Chapter Eighty-One
For three consecutive days, Xia Jingshi had not returned to Mingde Palace. After much hesitation, Feng Xiyang finally ordered a carriage and set off for the Mausoleum behind Shuxiang Temple in the outskirts of the city.
Though autumn had arrived, the weather showed no signs of cooling. Every afternoon still felt like the height of summer. Feng Xiyang took a damp silk handkerchief from her maid and gently dabbed the fine sweat on her forehead. She scanned the bustling crowd at the construction site, but all she saw were bare-chested men rushing about. Too embarrassed to look further, she couldn’t spot Xia Jingshi among them.
Someone noticed the two women nearly fainting under the scorching sun and called out. Almost half the workers immediately dropped their tools and scrambled to pull on their shirts, while those carrying heavy beams and stone slabs quickened their pace. Under the curious and probing gazes of dozens of eyes, Feng Xiyang had no choice but to steel herself and walk forward.
Xia Jingshi, clad only in a thin white silk tunic, stepped out from the crowd. With a displeased expression, he dismissed the workers with a curt "Take a break" before approaching the unexpected visitor. "What is it? Why have you come here?" he asked coolly. Feng Xiyang’s heart ached as she lowered her head and whispered, "You haven’t returned for the past few days..."
"The relocation of the graves is in a few days, and there’s still much to be done. I won’t be returning for the next few days either. If you’re bored, tell the steward of Mingde Palace to find you a local servant who can show you around the Imperial City," Xia Jingshi replied indifferently, brushing dust off his already filthy tunic.
After a moment of silence, Feng Xiyang suddenly lifted her head and asked resentfully, "Why are you willing to do so much for her but can’t spare half a day for me? Back in Su Sha, you promised Father you would take care of me!" Xia Jingshi merely smiled faintly. "If you lack anything, just ask. Once we return to Lucheng, I’ll do my best to provide for you."
"I don’t need any of that!" Feng Xiyang’s voice rose sharply with emotion, drawing furtive glances from the soldiers nearby. "You ignore me all day but go out of your way to help an outsider. Have you ever considered how others will think of me?"
"Put away your princess tantrums," Xia Jingshi’s eyes flashed with anger. "If you cared so much about others’ opinions, you wouldn’t be standing here." Tears shimmered in Feng Xiyang’s eyes as her voice trembled. "And what about me? Have you ever considered my feelings?!"
"If you thought more about others, perhaps I’d think more about you," Xia Jingshi said coldly. "Go back. Don’t embarrass yourself here." "Xia Jingshi, you bastard!" Feng Xiyang felt as if she had been slapped. Humiliation and fury surged within her as she shouted, "Anything she can do for you, I can do too! Why is she the only one in your heart? I refuse to accept this! Tell me, what is it about her that I lack?!"
Xia Jingshi turned abruptly to leave, bellowing in rage, "Weiran, escort her away!" Xiao Weiran responded from a distance and quickly rushed over, but Feng Xiyang had already darted forward to block Xia Jingshi’s path.Xia Jingshi halted in his tracks, his cold gaze fixed on the frenzied Feng Xiyang. Xiao Weiran had also arrived by then, gently tugging at Xiyang's sleeve as he softly urged, "Your Highness, perhaps it's best to return first. Whatever matters can be discussed when His Highness returns—" "Don't touch me!" Feng Xiyang violently shook off Weiran's grasp. "If he doesn't explain himself clearly, I won't leave!"
Before Xiao Weiran could frown and attempt further persuasion, Xia Jingshi suddenly seized Feng Xiyang's wrist and forcibly dragged her toward the construction site. Weiran only had time to shout "Your Highness!" before hastily giving chase.
Where Xia Jingshi passed, the crowd instinctively parted to make way. Dragging Xiyang to the center of the stone-laden yard, he flung her forward with a forceful push and roared, "You've repeatedly harassed me over this matter, all because you want to know why everyone favors Yixiao."
He gestured vaguely at the surrounding onlookers. "Take a good look. Aside from a few craftsmen, the rest are all my former subordinates from years past. After the war, they were granted titles and remained in the Imperial City. This time, when Yixiao's late mother was posthumously honored, before the Holy Emperor could assign craftsmen, they sought me out on their own initiative to offer assistance. Since you're so fond of asking questions, today you can ask them publicly—ask them why they would do this. Then think carefully: could you do what she has done?"
Feng Xiyang, already badly shaken from being dragged so roughly, was now rendered speechless by his outburst. As she stood there stammering, a burly man with a thick beard and fierce eyes pushed through the crowd and declared boldly, "When my mother passed, the frontline battles were at their most critical. Duwei Fu learned of it and requested leave on my behalf from His Highness, then took over all my military duties—only later did I discover that Duwei Fu's own mother was gravely ill at the time and had sent word for her to return home. Yet because Duwei Fu had to stand in for me, she couldn't rush back to the Holy City until I returned to camp... and by then, it was too late to see her mother one last time."
The military general's eyes reddened as he spoke. "I was so consumed by remorse I wanted to dash my head against the ground before her. I swore then that if I couldn't repay Duwei Fu's kindness in this lifetime, I'd do so as an ox or horse in the next!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the gathered officers erupted in fervent agreement, voices overlapping in a clamor. To Feng Xiyang, it seemed as though countless lips were opening and closing around her, a deafening buzz like a swarm of bees carrying a single name that crashed over her like a tidal wave.
Duwei Fu, Duwei Fu, Duwei Fu, Duwei Fu...
Fu Yixiao, Fu Yixiao, Fu Yixiao, Fu Yixiao...
"I don't want to hear this!" Feng Xiyang suddenly screamed, covering her ears. "I don't want to hear it, don't want to hear it, don't want to hear it..." By the time her cries trailed off, her face was streaked with tears. "I came to the wrong place, I married the wrong man, and I loved the wrong person most of all!!" she sobbed brokenly. "I shouldn't have loved you. I nearly worshipped you as a god, yet you couldn't care less..."
Amid the silence, Xia Jingshi chuckled softly. "That is the greatest difference between you and Yixiao. To you, I am a god. But to her, I am just an ordinary man."
Those words alone froze the blood in Feng Xiyang's veins.
It was true—she could never see him as an ordinary man.In her heart, Xia Jingshi had always stood like a deity on an unreachable height. She even felt that he belonged in the heavens—how could she ever see him as an ordinary man of the mortal world?
She never imagined she would lose in this way.
Feng Xiyang suddenly let out a wild cry and stumbled out of the crowd, rushing toward the waiting carriage. Xiao Weiran glanced worriedly at Xia Jingshi. "Your Highness, should we—" Xia Jingshi gave a bitter laugh. "Let her go."
Just as Xiao Weiran was about to say more, a faint sound reached his ears—"snap..."
The ensuing rumble, mixed with the panicked shouts of the crowd, faintly reached Feng Xiyang, who hadn't run far. "Your Highness—!" "Xiao Canjun—!"
Instinctively, Xiyang halted and turned back. Amid the rising dust, the towering stack of massive logs had vanished. The entire worksite was in chaos.
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