095 Struggling to Drown

Looking at her face in the mirror, she lifted her fingers and touched it lightly. Along the uneven curve of her cheek ran a hideous scar, shocking at first glance.

With a faint smile, she let her hair fall to cover it and rose in quiet relief. This was fine too.

Outside, she felt the warmth of the sun upon her skin. She had been cooped up in that room for far too long.

“Consort Yan.”

A familiar voice suddenly sounded at her side. Yun Xueyan turned quickly and saw Ziyu running toward her, her expression anxious.

“Ziyu, why are you here?” Surprise and joy lit her face. At last, she had seen someone she could trust. So many words had been trapped in her heart, with no one to tell them to, and she could never speak them to Feng Xilou.

When Ziyu reached her, she had no time to kneel. After taking a few hurried breaths, she blurted out anxiously, “Consort Yan, the Prince has brought your mother into the manor.”

“My mother?” Yun Xueyan did not understand at first.

“Your mother,” Ziyu said quickly.

The color drained from Yun Xueyan’s face. She staggered backward, her expression turning deathly pale, her gaze blank with shock.

She prayed that what she had heard was not true. Had he not already done enough? Could he not let her go?

She was exhausted, too weary even to find the strength to return to his side. Why was he still doing this? Using her mother to threaten her, to force her.

Her hands clenched so tightly that her nails bit into her flesh, leaving streaks of blood. Must he keep hurting her like this?

She was already wounded beyond recognition. Did he truly need to drive her to death before he would be satisfied?

She could never forget the moment he killed her child with his own hands, that frost-hard look in his eyes, with not a trace of mercy. And still he had believed without question that it was her fault.

He... had never even trusted her.

So what was he doing now? Forcing her back only to torment her again?

Everything before her blurred. Yun Xueyan could no longer see, could no longer tell one thing from another. All light was swallowed by darkness, leaving not a single ray to reach her.

She remained alone in that darkness, where no one could hurt her, no one could disturb her. No one would despise her ugliness. No one would distrust her. No one would trample her body and soul again and again.

“Yaner... come back. I am here.”

A gentle voice sounded in her ear, the urgency in it nearly spilling over like boiling water.

But she could not open her eyes. It felt as though she were sinking into water, struggling with all her strength, yet no one came to pull her up. She was nearly drowning.

Her throat burned with dryness and pain. She wanted to call Feng Xilou’s name, but no sound would come. Panic stirred in her, yet she was strangely reluctant to leave the darkness. It hurt too much.

“Xilou, don’t worry. I’ll think of something. She’s fine.”

The voice carried grief and anger; she recognized it as Xiao Siyi’s, the man who had saved her life. She had not yet thanked him.

There was also the soft, broken sound of crying. She did not need to guess. It had to be Ziyu.

“Yaner... wake up.”

That muffled sobbing reached her ears, and she startled. Feng Xilou... she could not make him worry any longer.

She was about to tear his heart to pieces. She owed him far too much...

With a desperate struggle, she reached out and clutched the sleeve of his robe, then suddenly opened her eyes and dragged herself out of the darkness.

When she saw the worried eyes before her, she almost burst into tears, but still held them back. Biting her lip, she forced out a smile and looked at Feng Xilou with icy eyes. “Xilou, I’m fine. I was only asleep just now.”

To call it sleep? Feng Xilou gave a bleak, bitter smile. How much more had she endured? Why did she always choose to bear everything in silence instead of letting it out?