Flirting and teasing each other right in front of Xiao Mingyue, the two acted as if no one else existed.
Unable to endure such humiliation, Xiao Mingyue turned to leave.
Only then did Feng Buji notice her, quickly reaching out to grab her wrist.
“Where are you going?” His brows furrowed deeply, his dark eyes brimming with emotions she could no longer decipher.
Xiao Mingyue brushed his hand away and said, “Since I am not the mistress of this house, I should naturally go home.”
“You know that’s not what I meant.”
Xiao Mingyue had no desire to argue further with him. Just as she was about to leave with Xiaochun, the woman blocked her path.
Her name was Hua Heng—a name Feng Buji had mentioned long ago in his letters.
Xiao Mingyue knit her delicate brows slightly, looking at this woman who bore an affectionate smile, acting as if she were the true lady of the Regent’s Residence as she tried to make her stay.
“Don’t leave, Little Sister. It is all Big Sister’s fault. How about Big Sister helps you change into a fresh set of clothes?”
“No need. I have my own clothes.”
“But if you go back like this, people will inevitably gossip and say that our Regent’s Residence mistreated you.”
Xiao Mingyue looked at her quietly. “Miss Hua Heng, you need not worry. I have a mouth, and I will explain that you accidentally spilled it on me.”
Hua Heng’s expression stiffened. When she turned her head to look at Feng Buji, her eyes instantly filled with tears that threatened to spill at any moment, painting a picture of helpless innocence.
“I’m sorry… I really didn’t do it on purpose…”
Though her words were addressed to Xiao Mingyue, her eyes were fixed on Feng Buji. Anyone unaware of the truth would have thought Xiao Mingyue was the one who had poured hot tea on her.
Watching her performance, a wave of nausea washed over Xiao Mingyue’s heart.
Since it was summer, her clothing was quite thin. When the tea had poured over her chest and thighs, it left behind a sharp, burning pain like fire.
Yet compared to the physical pain, what broke Xiao Mingyue’s heart even more was that Feng Buji actually chose to stand on Hua Heng’s side, scolding her for making things difficult for the woman.
Xiao Mingyue stared at him in utter disbelief—staring at this man who was supposed to marry her.
Was he blind? Could he not see that the skin exposed on her chest was burned red and swollen?
Feng Buji had seen it. Yet the moment the beauty beside him wept, he threw all reason to the wind, stubbornly insisting that Xiao Mingyue go behind the screen with Hua Heng to change her clothes.
Left with no choice, Xiao Mingyue followed her behind the screen. After all, Feng Buji was a man of absolute authority; if he refused to let her leave, she wouldn’t be able to step a single foot out of the residence gates.
Once behind the screen, the smile on Hua Heng’s face took on a sinister twist.
She reached out, intending to help her undress, only for Xiao Mingyue to coldly dodge her touch.
“I can do it myself. I won’t trouble you, Miss.”
The smile on Hua Heng’s face widened. She ordered someone to bring over an exquisite wooden chest, claiming it contained clothes Feng Buji had bought for her.
“His Highness worked so hard during the war and had no time to take me to tailor new clothes. Later, after I begged him for a long time, he finally relented and took me to a nearby shop to buy some.”
“At that time, both His Highness and I took a fancy to this outfit simultaneously. Before I could even speak, His Highness brought up his betrothed far away in the capital. He said, ‘If Mingyue wore this, she would surely be the most beautiful woman in the entire capital. I am truly worried she might be stolen away by someone else.’ Hearing that made me so envious. If only I were his betrothed instead.”
“Miss Xiao, I truly envy you—I envy your noble background, and even more, I envy that you were childhood sweethearts who were betrothed so early, destined to be his grandly married Princess Regent.”
Hearing this, the corners of Xiao Mingyue’s lips curved upward into a subtle, mocking smirk. “You could always be his concubine.”
“A concubine? Why should I be a concubine?” Hua Heng raised an eyebrow, her tone laced with disdain.
“What, do you look down on the position of a concubine to the grand Prince Regent?”
“Of course I look down on it,” Hua Heng dropped her act completely, her eyes now burning with relentless ambition. “I, Hua Heng, may not have a background like yours, but I have plenty of energy and scheming methods. His Highness has already promised to make me his Equal Wife. He hasn’t told you any of this, has he?”
Xiao Mingyue’s face froze completely. Anger and heartbreak almost overflowed from within her. Unable to believe that Feng Buji could treat her like this, her lips trembled as she spoke:
“On what grounds?”
On what grounds…
More than a decade as childhood sweethearts, three whole years of patient waiting—all of it eclipsed by a woman he hadn’t even known for a year.
Xiao Mingyue felt completely betrayed. She couldn’t believe that Feng Buji would make such a promise to another woman, making her own existence feel like nothing more than a giant joke.
“On what grounds?” Hua Heng sneered, caressing her still-flat abdomen. “On the grounds that I am already carrying his flesh and blood.”
It felt as though five bolts of lightning had struck Xiao Mingyue simultaneously. She nearly failed to keep her footing, all color draining instantly from her face.
So, during those months when all contact had ceased, you actually had a child with another woman. Feng Buji, do you have no shame toward me?
Seeing Xiao Mingyue looking utterly shattered and lost, Hua Heng laughed with immense satisfaction. She taunted arrogantly:
“You probably don’t know, but I’ve read every single letter you two exchanged before. Do you know why he stopped writing to you later on?” Hua Heng suddenly stepped closer, leaning into her ear and whispering softly, “Because every time he wanted to write to you, I would cling to him and demand his body—demanding it until dawn, until he was too exhausted and busy to write to you.”
“That’s how these past few months have been spent. Miss Xiao wouldn’t be angry, would you? To think I managed to claim his body long before you did.”
Xiao Mingyue was left completely speechless. Before this moment, she could still deceive herself into thinking that Feng Buji was merely being kind to this woman to repay a debt of gratitude, and that he had promised to send her away once the war ended.
Yet now, they even had a child together? Then what was she? What on earth was she to him…