Chapter 86

The distant sunset glow gradually burned out.
The bluish, gray curtain of night quietly descended.
Under a bright moon and sparse stars, the cool evening breeze whispered through the air.
Xiao Changyuan swept Yun Pianpian into his arms, carrying her as he leaped down Mount Luoquan with his lightness skill.
At the foot of the mountain, the imperial guards stood waiting with torches in hand. Jiang Jiang lay on the ground, bound tightly with ropes. She had been crying for a long time, ignored by everyone, yet she refused to give up. Her delicate, doll, like face was streaked with glistening tears, flushed red from weeping, her small body trembling with sobs. “Please, I beg you, let me go, won’t you? I’m just a child. Don’t you have children of your own? How can you bully a child like this?”
The imperial guards paid her no heed. They had just witnessed this six year old child pull a silver box from her robes and release blood-red gu insects that bit everyone in sight. Fortunately, their commander’s blade was swift, cutting down the insects before they could wreak havoc. Otherwise, they might have been completely wiped out. After this incident, no one dared to treat her as an ordinary child anymore and quickly bound her tightly with ropes.
Jiang Jiang’s mournful cries were sharp and piercing, echoing eerily through the dark night like the desperate wails of a wandering ghost in the wilderness. The sound sent chills down everyone’s spines. They gripped their long sabers tightly, knuckles turning white, a shiver of fear running through them. Just then, Xiao Changyuan descended from the shadows.
Xiao Changyuan landed steadily with Yun Pianpian in his arms, his cold, deep eyes fixed on Jiang Jiang.
“Death or amnesia? Choose one.”
Jiang Jiang’s face turned as pale as paper. “I’ve already helped you undo the gu poison. You can’t do this to me.”
Xiao Changyuan’s voice was icy. “It seems you prefer being torn apart by five horses.”
“I choose amnesia! I’ll choose amnesia, alright? After I lose my memory, you can’t kill me!”
“I will not kill you.”
“You have to keep your word.”
“Get on with it. My patience is limited.”
Under Xiao Changyuan’s cold, indifferent gaze,
Jiang Jiang sobbed as she used a dagger to cut her own arm, opening the silver box to plant the Soul, Severing Gu into herself. She immediately fell unconscious.
The troops returned to the capital in triumph.
Xiao Changyuan had Jiang Jiang thrown into the deepest level of the imperial prison, forbidding anyone from visiting her.
In the bedchamber, the curtains hung low, incense smoke curled from the golden crane, shaped censer.
The palace doors were tightly shut, the ornate windows slightly ajar.
While unconscious, Yun Pianpian had sworn in the darkness that once she awoke, she would fiercely kiss Xiao Changyuan, kiss him with all her might, kiss him until he cried, until he fainted, until he was utterly ruined.
Yun Pianpian had finally fulfilled her oath.
But the subject and object had been reversed.
Xiao Changyuan pressed her onto the bed, kissing her until she cried, until she fainted, until she was utterly ruined. Yun Pianpian once again became like a tattered doll, her cheeks flushed crimson, her body limp and weak as she lay sprawled on the dragon bed, without even the strength to rise. Her fair, jade, like skin was covered in bluish, purple bite marks.
She hadn’t left the bed for ten days and nights.
Her voice had grown hoarse from screaming.
Yun Pianpian finally understood just how terrifying a man who had abstained for two years could be when he finally unleashed his desires.
Though her current state of weakness and exhaustion resembled that of a tattered doll, she felt deeply happy, for she had also found pleasure in the process, perhaps even more than Xiao Changyuan himself.
Xiao Changyuan was exceedingly attentive to her feelings.
His methods of pleasuring her grew increasingly skillful, leaving her utterly captivated and unable to resist.
So much so that she began to revel in the act.
Outside the palace, the young maids, hearing the faint sounds from within, blushed and breathed rapidly, their hearts racing as they imagined themselves as the woman moaning and twisting in pleasure on that bed.
Just the thought of such a scene was enough to make their faces burn with embarrassment.
These maids had all witnessed Xiao Changyuan’s merciless, cold, blooded demeanor. Before the Empress appeared, everyone had regarded him as a bloodthirsty demon risen from hell, a ruthless killer. No one dared to offer themselves to him or entertain any improper thoughts, for they all knew that Xiao Changyuan was ascetic and indifferent to women. To violate his taboos was to invite certain death.
But now, this handsome demon had been touched by worldly desires, becoming irresistibly alluring. The once restrained man had shed his inhibitions, and this temptation was enough to make them lose their senses, willing to become mere dust beneath his feet.
Unaware of the maids’ thoughts, Yun Pianpian, now as red as a thoroughly cooked shrimp, her delicate, fair skin glowing with a rosy jade, like sheen, was carried by Xiao Changyuan to the white jade pool to bathe. After her bath, Xiao Changyuan slipped under the brocade quilt to apply medicine to her. Yun Pianpian, feeling shy, always forbade him from looking while he tended to her, so he had to fumble in the darkness beneath the covers to apply the ointment.
Once finished, Xiao Changyuan emerged from under the quilt, his cool, jade, like face now glistening with a fine layer of sweat from being stifled under the thin cover, making his handsome features appear even more transcendent and restrained.
He leaned down and kissed her red lips. Yun Pianpian obediently allowed his affection, and after a moment, the two parted, breathless. Burying her flushed face in Xiao Changyuan’s chest, she couldn’t help but ask in a soft, gentle voice, “Husband, during those two years I was unconscious, why did you never kiss my lips?”
Xiao Changyuan lowered his thick, dark lashes. “Because Pianpian once said she did not want to become a tattered doll.”
Yun Pianpian was taken aback, her expression turning peculiar. “Would one kiss from you turn me into a tattered doll?”
“I was afraid I would not be able to control myself.”
Xiao Changyuan gazed down at her, his deep, dark eyes as profound and chilling as an abyssal pool.
“Pianpian, I don't want to hurt you.”
Yun Pianpian froze for a moment, her heart instantly softening. So he had endured two years without touching her because he didn't want to harm her. She tightened her arms around his waist. “Don't do this next time. If I fall unconscious again, you must kiss my lips. Even if it hurts me, it doesn't matter. I want to wake up sooner.”
Yun Pianpian began telling Xiao Changyuan the story of Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, both tales connected to true love's kiss, where a prince awakens a slumbering princess with a kiss.
Xiao Changyuan lowered his head and kissed Yun Pianpian.
“Understood, my little princess.”
Yun Pianpian: “...”
The hierarchy seemed a bit confused.
But it didn't matter.
Yun Pianpian slowly curved her lips into a smile.
She was content to be the little princess of the great tyrant.
Having spent two years as an animal, Yun Pianpian suffered severe aftereffects. In the past, she would never disturb Xiao Changyuan while he reviewed memorials in the front hall. But now, she became extremely clingy, unwilling to be apart from him for even a moment. While he worked, she would curl up on his lap like a tiger cub.
Xiao Changyuan looked down at Yun Pianpian.
“What are you trying to do?”
Yun Pianpian lifted her delicate, captivating face.
“I want to keep my husband company.”
“But lying like this will make you uncomfortable.”
Although the imperial throne could accommodate two people, Yun Pianpian had bent her body at a ninety, degree angle. Xiao Changyuan worried her back would ache if she stayed in that position.
Yun Pianpian blinked her clear, sparkling almond, shaped eyes.
“I'm very comfortable.”
Xiao Changyuan watched her for a while, then ordered the imperial desk and memorials to be moved near the chaise lounge by the ornate window, deciding to handle affairs there.
The chaise lounge was spread with a soft, thin blanket, far more comfortable than the imperial throne. Yun Pianpian could stretch out her limbs here without feeling the slightest strain.
Xiao Changyuan sat on the chaise lounge reviewing memorials while Yun Pianpian slept on his lap. From time to time, he would extend his pale, slender hand to stroke her fluffy head, as if petting a kitten. Both seemed to return to those difficult childhood days in the tiger cage.
Feeling Xiao Changyuan's intermittent caresses on her head, Yun Pianpian's consciousness grew hazy, and she gradually drifted into deep sleep. When she woke again, dusk had fallen.
She was still lying on Xiao Changyuan's lap.
Yun Pianpian immediately sat up and was taken aback.
She hadn't realized she had slept so long on Xiao Changyuan's lap, nearly two hours. His legs must have gone numb from her weight. Guiltily, she said, “Husband, why didn't you wake me?”
“I cannot bear to.”
Who would have the heart to disturb a sleeping butterfly?
Yun Pianpian massaged Xiao Changyuan's legs. “Your legs must be numb, husband. Get up and move around a bit.”
“I'm fine.”
“Even if you're fine, you should still walk a little.”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Changyuan had no choice but to stand up and pace around the bedchamber, finally stopping in front of her.
“Is that enough?”
Yun Pianpian looked at Xiao Changyuan and nodded emphatically.
“That's enough.”
Xiao Changyuan's gaze paused, and he said softly to Yun Pianpian, “Pianpian, you're not a butterfly anymore. You don't need to nod so forcefully like one.”
Yun Pianpian froze for a moment before realizing that her earlier action seemed a bit off.
“I forgot.”
Xiao Changyuan patted her head.
“Is your head dizzy?”
“Not dizzy.”
“Really not dizzy?”
“Maybe a little dizzy.”
Yun Pianpian made a pitiful face. When she was a butterfly, her head was only half the size of a grain of rice, so nodding never made her dizzy. But now, after nodding just once, she felt as if she might get a concussion.
Xiao Changyuan reached out and rubbed her head.
“Don't forget next time.”
Yun Pianpian couldn't help but look up at him.
His dark, profound eyes were fixed intently on her, making her heart race and her cheeks flush.
She threw herself into Xiao Changyuan's arms.
“Husband, you're so gentle now.”
Xiao Changyuan wrapped his arms around her slender, soft waist.
“Does Pianpian like a gentle me?”
Yun Pianpian was about to nod in his embrace but remembered she wasn't a butterfly anymore and didn't need to nod all the time. She whispered, “I like a gentle husband the most.”
“Then I should be a little cruel to Pianpian.”
Yun Pianpian was taken aback. She lifted her little head from Xiao Changyuan's chest and stared at him blankly.
“Why?”
Xiao Changyuan gazed at her with deep, unfathomable eyes.
“Because you must not love me too much.”
Yun Pianpian looked into his eyes and suddenly remembered what he had once told her: he only wanted three, tenths of her affection, because if she loved him too much, she would take an arrow for him, and he didn't want to lose her again.
Yun Pianpian said softly, “But I can't help it.”
Xiao Changyuan replied, “Even if you can't help it, you must restrain yourself.”
“Husband, you're asking the impossible.”
“I just don't want to lose you.”
“Then I'm unhappy.”
Xiao Changyuan frowned slightly.
“Why are you unhappy?”
Yun Pianpian said, “Because I like you, husband, but you won't let me. Since you don't want me to like you, I might as well just go home.”
Before she could finish, Xiao Changyuan pressed her down fiercely onto the chaise lounge and kissed her madly.
“You're not allowed to run away.”
“Then you're not allowed to ask the impossible either.”
After a long moment, Xiao Changyuan finally said hoarsely, “Fine.”
Though he was an undefeated emperor, in front of her, he could only willingly admit defeat.