CH 91

Death of the Heart

Warning: This chapter includes mature content (Non-explicit sex)

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

With gritted teeth, Yan Yuan raised his hand and swung another slap at Xuan Long's cheek with a loud ‘pop’. Xuan Long's body swayed, and if it weren't for the two guards escorting him on his left and right, he probably would have fallen over right away.

Five clear finger marks were left on Xuan Long's pale cheeks, blood fell from the corner of his lips to his jaw, and the unsettled dust filled the air with extreme silence.

No one knew how much pain he was in.

The man did not cry, nor did he make a fuss, he remained peaceful and quiet, as if he could feel nothing.

Yan Yuan pinched Xuan Long's jaw forcing him to turn his face, his eyes were furious: "You have trampled on my heart, like weeds underfoot, you have betrayed me..."

"You bitch..."

A few days ago, he was discussing the birth of the child in Xuan Long's womb with him, and secretly even went through many poetry books to come up with a nice name for the child. Who knew that in the blink of an eye, Xuan Long would elope with someone else?

How could he not be angry?

Yan Yuan was so angry that he wanted to destroy the whole world.

Xuan Long was forced to raise his head, but his eyelashes were lowered and he did not look at him.

What bothered Yan Yuan the most was Xuan Long's lifeless look, and his hostile aura was so strong that it could not be suppressed. Yan Huo Heng had his hands shackled by the imperial guards and his eyes were bloodshot as he looked over at them, saying one word at a time, "Yan Yuan, he is carrying your heir in his womb, you must not bully him too much."

Yan Yuan scowled, looking down at Xuan Long's towering abdomen, his eyes fixed on the spot that rose and fell slightly with his breathing, and narrowed his eyes.

"My heir?"

"If it is my heir, what are you so nervous about..."

"This child, it's not even mine, is it?..."

With the position of holding Xuan Long's neck, Yan Yuan leaned close to Xuan Long's ear and whispered coaxingly, "Tell me, how far have the two of you gone, and this child... is really whose... hmm?"

Xuan Long's fever had not yet subsided and his voice was as muffled as if it had been burned by fire: "It is not yours..."

The hand around his neck suddenly tightened, and Yan Yuan's forehead was almost against Xuan Long's, staring into his eyes: "What did you say?!"

Xuan Long's turquoise eyes half-closed as he murmured back, "... not yours."

"It's not yours..."

The veins at the corners of Yan Yuan's forehead flared up and he almost gritted his back teeth, "Everyone can be used as a partner… sure enough, you are a beast, you are worse than even the lowest prostitute in a brothel..."

Xuan Long couldn't quite hear what he was saying, the two slaps from the other party had shaken his ears to the point where they became less than alert and he could only vaguely catch a few words, such as 'beast' and 'lowly', all of which were words of humiliation.

It had been something he was used to.

Having felt much more painful things, this little fight was nothing.

"Return to the palace!"

"Yan Huo Heng has entered the palace without permission and with the intention of misbehaving, and will be immediately sent to the Heavenly Prison upon return!"

With a command, the troops reorganised.

When he arrived, he came on horseback, but Xuan Long was too weak to sit on a horse, so Yan Yuan dragged him towards the dusty carriage, but he fell to the ground before he could take a few steps. Yan Yuan watched him with cold eyes and insisted that he get up by himself.

Handcuffed and shackled and shamefully tethered to the back of a horse, Yan Huo Heng turned his head to look at the scene before him.

"Yan Yuan, you must not regret what you have done today."

Yan Yuan looked up and smiled coldly: "I have never regretted what I have done. The only thing I regret is leaving you alive, so that your wolf's ambition has nowhere to go."

Yan Huo Heng closed his eyes and turned back, unable to bear another look.

"I have a clean slate with him. I wanted to take him away, but only because the dragon scales on him could heal the wounds on the lieutenant of my army. Please, Your Majesty, don't misunderstand."

"Oh?" Yan Yuan smiled amusedly, crouched down and whispered to the man on the ground.

"Did you hear that... that's the only thing you're good for..."

"No one will treat you with sincerity..."

Xuan Long lowered his head, his long hair covering his cheeks, and did not speak. It was uncertain whether he had listened or not. When Yan Yuan saw that he was really useless and could not even stand up, he took him up in his arms and leapt onto the carriage with great mercy.

Xiao Zhanzi followed, calling in a mute voice, "Your Majesty..."

Before entering the carriage, Yan Yuan glanced at Xiao Zhanzi and smiled, "You have done a good job, I will reward you well when I return to the palace."

Xiao Zhanzi was flattered and ambled away, not daring to look at him, his eyes red.

"Look at this..." Yan Yuan hugged Xuan Long and sat down on the soft cushion, and said against the back of his ear. “even that little eunuch betrayed you."

The man in his arms seemed like a wooden man, not responding at all. Yan Yuan was not annoyed, and in the position of holding him in his arms, he pushed his hand through the hem of Xuan Long's robe.

The grey robe on his body was already loose enough to easily make a mess, and two large, strong hands gently roamed over Xuan Long's body, one stopping at the high abdomen and one around his heart.

"You are so disobedient... what should I do to punish you?"

The carriage set off, not in the same hurry as when leaving the palace, but not too slow either, and between the flying hooves of the horses, it did a good job of masking the perverse sounds inside the carriage.

Xuan Long's clothes were undone and his trousers were down to his ankles, while Yan Yuan was fully clothed. He was holding Xuan Long's buttocks from behind, and without too much effort, the bumps of the carriage brought them close together, back and forth to the depths.

The two men's loose hair was intertwined, inseparable, and Xuan Long's body was so hot that Yan Yuan was obsessed and hated it. He deliberately tightened his grip on the man's towering abdomen. Xuan Long let out a painful 'ho' and looked down to free his hand.

Yan Yuan's strength did not let up at all and he sneered, "Painful?"

"You know pain too?"

"If you know it, how dare you betray me..."

Before today, Yan Yuan could still be sure that this child was his own, and he was quite happy to see Xuan Long protecting the child like that.

After today, he was not sure... Yan Huo Heng said that he and Xuan Long were innocent, so they were really innocent?

Who knows if they are having an affair behind his back?

Who knows if the child he was expecting could have been the result of Xuan Long's affair with someone else...

Xuan Long soon lost his strength and was slaughtered like a fish on a board. He fell limp on top of Yan Yuan, his hand on Yan Yuan's arm gradually loosened, his breath faded, and a trickle of blood dripped from between his naked legs.

Yan Yuan bit him on the back of the neck through his clothes, as if he was going to remove the baby from his body, but Xuan Long's icy turquoise eyes were vacant, without any light.

Perhaps it would be better to die like this.

Then he can meet up with Hu Le...

They would find an uninhabited valley and build a simple cottage where Hu Le, the baby, and he would all live together...

They'll find a deserted valley and build a simple cottage...

The overly hot touch finally pulled Yan Yuan back to his senses, and he looked down to see that there was already a bloody mess underneath Xuan Long, soiling both of their bodies, and his heart panicked for a few moments.

“A'Po..."

Xuan Long closed his eyes and did not reply.

Yan Yuan changed his position and held him horizontally. Xuan Long had passed out, and the inertia of the carriage and horses lurching turned his face sideways.

"Damn it..."

If only the child could really die like this, but Hua Niang had once said that if the child was lost, Xuan Long's body would not be able to withstand it and he would die.

"Men!!!"

"Speed back to the palace!!!"

"Li Bei, hasten your horse and go to the city to summon the flower spirit!"

"Yes."

Yan Yuan tortured Xuan Long again, but in the end, he did not want to let Xuan Long die. He didn't understand where his paranoid possessiveness came from. Whenever he touched matters relating to Xuan Long, he easily lost his mind and became violent and cold, he couldn't control himself.

All he knew was that he wanted to keep this dragon by his side and ask him not to go anywhere.

For Ning Zhiyu's sake, and for his own.

Li Bei alone left on a fast horse, much faster than the thousands of imperial troops and Yan Yuan's carriage, and by the time Yan Yuan returned to the palace, Hua Niang was already waiting at Qiankun Palace.

Yan Yuan carried Xuan Long to the bed and watched as Hua Niang treated him as she had done last time. This time, however, Xuan Long was in a deep coma and did not respond to the Zhenling needles.

When Hua Niang left, she wanted to say something, but in the end she did not say anything. If she told Yan Yuan that Xuan Long only had six months left to live, Yan Yuan, seeing that Xuan Long was no longer of use, might have immediately cut his heart out.

"The child... if you don't want it, you can hand it over to me when it's born and I will raise it." Anyway, if one was being raised, two could be raised, and there would be a companion for her Ying'er.

Yan Yuan was so preoccupied with Xuan Long that he didn't pay attention to Hua Niang's expression. When the child was born, Xuan Long would definitely want to raise it himself, so what was the point of giving it to someone else?

If it was his child, everyone would be happy, but if it was not his, it would be born and drowned.

"No need for you to meddle."

Hua Niang looked at his back and asked in a small voice, "Would you like..."

Yan Yuan's face was expressionless as he stared at Xuan Long without moving, "Someone, send her out of the palace."

"He might be... dying..."

The first three words were still clear, the last word disappeared into her throat and could not be heard at all.

Hua Niang was afraid to say it. If Yan Yuan did not want Xuan Long to die, he would have told her to save him, but how could she save him? She had a child, she did not dare to gamble.

Whether she said it or not, Xuan Long would still die.

It was only a matter of time.

Hua Niang turned away with tears in her eyes.

They were all just creatures who were not favoured by God. They were too busy to take care of themselves, how could they still have the ability to take care of others?

Xuan Long was in a coma for nearly twenty days, and when he woke up at noon, he found his hands locked in a pair of shackles, one on the left and one on the right, attached to heavy chains that ended at the pillars of the sturdy bed frame.

His body was covered with bedding but not clothed.

This was Yan Yuan's punishment, which Xuan Long knew very well.

Xiao Zhanzi came in every two hours to check on him, so he soon found him awake. Xiao Zhanzi stood a short distance away, cautiously saying, "Master Han, you are awake..."

Xuan Long slowly turned his head and gave him a glance before turning back and closing his eyes.

With a 'poof', Xiao Zhanzi knelt down and choked up, "Master Han… this servant's family is in Chang'an, if this servant went with you, they wouldn't survive..."

"This servant kowtows to you and begs for forgiveness from Master Han..."

Xuan Long didn't really want to talk to him. His heart was dead, he didn't want to care about the gains or losses anymore.

Seeing that he was not paying attention to him, Xiao Zhanzi wiped his tears and went out, probably to inform Yan Yuan, who came to Qiankun Palace not long after.

Xuan Long looked up quietly, as if he had not heard the footsteps. Yan Yuan took the fish porridge from the tray in Xiao Zhanzi's hand, scooped a small spoonful and fed it to Xuan Long's lips.

"Open your mouth."

Xuan Long did not respond.

"Don't make such a dead face for me. If you behave yourself, I can treat you well and release you, otherwise you will be locked up here for the rest of your life."