Chapter 99 [VIP]
The candlelight flickered before the animal statues, and the falling tears solidified into a thick mass. A large shadow enveloped the boy, who was curled up in a ball, and his resilient yet frail body emitted an invisible sound.
It felt as if my heart had shattered along with the pearl and jade.
The sounds and sights caused the candlelight to flicker, the weak sunlight unable to penetrate the body, instead casting even deeper shadows on the ground.
When Yege entered, he saw this scene, and Wei Ning followed him into the hall.
"—Your Highness."
Wei Ning looked at the little figure wrapped in thick gauze, where blood was faintly visible through the torn areas. The boy's face was pale and he had lost weight. His dark hair was scattered around his sides, and his small face, no bigger than a palm, held a deep, dark, and twisted anger and resentment in his eyes, which revealed a chilling fear as empty as a burning fire.
The current gloom became two dark caves, unable to let in any light, flickering between light and darkness, filled with a hazy mist.
With a "thud," Murong Yue tightly gripped the love lock, tears falling to the ground.
"Ah—" He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He could only make a hoarse cry, like a ruminating infant who had been hurt. His throat was red, and tears piled up around his eyes and fell down in a rustling sound.
"Your Highness! What's wrong... Changyou doesn't mean to abandon you. Your Highness is here, he will come back sooner or later, don't be sad."
“Even I was entrusted by him to come here to take care of His Highness,” Wei Ning advised.
Yege stared at the boy's pitiful crying for a long time. His nephew, of course, wouldn't listen to Wei Ning's words; his nephew was so impatient and cunning that he didn't believe the promise of returning. He was gone, and now, not only gone, but severely injured by the King of Wei, he probably couldn't accept it.
Although theoretically he should have been knocked unconscious, the boy was too unsettled to sleep, so it was better for him to be asleep than awake. Looking at Murong Yue kneeling on the ground wailing, his tear-filled eyes made him look like a tiger cub who had suffered a great injustice, making it hard not to feel pity for him.
"Alright... stop crying. Let me see the latch, I'll fix it for you," Jaeger said.
Jaeger crouched down and picked up the broken pieces from the ground. The tiger stripes on the lock and the gem in the eye were shattered into pieces; he wondered if they could be repaired. He held out his hand to Murong Yue and said, "Let me see, I'll fix it for you. We'll go find Lord Lu after we've fixed it."
Murong Yue initially showed no reaction, gripping the lock tightly. Anger and regret mingled in his chest, and the overwhelming emotions rendered him speechless. His throat was like a withered drum, making a hoarse, unpleasant sound with every breath.
He met Yege's gaze, and Yege's appearance bore a resemblance to his mother's, his features as if he had returned to the time when Consort Li was alive. Through Yege's appearance, he saw the shadow of his mother, and tears involuntarily streamed down his face again.
"ah--"
When he saw his mother, he couldn't hold back any longer. All the grievances and resentment welled up inside him. He lost all his strength and threw himself into his mother's arms.
Father. Mother. Elder brother. Eldest sister.
His tears, snot, and oozing blood stained Jaeger's clothes. Jaeger patted him on the back and took the love lock from his blood-stained palm.
"Don't worry. Give this lock to your uncle, and he will definitely restore it to its original condition."
Because of Jaeger's words, he memorized the instruction and followed Jaeger around all day without eating or drinking. Jaeger brought his love lock into the room, and he watched as Jaeger put the clasp back on.
Jaeger returned to his room with the clasp and the broken bead, followed by his nephew. Ignoring his injuries, his clothes stained with blood from his nose, he came into Jaeger's room barefoot, his empty eyes fixed on the clasp in Jaeger's hand, watching his every move intently, as if afraid he might break it.
I'm afraid even my sister and Lord Lu would be heartbroken to see me like this.
But he was neither his sister nor Lord Lu. He glanced at his nephew twice and then looked away, focusing on his own business.
Shengjing City.
Lu Xuejin and Xue Yi arrived in the capital. At the city gate, Song Zhao, accompanied by a group of city guards and his personal bodyguards, came to greet them.
The north is cold and dry, with a howling wind sweeping across the land. The yellow sand from the northern border seems to penetrate the mainland and reach Shengjing, casting a hazy gray hue over the entire sky.
Lu Xuejin lifted the beaded curtain and saw that Song Zhao was already waiting by her side, not knowing how long he had been waiting for them.
"Song Zhao, it's been a long time."
Upon seeing him, even though they hadn't seen each other for only a few months, Song Zhao kept a cold, expressionless face and carefully examined Xue Yi behind him. Only after Xue Yi also emerged from the carriage and Song Zhao saw that he was safe did he slightly shift his gaze.
Song Zhao said to him, "Lord Lu, it's been a long time."
"Your Majesty." Song Zhao observed Xue Yi's demeanor. When they had traveled south, Xue Yi had been shrouded in a deathly aura, but now he seemed to have been reborn. Although it was still the dead of winter, he appeared as radiant as the rising sun in spring. Xue Yi's expression had regained its previous brilliance. His dark eyes turned sharply towards Song Zhao, his face composed and profound, displaying the bearing of an emperor.
Upon seeing this, Song Zhao paused slightly and couldn't help but frown.
Xue Yi: "Song Zhao, you've worked hard. Don't worry about me... While I was away from the palace, you took care of everything for me. Are the ministers all well?"
Song Zhao: "Recently, I have been writing letters to Your Majesty about all matters in the palace. Apart from those... the rest of the trivial matters are recorded in the Golden Palace. Your Majesty can review them at any time."
"Alright..." Xue Yi said slowly, "Thank you for your trouble. What reward would you like?"
Song Zhao: "I thank Your Majesty for your kindness. I do not wish for any reward... but there is a book of non-Han Chinese classics in the palace library, which I have not been able to understand for several months. I hope Your Majesty can bestow this book upon me."
Xue Yi: "Classic texts? I'm willing to bestow as many as you want. Take them."
Song Zhao: "Yes."
Song Zhao still had much to say to the monarch, but the monarch's mind was entirely on that person whenever he saw them. The monarch probably hadn't read the letters he wrote. If Xue Yi had read them, how could he not know that when this person returned to the capital, several court officials in the capital petitioned together, from the third rank down to the local officials who had gone south to become censors, all petitioning for Lu Xuejin to be reinstated.
It was such a coincidence that Fang returned to the capital and immediately petitioned to be reinstated, unaware of what this person was up to.
He met Lu Xuejin's gaze. Lu Xuejin's expression was gentle, her amber eyes reflecting his. Her clear demeanor was elegant and respectful, and there was a faint smile in her eyes, like a Buddha statue in a temple suddenly turning its head and smiling at all living beings.
Xue Yi: "Is there anything else? Song Zhao, I will come to see you later to discuss the funeral arrangements, how about we talk then?"
Song Zhao acknowledged and tactfully withdrew. Watching the two walk away... they had seemed distant when they parted, but now they were on good terms again, as if no rift had ever existed.
He looked at the red-clad youth surrounding the monarch, whose deep color was like a stain of blood on the palace wall, heavily wrapped around the monarch, threatening to bewitch and corrupt the monarch to the point of obliteration.
The willow branches on the palace wall were frozen, and the stems of the trumpet creeper were withered and broken along the wall. With a gust of yellow sand, they turned into dead branches and were blown away, merging with the muddy ground.
Inside the Xiyuan Hall, a heavy charcoal fire burned, the heat making it feel like summer; even wearing a cloak, one would break out in a sweat. The carved screen, its gold threads gleaming, concealed the embers of the fire, which, like the forked tongues of venomous snakes, flickered tiny flames that gnawed at the scorching wood.
As Lu Xuejin put down his cloak, a thin layer of sweat appeared on his cheeks from the heat. A gray shadow appeared behind him, and his waist was firmly locked.
He was embraced from behind, those hands trapping him in the scent of medicine. Once Xue Yi touched him, he could no longer control himself, and the emotions that had been building up all along finally surfaced. This was Xue Yi's palace, a magnificent cage built with riches and opulent materials, a testament to Xue Yi's power and influence.
He was in a cage, but simply standing in the center aroused the palace's master's desire to possess him.
“…Changyou.” Xue Yi held him tightly, his breath falling on the side of his neck. He sensed a sense of danger. To Xue Yi, his sweaty neck was like a lotus root dipped in candy.
He glanced to the side, and suddenly felt a warm, wet sensation on his neck. Xue Yi kissed his neck, licking away the layer of sweat. The kiss was sticky, lingering, and filled with boundless love and morbid emotions. The moment it touched him, it was like falling into a flower garden covered in honey. The hands around his waist tightened more and more, almost strangling him.
“...Brother.”
Before he could speak, Xue Yi touched his neck from behind, a sharp pain shooting through his Adam's apple as Xue Yi poked it. With a "thud," he was shoved, and the pen and the Jian Shu on the table scattered.
The frail yet controlling force pressed down on him from behind, causing him to fall against the desk. His lower back was gripped, and Xue Yi admired his posture as if he were on a chopping board, his slender eyebrows reflecting as he looked at him.
He was like a snow-white fish, held by the tail and gills, left to be judged whether it was better to tear the gills or break the tail first.
"I have been worried all the way here. What should I do if Changyou runs away? When I saw you, I was indeed heartbroken. I thought about it many times... What should I do if Changyou abandons me?"
A faint smile flickered in Xue Yi's eyes, the small mole under his eye casting a deep shadow, reflecting his own image, while the gray shadow of his hand continued to move downwards.
"I never imagined Changyou would come back on his own... I thought I was dreaming the whole way back, but now it feels real. Changyou has indeed returned. When I passed that restaurant, I kept thinking that even if a prostitute leaves her husband, she still has a skill to make a living. I was always worried about Changyou when he was out there. I would be tempted as soon as I saw him, let alone anyone else?"
Lu Xue's brocade robes billowed out from his shoulders and neck, the faint smoke from the charcoal fire making it hard for him to breathe. Xue Yi's fingertips touched his Adam's apple, Xue Yi's fingers gliding lightly across his skin, his fingertips seeming to pierce his throat at any moment. He saw the stubborn madness in Xue Yi's eyes, a look of madness that held him captive, as if he wanted to devour him alive.
"I have always cherished you and never done anything you did not wish to do. But you have been gone for so long... I can't help but worry. Even with that letter you sent me... you must show me how you are different from a prostitute."
Xue Yi's words reached his ears, and those slender eyes looked down at him.
He suddenly realized something, and his body stiffened involuntarily. Xue Yi was pressing down on him from behind, his hand at his waist touching the area of his lungs. With each breath, the faint breath trembled in Xue Yi's palm. His clothes were pulled open, and his skin was like a flower petal being crushed. The cool fingers touched it, causing his mind to go blank.
"Spread your legs," Xue Yi said quietly from behind him.
He didn't move, his reason and consciousness teetering on the brink of collapse. A force came through his skin, forcing him to break out in a sweat, beads of sweat appearing behind his ears. It felt as if his internal organs were being kneaded, as if his dignity and rationality were being rubbed away.
His skin, worn raw from the abuse, was flushed pink. His deep red robe was pulled up, and his brother's frail fingers pierced through his ten fingers, intertwining with his own. A chilling sensation penetrated his body; the finger bones pierced through his flesh, through his skin, and into a deeper place.
The bitten lips, the force of his struggle, the waist collapsing under the strain—all these became arousing in Xue Yi's palm. He sensed something amiss; the finger bones piercing through his body pressed against him, then with even greater force passed through his leg.
Xue Yi pinched and pried his chin up, biting his lip and licking deep into his throat. His tongue was chased and devoured by Xue Yi, who held his lips and tongue, wanting to swallow him whole. That endless obsession and desire, inexhaustible, seemed to want to devour every drop of his juice, leaving him nowhere to escape.
The grotesque thing that pierced through his legs caused him to stagger forward with each touch, causing books on the table to fall. His thin body was being held, finding himself in an awkward situation.
Xue Yi held him tightly in his arms, locking him in place. He felt like prey with its throat choked, enduring unspeakable humiliation.
Those subtle, dark pupils enveloped his appearance. Xue Yi looked at him and whispered in his ear, "I only did what you did with others, but it looks like I'm bullying you."
"You and I are already married. If you only act this way out of pity for me, you shouldn't have let your father take me in and throw me out instead. Otherwise, the first thing I would do if I gained power in the future is to lock you up... I can't bear to see you like this."
Xue Yi leaned over and licked away the beads of sweat from the corners of his eyes. The damp sweat exuded a fragrant aroma, making Xue Yi's eyes even more profound. His finger bones brushed across the man's abdomen, and he suddenly pulled back, causing the man to slam backward.
He watched as he transformed into that snow-white fish. His gills and tail had been ripped off; losing his gills made it impossible for him to breathe, and losing his tail left him immobile and unsightly. The wounds on his wrists were carefully licked, and his entire body exuded a sticky, bitter medicinal scent.
The sounds emanating from his body, unbearable to bear, touched his skin, causing his frail skin to tremble. His defiled skin flushed crimson and sap, looking like a flower stamen being crushed and releasing its sap. The drops fell onto the dark floor, filling the Xiyuan Palace with a decadent atmosphere.
The candle wax burned through, night fell on the horizon, and large red marks appeared on his legs, the deep red marks overlapping to form a bluish-purple hue. Xue Yi looked down for a long time, then turned and kissed him.
He suddenly opened his eyes, his mind almost completely corrupted. He couldn't see the dark sky, only the lock on his wrist. Only then did he blurt out his first words to Xue Yi.
"...Your Highness."
A note from the author:
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