Binding the Dragon for the Empress Chapter 93

Unless You Can Get the Heart of a Dragon

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Warning: This chapter includes a suicide attempt.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

A demon child is born in six months, so he is already slightly pregnant in the first month. When he raised his hand to it, it felt soft and warm under his palm.

In the past, Mo Zun hated those noisy children, but now that it was his own child, it was different. Maybe because his relatives were no longer there, he was looking forward to having children with blood ties to him in this world.

Unfortunately...

In the middle of the night, Mo Zun sat on the side of the bed, looking at the person on the bed for a long time, and the complexity in his eyes was beyond words. After a long time, he leaned over and pulled up the quilt, covering Ning Zhiyu.

Early in the morning, rain fell outside the hall, and water droplets fell from the eaves of the hall. As Ning Zhiyu woke up, he heard the voice in his head say:

"If you want to get rid of the child, there is only one way."

"When my body is rebuilt, I can crush the child with my spiritual power before expelling it from your body."

"Now, although I can temporarily leave your body, I cannot use my spiritual power."

Mo Zun's voice was hoarse and tired, as if he had not slept all night.

Ning Zhiyu propped himself up on the bed and sat up slowly: "Once you have obtained the dragon heart... you will have the ability to kill Yan Yuan."

"I won't give you the chance to hurt him..."

"I will not trust you again."

Mo Zun sneered, "It is up to you whether you believe it or not."

Today was no different from the usual daily routine. Ning Zhiyu got up and had a light breakfast. He loved to read poems and songs, but since the appearance of Xuan Long, he had not had the heart to read them for a long time, and asked Qingmei to find his favourite one in the afternoon. He flipped through a few pages, the words filled his eyes, but he did not have the heart to appreciate the beauty of it.

The autumn rain had been drizzling for a whole day, and the days were getting shorter and shorter. When it was about to get dark, Qingmei came in and asked Ning Zhiyu if he wanted her to serve the evening meal, but he leaned on the small couch, looking out of the window at the hazy rain and mist, and said, "Qingmei, I would like to go to Yuqing Pavillion to look around."

Qingmei paused: "Your Majesty, it is still raining and there is not even a moon tonight, what is there to see? Why don't you ask the Emperor to go with you one day when he is free?"

Ning Zhiyu shook his head, "I want to go by myself."

Qingmei could not refuse him, so she took a fox fur and put it on Ning Zhiyu, and went out with him while holding an oil-paper umbrella.

The night was cold, and Ning Zhiyu occasionally coughed twice, the skin at the end of his eyes flushed, and he looked pale but in a good mood, with a light smile in his eyes.

Qingmei has not seen Ning Zhiyu this happy for a long time, it is a bit strange. Recently, the Emperor would visit Luanfeng Hall, but because of the busy political affairs, he was always discussing state affairs with the ministers in the imperial study. He would come and sit for half an hour and then leave, spending less time with the Empress than before, so she do not know why he was so happy.

She muttered in her heart, but did not ask.

After walking for about half an hour, they arrived at Yuqing Pavillion. It was the tallest pavilion in the palace, more than 10 stories tall, with a slightly more spacious appearance than a pagoda. It stood in the curtain of rain in an ancient way, and if you looked up, it was a bit hard to see.

This pavilion was built for Ning Zhiyu when Yan Yuan was still a prince and he was still a student. Ning Zhiyu was born to a humble mother and did not have the same opportunities to go out and show his face as his siblings, so he had not been out of the house more than a few times since he was a child. Later, he entered the palace as the prince's companion and he didn’t have much of a chance to look at the outside world. Yan Yuan ordered someone to build this pavilion for him. Standing here, he could see the lights of the thousands of homes outside the imperial city.

It was the most beautiful view in the world in Ning Zhiyu's eyes.

The two of them stopped in front of the pavilion. Qingmei looked at Ning Zhiyu worriedly: "Empress, there are thousands of steps in this pavilion, your body may not be able to bear it. Should this servant will find a stronger eunuch to carry you up?..."

Ning Zhiyu smiled and shook his head, "I'll walk by myself."

When he came here before, Yan Yuan was afraid that he would get tired, so he always carried him up. Now that Yan Yuan was busy, he would come and walk up by himself.

Qingmei had no choice but to comply.

The stairs in the tower were narrow and the two of them walked side by side, leaving little room for manoeuvre. But halfway up, Ning Zhiyu started to move very slowly. Qingmei helped him to reach the terrace at the top of the building.

The sky was already dark and there were a few small lamps burning around. Except for the pavilion, there was nothing to see except for the fog.

But that did not stop Ning Zhiyu from having a smile in his eyes: "Once upon a time, A'Yuan and I used to come here. When I was in a bad mood, he would bring me here to see the lights outside the imperial city, to enjoy the moonlight and the stars in the sky."

Qingmei: "But it's raining today..."

How can there be moonlight and starlight when it is raining?

Ning Zhiyu's smile remained the same: “That’s right, it's raining today..."

The thick fog blocked the lights outside the imperial city, as if the night was already dark and dense. In fact, what did it matter if it rained? There would be many, many more clear days ahead, and he and Yan Yuan had a long, long future ahead of them.

A'Yuan had said that they would stand here and look at the scenery for the rest of their lives, and that when they were old and their hair was grey, they would hold hands and climb up together, enjoying the moon and watching the stars shine.

But who knew that a lifetime was so long... and that there were too many unexpected variables in the middle of it, like the wind blowing the vows between them to bits and pieces, and now there is just a little bit left to try to hold on to in the palm of your hand.

When he opened his hand, it flew away.

Although Ning Zhiyu was smiling, there was a lingering sadness around him. Qingmei knew that he must have remembered something and softly spoke in a comforting voice, "It's alright, next time when the sky is clear, the Empress can come again."

Ning Zhiyu shook his head and said softly, "I won't come."

Qingmei: "Why?..."

Water misted in Ning Zhiyu's eyes and his smile was light: "I won't come..."

"Things have long been different."

"It's only sad to be here more often."

"I'm tired."

Qingmei became more and more worried: "Your Majesty... should go back if you are tired, perhaps the Emperor is waiting for you to eat in Luanfeng Hall by now."

Ning Zhiyu's back was straight, his long hair, half tied and half fallen, danced with the wind, in a white robe, like a jade tree. He looked at the rain and mist beyond the pavilion and spoke in a soft voice:

"The person he waited for was never me."

Qingmei: "Your Majesty, don't say that..."

"Qingmei." Ning Zhiyu gently interrupted her.

"This servant is here." Qingmei whispered.

Ning Zhiyu didn't look at her, "Go back, it's time for dinner, don't make him wait too long."

Qingmei hesitated, "Your Majesty, this servant does not understand what you mean..."

Ning Zhiyu's voice trailed off and became a little hoarse: "You go back and tell the Emperor that I love him."

"With a husband like him in this life, I have nothing more to ask for."

"I just hope that in the next life, if we are still destined… we can walk together... a little longer..."

Ning Zhiyu lowered his head and mumbled, and Qingmei saw him cry, "Your Majesty..."

Ning Zhiyu let the tears trickle down his face. Since this was the last time he was going to be sad, what was the harm in being reckless.

"I am tired..."

"I don't want to fight anymore, for something that doesn't belong to me..."

Under Qingmei's watchful eye, Ning Zhiyu slowly approached the wooden railing that was half a man's height and looked down to the ground below, which was hidden by a thick fog. The height was more than ten stories, but it looked as if it was an abyss of ten thousand feet.

"If I fall from here, I'm sure I'll die a horrible death..."

Qingmei vaguely sensed something and nervously said, "Your Majesty, don't go over there, it's slippery in the rain and it would be bad if you tumbled over the railing."

Ning Zhiyu didn't hear what Qingmei was saying. Immersed in his own world, he mumbled to himself, "If it's ugly, it's ugly... As long as he remembers how I look at my best, it's fine... "

"It's a pity that I have not done anything for him as a married couple until now, so I guess I am a bit sorry for him... However, he has Xuan Long, so he doesn't need me anymore."

The two of them were two meters apart and Qingmei could not hear what Ning Zhiyu was saying. She was about to stop him from walking forward when she saw Ning Zhiyu put his hands on the railing and jump down.

Qingmei's eyes widened in horror as she rushed forward, "Your Majesty!!!"

The sound of something heavy hitting the ground came from below.

A 10-storey high building required a lot of strength to climb up. To jump down, however, only required a slight leap and everything would be liberated.

The obsession of loving but not being able to, the grievances in the heart, the pain, it will all dissipate with death...

There was a lot of blood gushing out from under Ning Zhiyu's head, staining the snow-white fox fur red. His life was bitter, it was only after he met Yan Yuan that he tasted some sweetness of life.

Now that the sweetness was gone, only bitterness remained.

In fact, he was not very good at enduring hardship.

When Yan Yuan received the news, he was in the imperial study, reading through the imperial documents, and preparing to go to Qiankun Palace to see Xuan Long afterwards. Chen Yan rushed into the hall in a panic, unable to even walk steadily, and knelt down and said, "Your Majesty... the Empress has fallen from Yuqing Pavillion..."

Yan Yuan's brain buzzed and the wolf-tail brush in his hand paused, a drop of ink falling on the document: "What did you say?"

"The Empress..." Chen Yan repeated.

Before he could finish his words, Yan Yuan leapt out of his seat and headed out, his eyes instantly red.

The height of Yuqing Pavillion is such that if a person falls, he or she will be shattered to pieces. How could he or she survive?

Yan Yuan did not dare to ask, but when he heard Chen Yan say that Ning Zhiyu had been carried back to Luanfeng Hall, he walked quickly in the rain and eventually dropped his appearance and ran wildly.

The situation was better than he expected: he was still alive, but not much better. His breath was barely perceptible and blood was pouring out from underneath Ning Zhiyu, staining half of the bed red.

The imperial doctors and palace staff in the hall were busy trying to stop Ning Zhiyu's bleeding, but with so much blood, it was impossible to stop it.

Yan Yuan could not get in for a while, and when he saw Zong Hua exit from the crowd, he went up and grabbed Zong Hua's arm, "How… how is A'Yu doing..."

Zong Hua sighed, "Your Majesty... please take my condolences."

Yan Yuan's sanity was gone and he roared out of control, “Your condolences... take what condolences, A'Yu is still alive, what condolences!!!"

Zong Hua kept shaking his head, "Your Majesty, if you fall from such a high place, your internal organs will be shattered, if your internal organs are shattered, you will not be able to live..."

Yan Yuan shook his head in disbelief, "Impossible..."

"How could A'Yu leave me, it's impossible... impossible..."

He suddenly had to turn around and squeeze towards the bed, pushing away all the imperial doctors and palace staff who were in his way, "Get out!!! Get lost, all of you!!!"

"I want to stay with A'Yu, all of you get out!!!"

The imperial doctors and the palace staff trembled and retreated. Yan Yuan sat down at the edge of the bed and saw Ning Zhiyu's face, and tears immediately fell down.

When he came yesterday, he was still fine, how could he have become like this...

Yan Yuan grabbed Ning Zhiyu's cold hand and cried like a child: “A’Yu... don't scare me, don't scare me..."

Zong Hua could not bear it in his heart: "Your Majesty... the facts have been set, there is no other way, unless we can get the dragon's heart."

‿︵‿︵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: October 1, 2022