Binding the Dragon for the Empress Chapter 58

Demon

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Ning Zhiyu thought he was hallucinating from thinking about Yan Yuan, so he opened his eyes and looked into the empty hall.

Except for the palace maid by the bed, there was no one in sight.

"You can't see this honoured one..."

"This honoured one is inside you..."

The voice appeared again. It was so close that it was as if it was spoken close to Ning Zhiyu's ear, low and rustling, causing a chill to run through his bones and his throat to tighten as he asked, "Who are you?"

The palace maid froze, forgetting even to cry, "Your Majesty, what's wrong with you?..."

"Qingmei, you can go away first, I am tired and would like to be alone for a moment." Ning Zhiyu calmly shook his head and closed his eyes, while listening to the voice in his head say:

"It doesn't matter who this honoured one is... What matters is whether you want to have Yan Yuan love only you."

For some reason, the voice seemed to gnash its teeth extra hard when it said the words 'Yan Yuan'.

When Qingmei went out, the panic under Ning Zhiyu's eyes couldn't help but show up, and his thin hands silently clenched the bedding over his body: "Why are you inside me?..."

"Are you a devil?"

"Devil?" The voice sneered. "Stupid human, this honourable one is a demon."

"Demon..." Ning Zhiyu's heart was in shock.

"You don't need to be afraid, this honourable one resides within you and lives in symbiosis with you, and will not harm you."

Ning Zhiyu suppressed his panic and asked in a low voice, "Why do you want to reside inside me, what is the benefit to you?"

"A spiteful soul has nowhere to go, so it has to find a host."

Ning Zhiyu: "Why me..."

"You are a pure and virtuous person, your soul is fresh and sweet, which suits my taste, and your body is so compatible with mine. Besides, you are that person's empress."

Ning Zhiyu thought of something almost immediately and tightened his grip and said, "My illness... is because of you."

"On the night of my wedding, I suddenly fell ill because of you."

That voice echoed with an odd note: "A little clever."

Ning Zhiyu figured out the reason and his eyes turned red, momentarily forgetting his fear: "It was you... who did this to me. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have gotten sick, and if I hadn't gotten sick, A'Yuan wouldn't have gone to seek the dragon for me, not to mention fallen in love with him."

"It was you who harmed me..."

"You think that without this honourable one, Yan Yuan can love you forever?" The voice interrupted him. The words were mocking.

"Don't be stupid. He didn't hesitate to give up his position as Heavenly Emperor for the sake of Xuan Long and willingly fall into the mortal world to suffer from reincarnation just to love a mortal."

"He has searched for Xuan Long for ten thousand years, but now he has fallen in love with the wrong person. When he comes to his senses, do you think there will still be a place for you beside him?"

Ning Zhiyu was dazed and said, "What are you talking about..."

"He and Xuan Long were an immortal couple in a previous life. Ten thousand years ago, Xuan Long led the celestial soldiers in battle against the demon race in the body of a divine general, and died in that bloody battle when he won a great victory. In order to avenge Xuan Long's death, Yan Yuan went on a killing spree, slaughtering all the demons and giving up his position as Emperor of the Nine Heavens to enter reincarnation as a mortal to find him. The search took 1ten thousand years. Do you think that Yan Yuan's relationship with Xuan Long in his previous life was deep, or just the few years of affection with you?…"

"If he hadn't drunk that bowl of Mengpo soup when he was reincarnated, would he not have recognized the wrong person..."

"But... it's better to be mistaken... it's better to be mistaken..."

Ning Zhiyu heard his madness and elation and asked, "How do you know this... and why should I believe you?"

"On the basis that I belong to the demon clan that he drove to extinction." The voice gritted its teeth, and the sudden rise in volume shook Ning Zhiyu's eardrums. A feeling of nausea welled up in his chest, and his face turned white.

It took a long time to find his voice: "... What do you want to do?"

"This honourable one wants to take revenge–"

"Let him know what it is to repent and wish for death... hahahahahaha... hahahaha... "

Ning Zhiyu fought back the churning in his stomach and spoke with difficulty, "... You want to kill him."

"No, this honourable one will not kill him."

"Death is such an easy and pleasant thing to do, living in pain is more pleasing..."

"In order to avenge Xuan Long, he slaughtered tens of thousands of beings of my demon race, so this honourable one will make him kill the lover he has been seeking for ten thousand years with his own hands, and make him watch Xuan Long die in front of him..."

"Think about it, the day he regains his memory, what kind of wonderful expression will appear on his face?..."

"He will definitely be worse off than dead, and will kill himself so he can join Xuan Long in the ground. Where is the need for this honourable one to do anything?"

"Hahahahahahahahaha-hahahahahahahaha-"

Ning Zhiyu covered his ears in pain and collapsed into a ball on the bed: "No... I won't help you... I won't help you..."

"No, you must help this honourable one."

"Otherwise, the day Yan Yuan completely falls in love with Xuan Long will be the day you leave the palace."

"He loves Xuan Long so much, do you think he will allow you to stay with him at that time? After you leave the palace, where can you go?..."

"Back to your father's Prime Minister's mansion?"

"He is willing to look at you and think highly of you now because his cowardly, incompetent, lowly son has become a phoenix overnight, but everything you have was given to you by Yan Yuan. Once you lose your status as Empress and the shelter of Yan Yuan, you will be back to the old Ning Zhiyu that everyone scorned. Even the subordinates in the Prime Minister's mansion will be able to step on you when you fall down..."

Ning Zhiyu closed his eyes, and tears slid down his fair cheeks. He covered his ears tightly, yet the voice still penetrated his brain and stung his heart, so he pleaded, "Stop it... stop it..."

"Did this honourable one say something wrong?" The voice asked lightly in return.

"The former Ning Zhiyu was so lowly, and the abolished Ning Zhiyu will be a dog in the water that everyone will shout at. Do you remember the winter when you were five years old and you were forced by your first-born brother to jump into the water to show him how to do it?... If you didn't jump, he would have beat up your nanny. A five year old child can't swim... You were drowning and were rescued when you were dying. Your health started to deteriorate then, right?... When you were eight years old, the only nanny who took pity on you and was willing to love and cherish you fell ill and died. In fact, she was poisoned by the Prime Minister's wife who hated you, her husband had only one woman in his life, but because your mother broke her vows, she gave birth to you, a filthy, sinful child. You knew all that, but you didn't dare to say anything because no one would stand up for you. When your nanny was alive, you had someone to look out for you, and when she died, it was even harder for you… You grew up like duckweed in that Prime Minister's mansion, sinking when anyone stepped on you."

"When you were sixteen, your noble brother forced you to climb a tree to collect a kite, and you fell down and cracked your head open. No one cared about you... except for Yan Yuan, who appeared and asked if you were in pain, bandaged your wounds, and took you back to the palace."

"Your life was favoured from that moment... but who would have known that everything you have now, you stole from someone else."

"When he looked at you, he was actually thinking of his lover from his previous life, of Xuan Long, and all the good he did for you was because of another person."

"But even if you know that now, what can you do?..."

“A'Yu, in this world, no one will want you except Yan Yuan. You can only cling to him firmly like a piece of cowhide, otherwise, you will end up in a miserable situation." The voice became gentle, like a lover's mumbling.

"No..." Ning Zhiyu said with tears streaming down his face as he covered his ears and shook his head desperately. "He loves me... he loves me..."

“It's not because of someone else..."

"Don't fool yourself." The demon burst out laughing.

"Haven't you already felt it yourself? He's being drawn to Xuan Long. In their previous life, they formed an immortal couple and made a love contract in front of the Three Life Stones with the iris as a contract; that love contract is engraved on their souls and whenever they meet, they will be uncontrollably in love with each other."

"His heart will only grow farther and farther away from you. If you don't think it through, once he falls completely in love with the Xuan Long of this life, this honoured one will not be able to help you."

"While he still has guilt and scattered vague feelings for you now, you still have a chance to turn the tables."

Ning Zhiyu's eyes were deathly silent as he looked up and muttered, "I won't let you have your way... I won't let you hurt him..."

"It's not like the honourable one is asking you to hurt him."

"This honourable one only needs you to join hands with this honourable one, and make Yan Yuan kill Xuan Long with his own hands and dig out his heart... Don't worry, mortals who drink Mengpo soup will not regain their memories of their past lives, and when Xuan Long dies, you will be able to spend the rest of your life in harmony with Yan Yuan. With this honourable one has a dragon heart to reshape his physical body, you will then be completely free of this honourable one."

"Such a good thing that kills two birds with one stone?... What reason is there not to do it?"

"When Yan Yuan regains his memory, it will be in his next life at the earliest. You don't even know where you will be in your next life, so why should you care if he is better off dead?"

"You have to plan for your present life."

Ning Zhiyu spoke woodenly, "Aren't you afraid that I will find a monk to drive you away?"

"You can try, although this honourable one needs your body now, a mere mortal monk can't do anything to me."

"This honourable one advises you... not to act rashly, otherwise this honourable one dares not guarantee that this honourable one will not be in a bad mood and kill Yan Yuan."

"If he dies, you can't even have this life of his."

"No... don't..." Ning Zhiyu didn't even notice that the other party was lying. If the demon was really capable of killing people, why would he need to bother talking to him here? "You said you wouldn't hurt him."

"Humph. " The demon said. "So how about it? Have you considered it?"

Ning Zhiyu: "You have the ability to kill… if you want Xuan Long's heart, you can just go dig it out yourself."

"What's the point of that? The soul of this honourable one relies on the power of your soul. It is indeed possible to kill someone, but it will take a lot of spiritual energy, not to mention digging out the heart of a dragon. Why should this honourable one do it myself when this honourable one has a ready-made labourer to use?"

"This honourable one will give you three days to think about it, if you still can't decide, then this honourable one will have to choose someone else."

"There are many other bodies that are suitable for this honourable one to reside in."

‿︵‿︵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 15, 2022