Binding the Dragon for the Empress Chapter 129

Mother Doesn't Want Father Anymore

---

The door to the hall was opened from the inside, and a thin man in black appeared in sight, his long hair cascading down the side of his body, the right side of his face covered in a half mask made of dark gold, with the same turquoise eyes as his own, deep and cold, but A'Zhi did not feel alienated.

He had only met his mother in a hurry, but when he saw him standing in front of him, A'Zhi felt a strong urge to weep.

He had missed his mother for too long.

When he was on Earth, he had wanted his mother to appear as soon as possible so that his father wouldn't be so sad, wouldn't be drunkenly hugging him and crying all the time, and so that he could have his own mother, like the other children.

"Mother...” A'Zhi looked up at Xuan Long and called in a very small voice.

The little boy was dressed in a light green brocade robe, his hair was neatly tied up in a jade crown, and his soft little face was white and red. Although he had the same icy turquoise pupils and dragon horns as Xuan Long, his eyebrows were like Yan Yuan's, delicate and beautiful, and he looked very well-behaved.

When he thought of how he had died after giving birth to the child in the prison, without even hugging him properly, and how the child was already so old and he hadn't done his part in raising him, Xuan Long's heart was inevitably sad.

It was his first time as a parent, he was inexperienced and he had been away for too long, so he was worried that he would not be able to make his child happy, but he was a calm and steady person, so no matter how much emotion he was feeling, he would not lose control and scare the child.

Releasing the door, he slowly squatted down in front of the little boy and smiled stiffly.

"… A'Zhi."

"How have you been all these years?"

A'Zhi nodded, and shook his head with red eyes.

Xuan Long's heart tightened and he was about to ask why he shook his head when A'Zhi stepped forward and buried his entire small body into his arms, hugging his waist, "Mother… A'Zhi and Father both miss you."

"Father is always crying."

A muffled voice came from the embrace. Xuan Long's body stiffened slightly, then he gently wrapped his arms around the little boy's body.

It looked like A'Zhi had been raised well by Yan Yuan, clean and well-groomed, and should not have been treated harshly, but when A'Zhi was still in his womb, Yan Yuan had scolded him every time for being a sinner, and there was no way for Xuan Long not to worry.

"... He treats you well?"

A'Zhi withdrew from Xuan Long's arms blankly: "Did Mother mean Father?"

"En."

A'Zhi thought for a moment, sadness surfacing in his icy turquoise pupils, "Father is the person who treats A'Zhi the best in the world, but he is always very unhappy."

Xuan Long was lost in thought: “Why?"

The dragon heart had been given to Yan Yuan so Ning Zhiyu could be saved, so what could he not be happy about?

Could it be that the dragon heart was ineffective?...

"Because Father misses you.” A'Zhi said hoarsely.

Xuan Long took it as childish nonsense and did not take it to heart. He and Yan Yuan might have had a love affair once, but it had all been ruined by the realities of the mortal world, and Yan Yuan had been given a true lover, so how could he miss him?

Parental disharmony is a very traumatic experience for a child, and Xuan Long was reluctant to expose it, so he changed the subject and led A'Zhi into the hall, asking Lian Bi to take out the snacks he had already prepared.

A'Zhi sat on Xuan Long's lap and took a piece of peach blossom cake from the plate on the table, held out his short arm and brought it to Xuan Long's lips: "Mother, eat."

Xuan Long lifted his hand and took it, smiling lightly and said, "Okay."

When Xuan Long opened the door just now, Yan Yuan had already left. A’Zhi was so worried about his father's health that he didn't even bother to ask why Xuan Long had left them. After taking a few bites of the soft cake, he said, "Mother, Father said that when you came back, we would be reunited as a family, so why do you and Father have to live separately now?"

When he was in the mortal world, his father had said that the side hall where he lived was where his mother used to live. His father clearly did not want to leave it for a moment, leaving the luxurious Qiankun Palace main hall behind and taking him to live with him in the side hall.

"He and I were meant to live separately."

It was difficult for Xuan Long to explain the complexities of this to A’Zhi, he thought that such a young child wouldn't understand anything.

A'Zhi looked at him with those red, peach blossom eyes and asked in a low voice, "Do you not like him anymore?..."

"Father just dropped me off at the door and left, he didn't even dare to come in to see Mother."

Xuan Long's throat moved slightly and he said dryly, “A'Zhi, no matter what happens between me and your father, you are still my child."

"Is that so...” A'Zhi twisted his small body, becoming visibly frustrated.

Xuan Long was the worst at coaxing people, and he wasn't even very good at coaxing children. When he saw that the little boy was unhappy, his heart clenched up along with him, and he could only tell him to eat more pastries.

A'Zhi had something in his heart, and did not have much appetite, he stayed at General Xuan Hall after lunch and then said he wanted to go back. Xuan Long wanted to keep him, but could not find a reason, so he had to personally send him back to Dongji Hall.

When he arrived outside Yan Yuan's bedchamber, A'Zhi did not go in first, but turned to look at Xuan Long, wanting to say something: "Mother... Father he..."

"What's wrong?" Xuan Long asked in a low voice.

A'Zhi met his eyes for a moment, lost in thought, and shook his head, "It's nothing."

Xuan Long could only remain silent.

The heavenly soldiers outside the hall had all withdrawn for some reason. A'Zhi turned around, slowly raising his hand to touch the doorway, ready to enter, but hesitated to do so. He turned his head with red eyes, ready to cry.

"Mother..."

"Father seems to be ill... would you like to go in with A’Zhi and see him."

Xuan Long: "... Someone will take care of him."

As the Heavenly Emperor, Yan Yuan's fortune was strong, and his illness should only be minor, not to mention that he had plenty of people around him to serve him, so there was no need for him to see him.

It would be superfluous for him to go.

"But no one is more important than Mother..." No one knows better than A'Zhi how much Yan Yuan suffered after losing Xuan Long. His father's desire to see his mother must be no less than his own, but he didn't even dare to meet his mother.

A'Zhi did not understand why.

His mother's silence made him feel sad, but he did not have a difficult temperament, so after saying that he would go in first, he turned and entered the hall.

When the little boy's figure disappeared from sight, Xuan Long stood quietly in place for a long time, dropping his eyes forlornly and leaving stealthily.

The hall was silent. A’Zhi tried to use his voice transmission technique to call out to his father twice to tell Yan Yuan that he was back, but no one answered.

Clearly sensing his father's presence, A'Zhi ran into the inner hall in a panic and saw his father, dressed in white, lying peacefully on the bed. His heart was about to drop when he suddenly coughed out a mouthful of blood. Yan Yuan opened his bloodshot eyes and propped himself up on the bed, covering his lips and coughing as he trembled.

Blood dripped from between his fingers, and more blood splattered on his white lapel as the wound on his chest cracked. Yan Yuan thought that A’Zhi would not return today, but when he raised his head in his drowsiness, he was confronted by a small pale face.

“A'Zhi...?" Yan Yuan was still a bit overwhelmed by the situation.

"Why are you back so soon... where is your mother?"

A'Zhi climbed up the edge of the bed and lifted his sleeve to wipe the blood from Yan Yuan's lips, his eyes welling up with tears: "Father... what's wrong with you, don't scare A'Zhi, A'Zhi is afraid."

"Are you sick again like before?..."

After returning from General Xuan Hall in the morning, Yan Yuan fainted as soon as she returned to his bedchamber, and did not even have the time to ask the Healing Immortal to come and treat his wounds.

Yan Yuan was annoyed in his heart, but his face was calm. He smiled and pulled away A'Zhi's hand, and raised his sleeve to wipe his lips: "No, A'Zhi, don't worry, it's just a small wound, just ask the healer to treat it, Father will be fine."

"Then… A'Zhi will go and ask the Healing Immortal for Father.” A'Zhi said as he was about to climb out of bed, but Yan Yuan held his little body to stop him, "Father, just use sound transmission."

A'Zhi was indeed worried about leaving Yan Yuan alone in his bedchamber, which was why he was in a hurry to return.

Seeing that Yan Yuan had used sound transmission, A'Zhi relaxed for the time being and used his phantom technique to produce a basin of water and a soft cloth, wringing it out and then holding it in his small hands to gently wipe the dried blood stains on Yan Yuan's face.

A'Zhi was so well behaved that Yan Yuan felt uncomfortable watching him. If he really failed to survive the Heavenly Punishment, what would A'Zhi do?

"Why don't you stay with Mother for a while longer?"

A'Zhi was silent for a moment and met Yan Yuan's eyes, "Father, did you and Mother have a fight?..."

"No." Yan Yuan smiled.

"Then why didn't Mother come to see you?… A'Zhi told Mother that Father is sick.” A'Zhi's soft voice was hoarse, he was good by nature and would always suffer from the pain and suffering of others.

Yan Yuan: "It is not that Father and Mother have quarrelled, it is that Father has done something wrong... and made your Mother angry."

"What kind of wrong thing?...” A'Zhi could not read the bitterness in Yan Yuan's eyes.

Yan Yuan lowered his eyes, "Something unforgivable."

A'Zhi touched Yan Yuan's face and said comfortingly, "Then A'Zhi will go and apologise for Father, okay?..."

Yan Yuan shook his head with a bitter smile, "It's useless..."

“A’Zhi just needs to remember that no matter what choice your mother made, it was the right one. A'Zhi must not blame him or resent him, for it was Mother who fought to the death to give birth to A'Zhi, to bring A'Zhi safely into the world, to let A'Zhi live well..."

"The one who is wrong is Father..."

Even though Yan Yuan hated his former self to the core, he was unable to reveal his evil deeds to A'Zhi without reservation.

He was afraid that A'Zhi, who was immersed in the illusion of his parents' love, would be hurt, afraid that A'Zhi, who trusted him, would become bitter and hate him, and look at him with eyes of utter disappointment, questioning how he could do such a cruel thing.

Even he did not know... how he could do such a cruel thing to Xuan Long.

If death could take away the bitterness, that would be a good thing.

“A'Zhi understands… Father, don't cry.” A'Zhi could not see his father upset and raised his hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of his eyes. “A'Zhi will listen."

Yan Yuan gently stroked the little boy's dragon horns and smiled, "Good A'Zhi."

"In the future, when Father is not by your side... you must listen to Mother, be filial, be as understanding of Mother as you are of Father, and love Mother more than you love Father."

A'Zhi froze and said, "Why would Father be away from A'Zhi?..."

"Because Father, as the Heavenly Emperor, has many things to attend to, and there will certainly be times when he is not by A'Zhi's side in the future." Yan Yuan's smile showed no sign of breaking.

"Okay, A'Zhi promises Father."

At the same time.

Xuan Long appeared in front of the General Xuan Hall and looked up to see a person standing by the door of the hall.

That person was dressed in a light blue spiritual robe, with excellent posture and a clear appearance; it was none other than Ye Ling Shenjun

"General, I have been waiting for you for a long time."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter

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: December 22, 2022