eyelid twitched.

Good-looking?

The image of a young man with his shirt off, standing by the pond, inappropriately sprang into her mind.

The love for beauty is innate in everyone.

Feng Yun couldn’t lie to herself.

She nodded, "Yes. My niece-in-law is very fortunate."

Amir said, "But he likes you."

Feng Yun’s heart skipped slightly, and after a moment’s pause, she smiled, "Where did you hear such gossip? Don’t take it to heart..."

"Ao Qi said it." Amir lifted his chin slightly, his eyes bright and twinkling with a smile.

"He and I are like brothers. He doesn’t hide things from me, and neither do I from him."

Feng Yun: ...

Amir said, "And I won’t hide from you either. My father wanted to marry me off to Xijing because I told him I admired my cousin..."

Pfft!

Feng Yun gave her a sidelong glance.

"What nonsense. Don’t spout rubbish like that, lest someone overhears..."

Amir grinned, drawing closer to take Feng Yun’s arm.

"That was the past. I was young and ignorant, my cousin always indulged me, assisted me, so I thought that meant he liked me, but that’s entirely different..."

The light in her eyes intensified.

"Meeting Ao Qi, I realized what it’s truly like to admire a gentleman... Oh, it’s like flowers blooming in the heart, a vast expanse of clear skies."

Feng Yun: ...

Not a bad metaphor.

Amir winked at Feng Yun.

"If only Ao Qi one day feels the same as I do now."

Feng Yun furrowed her brows, momentarily at a loss for words from this girl’s antics.

But Amir had found her own answers.

"I’ll wait for him to grow up, to understand that the love for an aunt and the love for a wife are not the same."

Feng Yun’s lips curled up slightly.

"You’ve got me all confused."

Amir laughed heartily.

"When Uncle arrives, I want to go with you to welcome him."

-

In October, Pei Jue arrived in Andu from Xijing.

Feng Yun, along with He Qia and a group of officials from Xinzhou, went to Andu to welcome him, a good three miles out.

"Why isn’t he here yet?"

"Alas, why hasn’t he arrived?"

Xiaoman stood by Feng Yun’s side, craning her neck now and then looking forward, both excited and anxious, her eyes reddening.

Since parting from Xijing.

She and Zuo Zhong had been apart for so long.

One could imagine her longing from their separation as newlyweds.

Feng Yun glanced at her with a calm face and a smile, yet she knew within herself that her heart, like a pond of spring water, was already rippled...

Perhaps it had been a long time since she last saw Pei Jue.

Initially, she thought they would meet again soon, but she hadn’t expected to be held back by endless affairs, never returning to Xijing.

It was the same for Pei Jue.

There were wars abroad and court affairs at home; he managed endless matters every day and had no chance to reunite with her in Andu.

In half a year, his image in her mind seemed to have faded somewhat...

Every time she thought of this man in a trance, what first jumped into her mind was his breath, body warmth, firm embrace, and the way he softly called "Lady Yun"...

"The Prince of Yonghuai has arrived——"

A voice rang out.

Feng Yun came to her senses and looked up.

Pei Jue, accompanied by dozens of attendants, dusty and travel-worn, rolled in like the tide, quickly approaching from afar.

The October breeze was chilly, and the soldiers’ faces, swept by the cold wind, were rather blurry, but the awe-inspiring sight of them clad in armor and in neat military array was deeply stirring.

Everyone immediately lowered their gaze, straightened their clothes, and bowed in unison.

"We welcome the Prince of Yonghuai!"

"Stop——"

Dust rose, as Pei Jue pulled on the reins, perched high on his horse, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, settling on Feng Yun.

"Dispense with the formalities."

Feng Yun raised her head and met his gaze.

She smiled faintly.

Pei Jue’s lips twitched slightly as he led the horse slowly towards her, still gripping the reins.

All eyes turned to them.

The tall and commanding Prince of Yonghuai and the stunningly beautiful Princess of Yonghuai looked so radiant that even the twilight glow of the sky seemed dim in comparison...

The smile on Feng Yun’s lips.

"My lord."

Pei Jue lowered his head, gazing intently at her.

Everyone held their breath, and Feng Yun remained motionless, her heart inexplicably tensing, even breathing felt strained.

He slightly raised the corner of his lips, "We’ll talk when we get back."

His voice was soft, gentle, and extremely husky.

The crowd unconsciously exhaled in relief.

He Qia said, "Let’s return to the city."

The crowd parted.

Pei Jue took the lead on his horse.

Then, like a tidal wave, the crowd followed behind him, slowly advancing, pouring through the wide-open gates of Andu City.

Feng Yun sat in the same carriage she had arrived in.

Lifting the corner of the curtain, she could clearly see the man ahead, surrounded by the crowd...

At this moment, Pei Jue carried an intense aura that was impossible to conceal, a silhouette that overshadowed everyone else’s brilliance.

Looking at him, Feng Yun thought of the Pei Jue from her past life.

Back then, Pei Jue was equally imposing, but there were many differences.

It was probably the changes that power brings to a man; the difference between a Great General and a king. The distinction between a powerful minister and a regent...

Before, Pei Jue was a blade that killed, bloodied in battlefields, all for loyalty and righteousness.

Now, still emerging from a sea of corpses, the king-like General appeared more like the fierce sun high in the sky, dazzling and dominating, overshadowing the Great Jin Dynasty, with everyone’s will aligned with his...

His every word and deed determined the fate of the nation and the honor or disgrace of its people.

He wasn’t the Emperor.

But he was only a throne’s distance away from becoming one...

After being apart for months, the oppressive feeling he exuded was even stronger.

Even He Qia and the officials from Xinzhou, who came out of the city to greet him, acted differently from before, treading carefully and with a subtler demeanor...

Feng Yun even sensitively noticed that something had broken free, just waiting for Pei Jue to lead his troops into Yecheng, and then everything would settle...

"Madam." Xiaoman tugged at Feng Yun, laughing teasingly, "Why do you keep staring at the lord without blinking? Are you going to tire your eyes out?"

Feng Yun glanced at her, her smile tinged with amusement.

"Who is the one staring at the Left Guard without blinking?"

Xiaoman giggled, "Not talking to you anymore."

Feng Yun’s smile was muted, and she calmly leaned against the wall, slowly lowering her eyelids.

She liked Xiaoman’s temperament.

Without wild and imprudent thoughts, content, grateful, not picking fights with others or herself, easily happy.

Unlike her...

Amidst the world’s turmoil, tranquility is hard to find,

And unexplained feelings arise within the heart...

In this life, she had changed.

Pei Jue had changed, too.

What would the end be?

She didn’t know.