CHAPTER 246: CHAPTER 246 DELICATE

Xie Zhang chuckled but received a sharp glare from Feng Shu. Xie Xun and Fengyu suddenly understood—big brother and big sister had a quarrel. Unfortunately, they arrived at the wrong time and became the targets of misplaced frustration.

"It’s my fault." Xie Zhang quickly admitted his mistake and served her soup. "Don’t be upset, just eat properly."

Xie Xun felt his scalp tingle with regret for accompanying Fengyu to the stables for dinner. Complaining inwardly, he mimicked his elder brother and also served a bowl of soup to Fengyu, only to be kicked under the table by her.

Copycat—learning everything won’t do you any good.

The atmosphere among the four siblings was nuanced. Xie Zhang seemed relaxed, clinking glasses with Xie Xun. With a small sip to enjoy the occasion, he casually asked, "When are you returning to the city?"

"Tomorrow!" Xie Xun, fond of drinking, emptied his glass in one go and promptly refilled it. "The affairs in Yiling Village are wrapped up. I’ll escort Ayu back to the city. How about you, brother?"

"Tomorrow!"

"We’re staying a few more days."

Almost simultaneously, Feng Shu and Xie Zhang spoke—one planning to leave tomorrow, the other intending to stay longer. Xie Xun and Fengyu stared at their elder siblings’ faces with dark, curious eyes.

They really did have a quarrel!

With a gentle gaze directed at Feng Shu, Xie Zhang declared firmly, "We’ll stay a few more days."

Feng Shu: "..."

She was about to die inside!!!

Xie Zhang’s mention of "a few days" left Feng Shu without further objections. Fengyu watched the situation in bewilderment, sensing a vague conflict that didn’t quite seem like an argument. Her curiosity was piqued.

Big sister always obeyed Xie Zhang, so why was she upset?

She scolded me, and now she’s scolding Xie Zhang too. Equal treatment—how fair! Fengyu felt delighted.

Fengyu always harbored a faint rejection toward Xie Zhang. Ever since he stepped into Ningzhou’s Feng Mansion and became engaged to Feng Shu, Fengyu hadn’t liked him. Xie Zhang, renowned for his virtue and elegance, was praiseworthy in every respect, yet he couldn’t win Fengyu’s favor. To her, it felt like her sister had been "taken away," no longer belonging solely to her.

Later, when Fengyu was abducted and abandoned, helpless and desperate, her grief turned inward with such thoughts: My sister has Xie Zhang now; does she no longer need me?

She could be lost, even die—it wouldn’t matter.

After all, she wasn’t the most important person to her big sister anymore.

Through countless trials, when she finally returned to Ningzhou, she carried deep insecurities and was plagued nightly by nightmares. She clung to her sister, unwilling to let go. In those years, Feng Shu stayed by her side, speaking softly, treating her as the most fragile porcelain to protect. She was like the blossoming Qiangwei flower cradled in Feng Shu’s palm—the most vivid and brilliant bloom.

One particular day, heavy snow covered Ningzhou. Indoors, the hearth burned warmly. Wrapped in her fox fur, Fengyu waited for her sister to coax her to sleep. She waited until the middle of the night, but Feng Shu never came. In her anxiety to search for her, she was informed by the matriarch that Xie Zhang had been gravely injured, teetering between life and death, and that his personal guard had come to fetch Feng Shu for what might be their final farewell. Standing alone in the snow, Fengyu felt her heart enveloped by a blizzard of her own.

At that time, she lost her ability to feel. She didn’t even consider how heartbroken her sister would be if Xie Zhang died, nor did she think about how Xie Zhang, defending the borders, was a towering hero. She only felt abandoned again.

For Xie Zhang, her sister had forsaken her. She hated this man and spent years learning to accept him, growing to understand that her sister would eventually marry Xie Zhang and leave her.

Back then, her world was too small—it revolved solely around Feng Shu.

Her love, her hatred, her sense of separation—all tied to a single person. When she finally returned home as a child, her heart was filled only with resentment. It took unimaginable pain and effort to break through her frozen walls, to hatch and grow, allowing love to finally take root and flourish.

As time went on, Feng Shu began to spend years away from the capital, frequently traveling with Xie Zhang, sharing days and nights together. Even journeying to far-off Ningzhou for him, Fengyu gradually learned the importance of tolerance and understanding.

Her sister was finally going to marry, and Fengyu no longer felt the same sting of abandonment she once did. All she wished for now was for her sister and Xie Zhang to grow old together in harmony and love.

After dinner, Feng Shu took Fengyu to the study room to discuss business. Xie Zhang and Xie Xun remained to drink, allowing the table to linger without dispersing. Once the sisters left, Xie Xun asked, "Brother, did you and sister-in-law have a quarrel?"

"Not at all!"

"Then you must have made her angry and are trying to appease her."

Xie Zhang smiled faintly. Xie Xun, however, didn’t pry into his elder brother and sister-in-law’s affairs. Instead, he sighed, feeling dejected—it would be two or three more years before he could marry Fengyu. Secretly, he wanted to wed at the same time as Xie Zhang.

Xie Zhang chuckled. "You truly dare to dream."

"Dreaming is necessary! What if it comes true?"