Chapter 37: Is the official first release a fresh start, or...?
As a qualified henchman, Ling Yue always does whatever his master asks him to do without ever delaying.
This time, the puppy only responded to Yu Xiao's reply with silent words.
A dog values its owner, who holds its life in their hands, very much. So it would rather remain silent than use unnecessary words to appease its owner.
It's a good dog, but Yu Xiao doesn't want a good dog with its own thoughts.
The Chinese man pressed Ling Yue's chin down, forcing him to look up at him: "I have a question for you."
Perhaps Yu Xiao still had the blood of a bad person deep down. Even with the Empress's guidance and his constant self-hypnosis that he had to pretend to be a good person in front of Ling Yue, Yu Xiao did not do anything wrong in the not-so-long first half of his life.
But Yu Xiao knew very well that he couldn't possibly be a good person at heart, especially when his little dog dared to disobey his orders and not answer properly.
Yu Xiao inherited his mother's good looks, so Ling Yue would become distracted whenever he looked at that face when he was being threatened, to the point that he would forget he was being threatened.
So Yu Xiao had no choice but to use even more force:
"I have a question for you."
His tone was different from when he was usually teasing the puppy; it gradually became somewhat stern.
So Ling Yue dared not continue to be so intimate with his master, and was even so frightened by Yu Xiao's stern tone that he knelt down on the ground.
Furthermore, the owner's emotions can easily influence the puppy's emotional fluctuations, and now Ling Yue is trembling in front of Yu Xiao.
"Your Majesty, I am filled with trepidation."
The puppy prostrated itself at Yu Xiao's feet.
The puppy was probably afraid of the emperor, or perhaps he was afraid that his emperor would be unhappy.
Having raised this little dog for so many years, Yu Xiao has gained some insights into Ling Yue's inner thoughts.
Back then, he directly fought his way through the old emperor's awe and forced him to abdicate. How could Ling Yue possibly be afraid of so-called imperial power?
Even though the puppy was trembling with fear, it still refused to listen to Yu Xiao and do what Yu Xiao wanted it to do.
When Yu Xiao asked him a question, he firmly refused to change his previous statement.
The puppy's silent defiance was a testament to his unwavering commitment to his previous opinion.
Yu Xiao propped her head up, looking at the system and seeing that everything was within a safe range. She felt that if she continued to bully the puppy because she couldn't get in, it would be pointless, so she simply let him go.
"You can leave now."
So this time, the puppy obediently followed its owner's command and left without causing any further trouble.
After dismissing Ling Yue and the other dull old ministers, Yu Xiao sat there by himself, lost in thought:
The puppy actually dared to covet him first, really...
Very good.
This little dog has unspeakable feelings for Yu Xiao, so he might do something bad because of it. In that case, it won't be Yu Xiao, the owner, who will suffer, but the unpredictable little dog.
...
Knowing that the puppy had different feelings for her, Yu Xiao felt even less guilty about ordering the puppy around after that.
Furthermore, this person truly knew how to get the little dog, whose eyes were always fixed on its owner, to work hard for him, and even knew how to take advantage of the dog's undisguised affection for him to start giving the dog some benefits.
Don't miss the line, or kiss and hug him; this will instantly lift the puppy's spirits.
If a puppy is in a good mood, you can let him do things that will anger others.
The puppy is Yu Xiao's best weapon.
No need for any commands, just pat his head afterwards and give him a few words of praise, and this little dog will do anything for Yu Xiao.
Even if Yu Xiao didn't have any intention of doing bad things, everyone in the world is driven by self-interest, and it's normal to offend people who aren't easy to talk to sometimes.
At this point, Yu Xiao needs her own spokesperson.
A puppy like Ling Yue is perfectly suited to serve as Yu Xiao's weapon.
Impeachments against Ling Yue are increasing in the imperial court.
Finally, after exhausting Ling Yue's last bit of use, the emperor ordered the former powerful prince to be imprisoned in Guanlutian Prison.
Originally, Ling Yue was to be executed in the autumn, but the emperor was so distressed when he was drafting the imperial edict that he almost fainted. So when some ministers who were trying to guess the emperor's thoughts submitted a memorial asking for Ling Yue to be spared, Yu Xiao gave a verdict that satisfied everyone.
"After all, we are brothers, and I really can't bear to let my younger brother die by beheading. I'd rather leave him with a whole body and bury him in the imperial mausoleum's burial pit."
This dynasty does not practice the custom of burying living people with the dead. However, to bury Ling Yue, a bad person who has offended many people, in the way of human sacrifice is an extreme insult to him.
But ironically, no one dared to voice any objections.
The emperor said that being buried alive with the emperor was a punishment for Lingyue, and that was the punishment.
Normally, meritorious officials who have made great contributions would have countless stone figures and horses placed in front of their tombs if they were to be buried with the emperor. However, in Ling Yue's case, the scale of his tomb was even less than that of slaves who were buried alive in ancient times, which can be described as quite an insult.
If one day the historical records are lost, and a skeleton without any burial goods is eventually unearthed near the tomb, I'm afraid everyone will think it is the lowest of slaves, rather than something else.
Yu Xiao's decision was indeed the best decision.
No one objected to this decision, after all, Ling Yue had offended countless people. However, giving such an enemy a little posthumous honor would actually make these victims feel more at ease.
only……
For someone about to be sentenced to death, whatever happens next will likely upset them.
For some inexplicable reason, Ling Yue's sentence was personally delivered to him by Yu Xiao in prison.
The little dog that Yu Xiao had raised from a puppy, upon learning of its impending death, did not show any emotional distress. It neither cried nor made a fuss; instead, it once again prostrated itself before Yu Xiao in gratitude.
"Thank you for your great kindness, Your Majesty."
Those who, upon learning they had committed a serious crime and were about to be executed, generally expressed acceptance of their fate because they still had family members who did not need to die with them. They dared to maintain this idea of gratitude to the emperor, hoping that the emperor would not continue to make things difficult for their families.
But Ling Yue is clearly a person without any ties. If he really has someone he wants to care about, it would only be Yu Xiao.
The late Consort Ling's family was small and had almost never interacted with Ling Yue. Logically speaking, such an invincible person with no scruples should have been a threat.
He probably wouldn't compromise himself to Yu Xiao and beg him not to let his former acquaintances go just because he wanted the people around him to live.
Yu Xiao watched as Ling Yue solemnly kowtowed to her, his actions incredibly devout, as if he had truly accepted this arrangement.
He was immediately moved, pinching Ling Yue's cheeks, which had become much thinner recently, and asked with great interest:
Do you still want me?
The puppy is a bit older now than when he confessed to Yu Xiao back then, and should be able to understand how foolish the things he said when he was young and ignorant were.
You can kill a dog but not its spirit, but Yu Xiao was a very wicked person and didn't care about the puppy's thoughts. She even felt that she could make the puppy suffer more.
Yu Xiao knew that his mood would improve whenever he saw the puppy in great pain.
So when this villain, who only cared about his own pleasure, saw that the puppy was still bothering him, he became even more wicked. He even thought of using some painful facts to expose the puppy's illusion of peace.
After I've used up all your value and then taken your life, would you still have those unspeakable secrets about me?
The little dog, which had been hanging its head and not daring to look at Yu Xiao, finally raised its head.
This time, Yu Xiao could see more clearly that there was not a trace of dissatisfaction in the puppy's eyes.
Lingyue wasn't in a very good state and looked listless, but after hearing its master's final verdict, a glimmer of light finally appeared in its eyes.
He knelt forward a few steps, then pressed himself against Yu Xiao's feet and rubbed against the air.
The dog regards its owner as incredibly noble, so it keeps a certain distance from its owner when the owner does not allow it to touch him, and does not dare to cross the boundary drawn by its owner.
Yu Xiao found the puppy's behavior hilarious, so she, who rarely laughed out loud, actually laughed and even reached out to the puppy, saying, "Come here."
Yu Xiao has always doted on this little dog. As long as the little dog behaves well enough, Yu Xiao can give it lots of affection whenever it wants to be petted, making it happy.
After all, being able to pet a puppy whose heart and eyes are full of you is indeed a good thing.
This wasn't a necessity, so Yu Xiao rarely responded to the puppy's requests for stickers, and more often just left the puppy alone.
But even this was enough to make the puppy happy. He simply held Yu Xiao's hand in his own hands and began to rub against it, as if he missed the warmth he would never be able to touch again. So he tried his best to keep Yu Xiao's warmth in his own way until he carried it into the cold earth.
The puppy behaved well, so Yu Xiao compassionately continued to pet it, hoping to bring more warmth to this little dog whose life always lacked joy.
In a sense, this puppy also changed Yu Xiao. Yu Xiao thought that the reason she had always been so good to him was because the puppy was very well-behaved and could evoke feelings of affection, which is why Yu Xiao could keep petting it.
Ling Yue was kissing Yu Xiao's hand, and without realizing it, he became increasingly audacious, wanting to get even closer to her.
Although Yu Xiao had given special instructions that no one dared to humiliate the puppy in the prison, the environment there was still not very good, so the originally beautiful puppy became dirty during his time in the prison.
The dirty little dog, harboring a small desire for revenge against its owner, rubbed black ash onto Yu Xiao's originally clean and well-maintained fingers.
There's a chance the puppy was slightly dissatisfied with Yu Xiao's decision not to protect him and wanted to take revenge on Yu Xiao, or perhaps wanted to do something bad before it died, but none of that matters anymore.
Such hands were indeed the ultimate delicacy for the puppy. After rubbing against Yu Xiao, it couldn't help but lick its fingertips, as if it could never feel that it had enough time to be intimate with Yu Xiao, and then it pressed itself even closer to Yu Xiao.
"Yes, I would gladly die for Your Majesty."
The puppy seemed to have gathered endless courage before finally daring to say what he had kept hidden in his heart, something he couldn't say to his nominal older brother.
"I love you..."
For Shuang'er, such an intimate confession probably still felt a bit embarrassing. Ling Yue would sometimes close his eyes tightly after saying this, as if he was afraid to see how his owner would react.
But the puppy waited expectantly for a long time, but did not receive a response from Yu Xiao.
When he opened his eyes again, Yu Xiao had already left the prison.
The puppy's mood will drop, but he will quickly cheer himself up again.
It is only right to die for one's master.
My master protected me when I was about to die and bestowed upon me endless honor, so I cannot ask for more.
Having attained such a lofty position, it can only be said that I borrowed an extra life from heaven, and now that my time has come, it doesn't matter if I return it.
A puppy can truly die for its owner.
Thus, in this snowy winter, the once powerful Prince Yi, who had served the emperor, was hanged at the execution ground because he had angered the public.
And in the end, the emperor went back on his word and gave his non-blood-related brother a very grand funeral.
However, this time no official went to Yu Xiao to report that he was spoiling Prince Yue too much.
The historians sincerely recorded in the historical records the rare moment when the emperor showed tenderness and began to reminisce about his brothers.
"We are brothers and subjects of the same ruler. I not only cannot bear to let my brother die without a complete body, but I also cannot bear to let him be all alone in the underworld."
The emperor would even have tears in his eyes whenever he mentioned his half-brothers whom he had personally executed.
So the prince, who had been hanged, was buried with endless posthumous honors.
Ironically, such a favored minister, who won the emperor's favor, was also someone the emperor listened to from all sides and was ruthless in punishing evildoers. How could this not make everyone more convinced of the emperor's sincerity and respect?
As for some rural rumors that the emperor could even kill his own brothers without any mercy, he must be extremely cold-blooded and certainly not the type of wise ruler...
And so it was gradually buried in the piles of old papers.
...
When Ling Yue woke up again, he thought he was still in the coffin, but he quickly realized something was wrong.
The person in the coffin should be lying flat, but his movements were as if he were curled up in his mother's amniotic fluid, in an extremely narrow box.
The heavy shackles and chains that used to strangle him were gone, replaced by tighter ropes that bound his shackles and chains, making it difficult for his unrestrained joints to move.
He was raised by his elder brother from childhood, and neither the crown prince nor the emperor had lighting around them. When had he ever been in such a dark environment?
The little dog, having lost its owner and found itself in the dark, was clearly terrified and instinctively kicked its legs, seemingly trying to escape its terrible situation through a futile struggle.
His tongue couldn't move at all, as if it were blocked by a neatly folded piece of cloth.
He just didn't know what material the box was made of. No matter how hard Ling Yue tried to hit and struggle, he couldn't hear much of a sound.
The box must have been made of a very peculiar material, making it extremely difficult to transmit sound. Not only were the sounds Ling Yue made absorbed by the box walls, but even the sounds from outside were muffled.
"..."
How could I hear my elder brother discussing matters?
Ling Yue felt that he must be hallucinating because he had worked too hard in his previous life...
But it was Yu Xiao's voice that successfully calmed Ling Yue down, and he stopped struggling and quietly curled up in the box.
He probably guessed it, because the ropes on the gallows might have been tampered with, and he wasn't hanged but secretly rescued.
"My newly adopted dog is so clingy that it can't be separated from me. I have to bring it to court, please forgive me, my dear relatives."
If an emperor can kill even his own unrelated brother whom he used to love to have, what's so special about keeping a dog?
The ministers outside probably thought this matter was insignificant and quickly brushed it off with a laugh.
The puppy in the box was left there, and he was well-educated by Yu Xiao. He was very smart and naturally knew what he was facing and was able to think about his current situation.
The sharp crack of his neck snapping from the rope was still almost audible, yet he somehow survived.
His master must have saved him...
But even if the owner saves him, if he keeps him locked in this box, he will die sooner or later, right?
The puppy who had died once was not very afraid of death, because the thought of his beloved owner being nearby made him feel less afraid.
I still feel a little sad.
The puppy can't control its paws; it can only curl them up into a ball, as if it can hug itself and comfort itself.
But it was clear that the puppy's worries were unnecessary.
Suddenly.
The box was finally opened, and the puppy rolled out of it.
But for some reason, he couldn't even move his neck, and whenever he came out of the box, he would stare straight at his owner.
The person who is in control of their own life at this moment.
Unable to speak, the puppy could only look at its owner with a puzzled expression, hoping for an answer.
Yu Xiao naturally understood the confusion in the puppy's eyes, so she picked him up and stood in front of a mirror.
Because it had been in the box for quite some time, Lingyue's limbs were weak, and it needed to rely entirely on its owner to have any strength.
Ling Yue only glanced at the person in the mirror before daring not to look again.
It was a light and thin, almost transparent, high-waisted ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress). The quality of this ruqun was different from that of ordinary ruqun, with many ties interspersed in the embroidered patterns. So, to wear this ruqun, one would almost have to be bound up like a rice dumpling.
Just by looking at the bamboo leaves covering the meat dumplings, you can tell what kind of deliciousness is contained within.
Even when he was just by Yu Xiao's side, Ling Yue didn't dare to look at such a magnificent scene.
Yu Xiao, however, grabbed Ling Yue by the back of the neck, forcing him to look directly into the mirror, and kept playing with the body on it.
It casually announced Ling Yue's fate from then on.
"Yueyue, you've worked hard. From now on, don't be a loyal minister, be an empress."
Chunchen.
Ling Yue never expected to hear himself being evaluated in this way.
He had wondered if, centuries later, someone with keen insight would see through his unwavering loyalty to his lord, but he never imagined he would live to hear the verdict.
What was originally a thought that death was not a pity has now become extremely complicated, and I don't know how to deal with it.
Such praise came from its owner, so the puppy was flattered and even a little frightened, but it quickly accepted it.
Having spent so many years by Yu Xiao's side, Ling Yue had long since come to regard his love for Yu Xiao as his instinct.
So when Yu Xiao praised him, even though he had difficulty pronouncing the words, he still managed to make muffled, whimpering sounds:
"Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty."
His mouth was stuffed tightly with soft cloth, making it difficult for him to make a sound, but for his owner, the little dog was willing to express his feelings even if it was difficult.
Yu Xiao pressed Ling Yue against the mirror with such force that she almost burst the filling inside the bamboo leaves.
This action looked as if Ling Yue was... doing the same thing as another version of himself.
"Before, I just thought you looked good in all kinds of clothes, men's and women's, and even double-breasted clothes." Yu Xiao held the knot on Ling Yue's chest. "You know what? When I saw you being... in prison, I got hard."
"Yueyue has fulfilled her duty as a subject, and from now on she should fulfill her duty as the Empress." Yu Xiao pressed the dumbfounded puppy against the mirror so that he could see the situation clearly. "You are much younger than me, and you may still be able to become the Empress Dowager in the future."
Ling Yue almost used the last of his strength to smash his head against the mirror.
Fortunately, Yu Xiao managed to protect Ling Yue's forehead with her hand in time, preventing the mirror from shattering and causing his death.
However, the dull thud from the impact of the hand bones with hard objects is unavoidable, and it hurts to hear.
Ling Yue was truly determined to die then, deciding to nip any possibility of Yu Xiao making a mistake in the bud before he did, so that his master could continue to be a wise ruler.
"Baby," Yu Xiao buried her head between Ling Yue's shoulder blades, "my hand hurts so much."
Ling Yue dared not move again, fearing that he might actually hurt Yu Xiao on the dangerous mirror surface.
Yu Xiao is the most important person to him, and he won't let her get hurt.
He really liked Yu Xiao, he loved Yu Xiao so much that he would die for her, but he never thought he would live this way in the future.
Even though he had always taken Yu Xiao's wishes as the primary goal of his actions since he was a child, the puppy was still on the verge of collapse at this moment.
As a responsible owner, I placed my hand on the mirror beforehand when I sensed that the puppy was trying to hurt me, so that the puppy could not harm me.
There are no empresses who never experienced a coronation ceremony; they were simply kept in various boxes of different sizes and carried around with them, used whenever they were of use.
Ling Yue never saw anyone other than Yu Xiao again.
His world originally consisted almost entirely of Yu Xiao, so now Yu Xiao occupies an increasingly larger proportion of his world.
In the end, Ling Yue didn't even have the thought of agreeing or resisting.
He was merely his master's object; he did whatever his master wanted him to do.
He could only trust Yu Xiao, and whatever Yu Xiao said was the truth.
The puppy, who was as well-behaved as before, was having a great time playing, but its reactions were becoming less and less frequent.
Later on, all that remained was the instinct to be intimate with Yu Xiao; he couldn't even speak anymore.
The puppy seems to have been ruined by Yu Xiao and has lost its memory.
But if we ask whether Yu Xiao will feel remorse for this and then repent and give the little dog, who has been tortured beyond recognition, some freedom, then we should ask her.
That's absolutely impossible.
...
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