Chapter 23: Cruel Words and Humiliation

After several days, Yun Xueyan’s health had improved considerably, though she still could not leave her bed. Leaning against the bedside, she peered out the window at the unchanged scenery; the world remained the same, yet its people had changed beyond recognition.

It had been half a month since she married into the Xiao Prince’s manor, hadn’t it? After all this time, she wondered how her mother was faring—had she suffered further humiliation? Yet, seeing her own situation, Yun Xueyan knew she had brought no honor to the Grand Tutor’s household; her mother could hardly be doing any better. It was all her fault.

“My lady, why are you up? You should rest more,” Ziyu entered carrying medicine, closed the window—cutting off Yun Xueyan’s only connection to the outside world—and said, “The wind is chilly, madam, you must take care.”

With a sigh, Yun Xueyan had no choice but to lie back down upon the bed. These days she was grateful for Ziyu’s company; without her, how unbearably lonely she would have felt.

After she drank the medicine, Ziyu withdrew, and Duan Nanyu entered. Ziyu curtsied and slipped away, not daring to go far for fear another quarrel might erupt within the room.

Duan Nanyu strode over to Yun Xueyan’s side in a few steps, looking down at her as she struggled up to greet him.

He did nothing to stop her, simply allowed Yun Xueyan to rise, then kneel in weak salute. A cold sneer touched his lips—she always insisted on these strict distinctions of rank and station.

She looked every bit the servant. The sight only deepened his disgust.

“Blessings to Your Highness,” she murmured, her voice faint and breathless, her thin frame huddled on the floor as if a breeze could sweep her away.

He narrowed his eyes and scrutinized the figure at his feet. Her once rounded chin was now sharp and gaunt, making the half of her face that showed all the more pitiable.

Yet, the thought of the scar marring the other half filled him with revulsion. That mark sickened him.

“Get up,” he ordered, turning to sit at the table, his fingers tapping a slow, steady rhythm—each tap seemed to echo in Yun Xueyan’s heart, warning her that Duan Nanyu had something to say.

Sure enough, after a moment, his voice broke the silence. “Your second brother, Yun Qixiao, seems quite concerned about you. He doesn’t care much for Yin’er, his own sister, yet he asked this prince to let him see you.”

The mockery and disdain in his words were not lost on Yun Xueyan, but she lacked the strength to retort.

Yun Qixiao had returned? Her second brother had come back?

And she truly longed to see him—longed so much her heart ached for it. He was the man who had always shielded her, her only kin in this world apart from her mother.

He had finally returned safely.

She had once feared deeply that the blood-soaked battlefield would claim him forever—that he would abandon her.

Now that he was back, her joy was indescribable; all she wanted was to see him, to see him as soon as possible.

“Wretch! Seducing even your own brother!” Duan Nanyu seized her sharp chin, nearly lifting her frail body from the ground, his eyes brimming with contempt and icy fury, as if he meant to tear her apart.

Seducing her own brother? How utterly absurd. However bad a woman she might be, she would never commit such a monstrous act. But in this man’s eyes, she was nothing but filth.

Why didn’t he hurry and cast her aside, then?

“Your silence means you admit it?” He curled his lips, venom dripping from every word. “Who knows what you did with that man before you married into the Xiao Prince’s manor? For a face like yours, and he could still stomach you—seems I’ve underestimated him.”

Yun Xueyan’s body shuddered violently, trembling uncontrollably—not from fear, but from rage. Her terrified eyes now burned with flames as she stared at Duan Nanyu. “Your Highness, please do not insult my second brother! No matter how you humiliate me, do not hurt those dear to me!”

“Oh?” He released her chin and stood. “Protecting him so fiercely? Looks like... there really is something unspeakable between you.”