Binding the Dragon for the Empress Chapter 81

Accumulated Depression Leads to Illness

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Hua Niang took a few small steps back in horror, "No..."

Yan Yuan approached her, "Take it out."

Shrouded in shadow by the tall human, the flower spirit was so afraid that tears grew in her eyes and she shook her head, "If there is no child, A'Long will die."

Yan Yuan frowned, "What?"

"The child will be five months old soon... If he loses it, he will die.” Hua Niang didn't lie, the child was something Xuan Long would lay down his life to keep. If the child was gone, would he still have any hope of living?

There won't be.

Yan Yuan stared suspiciously at the woman's small face, "Impossible, women have been known to induce labour after five or six months of pregnancy, don't lie to me."

"Human and dragon physiques are different...” Hua Niang retorted softly.

Yan Yuan: "He has ten thousand years of Taoism, no matter how different his physique is, he should still be stronger, how could he die without this child?”

Hua Niang held back her tears and straightened her neck: “He’ll just die."

Yan Yuan pursed his lips and said nothing.

Hua Niang took the opportunity to say, "If he dies, you won't be able to save your empress!"

"Shut up." Yan Yuan lowered his face.

What death? He wanted Xuan Long to stay with him for the rest of his life, he was not allowed to go anywhere.

He ordered Hua Niang to be sent out of the palace and built a residence for her outside the palace. After all, she was the only healer who could save Xuan Long at the moment, so Yan Yuan had to keep an eye on her. If anything happened to Xuan Long, she could be summoned at any time.

After moving out of the house on Weihua Lane, Hua Niang took her daughter and hid in a ramshackle hut in the old forest on the outskirts of the city, and only went into the city every ten days to buy her necessities. No wonder Yan Yuan couldn't find her at that time. 

This was a good thing, and Xuan Long would be happy when he wakes up.

According to Hua Niang's instructions, Yan Yuan ordered someone to make some medicine and bring it to him, and Yan Yuan personally fed it to Xuan Long. He didn’t know if it was an illusion, but after Hua Niang came, Xuan Long’s breathing because a little more steady, but his face was still very pale.

Yan Yuan sat on the side of the bed and watched over him, his mind in a state of distraction. He guessed that the flower spirit was lying and that her words were full of loopholes, but it had to be said that the words 'he would die' did make Yan Yuan feel disgusted.

Now that Xuan Long's body is weak like this, it would be better to let the child stay in his womb for the time being, and if he really did want to give birth, it wouldn't be impossible... Wait, what was he thinking?

If such a half human, half dragon monster is born, who in the world could tolerate them? If they were to be kept in the palace, there would probably be secretive ridicule from the palace maids and eunuchs.

It would be impossible to explain to A'Yu... subconsciously, Yan Yuan did not want to think about this matter anymore.

It is always easy to run away when faced with a dilemma: on the one hand, the world's prejudice and the trust of your beloved, and on the other hand, the child that Xuan Long values most. Once upon a time, Yan Yuan would have chosen the former without hesitation, but now he inexplicably began to hesitate, perhaps because when he saw him willingly suffer for the sake of their child, which is difficult for ordinary people to endure, even the most ruthless heart would be moved and become soft.

The demonic compulsion can control a person's body and who is in their heart, but it cannot control the soul from unconsciously following the obsession it has been searching for for ten thousand years.

The sun was setting over the hills in the west.

The man in the bed woke up at the moment when the day turned to night. Yan Yuan grabbed his hand on the bedding: “A'Po, you're awake..."

The sharp stinging pain in his back invaded Xuan Long's nerves, and he weakly twisted his head to look at the person on the side of the bed. There was joy in Yan Yuan's eyes, he was probably happy that he did not die, so he could continue to feed his empress with his flesh and blood.

He wanted to pull his hand back, but Yan Yuan's grip was too tight and Xuan Long had no strength and didn't really want to talk, so he gave up.

Yan Yuan ordered the palace staff outside to prepare a meal, then turned to speak to Xuan Long with a bit of coquetry, "You have been sleeping for days. It was the flower spirit that saved you.”

"... I have released her from the palace, don't worry."

Xuan Long twisted his head to look up, still silent.

Yan Yuan didn't quite like the way he looked and couldn't help but take credit for it, "I've set up a house for her, so if you're unwell in the future, I'll ask her to come and see you."

"Hua Niang doesn't like to mingle with the crowd, so you let her and Ying'er go." Xuan Long spoke hoarsely.

The mention of other people made Xuan Long react, and Yan Yuan was a little upset: "What if you have a headache or fever in the future, it's not like the doctors in the palace can treat you."

Xuan Long closed his eyes, "I don't need anyone to heal me."

Yan Yuan frowned, "Don't be angry, this time it's my fault, I shouldn't have told you to pull so many scales at once. You are really... you can't even learn to be soft, you pulled them all out in one go when I told you to. If I tell you to die, will you really die?"

Xuan Long murmured, "What is... softness."

If he is soft, will he be able to stop pulling scales?

If he is soft, will Yan Yuan be able to release Hu Le?

"It is..." Yan Yuan paused and said with a straight face, “when I am angry, you can say a few nice things to me, coax me, and when I am happy, I will treat you well."

Xuan Long turned his face away and said sullenly, "I don't need you to be kind to me."

The gesture of total resistance caused Yan Yuan's anger to rise up from the bottom of his heart and he changed his face, "You don't know..."

Xuan Long's breathing suddenly became a little sharp. Yan Yuan looked down to see that he was holding his hand too tightly and that it was hurting him. In a flash, he came to his senses and loosened his grip a little, squeezing his palm and rubbing it gently.

"Alright, I know you are sore and in a bad mood, so I won't bother you."

"Eat something first, it's shrimp and corn porridge, it's sweet and refreshing, you should like it."

Yan Yuan picked up the bowl from the tray in the palace attendant's hand. The congee had been ordered to be prepared by the palace attendant earlier and was kept hot in the kitchenette pot so that Xuan Long could eat it whenever he woke up.

If he wanted to be good to people, he could be very good, and if he was bad to people, it would be extremely bad.

Yan Yuan waved his hand to dismiss the palace staff, scooped up a small spoonful of porridge, put it to his lips and blew on it, then carefully passed it to Xuan Long's lips: "Open your mouth."

The wound on his back was too severe, and getting up would definitely strain the wound, so it would be more comfortable to eat while lying down.

Xuan Long turned his head sideways and looked around the hall, but didn't see anyone he wanted to see: "... Where is Hu Le?"

Yan Yuan's brow was slightly knitted, but quickly relaxed: "Still in prison."

Xuan Long's icy turquoise eyes slowly turned to him, "You said that you would release him once I pulled out the scales."

In the evening Yan Yuan had bathed and freshened up, his face had been cleansed and he was still looking as handsome and at ease as ever.

"Eat the porridge first."

A spoon was passed to Xuan Long's pursed lips, and some of the soup fell on the corner of his mouth and slid across his cheeks.

Xuan Long strained to speak, "I want to see... Hu Le."

Yan Yuan suppressed his heart's displeasure, took out the handkerchief in his sleeve to wipe his face clean, then re-scooped a spoonful and handed it over.

"Okay, I will release him immediately after you finish eating."

Xuan Long stared at him for a moment, making sure he didn't look like he was lying, before he slowly opened his mouth.

As he had been in a coma for too long, his tongue was painful and he could not taste anything. Although Yan Yuan had blown on the porridge and put it into Xuan Long's mouth, he was so impatient that the porridge was still hot when it entered his throat, making it difficult to swallow.

Xuan Long did not make a sound and ate quietly, but the corners of his eyes were red and after taking a few bites, he choked and coughed violently, coughing up a handful of blood.

The wound on his back seemed to have split open, and the pain caused him to break out in a cold sweat. Xuan Long wiped the blood from the corner of his lip with the back of his hand and closed his palm to hide his hand at his side, but Yan Yuan grabbed his wrist.

"How can this be?..."

Bright red liquid seeped out from Xuan Long's fingers and dripped onto the brocade blue bedding. Yan Yuan placed the bowl on the wooden board beside the bed and forcefully spread out Xuan Long's hand, and his whole body froze.

"Why are you coughing up blood..."

"Didn't you suffer an external injury?"

Xuan Long was lying flat on his back, his face turned towards the inner side of the bed. From Yan Yuan's angle, all that could be seen was the hideous scar on the right side of his face, which could hardly be hidden from view in the candlelight.

“Speak!" Yan Yuan growled low.

"The porridge, it's too hot." Xuan Long returned in a faint voice.

Yan Yuan's eyes darkened: "Why didn't you cry out that it was hot?"

Xuan Long did not reply to him, he did not move, as if he was going to sleep again.

Yan Yuan took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood from his palm, the snow-white handkerchief turned bright red, with a faint cold fragrance, and it was incredibly beautiful.

After wiping it off, he put the handkerchief aside and picked up the bowl again, softening his tone a little, "Eat some more."

Xuan Long did not respond. Yan Yuan stood up to look at him and found that his eyes were closed and he had fallen asleep.

The overly quiet look frightened Yan Yuan.

Hua Niang, who had just been sent out of the palace, was summoned back in the middle of the night.

The guards barged into the house while Hua Niang was eating with her two-year-old daughter. The crowd of people scared the little girl and made her cry. When she arrived at Qiankun Palace, the child was already asleep in her arms, her skin pink and white, her eyelashes pale pink, her nose slightly inflamed, she was as delicate as a carefully carved work of art.

Seeing Yan Yuan staring straight at the little person in her arms, Hua Niang tightened her grip on the child warily: "... What are you up to again?"

Yan Yuan withdrew his gaze, "He coughed up blood today, you didn't tell me that plucking scales would make him cough up blood. What's wrong with him?"

Glancing at the palace staff next to her, someone immediately stepped forward to take the child from Hua Niang's hand.

"Check on him first, I won't hurt you or your daughter."

After confirming that the child would not leave her sight, Hua Niang let go of her hand. She walked to the bedside and checked Xuan Long's pulse with her spiritual sense, and after a few breaths, she withdrew her hand and said, "It is an illness caused by accumulated depression."

Yan Yuan frowned: “An illness caused by accumulated depression?"

This kind of illness often happens to human beings… Can demons also suffer from depression?

Hua Niang lowered her eyes, looked at Xuan Long's lifeless face and said softly, "Well... because A'Long is in a bad mood. If you are kinder to him, he will recover from it."

In fact, there is no such thing as a pent-up illness, but because his soul power has declined so much that even his body has begun to weaken at an accelerated rate, he will not have more than a year left.

If Yan Yuan treated him better, took good care of him, and didn't always bully him and make him suffer in a way he shouldn't, Xuan Long might be able to live longer, but no longer than a year.

"You better not be lying or you'll definitely regret it."

"... I'm not lying." Hua Niang said in a low voice.

Yan Yuan saw that she did not look different and believed her for the time being: "Should some medicine be prescribed?"

Hua Niang shook her head: "No, you can just make him happier every day and he will be fine."

Yan Yuan bent down and grabbed Xuan Long's cold hand, putting it into the bedding, "I understand."

As Hua Niang took her sleeping daughter from the palace attendant, she heard Yan Yuan ask from behind her, "Is this a child you had with a human?"

Hua Niang froze: "No... her father is a snow wolf demon."

Yan Yuan stared at her cute little face: "How come I don't see wolf ears on her head."

Hua Niang stroked her daughter's fluffy little curly hair, her expression soft: "She is like me, her original body is a flower like mine, she has no ears."

‿︵‿︵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: September 15, 2022