Chapter 870: Chapter 599 The Grand Finale (Final Chapter)_12
Guan Wei said, that "Beauty in a Jar" looks very similar to Daqi’s Consort Xian.
Feng Yun listened to her description, and her heart skipped a beat.
She thought of Feng Ying’s malicious face that day, her spine tingled, and without a word, she went to find Chunyu Yan.
Chunyu Yan’s residence had been renovated again.
During the beginning of summer, he had just moved in.
The couplets on the doors were still fresh, everything was brand new.
When he saw Feng Yun’s face brimming with anger, even his smile seemed renewed.
Without the mask to hide, the young ladies and brides of Huaxi were utterly captivated by him, dizzy in batches, making it hard for the young men to marry. Yet Chunyu Yan felt his breathing exceptionally free.
"Feng Shi Er, are you here to seek death again?"
Feng Yun thought he was due for a beating.
She sat down, poured herself a cup of cold tea from his desk, wetted her throat, calmed herself, and then mentioned the matter about Feng Ying.
"Was it your doing?"
Chunyu Yan didn’t seem to care much; after listening, he didn’t react. The terror of "Beauty in a Jar" didn’t faze him in the least.
"I could very well say it was your doing."
Feng Yun was tempted to kick him.
She raised her hand dramatically, but before striking him, he yelped.
"Ouch. My injury hurts."
The injury he sustained that day beside Changhe had been severe.
Doctor Yao had said, if his internal organs weren’t positioned slightly differently than normal—tilted by just a few inches—he would’ve died on the spot, completely unsalvageable.
Since then, Feng Yun had taken to calling him "rotten heart and lungs."
Rather than being angered, he was quite jubilant.
After all, it was a life narrowly saved, crooked or not, tilted or not, it was worth it.
But when Feng Yun said "Beauty in a Jar" was also his doing, Chunyu Yan wasn’t happy.
"In your heart, any shady, despicable deed—it’s all my doing, right?"
Feng Yun: "Still not admitting to it?"
Chunyu Yan gritted his teeth darkly, "I’ve done countless wrongs in my time as a prince, what does this matter? If I’ve done it, I’ll admit it. If I haven’t, Feng Shi Er, even if you kick me to death, I won’t concede."
Feng Yun hesitated, "If it’s not you, then who else could it be?"
Who else would commit such maddening, heartless acts?
Seeing her suspicious gaze still fixed on him, Chunyu Yan clicked his tongue. "Think. Who hates her the most?"
Who?
Feng Yun thought of that sickly Dog Emperor of Qi Palace who relied on medicine year-round to cling to life.
A cycle of vengeance.
They were locked in a cycle of vengeance, weren’t they?
Feng Yun fell silent for a moment, her dark eyes narrowed, and she turned to leave.
"Hey!" Chunyu Yan sat in his wooden wheelchair, watching her carefree manner with gritted teeth. "Feng Shi Er, can’t you bother to care about me?"
Feng Yun turned back and retorted, "Hurry up and roll back to Yunchuan."
"I just refuse to leave."
Chunyu Yan stayed in Huaxi to recuperate, made trips to Changmen for food, had Yao Ru to consult for his recovery, and if he couldn’t find Feng Yun in Huaxi, he’d even go to the palace to "pay respects" to the Emperor and discuss the diplomatic relations between their nations.
Ever since his injury, his days had been extraordinarily comfortable.
Quding and Xiang Zhong, among others, were astonished to discover that their master appeared far happier than when he was ruling in Yunchuan—his complexion even seemed more radiant.
Such a cursed fate.
Day after day, his joy overflowed.
To put it nicely, he was charming to the point of fatal attraction.
To put it bluntly, he was just shameless.
He certainly didn’t learn his lesson.
Pei Jue also found Chunyu Yan immensely irritating.
That day, as Feng Yun was heading back to Huaxi, Pei Jue, having adjourned court, changed into casual attire to follow her eagerly.
During supper, sure enough, Chunyu Yan shamelessly came over to mooch food.
Pei Jue remained unfazed, even sharing two drinks with him.
After dinner, when Feng Yun went to bathe, Pei Jue instructed his attendant to summon Yao Ru.
"How is Prince of Yunchuan’s injury? I assume it’s all healed by now?"
Yao Ru, now a celebrated doctor of extraordinary renown—how could he lie?
He nodded. "The injury is all healed..."
Seeing the Emperor begin to relax, Yao Ru added with some awkwardness, "But the prince’s hidden ailment... I fear it won’t recover."
Pei Jue narrowed his eyes, "He has a hidden ailment?"
For Pei Jue, this was the first time learning of Chunyu Yan’s illness through Yao Ru.
Of course, someone of Yao Ru’s caliber as a doctor shouldn’t, in theory, ever disclose a patient’s privacy...
But...
He wasn’t dead, was he?
And no living man could endure Da Yong’s Emperor’s piercing glare of intimidation.
Yao Ru couldn’t endure—it was truly unbearable.
So he spilled the beans.
Though, before revealing anything, he specifically reminded the Emperor, "This matter mustn’t be told to anyone else. Absolutely not."
Who could the Emperor possibly tell?
There was no "others."
When Feng Yun emerged from her bath, she immediately noticed something odd about Pei Jue’s expression. When he gazed at her, his eyes carried a scorching, beastly intensity, as if he wanted to devour her whole.
"I didn’t provoke you, did I?"
She extended her pale little hand and waved it in front of Pei Jue’s face.
That hand—within the next moment—was seized, followed by her entire self, swept into Pei Jue’s arms.
He remarked, "Soft whip has returned again."
The whip, the whip...
Feng Yun didn’t know what sort of mood swing Chunyu Yan was having to first reclaim "Qiu Tong," only then to send it back to her. At first, she hadn’t intended to accept it again, but Quding insisted on leaving it on her desk, imploring that if it weren’t gifted out, he’d face death upon his return.
Thus, it became yet another matter Pei Jue viewed as private gifting.
"I was only being kind."
"Throw it away," Pei Jue gently stroked her hair. "What’s so good about a soft whip? I’ll get you a hard one instead."
Feng Yun’s eyelids twitched; she wanted to escape, but before she could manage, she fell into his clutches again.
"Pei Gou!" Feng Yun glared at him, her teeth grinding with an itch, clutching his robe, and spotted the food box on the low table by the bedside.
That was a soup Xiaoman had asked the kitchen to prepare for her.
Lately, Feng Yun’s appetite hadn’t been great; she ate little at each meal, and would often feel hunger late into the night. The staff had been meticulously preparing nourishing meals for her...
They all hoped she might soon give birth to another Little Prince.
But privately, Feng Yun longed for a Little Princess.
A soft, pink little girl—how lovely that would be.
Pei Jue didn’t notice the look in her eyes.
Lately, some Court Officials had begun hinting, subtly or otherwise, about the need to replenish the Imperial Harem and increase offspring while the affairs of court piled up. For days, he hadn’t had a chance to unwind properly. Faced with such an opportunity, how could he let it slip...
The bed was like the empire; he could conquer the land, but with her, mastery was effortless.
At first, Feng Yun’s mind lingered on her soup, lost in thoughts of the Little Princess. She was somewhat distracted, but as pleasure crept up, she began to softly sigh, low and sultry...
"Let me eat first, I’m hungry."
"I’ll feed you."
He filled her completely.
Outside the room, the maids listened for a while, catching snippets of the Emperor asking the Empress if she could still manage to eat.
"I can’t eat anymore."
"It doesn’t taste good..."
"I don’t want to eat it anymore..."
The two young maids, recently assigned to Changmen, were so startled they lost their wits and went to Xiaoman to inquire whether the prepared food was to the Empress’s liking.
Xiaoman grew suspicious, listened by the window for a moment, and smacked their heads lightly.
"Go serve the outer courtyard."
In the thick of the rainy season, at some unknown hour, the rain began to drizzle once more. Summer nights, rain, chirping bugs—and someone couldn’t contain his excitement. Like a mountain beast seeking prey, the soft sighs trickled far into the distance.
The night was peaceful.
The people had dispersed; only the nighttime insects scrounging for food bore witness.
But even the insects listening...
Knew, this moment was complete.
