Chapter 853: Chapter 595 Grand Finale (Part Five)_2
The carriage was motionless, not moving.
There were chaotic footsteps all around, but no one spoke.
Until the sound of horse hooves approached from afar and stopped in front of the carriage, only then did someone greet.
"Greetings, Governor."
In the entire Da Yong Dynasty, there was only one Governor.
Feng Yun felt a tremor in her heart and instinctively grew excited.
"Elder Brother..."
She called out briefly, filled with joy.
Through the dark night sky, a ray of light shone in.
The curtain was lifted by someone, and standing before her was a familiar figure.
Tall and upright, with deep and penetrating eyes.
It was undoubtedly Wen Xingsu.
But the joy on Feng Yun’s face began to fade.
In the dead silence, her eyes turned red, her palms ice-cold, as she gazed at Wen Xingsu and those standing quietly behind him—Shentu Jiong, Yang Qi, and a group of familiar faces.
A long while...
She finally calmed her breathing and smiled indifferently.
"So it’s you."
Wen Xingsu didn’t reply, coldly glancing at Shentu Jiong, "Untie her."
Shentu Jiong, who had been brothers with Wen Xingsu for decades, understood his temper very well—and knew just how much he cared for this sister.
If it hadn’t been absolutely necessary, he certainly wouldn’t have bound Feng Yun.
Still, tying her up to endure scolding was preferable to letting her escape and being scolded.
"Yes." Shentu Jiong promptly stepped forward.
"Get lost." Feng Yun’s voice was neither light nor heavy as she dismissed him.
Slowly, she struggled to sit upright, making her posture more proper, eyes fixed unblinkingly on Wen Xingsu.
"What did Xiao San offer you?"
Wen Xingsu didn’t reply.
Feng Yun laughed at herself, her passionate fire cooling.
"Thirteen years. I never thought, having one foot in Cao Camp while longing for Han, you’d still want to serve Xiao San. I’m very curious—what did he promise you to make you betray me?"
"He promised me nothing." Wen Xingsu gazed at Feng Yun indifferently, moonlight spilling onto his silver armor, imbuing it with a faint glow.
"I’m not doing it for him."
"Then what are you doing it for?"
Wen Xingsu remained silent.
"Speak!" Feng Yun shouted angrily.
Having grown up together, the bond of siblings had long seeped into Feng Yun’s very bones. Now, to wield the knife herself and strip it layer by layer, the agony twisted her heart into unbearable pain.
She couldn’t understand.
Even if Wen Xingsu confessed outright to betrayal, she still couldn’t understand.
Why did he betray her?
What reason could he have?
"For Lady Chen, isn’t it?"
In the crushing silence, Feng Yun asked calmly.
Wen Xingsu still didn’t answer, standing upright in the interplay of light and shadow, speaking only after a long pause: "Untie the rope."
The rope dug into her flesh, leaving her hands bruised and purple.
Yet Feng Yun seemed impervious. Her inner torment was like a storm, drowning her in immense sorrow, her expression frozen like an arrested moment in time.
When she returned to life, she swore never to be betrayed again...
She had severed ties with Feng Jingteng early, breaking away from the shackles of the Feng Family, forsaking emotions and love, discarding Xiao San into the dung heap, focused solely on cleansing herself from past humiliations, refusing to become a slave to affection. She had even waged a decade-long tug-of-war with Pei Jue for this, never once speaking a word of true sentiment—even their child was seven years old now...
She would never be betrayed again.
No one would ever torture her as they had in her previous life, using her affections to manipulate her soul, leaving her hopelessly trapped, agonized beyond bearance...
But who could have imagined...
She had changed herself, yet she couldn’t change her fate.
That feeling—like arrows piercing her heart—still came.
"Yaoyao." Wen Xingsu boarded the carriage and reached to pull her.
Feng Yun avoided him, tilting her head to gaze at him, her voice cutting cold, "Why won’t you answer? Is it because you don’t know what to say?"
Her voice carried a sharp edge.
Unlike her usual calm demeanor.
There was even a trace of hysteria.
Simply because this man was Wen Xingsu.
The man she had believed to be the most trustworthy, her only elder brother.
Wen Xingsu gripped her wrist, pulling her into his arms, trapping her firmly within his embrace, before he began untying the rope binding her wrists.
"Wen Xingsu." Feng Yun raised her knee sharply, slamming it against his waist.
Wen Xingsu instinctively stepped back, wincing in pain as he sank into the carriage seat, his icy eyes gazing at her enraged face, his gaze slowly dropping, fixing on her bruised wrists.
"Doesn’t it hurt? Aren’t you the one who fears pain the most?"
"No pain compares to the stab you’ve given me!"
Feng Yun growled lowly, her cold glare sweeping over him.
"Was it because of Lady Chen? Because I punished her in Huaxi, publicly flogging her to enforce village rules? Is that why you harbored resentment? Is that it?"
Then she let out a sarcastic laugh, "How could I have missed it before? Turns out you’re such a filial son. Even though Lady Chen never cared about you and devoted herself entirely to Feng Liang, you still can’t let go of this mother. Wen Xingsu, you are nothing but a foolish devotee!"
Wen Xingsu pursed his lips, saying nothing as he looked at her.
Feng Yun unleashed her anger, glaring at him.
Many things she had never understood before suddenly clicked into place now.
"Was it you who killed Awan?"
"Yes." Wen Xingsu didn’t hesitate this time.
His tone cold and decisive, without a shred of doubt.
"She didn’t deserve to live in this world."
Feng Yun froze momentarily, before laughing low and bitterly.
The laughter was filled with self-mockery, biting sorrow.
"I was so foolish. At the time, how did I not realize it...?"
She had never suspected Wen Xingsu. Even if a fleeting thought had crossed her mind, it had been quickly dismissed.
The day Awan died was Wen Xingsu’s wedding day.
He was the busiest man on that day.
He was also the happiest groom that day.
Even after all these years, Feng Yun still remembered Wen Xingsu’s smile on that day. That warm elegance, like a spring breeze, had been teased as "life’s proudest moment—a wedding night lit by candles."
"Elder Brother..."
Feng Yun gritted her teeth, her voice filled with indescribable pain and anguish.
"Tell me! What do you want? We could clearly have solved it another way—why did you choose to side with Xiao Cheng?!"
"I did not side with him." Wen Xingsu slowly crouched before her, pulling her stubborn arm closer, his eyes blazing brightly.
"I want nothing—only you."
Feng Yun stared at him in shock, as if struck by lightning.
"Do you even know what you’re saying?!"
Wen Xingsu lowered his head, his palm gently stroking her disheveled hair, his gaze full of indescribable resignation, "Yaoyao, it was you who taught me."
Feng Yun was stunned beyond words.
Wen Xingsu’s fingers were icy cold, and as the night wind swept in, it tousled his hair.
"You said that with power in hand, one’s desires could truly be fulfilled."
Feng Yun sneered.
He sighed slightly, his gaze flickering like rippling waves.
"The splendid mountains, the captivating beauty—ultimately belong to the strong."
"Elder Brother." Feng Yun suddenly chuckled, "Let me tell you a secret."
Wen Xingsu’s eyes narrowed, deeply fixed on her.
"What?"
Feng Yun smiled faintly, enunciating each word with deliberate clarity, as if afraid he might not hear her, speaking slowly, "Your father—I mean your biological father—was poisoned by your mother, Lady Chen, in collusion with Feng Jingyao."
Wen Xingsu stared at the smile in her eyes, squatting there, gazing at her, motionless.
"Feng Jingyao confessed while imprisoned in the Censorate. I didn’t originally plan to tell you..."
Feng Yun glanced at him, her expression darkening.
"Because I know exactly how painful it is to lose a mother to one’s father. I didn’t want you to suffer, didn’t want you to experience the same loneliness of being betrayed by everyone."
Wen Xingsu continued to gaze at her silently.
He didn’t utter a single word.
