CH 77

Who is the Loser

The dragon scales were so hard that they could not be cut with a knife. The only way to pluck the scales was to insert the blade into the crevices where the scales were growing and pull them off along with the flesh and blood.

According to what Xuan Long said, Xiao Zhanzi aimed the tip of the knife at the dragon scales on Xuan Long's back and forced it in. The moment the blade entered the flesh, Xuan Long's body tensed up and the cold-smelling blood flowed down the blade, falling between Xiao Zhanzi's white and tender fingers that held the dagger.

"Han... Master Han... is bleeding..."

Cold sweat seeped from the corner of Xuan Long's forehead and he said mutely, "Hmm. Continue."

Xiao Zhanzi originally thought that plucking dragon scales was similar to clipping nails, after all, Xuan Long said it as lightly as that, who knew it would bleed. Plucking dragon scales was clearly similar to pulling nails, if all the dragon scales on his back were plucked, would he still be able to live?

He spoke with a sobbing face:

"This servant, this servant does not dare..."

"If the Emperor knows about this, he will kill this servant."

Xuan Long had risen early with a high fever and was weak and drained. After standing on the side of the bed for so long, he could not hold on any longer and only hoped that the young eunuch would do it quickly.

"He won't."

"It was he himself, who said he wanted it."

"Hurry up... I'm a little tired."

Why is he this tired when he just woke up? Why did the Emperor have to pluck so many dragon scales? Even if it was to save the Empress, there was no need to pluck so many at once… Xiao Zhanzi's eyes were red, and his hands were shaking as he repositioned the knife.

“Master Han, if you can't stand it anymore, just say so, so that this slave can be gentler..."

He began to talk nonsense. Now that the knife has gone down, there's no place for gentle or heavy. Xuan Long was in so much pain that his mind was blurred and he responded accordingly.

"Mmm."

The dragon scales were cut off piece by piece, gradually filling the palm-sized black lacquered wooden box prepared in advance. A hundred pieces were needed this time, so a larger box had to be used.

The dragon scales protecting Xuan Long's hindquarters had been plucked out, and the lack of scales exposed the tender red flesh of the skin in a blunt manner. The blood flowed endlessly through Xuan Long's profane trousers, dripping down his trouser legs and pooling on the floor.

Xuan Long was originally standing, but at the end, he couldn't help but sit on his knees in the pool of blood on the floor. He didn't make much noise the whole time, only breathing heavier, lying on the edge of the bed and asking very, very quietly, "How much more..."

Xiao Zhanzi, whose hands were covered in blood as if he were the executioner, cried with tears on his face, "Master Han, only forty pieces have been plucked. Just forget it... that many should be enough..."

Xuan Long's cheek rested on his forearm. Perhaps because he had lost more blood, he was a little cold and wanted to sleep more and more, urging inaudibly, "... Hurry up, I can still hold out."

"Master Han...” Xiao Zhanzi cried, twitching all over.

When the hundred dragon scales were finished being plucked, Xuan Long was still conscious and he told Xiao Zhanzi to go find some gauze and wrap his back up for him. The gauze was wrapped layer after layer, but it didn't take long for the warm liquid to soak through, and one by one, the piercing begonia blossoms formed a patch that filled the whole of his shriveled back.

Xiao Zhanzi said he was going to seek the Imperial Doctor, but was stopped by Xuan Long, who said it would be useless to go. Xuan Long climbed into bed on his own, and was about to fall asleep when he reached the pillow. Xiao Zhanzi asked him if he wanted to have breakfast, and Xuan Long said he was not hungry.

How could he eat after being so badly injured?

He used to be able to sleep on his stomach, but now that he was pregnant, his belly was too big for him to lie on his stomach, so Xuan Long lay on his back on the bed, the bright yellow mattress beneath him blossoming a dark red.

Xiao Zhanzi has been in the palace for so many years and has seen some eunuchs who were beaten to death with sticks after making mistakes, but never once did he feel so heartbroken. Getting more and more sad, he held Xuan Long's pale wrist and shook it lightly, "Master Han, don't scare this servant, don't sleep..."

When the pain became numb, there was nothing left to feel, he was just very tired. Very tired, very much wanting to just sleep and not wake up, leaving all those troublesome and painful things behind in the world and leaving lightly and easily.

But now was not the right time.

Xuan Long's eyes were sunken and sleepy, his lips barely moving as he spoke, "Don't worry... I won't die..."

At least not until the child is born and until Hu Le is safely sent out of the palace...

Yan Yuan returned to Qiankun Palace after leaving the court, his face as foul as when he left, as if someone owed him hundreds of cities. As he was about to enter, the little eunuch came out from the door and knelt in front of him to block his way, saying in a hoarse voice, “This servant sees Your Majesty, long live the Emperor."

Yan Yuan cast a glance at him and said coldly, "Get up."

With red eyes, Xiao Zhanzi took out a black lacquered wooden box from behind him, hung his head, raised it above his head and handed it to Yan Yuan, "Your Majesty, Master Han has asked this servant to hand this over to you."

Chen Yan stepped forward to take the wooden box and presented it to Yan Yuan with both hands. Yan Yuan took Chen Yan's hand and lifted the lid to take a look, and his pupils suddenly shrank.

A strong cold fragrance permeated from the box, and ink-coloured dragon scales littered the wooden box, most of them with jagged flesh and blood attached to their roots.

In the past, when Xuan Long handed scales over to Yan Yuan, they were all clean and tidy, but now that he had lost all his powers, he could no longer cast a spell to clean them up, so the bloody scales looked shocking.

Yan Yuan was trying to be quick-witted, but he didn't expect Xuan Long to pull out a hundred scales, so his anger was instantly replaced by anxiety.

Xiao Zhanzi did not know where he got the courage, but he immediately moved his body to block him, "Your Majesty... Master Han says he doesn't want to see you."

Yan Yuan's face darkened: "What did you say?"

Xiao Zhanzi's eyes were sore: "Master Han said... he didn't want to see you, and told you not to come looking for him in the future if you don't have any important matters. You already have an empress, and some things, after all, are inappropriate."

"Master Han also said... the dragon scales have been handed over to you, please keep your promise."

Yan Yuan sneered and nodded repeatedly, "Don't want to see me? Good, good, good, good… Don't want to see me, I don't even care to see him. If it wasn't for A'Yu, I wouldn't even bother to look at him. Such a cheap demon creature, given a few shades of colour, is now opening a dye house and sticking his nose in the air."

Yan Yuan turned around and left, and Chen Yan trotted after him, "Your Majesty, don't be angry..."

"Go to Luanfeng Hall!” Anyway, the dragon scales were already in his hands, he didn't bother to coax him.

He really took himself seriously.

When the footsteps were far away, Xiao Zhanzi lifted his red eyes and got up in a frenzy to enter through the door.

When Xuan Long was awake, he was quiet, and when he fell asleep, his breathing was so weak that he seemed to be on the verge of dying. Xiao Zhanzi was crying beside the bed for fear that this person would leave quietly and that he would be in big trouble.

But Xuan Long begged him like that, telling him to keep the Emperor out of the room, saying that he didn't want him to see him in an undignified state.

What's the need for decency after all this? It was clear that he was so disillusioned that he never wanted to see him again.

If Xuan Long died like this, it might be a good thing; at least before he died, he would not see the person who had hurt him so much, and he would go in peace and quiet.

Yan Yuan turned through the palace wall and was about to reach the palace gate of Luanfeng Hall when a man with a shadowy face appeared at the opposite junction. It was none other than Yan Huo Heng. He was not wearing a python robe today, but a narrow-sleeved black suit worn by military generals, and was followed by his lieutenant.

Although the eyebrows of the two brothers are somewhat similar, their appearance and temperament are very different, Yan Huo Heng’s every move is cold, his dark eyes are long and narrow, and he looks deep-witted.

Yan Yuan's peach blossom eyes were gentle and watery, with thick eyelashes. If he smiled, even demons would be charmed. Now that he was in a tyrannical mood and his aura had sunk, he was a bit similar to Yan Huo Heng. 

Yan Yuan coldly glanced at him and ignored him, turning around to enter the palace door of Luanfeng Hall.

Yan Huo Heng: "Your Majesty, please wait."

Yan Yuan stopped, and Yan Huo Heng came over at a brisk pace, kneeling behind him on one knee and bowing. Yan Yuan did not ask him to get up, so he knelt, raised his head to look at Yan Yuan's back, and spoke lightly, "One day has passed."

Yan Yuan sneered and turned around, "I told you, don't even think about it."

"Millions of military power for one forbidden piece of property, ten thousand miles of rivers and mountains in your hands, resting on your laurels, Your Majesty, what reason is there to refuse?" Yan Huo Heng's gaze was dark.

“Millions of military power is the glory that I have given to you, thousands of people are my people, if I don't agree, do you really want to rebel?...” Yan Yuan's mouth held a sneer as he spoke slowly, "Yan Huo Heng, do not forget that everything you have now is from me. The Empress Dowager is still in the palace and I will not treat her badly for the sake of nurturing me, but if you dare to have any more thoughts that you should not have, I can guarantee that I will do something that you will regret."

Yan Huo Heng's hands hanging at his side slowly tightened.

As Yan Yuan turned to enter the door, he heard a question from behind him that was holding back some strong emotion.

"You don't care about him at all... why are you holding him prisoner?"

Yan Yuan's laugh was chilling: "This is not your business."

After a long time, the lieutenant behind him rose and tugged at Yan Huo Heng's sleeve: "Let's go, Your Highness..."

Three days passed in a flash.

In the afternoon, Yan Kui summoned several ministers in the imperial study to discuss state affairs, and after that, he simply dealt with the day's documents in the imperial study, preparing to wait for darkness before returning to Luanfeng Hall to accompany Ning Zhiyu for dinner.

However, he was unable to concentrate on his work. The rets of the time, he was fine, but when he was alone, he was reminded of what had happened the other day - how dare Xuan Long turn him away from the door.

It was the first time he had ever done that.

When he thought about it, Yan Yuan became furious. He was supposed to call Xuan Long to the side hall of Luanfeng Hall every other night after Ning Zhiyu had gone to sleep to vent his frustration, but for the past few days, he had held back from seeing the dragon and deliberately left him alone, not to mention not releasing Hu Le as promised.

He wanted to see. Xuan Long is so powerful, he said he did not want to see him, but in the end, he would still have to come to beg him.

Who knew that there would be no movement from Qiankun Palace after three days. He didn't ask anyone to inquire, after all, he was sulking and whoever couldn't sit still first would lose.

He would not be the one to lose.

In this relationship, he had always been the winner.

He had always been, and he would always be.

When the sun was setting, Chen Yan came in from outside the hall with a cup of hot tea and gently placed it by Yan Yuan's hand: "Your Majesty has been tired all afternoon, have a cup of tea and rest."

Yan Yuan picked up the cup and took a sip, but immediately frowned and put the cup down: "It's too hot, pour a cold one."

In fact, the temperature of the tea was just right, not too hot, not too cold, but now he needed cold water to suppress the anger in his heart, otherwise he would not be able to hold back the heat.

As the night wore on, Yan Yuan finally finished his business for the day and got up to return to his home. When he entered, the man was already sitting at the table waiting for him to have his dinner, and there was a generous spread of food on the table.

The candle flame flickered, the air was filled with strange incense, and the atmosphere was charming. The man was sitting with his back to Yan Yuan, he was wearing a basalt robe and his long hair was scattered behind him. Because Xuan Long had lost a lot of weight in recent months, from the back, he looked very similar to Ning Zhiyu.

Yan Yuan was in a trance for a moment, somewhat suspecting that he was in the wrong place, until the man heard footsteps and turned back to reveal a plain, elegant and clear face.

“A'Yuan, you've come."

Yan Yuan smiled, "Why are you suddenly wearing black clothes today?"