Chapter 125 The Sickly and Tyrannical Crown Prince 23

No one knew what method the Imperial Preceptor used. The palace servants waiting outside the Hall of Mental Cultivation knelt on the ground. An hour later, when the Imperial Preceptor pushed open the hall door, he simply said that His Majesty had woken up.

Relying on his brute strength, Lu Yuanju pushed through the crowd and was the first to rush into the bedchamber. With a muffled thud, his knees slammed to the ground, and he knelt beside the bed, tightly hugging the emperor's waist.

“Your Majesty…you have frightened me,” Lu Yuanju murmured. “Your Majesty, do not even think of abandoning me!”

Seeing his foolish look, Xie Rong pushed him away and slapped him across the face in a fit of anger. "I'm not dead yet, are you trying to curse me to die with that mournful face?"

Lu Yuanju knelt down again, staring straight at him with the handprint still on his face.

The way His Majesty slapped someone with such force shows that his health has indeed improved considerably.

Xie Rong stopped looking at him, his gaze sweeping over Xie Rong's shoulder before turning to the Grand Preceptor who was walking in unhurriedly.

"Grand Preceptor, you have saved me once again," Xie Rong said, her back supported by a pillow, her black hair falling down to her pale cheeks, her heterochromatic eyes slowly moving, like a female ghost hidden on a couch, unable to see the light of day. As she spoke to the Grand Preceptor, she raised her hand to stroke Lu Yuanju's head. "How can I repay you?"

Before the Grand Preceptor could speak, the slave he was playing with had already spoken up, "Your Majesty, this servant has something to say."

Lu Yuanju told Xie Rong everything that had just happened at Qingxu Palace.

He felt he had been bullied. Although he could bite back on his own, His Majesty said he was a good dog, so the good dog wanted to complain to his master and ask his master to take charge.

Only one dog is allowed in the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

"Oh?" Xie Rong lifted his eyelids. "Is what he said true?"

The Imperial Advisor didn't react much, and simply replied, "Yes."

"Come here and kneel down," Xie Rong said softly.

The Imperial Advisor walked over, lifted his robe, and knelt beside Lu Yuanju.

Xie Rong raised his hand and slapped his face away.

A neatly trimmed manicure left a cut on the man's face.

Xie Rong lowered his eyes and glanced at the blood on his fingernails. "Lick it clean."

The Imperial Advisor lowered his head and took his fingertip into his mouth.

"..." Lu Yuanju knelt to the side and watched, a strange emotion rising in his heart.

He was the outsider. His Majesty had clearly never spoken more than a few words to this annoying Grand Tutor, yet whenever the two were together, there was an unspoken understanding that no one could interfere with.

It's like the Imperial Advisor was originally a stray dog ​​that His Majesty kept. Later, it ran away, and His Majesty saw that it looked somewhat like the Imperial Advisor and felt sorry for it, so he reluctantly took it in.

Lu Yuanju regretted his impulsive actions.

He knelt beside the dragon bed, his throat emitting a rough, panting sound like the west wind. His dark eyes were fixed on Xie Rong's fingertip being held in his mouth, as if he wanted to stare a hole through it, yet his Adam's apple couldn't help but bob.

"You're still alive," Xie Rong whispered into the Grand Preceptor's ear, his voice barely audible to the other, "Do you want to taste the bitterness of mutual destruction again, or do you come seeking revenge? Hmm?"

The Imperial Advisor's lips twitched slightly as he met the Imperial Advisor's gaze through the white cloth.

Xie Rong was filled with hatred, and all the old grudges surged into his heart.

Why? Why didn't this man die either?!

Xie Rong's eyes were bloodshot, coated with deadly poison, and he tightened his grip on the Grand Preceptor's neck little by little.

[Host... What if he dies and you don't wake up next time?] The system whispered a reminder.

Xie Rong shook off the Imperial Preceptor, propped himself up on the edge of the bed and coughed, his knuckles gripping the bedding, his face pale to the point of being almost transparent, and he was still trembling.

"Kneel outside the palace. You may only rise when I tell you to," Xie Rong said, leaning against a soft pillow with his eyes closed, his eyes still red-rimmed, each word he uttered icy cold.

Without uttering a word, the Imperial Preceptor turned and walked out of the main hall, kneeling before the Hall of Mental Cultivation under the varied gazes of the palace servants.

He could hear everything that was happening inside.

When the palace maid brought the medicine in, the emperor inside smashed the porcelain bowl to vent his anger.

The Empress Dowager, General Xue, the old General Xue, senior officials of the court, and the commander of the Imperial Guards passed by him one after another, entering the palace to visit the emperor.

The young emperor was still like a child. He was coaxed and his mood improved. He stopped smashing the bowl and scolding people.

When night fell, all the palace servants withdrew and the palace gates were closed, but the northern slave did not come out.

The Imperial Advisor remained kneeling, his back straight and upright, his thin lips taut with suppressed resentment.

The young emperor, who was full of curses during the day, became alluring at night, even the sounds coming from the palace gates took on a romantic quality.

By day he was the most honorable emperor, but by night he could open his tenderness to the lowest slave.

"[That's pretty wild.]" The main system's cold voice suddenly echoed in my mind. "[You can be this happy even with people outside listening?]"

Caught off guard, Xie Rong went limp, soiling Lu Yuanju's face.

"You filthy dog! You filthy dog!" he cursed, panting, his snow-white legs still trembling as he pressed his soles against Lu Yuanju's shoulders.

Lu Yuanju took it as His Majesty's flirtatious outburst and became even more excited.

“I am a lowly dog, I am Your Majesty’s lowly dog,” he buried himself in His Majesty’s body, wishing he could unleash all his savagery.

But His Majesty was a frail bodhisattva statue, easily broken with the slightest force. Lu Yuanju could only restrain himself and serve him, waiting until His Majesty had satisfied before going to the side hall to take a cold shower and hastily satisfy his desires.

In the dead of night, the doors of the Hall of Mental Cultivation opened.

Lu Yuanju deliberately showed off the scratches on her neck, paused for a moment next to the Imperial Preceptor with the air of an empress, and then walked triumphantly to the side hall.

So what if he's the Imperial Advisor? So what if he knows magic? The only obedient dog by His Majesty's side will be him.

He wanted to stay with his emperor forever.

...

Xie Rong sat on the dragon throne for ten years, enjoying himself to the fullest, and then he no longer lingered.

The Hall of Mental Cultivation was filled with kneeling court officials.

Empress Dowager Xue sat by the couch wiping away tears, while Lu Yuanju knelt beside her.

Xie Rong's black hair was as lustrous and smooth as ever, and he turned his head to sweep over the kneeling ministers.

"After my death, the Empress Dowager will select the heir apparent from among the imperial clan. The Empress Dowager can appoint or depose the heir apparent and will manage the affairs of the court. No one is allowed to disobey my mother," Xie Rong said weakly, but every word was clearly heard by the officials.

Empress Dowager Xue wept uncontrollably, "I don't want any regency power. I only want my son to be healthy and live a long life."

"I know that Mother Empress has always been unwilling to accept that she is a woman," Xie Rong looked at him with moist eyes, as soft as when he was a child, filled with affection for his mother. "I love Mother Empress as much as Mother Empress loves me."

After Xie Rong finished speaking, he couldn't help but cough twice.

On his deathbed, he raised his hand and pointed in a certain direction.

Lu Yuanju stepped forward and grabbed his hand, "This servant is willing to be buried with Your Majesty."

Xie Rong withdrew his hand but still pointed in that direction.

Everyone turned their heads in the direction of his finger and saw the Grand Preceptor kneeling silently to one side.

"I... want him to be buried alive with me," Xie Rong said, a look of triumphant satisfaction at having avenged his great grudge rising in his eyes.

So what if he's the Imperial Advisor? So what if he's lucky enough to survive?

Didn't he still die at his hands?

Xie Rong had no more regrets. He closed his eyes and let his hand fall to the edge of the bed.

"Your Majesty?!" Lu Yuanju's eyes widened in fury, his voice hysterical. "What about this servant? Don't you want him anymore?! Why is it him and not this servant? Why?!"

He abandoned everything, abandoned the northern frontier, and stayed here alone, serving as the emperor's slave for decades.

Why not let him be buried alive with the dead? Why not take him?

[Congratulations, host! The protagonist's pain level has increased dramatically, exceeding the system's detection range. Mission complete. Proceeding to the next world.]