Binding the Dragon for the Empress Chapter 57

Do You Want Him to Love You Forever

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The bright yellow tent of the dragon bed was tightly closed, and a bony hand was hanging outside the tent, pale from the dim candlelight. On the wrist was a green brocade handkerchief, and the Imperial Doctor had two fingers together, the tips of his fingers resting on his wrist through the handkerchief, checking the pulse intently.

Yan Yuan didn't expect that the dragon with immense powers would be as sick as a mortal. When he returned from the imperial study, he heard Xiao Dezi say that Master Han hadn't taken his meals for the whole day and didn't answer his calls, so he hurried into the side hall and found Xuan Long asleep on the bed, his body scalding hot and he wouldn't wake up no matter what.

In his desperation, he had to summon the Imperial Doctor.

Seeing that Zong Hua had not moved yet, Yan Yuan asked in a daze, "How is it?..."

"This person's pulse... is really strange.” Zong Hua frowned.

Yan Yuan: "How strange?"

Zong Hua deliberated, "It's not quite the same as a normal person."

Yan Yuan frowned slightly, "He's not a human, he's a dragon."

"A dragon?...” Zong Hua was stunned. He had been curious before as to how exactly Yan Yuan had acquired the dragon scales, and never thought in a million years that he had brought the dragon to the palace.

“En." Yan Yuan was too lazy to explain to him and said anxiously, "You didn't have a way?"

Zong Hua stepped back a few steps, bowed with downcast eyes, and said, "In reply to Your Majesty's words, my medical skills are limited, I can only heal people, not dragons."

Yan Yuan pondered for a moment, "He is burning up so badly, go and prescribe some medicine to reduce the fever. I don't know if it will help..."

"That will have to do for now.” Zong Hua nodded his head.

Yan Yuan waved his hand, signalling for him to go back. Zong Hua lifted the medicine box and said, "Your Majesty can wipe his forehead with a wet cloth soaked in cold water to lower the heat, and wipe his body with cold water every hour, it should have some effect."

Yan Yuan immediately ordered the palace staff outside the hall to bring in cold water, then lifted a small piece of the bed tent and sat down on the edge of the bed, holding Xuan Long's cold hand.

Zong Hua looked at Yan Yuan's figure, wanting to say something, but finally said nothing and slowly turned away.

Although the pulse of the dragon was different from that of the human race, he vaguely perceived two pulses, one large and one small, from it. The two pulses are fluent and smooth as if they were rolling pearls... Isn't that a happy pulse?

It should be wrong... The dragon is a man, and besides, both pulses are so weak that if they were in a human, they would kill two people in one body.

Before it is determined, he would not dare to say anything, for if he is not careful, it would be a crime of deceiving the emperor.

Xiao Dezi quickly brought in a basin of water. Yan Yuan was reluctant to let anyone else touch Xuan Long, so he dismissed the palace staff, lifted up his sleeve, drenched a white cloth with water, wrung out the excess water, and covered Xuan Long's forehead.

Before long, the damp cloth was warmed by Xuan Long's body heat, so Yan Yuan had to repeatedly dip the cloth into the cold water, and lift the blanket while using another cloth to clean the dirty stains between Xuan Long's legs.

It was left behind this morning by Yan Yuan, who had left Xuan Long behind when he learned of Ning Zhiyu's accident. At that time, Xuan Long seemed to say he had something to ask him, but Yan Yuan didn't have time to listen. When Xuan Long wakes up, he will have to ask him what the matter is.

The human method of cooling Xuan Long with cold water seemed to be useless, so Yan Yuan could only hope for medicine to reduce his fever, and a little more than half an hour later, the palace staff brought in some medicine from the Imperial Hospital.

Xuan Long's lips were pursed and his teeth were tightly closed, he couldn't feed it to him, and even if he forced it open, it wouldn't go down. Yan Yuan guessed that Xuan Long was afraid of bitterness and didn't show it when he was awake, but when he was asleep, he didn't hide it.

Yan Yuan had no choice but to endure the bitterness and take the medicine in his mouth, cover Xuan Long's lips, use his tongue to pry open his teeth, and pour the medicine in.

In the past, Xuan Long had occasionally been weak, but he had never slept as long as he did now. For the first time, Yan Yuan realised that this dragon was not as strong as he had imagined, that he could ache, and that he could be as sick as the human race.

Moreover, it was an illness that could not be cured by the finest medicine in the palace.

After the medicine was poured in, Xuan Long suddenly reacted; his body curled up in a slightly twisted manner, his hands were embedded in his abdomen as if it was painful there, a low whimper came from his throat, his teeth were chattering, and cold sweat appeared at the corners of his forehead.

Yan Yuan was startled, worried that he would hurt himself, and instinctively pulled Xuan Long's hands away from his abdomen: “A'Po..."

“A'Po... don't scare me."

Xuan Long was in a coma, acting entirely unconsciously. Yan Yuan's intuition told him that he should not let him do this, so he laid down in panic and used his arms to confine his body tightly.

“A'Po… A'Po..."

Other than calling his name, Yan Yuan didn't know what to do. For the first time, he realised that he was so distant from Xuan Long, and that he knew so little about him that he could not even notice that Xuan Long was sick, let alone know why he was sick, and then, even though he knew, he was still at his wits' end, not knowing how to ease his suffering.

Yan Yuan was so afraid that he would just fall asleep like this, and dropped a hasty kiss on Xuan Long's sweat-covered forehead, trying to give him strength in this way, “A'Po, Xiao Dezi said you have been sleeping for a whole day, don't sleep, open your eyes and look at me, okay?..."

The man in his arms gradually quieted down, his long eyelashes hanging, delicate like a lifeless mannequin.

Seeing that he was not paying attention to him, Yan Yuan gave in and said, "I know, you should be tired, then you should rest well, I will accompany you."

"Then you must wake up tomorrow, okay?..."

"I've never seen you sick before, you've suddenly turned into this state, it really scares me..."

Yan Yuan did not close his eyes until midnight, and when he opened his eyes the next day. Xuan Long was still sleeping, his high fever had not only not subsided, but had even gotten worse, his whole body seemed like a furnace, Yan Yuan was woken up by the heat.

If this body temperature were to occur in a human being, he would have been burnt to death. Yan Yuan did not even bother to go to the morning court and continued to ask people to bring cold water to Xuan Long to cool him down. Last night, he saw that Xuan Long's stomach hurt after drinking the medicine to reduce his fever, so he guessed that the medicine would be harmful to Xuan Long, so Yan Yuan did not dare to give it to him.

With such a crude method, there was no telling when it would take effect, but there was no other way but to keep it up.

Xuan Long was sick for ten whole days, and Qiankun Palace was in a mess. With the backlog of court affairs, Yan Yuan had to resume the morning court on the third day of his coma, and every day, except for the one or two hours of the court, he spent the whole day at Xuan Long's bedside, never leaving Qiankun Palace.

Luanfeng Hall had sent people to bring snacks to Yan Yuan several times, but they were all turned away on the pretext that he was busy with court affairs. The rumour that the Empress had fallen out of favour gradually emerged in the palace, saying that the Emperor had brought back a charming man when he went out of the palace in disguise some time ago and kept him in the Qiankun Palace.

As for the promise of a lifetime of love, it may be genuine when the love is strong, but when it becomes weak, it will not count. Ordinary men have three wives and four concubines, let alone the emperor of a country.

The Empress is too sickly to even have sex, and sooner or later he will lose the heart of the Emperor.

The palace maid in charge of Luanfeng Hall indignantly repeated the rumours to Ning Zhiyu, who listened to them with an unchanging smile on his lips: "Is that what they say?…"

The palace maid looked at Ning Zhiyu's bloodless face and her eyes were moist and hot: "Yes, this servant does not know where this rumour started, but when this servant returned from Qiankun Palace just now and passed by the Cold Palace, this servant heard the eunuchs and palace maids there gossiping, so this servant could not bear to listen to them and went in to scold them."

Ning Zhiyu laughed: "Why are you so angry... True is true and false is false, just because more people hear it, it doesn't become true. Didn't I tell you not to bully others with your power?"

"Where is this servant bullying others?" The palace maid complained, "It's just that those dogs and lackeys can't wait to step on the Empress' back when they see you in dire straits, and are happy to say a few bad words about you as if they've won ten thousand taels of gold. If you really had such a day, you might be bullied by others."

"You're so soft, even if you hear those people criticising you, this servant is afraid you won't punish them... Then this servant can only be tougher, to let them know that the Empress is not easy to bully, that Luanfeng Palace is not easy to bully."

"I say one sentence, you say ten... cough cough cough... cough cough..." Ning Zhiyu's eyes showed helplessness, and he covered his lips coughing, his breath unsteady, "I've really spoiled you during the week..."

"Your Majesty..."

This coughing brought out a lot of blood, which dripped down the back of his snow-white hand onto the brocade quilt. The palace maid took out a handkerchief with red eyes and held Ning Zhiyu's hand to wipe away the blood. The fact is that it is not strange to see this, but it hurts to see such a good person suffering from illness every day.

Ning Zhiyu's gaze fell into the air, the light in his dark eyes faint, like the last bit of fire about to burn out, and he laughed.

"In fact, what they say... is not all false."

"Once upon a time, A'Yuan wanted to see me day after day and pester me. Nowadays, I ask people to visit him with snacks, in the hope of getting a few kind words from him, but he won't even give them to me."

"In fact, there are many things that do not need to be said."

"I know that best myself...."

The palace maid grabbed his hand and said hoarsely, "Your Majesty... don't say that, His Majesty is just too busy, when he is free, he will come to keep you company. His Majesty is most concerned about you."

Ning Zhiyu shook his head, his voice gentle.

"There is no need to comfort me, I am not a fool."

"They are right... how can a sickly body keep an emperor’s heart..."

"What I have received is more than enough. At least he loved me once... Meeting him is the only blessing I have in this life. Perhaps I am poorly blessed, and my blessings are only a few, and they are gone before I can experience much."

"What cannot be forced... cannot be forced in the end..."

The palace maid's beautiful face fell into tears, she instinctively knew that if the Emperor really no longer loved the Empress, then Ning Zhiyu would die. Without enough love, people who are not strong enough will wither like the leaves of an autumn tree.

"No, it won't happen, this servant will go and beg His Majesty tomorrow, so that he can come and see you."

"Don't go." Ning Zhiyu said softly, "One should live with dignity, that way, even if one day I am no longer by his side... I can still leave a good impression in his heart."

The palace maid sniffed and whimpered. Ning Zhiyu had a headache from the noise but did not bother to drive her away, leaning the back of his head against the bed frame and closing his eyes.

A few moments later, he suddenly heard an eerie male voice ringing in his head.

"Do you want to make him love only you forever?..."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: July 12, 2022