Chapter 496: Chapter 366: Feng Xun’s Childhood
After a while, the meal was finally ready.
Feng Xun clumsily brought over a pot of porridge and some dishes.
Ye Lingyue glanced at it and burst out laughing.
The porridge was so thick it was immovable, the cucumbers were shriveled, and there were even eggshells in the egg.
"Feng Xun, do you even know the difference between rice and porridge? Also, the eggs are undercooked, and the cucumbers are too old."
Feng Xun hemmed and hawed.
"Don’t you like it? I will go and make it again." Feng Xun appeared full of righteous determination, as if going to turn the kitchen upside down.
"Alright Feng Xun, try making it one more time. It’s getting light outside; neither of us will get any sleep," Ye Lingyue, unable to bear seeing Feng Xun looking so pitiful, pulled him to sit down, and they began eating.
Feng Xun carefully stirred the porridge to even it out and meticulously pushed the good parts of the eggs and cucumbers into Ye Lingyue’s bowl, watching her enjoy eating, while he himself didn’t take a bite.
It wasn’t until Ye Lingyue was half full that he started to eat the rest.
Ye Lingyue sat beside, watching Feng Xun eat.
A beauty will always be a beauty; even Feng Xun eating was a sight to behold.
Ye Lingyue remembered asking Feng Xun if he had ever seen Wu Zhong. Feng Xun had said he hadn’t.
Yet clearly, Wu Zhong seemed to know Feng Xun.
Or is it that, as a Hidden Guard, one must remain unseen, unbeknownst to their master?
Watching Feng Xun eat, Ye Lingyue had an illusion, feeling that his way of eating resembled Wu Zhong’s.
"Feng Xun, have you really never met Wu Zhong?"
Feng Xun paused in his movements and remained silent.
"I must be muddled from sleep, I just felt you two looked somewhat alike just now. But then again, with your good temperament, how could you resemble him?" Ye Lingyue was very full. She had a habit of getting lazy when stuffed, and now she sat there, unwilling to move, sprawling lazily like a little cat, watching Feng Xun stand up to clean up.
Ye Lingyue had been reconciling the accounts all day, recalling what Housekeeper Mu had said, that Feng Xun had been involved in the affairs of Feng Residence since he was very young. His childhood probably had no joy to speak of.
Both lost in their thoughts, silence fell upon the room for a moment.
Perhaps realizing it had become too silent, Feng Xun suddenly spoke.
"Ling Yue, tell me about your childhood."
"When I was a child, I was a fool, I don’t remember what happened; what I know are only the things mother told me. Why don’t you talk about your childhood?" Ye Lingyue replied offhandedly, but after saying that, she felt slightly annoyed.
Feng Xun’s childhood was the time he spent with Xue Pianran and others; she didn’t want to hear about that woman.
She thought Feng Xun wouldn’t speak, yet he leisurely began to open up.
"The year I turned six, my parents passed away. It was Emperor Beiqing who saved me, and by that time, I was barely breathing, and since then I’ve been sickly. Since I was young, I frequented the Imperial Palace and Dan Palace. That’s also when I met Cong Lv and Xue Pianran," Feng Xun’s tone was indifferent, as if he was talking about someone else’s life.
"Feng Xun, if you don’t want to talk about it, then let’s not," Ye Lingyue regretted asking Feng Xun about his childhood.
Feng Xun’s parents, it was said, had died in battle, and the person responsible had not been found to this day.
"No, Ling Yue, I want you to know some things. Just like I want to know about you, every little thing about you, I want to know." There was an unusual significance in Feng Xun’s voice.
The death of his parents was always a deep pain hidden in Feng Xun’s heart.
He indeed didn’t like to talk about it in front of others, but he was willing to share it with Ye Lingyue, and even wanted to tell her the deepest secret in his heart.
"Do you still have memories of your parents, and how exactly did you get your Cold Syndrome?" Ye Lingyue had wanted to ask before, but never found the right opportunity.
"My parents were very good people. My father Feng Lancang was a tall and handsome man; he was Beiqing’s War God, always victorious on the battlefield, yet at home, he was a husband extremely devoted to his wife. My mother was the sister of Emperor Qing, Princess Qingfeng, a beautiful and gentle woman. With my father often battling in wars, all affairs of the Feng Residence were handled by my mother," Feng Xun recalled his childhood, his voice tinged with melancholy.
Since his parents’ deaths, he had not often revisited his childhood memories.
He thought it would be upsetting to recall, but unexpectedly, his tone now conveyed more reminiscence and longing.
Just by looking at Feng Xun, Ye Lingyue could imagine his parents as a couple of heavenly beauty, yet such a couple tragically died on the battlefield—an undeniably great pity.
It was probably more than ten years ago, shortly after Emperor Beiqing assumed the throne, there was a rebellion in the Beiqing border areas, and Feng Xun’s parents died during that chaos.
"At that time, my mother was six months pregnant, and father had promised to return home after a month. After he left Emperor City, as before, he sent back good news continuously. A month later, he returned victoriously. That day, when mother heard father was returning, she took me early to the Qixing Pavilion outside Emperor City to greet him. However, just as we reached the Qixing Pavilion, a group of rebels suddenly attacked. I was still young, and to protect me, my mother was seriously injured, blood flowing from her abdomen," Feng Xun’s voice lowered significantly as he spoke.
It was as if he had returned to that nightmarish night.
With the sound of his mother’s hurried breathing.
"Xinxin, hide yourself, no matter what sounds you hear, do not make a sound. The Phoenix Token is the Feng Residence’s most treasured possession; you must keep it safe." The beautiful woman with her swollen belly, her legs drenched in fresh blood.
After hiding the Phoenix Token on Feng Xun’s body, Princess Qingfeng kissed his forehead, instructing him to hide well before she ran in the opposite direction.
At that time, Feng Xun was already petrified, and could only watch as his mother hid him well.
Behind him, the sound of pursuers grew closer and closer, one man’s voice especially grating.
"Princess Qingfeng, you won’t escape tonight. To tell you the truth, Prince Feng was already killed by us on the way. If you are wise, it’s best to hand over the Feng Residence’s Phoenix Token."
The news of his father’s death shattered the last bit of hope in the young Feng Xun.
He heard his mother’s cries, heart-wrenching and soul-stirring, and Feng Xun really wanted to step out, but remembered his mother’s instructions.
"Lancang wouldn’t die, who exactly are you people, what enmity do you have with the Feng Residence!"
"Princess Qingfeng, we are just collecting money to prevent further disasters. Hand over the Phoenix Token, and I’ll leave you and the child in your belly a whole corpse, otherwise, we brothers wouldn’t mind tasting what the Princess Beiqing is like."
With that, the men burst into nauseating laughter.
Feng Xun could no longer endure, and he ran out from the bushes.