The Slender Waist-Chapter 728 - 522: The Final Verdict

This night, the ink-like sky suddenly brightened in the middle of the night, the dark clouds drifted away, and a full moon rose. Under the moonlight, the silhouette of Changmen appeared like a lurking leopard in the howling cold wind, silent and still...

At the table, the three made courteous gestures, but between the lines, concealed sharpness was laced, their minds harbouring separate plots. Yet, upon reflection, the banquet on the fourteenth day of December turned out to be the only time they gathered...

...in a manner decorous and amicable.

The night banquet did not disperse until the third watch of the night.

Ao Qi and Feng Yun escorted Xiao Cheng to the door, then suddenly halted.

"Lady Yun, could you fetch my wind-gown for me?"

Feng Yun lowered her eyes and smiled, "Just a moment."

She knew Ao Qi wanted to send her away.

And how could Xiao Cheng not understand?

The two men watched Feng Yun leave, slowly retracting their gazes, and then faced each other with icy stares.

The veneer of friendliness vanished from their faces in an instant.

Xiao Cheng said, "Does the Prince of Yonghuai have something to say?"

"No," retorted Ao Qi, the corners of his mouth ice-cold.

"Then why did you send Ayun away?"

"What do you think?" Ao Qi met his gaze directly, his tone devoid of triumph, yet it conveyed precisely—my possession, you shall not covet.

Xiao Cheng’s lips quirked slightly as he raised his eyelids.

"Why so perturbed by my presence, resorting to such childish acts?"

A light, insouciant smile followed, "It seems the Prince of Yonghuai understands... she doesn’t love you. This undeniable truth sticks in your throat, causing you to lose all decorum?"

He spoke with a carefree laugh.

His eyes like blades slicing through the surrounding air, as if seeking some undisclosed truth on Ao Qi’s face.

Ao Qi’s gaze swept over, deep and inscrutable.

"We are entwined every night, and you say she does not love me?"

He stepped closer, locking his gaze on Xiao Cheng.

"Why still so reluctant to give up, Qi Jun?"

Under the dim light of the oil lamp, turbulent undercurrents seemed to swirl in the depths of Ao Qi’s eyes, elusive and profound.

"Are you seeking a confrontation?"

Xiao Cheng’s brow furrowed slightly.

The undisguised aggression from Ao Qi, with the strength of the Jin Dynasty behind it, questioned not his feelings for Feng Yun, but rather the might of Daqi.

"The Prince of Yonghuai misunderstands," Xiao Cheng hesitated before his voice resonated with a distant cadence, "Having known Ayun since childhood, even without conjugal affection, there remains a bond of old friendship. Now that you have married her, I beseech you to treat her well and not let her become... a pawn in men’s struggle for power."

This was a roundabout way of saying that Ao Jue’s affection for Feng Yun was built on political considerations and his struggle against Xiao Cheng.

Could Ao Qi hear it?

He let out a cold snort.

"The words of Qi Jun are laughable. Why should an outsider worry about my wife? A dog meddling in a mouse’s business!"

Xiao Cheng’s throat tightened, his gaze sweeping to the figure standing silently at the doorway, her deep eyes downcast.

"Ayun is worth it, the sincerest of hearts in this world."

Ao Qi uttered a low sound, his tone weary and slow.

"That’s why you are unworthy."

She deserves the best, but the best is not him.

Xiao Cheng watched him quietly.

Ao Qi returned his gaze.

Their eyes intertwined in the air, as if an invisible battlefield had formed where they clashed amid the undercurrents, blood flowing into rivers.

After a moment, Xiao Cheng sighed softly and took his leave with a respectful bow.

Ao Qi did not escort him further.

He stood still for a moment, then as he turned his head, his eyes fell upon the hand holding the door handle.

"Did you hear?"

Feng Yun stepped out from the dim light, wind-gown not in hand, her eyes incredibly clear and calm.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For fighting for me."

She offered a faint smile, a sense of desolation and sorrow filtering through her voice as if it carried across lifetimes.

"Once a cast-off wife, now I can hold my head high and breathe easy, erasing past humiliations. All thanks to your high regard, Great King."

Ao Qi flung his wide sleeves and stepped forward to grasp her hand, leading her back into the house.

"Does this make up for coming home late?"

Feng Yun glanced at him, her voice tender, yet her gaze sharp.

"That depends on what held up the Great King, causing a delayed return, doesn’t it?"

The wedding is tomorrow.

Actually, his return wasn’t all that late.

But if Lady Yun says it’s late, then it certainly is late.

His voice carried a hint of shame: "I overestimated myself. A basket full of issues got tangled up, hustled but dragged to today."

Having said that, he took Feng Yun’s hand and gently pressed it to his face.

"Allow Lady Yun to vent."

Feng Yun couldn’t help but laugh.

"I thought maybe it was the allure of some beauty..."

"Impossible," declared Ao Qi. "If I were beguiled by beauty, I wouldn’t have arrived at Huaxi only now."

The implication of his statement being that only Feng Yun could be considered "beauty" in his eyes...

He was quite the smooth talker. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Indeed, a man changes thoroughly in but three days.

Feng Yun’s eyes narrowed at him, "How is Li Sangruo?"

"She has been escorted back to Xijing with the old vassals of Yecheng," informed Ao Qi.

Feng Yun followed up, "What about Tang Shaogong?"

He was a hero of the battle for Yecheng and an old comrade of the Xie Family Army. Ao Qi could afford to delay anyone else, but by reason and emotion, he could not afford to mistreat him.

He was a hot potato.

Ao Qi seemed oblivious, his response detached: "I assigned him the task of escorting."

Feng Yun paused, then her laughter rang out.

"Clever move."

Since there are doubts, it’s time to pierce through them.

There’s no need to listen to what a person says, just watch what they do.

As the two walked and talked, returning to their room to wash up and get ready to lie down, they received shocking news.

"Qi Jun fell suddenly ill after drinking, and the Imperial Physician who accompanied him was summoned over..."

Feng Yun and Pei Jue exchanged glances.

"What illness?"

The spy standing outside hesitated before speaking:

"It’s difficult to inquire about Qi Jun’s condition, but he developed the illness tonight, and it seems to be a heart ailment? He was in so much pain that sweat poured down his forehead, and he almost passed out..."

Feng Yun said nothing.

She didn’t remember Xiao Cheng having any heart problems.

Pei Jue snorted, making a conclusive judgment.

"It’s anger. Let’s sleep."

-

The trees desire calm, but the wind will not subside.

The next day would be Wen Xingsu’s wedding ceremony.

All the necessary preparations had been made. The Wen family had the Elder Aunt, and Wen Xingsu himself had his birth mother. Feng Yun, as the younger sister, actually had very little she could do on the day of the wedding.

Xiaoman had gone to find Daman. Feng Yun, accompanied by Huanhuan and Peipei, was chatting with the long-traveled Pei Yao.

Azuo and Ayou had also arrived.

Because Aozai was locked inside Feng Yun’s room, the children were eager to see it, so Feng Yun let Amir take them there.

Pei Yao was still indifferent toward Amir.

But by nature, she was not a mean person. Though she was not satisfied with this daughter-in-law, she did not say much, only indirectly asked Feng Yun about some details of Ao Qi and Amir’s relationship.

Feng Yun naturally picked the good parts to tell.

Suddenly, Pei Yao’s gaze turned solemn as she looked at Amir’s jubilant back and lowered her voice significantly.

"They’ve been married for a while now, why is there still no news..."

Feng Yun was taken aback.

Although they were speaking of Amir, she felt as if she herself had been stabbed.

"These things cannot be rushed," she said with a smile: "Having children is a matter of fate."

At that moment, Pei Yao realized that Feng Yun and Pei Jue had been married for many years without children and immediately felt awkward.

"Yes, indeed, these things can’t be rushed. It will happen in due time."

Feng Yun smiled.

She could tell that Pei Yao was trying to comfort her.

But in fact, she didn’t need it.

As the two chatted, people frequently came up to greet them. Feng Yun occasionally entertained the conversations, chatting a bit with the hosts from the east and the west...

However, her attention remained primarily fixed on the few maids behind Pei Yao.

This time Pei Yao brought not only Cui Zhi but also the twins Jin Shuang and Pin Shuang.

Cui Zhi’s brothers had been sent back to Xijing, and Pei Yao deliberately brought her along, not wanting to trouble herself later on.

As for the twins Jin Shuang and Pin Shuang...

It was because they were too useful and exactly to her liking.

She used to think Cui Zhi was understanding, but after all, she was from a noble family and always had an air about her, while Jin Shuang and Pin Shuang had no such reservations...

It was as if they were custom-made for her, adept in all tasks, and she felt inconvenienced without them...

Feng Yun found these twin sisters to be extraordinary.

Apart from herself, nearly everyone who came into contact with them, without exception, praised them, adored them.

Even when they had arrived at Changmen, their conduct was impeccable, neither overstepping nor falling short, leaving no fault to be found...

If they were truly spies sent by Xiao Cheng to Dajin, lacking the chance to stay by her and Pei Jue’s side, they still remained patient?

As Feng Yun pondered how to uncover the truth, she suddenly saw Lady Chen, with several servants in tow, storming over fiercely.

This place was full of female guests.

Seeing her murderous demeanor, everyone tensed and fixed their attention on the scene, while the murmurs abruptly stopped.

"Feng Shi Er Niang, I have a question for you."

Lady Chen pointed at Feng Yun, her eyes blazing with anger.

"My son is getting married, and I can’t be in charge?"

Huanhuan and Peipei, seeing her like this, immediately moved to protect Feng Yun, but Feng Yun raised her hand to stop them.

Feng Yun looked at Lady Chen dispassionately and bowed slightly.

"When you speak of being in charge, are you referring to contributing money or efforts? If it’s money, you’re too late. If it’s efforts, you might as well look around to see if there’s any task that requires a mother like you..."

She cast a cold glance aside.

"If you mean to swagger and order people around, unfortunately, Huaxi has no shortage of such supervisors."

"Sharp-tongued," Lady Chen spat hatefully: "Don’t think that just because you have a clever mouth, you can twist right and wrong. Now tell me, what’s going on with Lady Tu? And the Elder Aunt of the Wen Family? Are they closer to me than my own flesh and blood? Why does everyone listen to them, excluding me, the birth mother, from everything?"

"Have you been excluded?" Feng Yun countered.

Full of resentment, Lady Chen retorted: "None of the Wen residence’s servants listen to me. Tell me if this isn’t exclusion?"

The angrier she became, the calmer Feng Yun was.

"It’s possible some of the servants don’t recognize the lady, and they will heed those who pay them their monthly wages. That’s human nature."

After a pause, she glanced around and suddenly asked with a smile:

"So, what do you want by confront me here? On the day of my older brother’s wedding, do you intend to chastise the ignorant servants, or to create a commotion at the banquet, showing all the guests what an insensitive mother the groom has?"

There was a buzz among the surrounding crowd.

They whispered and discussed among themselves.

Awan even scoffed loudly in the crowd.

"This venerable lady, do you have a grudge against General Wen? The new bride hasn’t even arrived, and you’ve already started a fuss. Are you intent on ruining General Wen’s wedding before you’ll give up?"

"A viperous woman couldn’t be worse."

Her voice was pleasant, very distinctive.

This immediately drew quite a few supportive laughs.

There were old grudges between Jin and Qi, and seizing the opportunity, a group of Jin wives started to make sharp, pointed jokes at her expense.

Subjected to such public embarrassment for the second time, Lady Chen’s blood boiled with fury, and she turned white with rage, pointing at Feng Yun and shouting loudly.

"Unfilial daughter, kneel down!"

"Kneel down for me!"