Phoenix Reigns Over The Nine Heavens - Chapter 45

Lately, perhaps due to his severe injuries, bad mood, and the inadequate care from Li Xue—who only cared about her own taste—Xiao Yunheng felt increasingly stifled. Looking at her aggrieved appearance only fueled his impatience.

He couldn’t help but feel she was somewhat hypocritical.

Especially since he had fallen into his current state because of Li Xue’s lies, a wave of disgust welled up inside him.

Xiao Yunheng no longer felt like speaking, so he just stood outside the hall and waited.

His body had not yet fully recovered, and as he stood there, a tingling pain, like ants were nibbling, spread across his back. Remembering his father’s instructions and the emperor’s warning. Xiao Yunheng knew that he must mend his relationship with Yun Zishu.

He wasn’t unaware of the methods men used to win over women. In the past, since Yun Zishu was already married to him and he didn’t like her, he couldn’t be bothered to put in any effort for her.

But now things are different.

If he couldn’t win back Yun Zishu, he wouldn’t be able to answer to either the emperor or his father. Moreover, he truly didn’t want to live in the princess’s mansion for too long.

Time passed little by little.

Li Xue felt uncomfortable in the sun, but she suppressed her dissatisfaction and said in a low voice, “Brother Heng is injured; let’s find a place to sit down.”

Xiao Yunheng frowned and gave her a cold look. He desperately wanted to tell her to shut up.

Sit down?

It is precisely because he is injured that it is more convenient to use the trick of “feigning hardship.” Is Li Xue really this ignorant, or was she deliberately undermining him here?

Li Xue felt his displeasure, and although she felt wronged, she didn’t dare say anything more and stood with him to wait.

The time it took to drink a cup of tea passed.

Half an hour passed.

There was no movement from inside the hall. Li Xue was unable to hold on any longer. She lifted her left foot, then her right foot in turns.

Xiao Yunheng was also having a hard time.

After standing for so long, a layer of fine sweat had already seeped through his clothes, soaking the scabbed wounds and stimulating them to throb with pain.

Xiao Yunheng endured it stubbornly. He wanted to see how long Yun Zishu would leave him waiting outside.

“He seems to have a lot of endurance.” Yun Zishu sat on the edge of the bed in the inner hall, looking down at a book on military strategy. “What do you think?”

“Your Highness is truly foresighted, as if predicting the future.” Leng Yue said with a light laugh, “Xiao Yunheng not only lowered his status to seek reconciliation with Your Highness, but it also seems that cracks have truly formed in his relationship with Li Xue. Just now when the two were talking, even a fool could detect the impatience in Xiao Yunheng’s tone.”

Yun Zishu wasn’t the least bit surprised when she heard this.

Li Xue was the type of person who could only enjoy comfort but not endure hardship. She is also two-faced, deceitful, and untrustworthy. While staying close to Xiao Yunheng day and night, she thought that she could take this opportunity to cultivate a deeper relationship with Xiao Yunheng through shared hardship, making him cherish her even more.

However, taking care of a seriously injured man was not as easy as she had imagined. Once she was very tired, even if she wanted to pretend, she would always inadvertently reveal some grievances and annoyances. How could Xiao Yunheng fail to notice this?

Human nature cannot withstand testing.

As Li Xue’s true nature gradually revealed itself, Xiao Yunheng saw it day after day. In the past, her fragility would have made him feel sorry for her, but now, her weakness only made him feel that she was useless. In addition, Li Xue’s selfishness and neglect of him in terms of food would only intensify his dissatisfaction.

Unless Xiao Yunheng really loved her to the point of unwavering devotion, regardless of any hardship, it was impossible for him to still like her as before.

Yun Zishu put down the book and got up to walk out.

Leng Yue and Leng Shuang followed closely behind.

Stepping outside, Yun Zishu looked at Xiao Yunheng’s pale and sweaty handsome face—setting aside everything else, Xiao Yunheng’s appearance was indeed outstanding among the noble sons of noble families.

He had a handsome appearance and a tall and straight figure, and a father who held military power as a great general relied on by the emperor. In the court, he was wooed by the crown prince, and his sister was married to the son of the grand princess.

Which noble lady from a prestigious family wouldn’t consider marrying Xiao Yunheng as a dream come true?

That’s why Yun Zishu’s act of divorcing him was so unbelievable. In their opinion, it was a blessing for Yun Zishu, a princess without power or influence, to marry Xiao Yunheng.

How dare she divorce her husband? It was nothing short of absurd.

“Xiao Yunheng.” Yun Zishu leaned against the door frame and looked at him without any expression. “I heard you wanted to see me.”

Xiao Yunheng saw that she had finally come out; his gaze slightly darkened, but he suppressed the emotions of dissatisfaction in his heart and said lightly, “I have something to say to you.”

“What did you want to say?”

“Something private.” Xiao Yunheng glanced at the two people beside her. “Please ask them to step away.”

Yun Zishu smiled faintly. “There is nothing that can’t be said in front of others. I have no reservations, so what are you worried about? You can speak freely. Leng Shuang and Leng Yue are my guards; they will not leave easily.”

Xiao Yunheng’s expression darkened. “Between a man and a woman, there are always some things that shouldn’t be heard by others.”

Yun Zishu raised an eyebrow. “You can stop thinking of yourself as a man.”

Xiao Yunheng’s face turned ashen: “…”

“Your Highness,” Li Xue looked at her in disbelief, “Brother Heng is your husband. How can you insult him like this? Even if he never…never consummated the marriage with you in the past, there were reasons for that…”

“Shut up!” Xiao Yunheng turned his head and glared at her angrily. “Can you stop talking?”

Li Xue’s eyes reddened, and her face turned pale. She bit her lip in grievance and stopped talking.

Yun Zishu found this scene disgusting. So she looked up at the sky and said in an increasingly calm voice, “I have no interest in Xiao Yunheng at all, Madam Concubine. Please don’t bring up the past again. You should be glad that I haven’t lost my virginity. Otherwise, I’m afraid I might have sent Xiao Yunheng to the eunuch’s quarters by now, ensuring he could never be a man again.”

Xiao Yunheng’s face changed, and he looked at Yun Zishu like he was looking at a lunatic. He could hardly believe that such words came out of her mouth: “You… how can you be so shameless?”

“How could Your Highness say such things?” Li Xue stared wide-eyed, as if she thought Yun Zishu was the most vicious person she had ever seen. “You’re too terrible, truly too terrible! How can you be so malicious?”

“Doesn’t Madam Xiao call me a vicious woman every day?” Yun Zishu raised her eyebrows. “What? Are you surprised? Isn’t it normal for a poisonous woman like me to do such a vicious thing? You shouldn’t be surprised.”

“Zishu.” Xiao Yunheng took a deep breath. “I know you’re saying these things out of anger. It was my fault before…”

“I’m not saying this out of anger. I truly am this vicious.” Yun Zishu smiled faintly. “So you should consider yourself fortunate.”

Xiao Yunheng felt a stifling frustration in his chest. “Zishu, can we talk properly?”