Fengyu had never heard such moving words before, nor could she have spoken anything so deeply touching. Her heart seed to spiral out of control, pounding incessantly.
Suddenly, she had an urge to kiss Xie Xun. Following her impulse, she turned her head and kissed his cheek. It felt like a feather brushing against his heart, yet Xie Xun found it even more stirring than a deep kiss.
Fengyu would sotis envy Feng Shu.
Her elder sister was bold and intelligent since childhood, beautiful and resilient, with her heart set on soone she loved, and had even successfully beco engaged to him. Xie Zhang, her elder brother-in-law, was strong and formidable to outsiders but tender and devoted to her sister.
In her heart, her sister was the embodint of a perfect life, as described by others.
She admired it deeply.
On the day the Northern Iron Cavalry returned in triumph, she stood on the city wall, watching her sister embrace Xie Zhang like a bird returning to its nest. His eyes held only her, and in a quiet mont, Fengyu secretly wondered—if one day she had soone she loved, would he also look at her with such gentleness?
Would she ever receive a love so wholehearted and undivided?
Xie Xun once said that he never felt inferior because of his brothers’ excellence. He believed himself to be equally brilliant, which was why he carried himself with carefree confidence, exuding bold determination in whatever he did.
She was not like that!
In her envy of Feng Shu, she also felt a trace of self-doubt.
She lacked a healthy body. She didn’t possess Feng Shu’s mastery over the arts, nor did she share her sister’s kindness and high moral standing that allowed her to empathize with others.
She felt incomplete, hollow, her inner self often steeped in an unbearable darkness. Who would ever love soone like her?
A gaze so tender, so focused, would never belong to her.
Xie Xun was like the brightest sunshine, while she was the shadow that no sunlight could reach. She had hidden in the dark for so long that she didn’t dare touch the light.
Never had she imagined that this ray of light would fall into the palm of her hand.
"Why are you crying?" Xie Xun wiped her tears with his thumb. The thoughts of a young girl were always so sensitive, and he didn’t know which words had made her cry.
Fengyu, overco with a mix of feelings, felt a wave of shyness. The words were clearly heartwarming, yet she felt sadness instead.
So, this was the kind of love she could also have.
Xie Xun didn’t press her for an answer when he saw her unwilling to respond. Fengyu was an incredibly self-aware, sensitive young woman, like frost flowers in the winter. Loving her ant he was bound to exert painstaking care to nurture her fragility and sensitivity. But Fengyu was also the type who couldn’t tolerate even a grain of sand in her heart. If she were hurt, it would require tenfold the effort to heal her wounds.
Knowing all this, he was still willing!
"Look, aren’t the stars gorgeous?" Xie Xun pointed toward the sky, trying to coax her into looking.
Fengyu lifted her gaze to the stars. Xie Xun leaned closer and kissed her eyes. Startled, Fengyu asked, "Weren’t we looking at the stars?"
"The most beautiful stars are reflected in your eyes."
Sweet words often erged unbidden, effortlessly stirring the heart.
When Fengyu returned to the tent, Feng Changqing, Su Yuejiao, and Feng Shu were all there. Thanks to Xie Xun’s coaxing, she had already managed to compose herself. But the sight of Feng Changqing sitting in the tent with a cold expression instantly filled Fengyu with unease.
"Kneel!" Feng Changqing commanded sternly.
Fengyu knelt on the carpet. Outside the tent, Qiuxiang and Chunlu stood listening anxiously to the Family Head’s severe tone. Earlier, when Feng Changqing and Su Yuejiao had co looking for Fengyu, they had clearly witnessed her and Xie Xun kissing by the riverbank. When Chunlu relayed this to Fengyu, she had already felt uneasy.
Feng Changqing had always doted on his daughter, indulging her every wish. Never before had he spoken to her so harshly. But Su Yuejiao, having witnessed Xie Xun holding their daughter tightly while kissing her, felt the blood rush to her head.
The intensity of their feelings was undeniable, as if this had been going on for a long ti. Yet, the parents had been none the wiser. No mother or father could maintain a good disposition upon seeing their unmarried daughter embraced and kissed by a man.
What angered them even more was Fengyu’s concealnt of the matter.
"When did you and Xie Xun develop these feelings?"
Fengyu didn’t know how to answer. It was true they had feelings for each other, but she had never fully accepted them until this hunting trip, where she had allowed her emotions to take over unchecked, leading inevitably to today’s consequences.
"Half a year ago." Fengyu didn’t want Xie Xun to bear all the responsibility alone.
Feng Changqing placed a hand over his heart, his emotions roiling. "You... you... You hadn’t even annulled your engagent, and you developed feelings for Xie Xun?"
Fengyu froze, having montarily forgotten about Jiang Yang. Half a year ago, she hadn’t yet formally ended her engagent to him. "No... it was after the annulnt that I t the Young Marquis."
Su Yuejiao frowned. "And you fell for him right after eting him?"
Could it be that, being young, she had been deceived by the Young Marquis?
"No!" Fengyu’s face turned crimson. She instinctively sought help from Feng Shu, but her ever-indulgent sister simply smiled and stayed silent.
Feeling aggrieved, Fengyu’s eyes grew misty. Seeing this, Feng Shu said, "Speak clearly."
"Oh..." Fengyu’s tears stopped, and she straightened her expression. "We crossed paths half a year ago. I asked for his help with sothing, and we gradually beca familiar. On the day Father returned in triumph, we confird our feelings."
Marriage was dictated by one’s parents and facilitated by matchmakers. For her to engage in a romance with Xie Xun in secret, without status or recognition, would tarnish her reputation if it beca known.
Feng Changqing hadn’t expected this to have started so early. "You... when the Marquis ca to discuss your sister’s wedding date, how could you still talk about seeking a husband?"
Inviting the Young Marquis to be your husband? What a wild idea—the kind your father wouldn’t dare entertain!
"We had a fight," Fengyu replied coolly. "I was just trying to provoke him."
"But you shouldn’t have talked about seeking a husband in front of the Marquis!" Feng Changqing, who greatly admired the Marquis, had wondered if that day, the Marquis wasn’t truly there for Fengyu rather than Feng Shu, but he had dismissed the thought.
Su Yuejiao found the sudden and unconventional nature of this potential marriage bewildering. She looked at Fengyu, feeling the girl was still hiding sothing, but couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was off.
If not for tonight’s forced marriage proposal involving Dugu Jing and Princess Huazhen, would Fengyu’s relationship with Xie Xun have been exposed? And if it hadn’t been, what would have beco of them in the future?
When her daughter spoke of seeking a husband, she had sounded deadly serious.
How could the Young Marquis ever beco a live-in son-in-law?
Feng Changqing replayed the mory of their intimate mont by the riverbank in his mind. He had once trusted Xie Xun’s character implicitly, believing that even if he liked Fengyu, his feelings would manifest as restrained and respectful.
Now, he wasn’t so sure!
Yet, as a father, he couldn’t bring himself to ask his daughter about such private matters.
His daughter seed soft and fragile—what if she had been taken advantage of?
Rembering that scene by the river, Feng Changqing found the prospective son-in-law increasingly insufferable, falling short of Xie Zhang in every way.
How could two brothers be so different? One was dependable, while the other seed insatiably impulsive!
Su Yuejiao helped Fengyu to her feet. "If not for the Princess forcing this marriage, when would you have planned to inform us?"
Fengyu felt a pang of sourness in her heart. If not for this forced marriage proposal, she and Xie Xun might never have had a future. Although she had softened toward him, she lacked the courage to truly be with him.
She feared ruining her sister’s marriage, bringing ruin to the Marquis Mansion.
Deep down, she didn’t believe she deserved to be loved.
In matters of the heart, she was a coward. If not for the Young Marquis’s unwavering leap toward her, she and Xie Xun might never have had any outco at all.
Fengyu didn’t want to lie or evade the matter, so she simply remained silent. Su Yuejiao sighed and embraced her. "Ayu, do not worry. We will take care of everything."
"I know I cannot marry Xie Xun, nor dare I hold such delusions. I thought that perhaps after a few years, once the circumstances stabilized, if we still cared for each other, then we could discuss marriage again." Fengyu spoke from the heart. Even if her feelings had softened, she dared not gamble everything, fearing that she would lose it all.
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