SBCEJM -Chapter 299 What Is Love? Feng Zexuan’s Insight — This Is True Heart Flutters!

Feng Zexuan’s heart skipped a beat.

【Could they have mistaken the person?】

In a corner of the main hall, Wang Dehai’s wrinkled face remained as calm as a still, dead pond.

The light screen shifted.

In the image, a young Wang An pointed toward a distant figure in red, his voice trembling:

“Who… is that girl?”

The classmate beside him averted his gaze and casually gave a name.

The owner of that name had already been betrothed.

【One wrong step, every step after falls into ruin.】

The system sighed with regret.

【Wang An went to propose marriage full of joy, only to be beaten out with clubs.】

【He thought it was because the merchant family was lowly and unworthy of a noble household.】

【That night, he stood outside their gate for an entire night, tightly clutching a golden hairpin he never got to give away—until his palm was pierced and bled.】

Inside the imperial hall, not a sound could be heard.

Many generals could not help but clench their fists.

This wasn’t just a missed chance at love—it was like having one’s heart dug out and trampled underfoot.

Just as everyone was lamenting this one-sided love—

The system suddenly raised its voice.

【But!】

【Host, you’ll never guess!】

【That foolish boy standing on the wall that day—Imperial Concubine Jing saw him!】

【And she watched him for an entire summer!】

Boom—!

Wang Dehai suddenly lifted his head.

His clouded old eyes instantly erupted with a terrifying light.

His body trembled violently, like a withered tree suddenly revived, or a dying candle flaring one last time.

She saw him?

She… knew?

【From the very first time he clumsily climbed the wall and fell flat on his face, she had already noticed him.】

The scene shifted.

A young woman sat by the window, holding a book, but her eyes kept drifting toward the wall.

Whenever she saw the boy peek over, she would secretly smile.

Then she would straighten her hair and sit a little more properly.

【She deliberately wore her brightest clothes, just so he could see her more clearly.】

【She even “accidentally” dropped a handkerchief by the wall, waiting for him to jump down and pick it up.】

【But the coward never moved—he stayed on the wall for half an hour, too afraid to act!】

Feng Zexuan felt goosebumps rise.

【Damn… this isn’t unrequited love—this is mutual pining!】

【Between the two of them, there are 800 schemes, all used just to secretly love each other?!】

Wang Dehai clutched his chest tightly.

His heart was beating too fast—too violently for his broken body to endure.

So it wasn’t one-sided.

So that spring rain years ago wasn’t only soaking him alone.

【Imperial Concubine Jing even embroidered a pouch with her birth date inside.】

【She was waiting.】

【Waiting for that foolish boy to come propose, so she could give him her entire life.】

Everyone’s hearts tightened.

A love that was mutual, yet destroyed by a misunderstanding—this was the cruelest blade to the heart.

The scene froze at an abandoned ruined temple.

Thunder and rain poured.

Drunken Wang An stumbled inside and, from behind, hugged the figure he had longed for day and night.

“Don’t move…”

“Just let me hold you… I really… really like you…”

He cried like a child who had lost his candy.

The girl in his arms stiffened—but did not struggle.

She let the rain and tears soak through both their clothes.

【That embrace lasted a lifetime.】

【One thought the other had married elsewhere, and his heart turned to ashes.】

【The other thought he was just a reckless flirt—but couldn’t bear to push him away.】

Feng Zexuan scratched the walls of his mind in frustration:

【You two stubborn donkeys! Would saying one sentence kill you?!】

【Is asking “do you like me?” that hard?!】

The ending was already decided.

Su Jing entered the palace for her family.

Wang An, for Su Jing, castrated himself.

A once proud and radiant young man became nothing more than a lowly “dog” in the imperial palace.

All just to be a little closer to her.

【Fifteen years ago, Imperial Concubine Jing was sent to the cold palace.】

【During an assassination attempt, Wang Dehai threw himself forward and took a blade for the emperor, nearly having his body torn open.】

【Everyone thought it was loyal righteousness.】

【But actually… tsk tsk.】

The system’s tone turned playful.

【He just treated the emperor like a boss monster in a quest dungeon to farm reputation!】

【Only by becoming the emperor’s trusted aide could he gain the authority to care for the woman in the cold palace!】

【This wasn’t saving the emperor—this was buying a “premium insurance policy” for his love life!】

Emperor Xiao Juechen froze.

He looked down at his dragon robe.

Then at the hunched old eunuch below.

A wave of absurdity crashed into his mind.

So my life—

was just part of your romance plot?

His mouth twitched.

He wanted to be angry.

But remembering Wang Dehai’s fifteen years of unwavering loyalty, he couldn’t quite do it.

Am I just the unlucky one here?

【With the merit of saving the emperor, Wang Dehai became the Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Department, quietly taking care of the woman in the cold palace ever since.】

【The cold palace was no longer cold.】

【It became a VIP retirement resort in the Forbidden City.】

【Ice in summer, charcoal in winter, fresh fruits on the table, books at the bedside, and palace-quality meals every day.】

【Even the cat she raised ate specially prepared dried fish.】

Feng Zexuan swallowed hard.

【I’m jealous… this is what it means to have connections in high places!】

【This isn’t a eunuch and a concubine—this is a domineering steward and his beloved noble lady!】

The system continued dropping bombs:

【The clever Imperial Concubine Jing long ago realized who was behind all this protection.】

【So she personally made clothes and shoes, sending them out as “repayment.”】

【Every stitch was measured to Wang Gonggong’s size.】

【She said nothing—but she did everything.】

Thud.

Wang Dehai’s whisk fell to the ground.

In his eternally calm eyes, decades of suppressed sorrow finally broke free.

So she knew.

That wasn’t repayment.

That was her silent answer.

Fifteen years of pain, loneliness, and endurance—

all turned sweet in that single realization.

It was worth it.

Even with a broken body, a severed future, and lifelong humiliation—

it was all worth it.

【I understand now.】

Feng Zexuan sighed.

【Love isn’t possession—it’s giving everything when the other needs it.】

【But love also needs courage. Without that push, none of this would have happened.】

【You’re right, Host!】 the system agreed. 【And also—he wanted physical closeness, hugs, touching… that’s love too!】

Everyone fell into thought.

“What is love in this world?”

It turns out—

it’s using the emperor as a tool.

Feng Zexuan sniffed.

【How beautiful.】

【Even broken, this kind of love is more complete than anyone else’s.】

Just as the court officials were about to wipe their tears—

the system suddenly changed tone, sharp and urgent.

【Ding! New gossip incoming!】

【Host, that runaway second prince—the one from the Summer Kingdom, Xiao Mingyu…】

【He’s coming back!】

【And this time, he’s bringing a whole convoy of “local specialties,” saying he wants to give his heartless father a little “shock.”】