Chapter 1196: The Engagement

She had never expected that… he would give her away to another man. He wanted Xuan Mu to torture and ridicule her.

Maybe he was afraid of dirtying his own hands.

“Are you surprised? I think you and my brother suit each other. The two of you are a match made in heaven. Didn’t he want to make you his concubine? I’m just helping the two of you out.”

Xuan Ying raised his eyes to look at the door as a beautiful figure walked in. It was s.h.i.+ Xiaoxiao.

“Ying,” s.h.i.+ Xiaoxiao said as she walked over to Xuan Ying.

Xuan Ying reached out to hold her slim waist and looked down at Feng Lingxue who was kneeling beside his legs. “We’re going to be engaged soon, and you, s.h.i.+ Xiaoxiao, will be the Silver Mask King’s consort.”

He was getting engaged?

He was getting married?

Oh. How great.

Feng Lingxue clutched the cashmere carpet at her feet, digging her fingernails into her own hand. The two of them had reached a dead end today.

…

South Palace.

Xuan Mu was brought into the room and the doctor ran in and out of his room busily.

The South Palace was in an uproar.

Seeing her son in such a state, the South d.u.c.h.ess was inconsolable. “What happened to my son? Please save him. He hasn’t even married yet, so he can’t be infertile.”

The doctors were all in cold sweat. “South d.u.c.h.ess, the South Duke was kicked by someone… down there. It has burst apart. I’m sorry to inform you that… I’m afraid the South Duke will no longer be able to… carry out bedroom affairs, maybe not even… have a child…”

What? So what the doctor meant was… Xuan Mu was now a eunuch?

How did this happen?

How did things turn out like this?

The South d.u.c.h.ess turned to look at Feng Lingxue. She ran over and slapped her. The slap rang out loud and clear. Feng Lingxue had been hit across her whole face.

“You little b*tch, it’s all because of you that I can’t treat Xuan Mu. Do you want me to beat you to death?”

The South d.u.c.h.ess expression was sinister. She took a cane from a maid and started beating Feng Lingxue with it.

The thin poplar cane struck Feng Lingxue’s skin with a piercing sound. Her clothes were torn apart as red welts started appearing on her skin. She was being hit so hard her skin was splitting.

The South d.u.c.h.ess already had a habit of caning the pretty concubines and maids. Now she was taking all her anger towards Xuan Ying out on her. She would love nothing more than to cane her to death!

One of the maids at the side raised her head to take a peek. It was already late winter now, but Feng Lingxue had been dressed only in a thin dress when she was brought over. She stood in the cold weather being caned by the South d.u.c.h.ess. In this cruel world, she was originally alone and had no means of defense. She was weak and helpless, and now she didn’t hide, she only stood there taking all of the South d.u.c.h.ess’s blows.

Tonight was a battle of rights, and she was just a sacrifice. She had shouldered all her punishment.

Mu Mu and her were just like grains of sand in the great sea. Their lives were tiny and irrelevant.

“That’s enough!” At this moment, the South Duke shouted out loud.

The South d.u.c.h.ess finally stopped. She had caned Feng Lingxue over 10 times and her hand was aching. “Little b*tch, don’t hate me. If you want to hate someone, hate Xuan Ying. He must really hate you to have delivered you to my doorstep for a beating!”

Xuan Ying…

Feng Lingxue processed this name numbly. She placed her hands shakily on her heart. She dug in hard with her fingers, as though she wanted to dig her own heart out.

Then it wouldn’t hurt so much anymore.

She would be free.

Her entire body was burning in pain. Her legs gave way and she collapsed onto the cold ground like a broken doll.

The South Duke’s face was ashen. He stared at Feng Lingxue in hatred. He should have gotten rid of her three years ago.

Now Xuan Ying had made away with Xuan Mu’s tally stick and trapped him in the South Palace. All his efforts had come to naught.

…

Feng Lingxue was thrown into a woodshed. Mo Mo said loudly from the outside, “The South d.u.c.h.ess has ordered that no one is to bring food to her. She will start working tomorrow and she’s not allowed to rest. You’re not to give her even a drop of water!”

“Yes.”

The door of the woodshed was shut and locked.

Inside the woodshed, Feng Lingxue curled up in a corner. It was dark and cold, and everything hurt so much she was about to lose consciousness. Her cold, shaking hands reached into her dress and she took out a voice recorder.

As she clenched the recorder tight in her blood-soaked hands, she mused to herself,

he didn’t need this anymore.

She had thought that she could be of some help to him, but that turned out to be a joke.

This was the only thing she had.

In the darkness, Feng Lingxue smiled madly. Her lips spread wide as she laughed and laughed and tears rolled down her face.

It was so hard… to live.

She hugged herself and she sunk her teeth into her tongue, biting down hard.

As her tongue split, she could taste blood.

She couldn’t even feel any pain.

Only freedom…

But she suddenly released her tongue, as though someone had poured ice-cold water on her and drenched her from top to toe. Her thoughts cleared and she thought, what am I doing?

What was Mu Mu going to do if she died?

Mu Mu.

Her Mu Mu.

She couldn’t die before she found Mu Mu.

The North Duke had been sent to the hospital after he had pa.s.sed out. She had to find a way to get out and find him there.

That’s right, she couldn’t die. She could not afford to lose her life.

Feng Lingxue pressed her head against the ice-cold wall. She suddenly understood that living wasn’t difficult. What was difficult was not being able to die when you wanted to.

Her life seemed hopeless.

A woman as useless as her shouldn’t have been allowed to live in this world. It would be better if she died.

But she couldn’t.

…

A week later.

Feng Lingxue was wearing a set of tattered and torn clothes. She had a big pail in one hand and her head was down as she did her ch.o.r.es.

She couldn’t stop. The South d.u.c.h.ess had sent Mo Mo to supervise her. As soon as she slowed down, she would be beaten.

At this moment, there were a few maids chatting in front of her.

—-Have you heard? There’s going to be a huge engagement party at the Snow Mountain Residence in three days. The Silver Mask King and s.h.i.+ Xiaoxiao are going to be officially engaged.

—-My G.o.d, I’m so envious of Miss s.h.i.+. Do you know that the Silver Mask King has all the cards in his hands now? So much has changed since the past. Now his Snow Mountain Residence is so much more elegant and lively than the South Palace. He’s going to be unstoppable once he marries s.h.i.+ Xiaoxiao. This engagement party is going to take all the limelight away from the wedding between the West Duke and the East Duke’s daughter a few days later.

—-The Silver Mask King is amazing.

—-Stop daydreaming. I don’t even know how many dignitaries want to send their daughters to the Snow Mountain Residence to be a concubine but don’t even have a chance to…

Listening to their discussion, Feng Lingxue slowly lowered her lashes. Without slowing her footsteps, she poured the water into the tank. The cold water splattered onto her tattered clothes.

The cold was piercing through her bones.

Winter had come.

…

The news of Xuan Ying and s.h.i.+ Xiaoxiao’s engagement spread around Country A like wildfire. The West Duke received an invitation as well.