168 Jealousy and Rage

The carriage curtain was suddenly jerked open, and the biting wind, mixed with snowflakes, poured inside, stinging Yun Xueyan’s face. She instinctively closed her eyes to shut out the assault of the cold wind, only to hear a frigid voice cut through the air.

"What are you all here for? If you want to be all cozy together, you shouldn't have followed us to the battlefield!"

Just a moment ago, when he turned around, he had only seen someone else leading Feng Xilou’s horse while Feng Xilou himself had already slipped into the carriage. Did they treat him as if he didn't exist at all?

His heart twisted and ached with a suffocating pain. Disregarding the probing and assessing gazes of the others, he hastily rushed toward the carriage. Seeing the two of them squeezed together inside, jealousy drove him to the brink of madness!

"Prime Minister Feng, this is hardly a place for you," he demanded in an icy voice, though his eyes remained fixed entirely on the hand Feng Xilou had wrapped around her waist. His whole body felt as though it were pierced by countless needles, riddled with a thousand wounds!

Yun Xueyan startled and quickly pulled herself free from Feng Xilou’s embrace, turning her head away to avoid Duan Nanyu’s gaze, which burned with fury. A moment later, a faint smile surfaced on her stiff and apprehensive face. With her clear eyes and fluttering eyelashes, she asked herself: why should she still fear him? Why dread his gaze?

She... was no longer the Yun Xueyan of the past.

She always tended to forget.

The smile spread from her eyes to the corners of her mouth, easily outlining the arc even through her veil. She let out a silent breath of relief. Since she no longer cared about him, why always trap herself in the shadows of the past?

"Prince Xiao, Prime Minister Feng only came inside to shelter from the wind and snow."

Her detached smile successfully infuriated him, stealing away the greater part of his reason. "I am out here enduring the wind and snow too. Just because he is a prime minister, he gets to crawl into a carriage? Perhaps I should personally find a separate carriage for Prime Minister Feng! If you two want to dally, go back to the capital. The battlefield is no place for romance!" His voice was mocking and venomous.

He knew that simply having her back and seeing her alive was already a miracle, but... he simply could not remain calm and speak in a gentle tone when he saw her held in another man's arms. How could he not be enraged?

He hated it. He hated how she sat there so innocently, exchanging every word with him in such a calm and detached manner, completely devoid of ripples. The pain in his heart crushed him to powder.

His suffering—who could understand it? Who could share it with him?

Watching his furious expression, she raised an eyebrow, wanting to smile but unable to. He always used his words to mock her, holding her in such contempt that she wished the ground would swallow her up. Once again, she had implicated Feng Xilou.

In Duan Nanyu’s eyes, it seemed as though she and Feng Xilou were truly utterly disgraceful. In the past, she might have accepted it in silence without refuting him, but now, she and he were complete strangers.

"Prince Xiao, I believe you are mistaken. There is no rule saying that romance is forbidden during a military campaign. Yan'er and I are currently unmarried, so why ever not?" Feng Xilou smiled faintly. Unhurriedly, he straightened up, brushed past Duan Nanyu, and stepped out of the carriage. "Yan'er, get some rest. We still have some time before we reach the frontier."

Seeing Yun Xueyan nod, he gracefully turned, leaped onto his horse, and added, "Prince Xiao, the army cannot afford to be without a leader."

Glaring angrily at Yun Xueyan one last time, Duan Nanyu dropped the carriage curtain, suppressed the rage surging in his heart, and returned to the front of the troops. Once they reached the encampment, he would settle today's accounts with her. For now, he did not want her to be misunderstood by any more people!

The carriage resumed its slow advance. Yun Xueyan took a deep breath, leaned back against the cushions, and closed her eyes once again. Their love was so intense it was making it hard for her to breathe.