Chapter Fifty-Two
Yixiao arched her back, poised to leap forward.
"Bring more torches," came a slightly anxious voice. "We must hold this position!"
Feng Suige? When had he returned?
But now was not the time to think about that. Any later, and once his defenses were fully deployed, escape would become difficult. Yixiao suppressed her hesitation and gritted her teeth as she darted out. Several shouts erupted from the side: "The Minor Imperial Concubine is there!" "Minor Imperial Concubine!"
"Yixiao!" Feng Suige practically lunged toward her.
He didn't want to keep seeing Yixiao's alternating coldness and warmth, so he had provoked her. But after she ran away, he immediately regretted it and had already begun rushing back not long after.
Still pondering how to win her forgiveness, he encountered two servants along the way, both frantically running to deliver news—Yixiao was angry, and very much so.
Seeing him rush to block her path, a fierce wildness flashed in Yixiao's eyes. Pressing the broken arrow against her arm, she lowered her head and bent her elbow, charging ruthlessly toward Feng Suige's chest like an arrow. The guards, unable to reach him in time to protect him, cried out in alarm, "Imperial Son, be careful!"
Feng Suige instinctively sidestepped backward, narrowly avoiding the arrowhead that grazed his chest. His robe was slightly torn, sending a chill of fear down his spine.
Yixiao, having missed her strike, didn't linger to fight. She spun around and fled. Without hesitation, Feng Suige gave chase, desperately grabbing her arm. "Don't go," he urged urgently. "Let me explain—" "I don't need it!" Yixiao's eyes were red as she violently shook off his hand and quickened her pace.
A numbing pain spread from his hand straight to his heart. In the brief moment their eyes met, he saw only wariness in hers—and behind that wariness, how much suspicion and rage? He couldn't bear to look longer. "Guyu!" he barked. "Stop the Minor Imperial Concubine!"
A tall, shadowy figure appeared ahead, blocking Yixiao's path. She paused slightly, then raised the broken arrow and lunged at him.
When the sharp arrowhead pierced the skin of Guyu's chest, his body reflexively flinched—but he neither dodged nor resisted. Yixiao hastily withdrew and took a step back, furious. "Why didn't you dodge? Do you really think I wouldn't kill you?" Guyu mumbled, "Minor Imperial Concubine... is good. Won't kill Guyu."
"Good?" She sneered, pressing the arrowhead back against his chest. "My hands are stained with the blood of Su Sha's people, and you still call me good?" "Minor Imperial Concubine never called Guyu stupid," he struggled to explain, pointing at the blood seeping from his chest. "Took Guyu to Moon Palace... didn't kill Guyu either..."
Yixiao froze. Just like that, she stared into Guyu's clear eyes, stunned. Feng Suige cautiously approached and moved the broken arrow away from Guyu's chest. She didn't resist.
Many years ago, she too had possessed such an innocent soul...
Under the torchlight, a faint glimmer streaked across Yixiao's cheek, vanishing in an instant. Feng Suige panicked, gripping her hand and pulling her into the light. "Why are you crying?" he asked anxiously. "Are you unwell? Why are you trembling?"Yixiao suddenly burst into laughter, reaching out to viciously tug at Feng Suige's long, cascading hair. He remained silent, biting his lip as she pulled. Her voice twisted in her throat several times before emerging as a hoarse, broken sound, "Why did you barge into my life? Why did you bring me to Su Sha? Why do you keep clinging to me? Why won't you let me go??"
Feng Suige simply gazed at her quietly, his complex eyes filled with a tenderness, affection, and resolve more overwhelming than ever before.
Yixiao's right hand was suddenly seized by his, gripped tightly as if to prove his presence. She glared at him, instinctively trying to wrench free, but he only held on tighter, pressing her hand forcefully against the heavy rise and fall of his chest.
Feng Suige stared unwaveringly at Yixiao and whispered, "If you're willing, from this moment on, everything I have is yours." Yixiao shook her head instinctively, stubbornly prying his fingers open one by one with her free hand. "I don't want it! I don’t want anything of yours!!"
"You must take it, because I only want to give it to you," he insisted, pressing her hand firmly against his chest, his fingertips digging into her wrist. The vibrations from his chest as he spoke nearly drove her to the brink of collapse.
Yixiao gasped for breath and screamed like a madwoman, "I said I don’t want it... I don’t!! I hate social niceties, I hate status and reputation, and I especially despise schemes and manipulations! I just want to be an ordinary person—why won’t you let me go?? I’m exhausted, I’m begging you, let me go!!"
Feng Suige suddenly smirked enchantingly, leaning closer to her. "Yixiao, you do like me a little, don’t you? Why won’t you admit it?" He sighed softly. "Why are you so stubborn about refusing me?"
Stubborn? Unwilling to admit it??
His unrelenting gaze became unbearable. The heat from his palm scalded her uncomfortably. She knew her expression must be twisted—she could see it reflected in his pupils. His eyes were laughing. What right did he have to laugh? He was the one who had ruined her life, yet he could still smile?!
Yixiao was furious.
"Feng Suige, if this is some game of yours, then you've succeeded," Yixiao suddenly laughed too, a wild and shadowy laugh. "If you insist on dragging me down, then let’s go together! Who’s afraid of whom?" "Good," he murmured in agreement, flashing a grin of neat white teeth. "Then let’s see who fears whom first!"
Bathed in the firelight, Yixiao’s face took on a bewitching allure, her eyes glinting with fox-like cunning. She leaned toward him playfully and whispered softly, "But remember what you said—that you’d never let go of me. You’d better not forget to hold on tight, or else I’ll fly away, vanish without a trace, leaving you unable to find or catch me. And when that happens, don’t blame me—it’ll be your fault for letting go!"
Feng Suige listened with a faint smile before declaring solemnly, like an oath, "I won’t. As long as I draw breath, I will never allow you to leave."
"I’ll remember that too," Yixiao laughed bitterly. "Someone once said that marriage is worse than storming a city—you must never think that once you enter, everything is settled. Now I finally understand—once you’re inside, the troubles are endless."
OpenNovel