The man slowly turned around, half leaning against the wooden railing and looked at her deeply. Although it was a face that was not familiar to him, but the twinkling lights in there are the same. He looked at the young man in brocade robes in front of him, an emotion of pain and unfamiliarity flashed across his eyes but then immediately turned calm and gentle.
“I am calling my escaped concubine.” He turned his gaze toward the shimmering reflections on the lake. “She is from Tiansheng and is 18 this year. She was captured by me in the Battle of Baitou Cliff in the 14th year of Tiansheng. She willingly became my concubine and used to live with me in the Puyuan manor of Pucheng, Daiyue. I dotted on her and planned on making her my secondary consort.*(translation notes at the end) Just when I was happily writing up a report (to make her his consort) to submit to the imperial court, she colluded with her accomplices, sneaked them into Puyuan, emptied my lake, injured me, and besieged my city. What’s more, she came back and utterly deceived me again. She deceived me into believing that she would be loyal to me, deceived me into taking her to the city wall to persuade the enemy to retreat, deceived me into thinking that from that moment on, I could take her hands and see the magnificent mountains and rivers of this world together— and then right in front of me, she drew the bow, broke the wall, jumped off the city wall, and escaped.”
He said the last eight words word by word, like a heavy curved bow resolutely smashing the towering bricks of the city wall, shattering it into ashes.
Feng Zhi Wei stood silently with her hands behind her back and listened very attentively. The shadow of the palace lanterns cast a blurred shadow on her face.
“Marquis Wei…” Jin Siyu slowly stepped forward. This soft gentle voice somehow seemed even more chilling than the quiet and hateful tone he had just now. “Tell me, a cold-hearted woman as this, who deceived me and betrayed my sincerity, shouldn’t I pursue her until death?”
He came closer and closer, one step at a time. Not retreating nor seemingly made uncomfortable by his approach, Feng Zhi Wei stood calmly in place, raised her eyes to look at him, then suddenly smiled.
Her faint smile was like the slight damp and cool autumn breeze in the south, like a white orchid, instantly blooming brightly and abruptly filling the vast with its queenly fragrance.
When Jin Siyu saw her smile, he was stunned and momentarily dazed.
“Is this respect worthy concubine’s name, Peony?” Feng Zhi Wei said softly, “Although the name is vulgar, her character is not. Although this marquis does not know her, I admire her very much. When two countries are at war, they fight on the battlefield with blood and sword, but the intrigue and deception off the battlefield are warfare as well. This Miss Peony lost the open battle but won the secret battle and did not tarnish the prestige of our empire. That is very good. But in the end, it was just a draw between you and her. She didn’t mind being your captive and had to endure whatever came her way, so why would you mind being taken a little advantage of and suffering a small loss?”
Jin Siyu stopped and looked at the young man under the moonlight. He had imagined the scenes of their meeting many times, but it had never occurred to him, at this moment, that a man and a woman with such a delicate relationship meeting for the first time after such a separation, she could still talk so freely and calmly. He really should’ve expected it, but he just didn’t want to think about it or guess. However, when they finally met today, she was more ruthless than he ever imagined.
He stood there silently, listening to the cold and callous words, and felt as if his heart was being twisted by a ruthless hand. The wave of twisting pain was so painful that he almost wanted to press his chest and dig out the heart that had been plunged into icy water.
The half year after they parted, he often encountered that name while dealing with government affairs. That person was extremely talented, that person was soaring to new heights in Tiansheng’s imperial court, that person was unmatched in the world. Listening to those brilliant accomplishments, he felt he was looking at another person through a pane of glass. Behind the thin and misty frost, there was a face– delicate, fragile, with a slightly red brow, shining sparkling eyes, a slightly absent-minded smile, but a face that made one’s heart soften at first sight.
Such a completely different face.
It often caused him to be distracted and dazed.
He kept thinking of the times when they read together late at night with the wind and rain knocking on the window. Kept thinking of the hands clasped together, slowly warming in front of the fire basin. Kept thinking of her noble and graceful presence by his side on that New Year’s Eve. Kept thinking of him carrying her, who was seriously injured and powerless, slowly walking in the garden and her warm breath on the back of his neck. Then finally, of her telling him during their negotiation in the study— Congratulations to His Royal Highness Prince An for having found a peerless talent. The entire world is at your fingertips!
When these memories surfaced, he would have to stop thinking. However, even if he could stop remembering, he still couldn’t let go. Whenever he lifts the carriage curtain while traveling on the road, he would always see that lazy smiling face. The farther she was from him, the closer the memories of her were.
It was as if the more he couldn’t bear to hear that name, the more often he had to hear it.
He can no longer discern if what he hated was that the memory related to her recorded his biggest defeat and loss in his life, or was he just hating that from start to finish, all her gentleness and tenderness were all a pretence, that she was so ruthlessly resolute at the end?
Those smiles to each other, the silent exchanges of glances, the secret writings in the palm of their hands— all fake, all fake.
He knew these were just the facts, but he was still unwilling to accept it, unwilling to be reduced to such a level in someone’s heart. So he came, in an almost self-abusing manner, standing in front of her, listening to her words of indifference once again, talking to him about love of country and good of the people.
This person is so ruthless that the pain pierces one straight to the bone.
He suddenly started to smile coldly.
When such a gentle and elegant person abruptly smiled like that, he looked like a wounded wolf howling at the moon, howling at the dark sky, his wounds dripping with blood.
Then he rushed forward and suddenly arrived in front of Feng Zhi Wei.
“I mind! I mind that a sincere heart is discarded like a piece of trash!”
“I mind! I mind that she had been lying from the beginning to the end!”
“I mind! I mind that I didn’t have to lose in that battle of wits!”
“I mind! I mind that instead of losing because I was outsmarted, I lost in the battle of who was more heartless!”
“I mind! I mind that I was foolish enough to gamble with a heartless person on her heart!”
His voice was low and fierce. It was hard to imagine that such a man with such an elegant and gentle temperament would be so violent and fierce when he got angry. With each word of “I mind,” he took a step forward. Feng Zhi Wei looked at his eyes that had turned dark in an instant, she suddenly felt a heaviness in her heart and a faint bitterness in her mouth. The pretended calm and indifference were shattered in an instant. She couldn’t help but step back. With each forward step he took, she took a step back. Before the last of the sixth “I mind” was finished, her back hit the railing facing the lake with a bang.
Jin Siyu’s pent-up anger was provoked to the peak by her calm and indifferent demeanor. At that moment, anger had overwhelmed his senses, and there was a darkness in his eyes that spread like the night. Feng Zhi Wei’s face was reflected in the night. Her eyes were misty and flickering. Her posture finally lost that toughness and indifference. She was pressed against the railing, her body slightly leaned back, her long hair falling like willow branches, swaying slowly on top of the water. She seemed a little flustered because of the extremely close distance of the man, and a slight panic appeared in her eyes as the man came close enough that she could feel his breath.
Seeing the hint of panic in her eyes, she looked just like the Peony of last winter. When she was first captured and lost her memory, the same hint of panic surfaced from time to time in her calmness. It was that heart-tugging panic that caused his heart to tremble again and again until he was completely lost. Despite being full of doubts, he was still willing to throw caution aside and give it a try…
In an instant, he was thrown back to the Pu Manor, and everything was Peony. The smiling Peony, the tender Peony, the playful Peony, the lazy Peony. Countless Peony were dancing and spinning in his sight, laughing…Jin Siyu suddenly felt a frustration surging up in his heart. The emotions that had been suppressed for a long time suddenly broke through the dam of reason. He let out a low roar in his threat, suddenly lowered his head, and pressed his lips down heavily.
All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com
Translation Notes: Jin Siyu had planned on making our heroine his secondary consort, which is just one step down from the primary consort- a prince’s wife. Only the primary consort and the secondary consort’s name make it into the family heritage book, so this is a big deal and would be considered a great honor for most people. To someone like Jin Siyu, making Peony his secondary consort is the greatest show of his feelings for her. A concubine is not much higher in status than a maid. In fact, Jin Siyu’s primary and secondary consorts would have the power/right to punish or even kill any concubine if they were not worried about incurring Jin Siyu’s displeasure.
Of course all that “great show of love” is nothing when compared to our hero and the other important men in our heroine’s life. All three men would do far more and had done far more than Jin Siyu.
Poor Prince An. I feel for him. It is true that Prince Chu and GNY would do much more for FZW. Still, she tricks him in losing his heart. His grievance is legitimate. In the end, he is not in the same class likes her. Thank you, Ninja. Much gratitude.
Hello! I hope you’re having a great day. Good luck 🙂
Man, Zhi Wei really did a number on Jin Si yu 😅 Ngl, I’m really enjoying Zhi Wei’s different dynamics with all the MLs 🤣 All her interactions with them bring a lil something different.