WARNING! MATURE CONTENT.
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That night, it was unusually cold. Empress Xi Jiu pulled the golden quilt over her shoulders and sank deeper into the bed. The wind was howling outside the window screen. She fell asleep.
But suddenly at a certain hour in the midnight, a tall and a dark shadow pulled away the curtain around the bed without warning and hoovered over her, startling her to scream in fright. But her mouth was immediately blocked by that person's thin and cold lips. She couldn't scream. A weak moan escaped her lips.
Her lips were bitten and kissed deeply until traces of blood appeared. It was pain like she had never felt before.
She immediately recognized that touch. She was bewildered. Li Yan??? It was Li Yan!
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She was horror-stricken. Li Yan never liked to be with her like this, entangling with each other this intimately...
She didn't move for a while and was too shocked. Then she suddenly came back to her senses and realized that she was feeling a strong smell of alcohol from Li Yan.
Her eyes widened. So Li Yan was drunk! Else would he have come here? She was flabbergasted. She knew that Li Yan wasn't in his right senses now. She needs to immediately stop him. If this go far too much and once Li Yan gets sober, she did not want to think what he will do next...
It was clear Li Yan did not like her. It was not good for her to take advantage of him in this of a situation. Even if she wanted him to love her, she wanted him to love her willingly. She didn't want it this way.
So she forcefully tried to break off from the kiss. She was running out of her breath. She struggled violently and opened her mouth to speak.
Li Yan accepted the chance gracefully and entered her mouth in the next second. Xi Jiu's eyes almost teared in pain. Li Yan wringed his tongue with her's like a thirsty poisonous snake. He did not leave her a single second to refuse.
When Xi Jiu realized things were really going out of her control, she couldn't help but bite Li Yan's lips hard. Her teeth cut into his swollen and wet lower lip and bled.
Li Yan slowly raised his face and looked at her face. Those red and slightly wet eyes were cold and frightening. He wiped way the blood on his lower lip and glared at her.
"Unwilling, aren't you?" He asked in a softer but more dangerous voice. "But you were so willing when Zhanhua kissed you this morning."
Xi Jiu's scalp went numb. What? Zhanhua? That young son of Minister of Revenue? He was younger than her! How could she possibly... She shook her head wildly. "Your Majesty, what... What are you saying!"
But Li Yan didn't seem to be in his senses right now. He did not want to hear a single excuse from her.
"You dare!" He hissed in a dangerous voice that sounded very hoarse. "What is better in Zhanhua than me? Hmm? You seem to like him so much..."
Xi Jiu was thunder struck. Then she suddenly realized that it might not be the case. Her eyes widened in horror. "Your Majesty! You're drunk!"
But Li Yan pushed her down deeper to the bedsheets trapping her under him. "All these times you refused me because you loved him! Nuo Nuo! You really - !"
Xi Jiu gasped. Nuo Nuo? The Emperor had mistaken her! That sounded like a nickname. Who was this Nuo Nuo who was capable of driving Li Yan mad? She was apprehensive. She struggled uselessly to break free from the painful grasp upon her shoulders. "Your Majesty! No!"
He ripped her clothes off in a few seconds and mercilessly entered her. He did not care if it hurt her. He did not care about the painful tears that slid down those miserable and painful eyes. He did not mind the muffled screams she let out in pain. He only knew that he was very angry. He wanted to vent. He wanted to punish Shen Nuo. He wanted to hurt him.
So that night, he took her virginity and repeatedly trampled on it. He did her until the bedsheets got drenched with her blood. That night, the Emperor vented over for several rounds and she conceived.
When Li Yan woke up with a splitting headache, early next morning, he was shocked. Xi Jiu was lying next to him weakly with a deadly pale face. Her bare shoulders were covered with numerous marks of red and purple hitches. The side of her neck was ruthlessly bitten...
Memories of last night slipped into Li Yan's mind and he felt as if he was stabbed. He felt thunderstruck. He...he did it with her! Color left his face. He couldn't speak for a long time. His heart almost bled.
Looking at her lifeless face and pale and chapped lips that were scratched, he knew how hard he had been on her. This was something that he didn't want to happen. Only if he had listened to Zhangsun and didn't drink alcohol... But it was too late.
After what seemed for hours, he slowly slipped out of the golden quilt and pulled her up into a bridal carry. He washed her himself carefully and dressed her up. She still didn't wake or respond him except leaving painful hisses with closed eyes and tightened brows whenever he hurt her.
After having her cleaned and neatly dressed, he cleaned the bed himself, placed her on it and draped the quilt over her shoulders.
His heart stopped beating when he saw blood on the sheets. He really did not know what to do. He felt lost.
He silently dressed himself and summoned one of Xi Jiu's maids and ordered her to summon the Imperial Physician immediately.
The maid left quickly with a red face.
Li Yan sat by the bedside and turned to look at her face. His heart bled. What was happening? Why was he messing everything up to draw even worse?
He vaugely remembered a bit from their play last night and he knew he had repeatedly called her Nuo Nuo all night. She was still a woman who once yearned love from him genuinely. How can she not be hurt?
Li Yan slowly leaned down and pressed his cold lips against her pale forehead. His eyes were moist though his face was cold. "Xi Jiu. I'm sorry!" His voice was very hoarse.
He silently left the chamber.
Zhangsun was just standing outside the door with his head unusually lowered. His posture was still straight and majestic. But there was some unfelt feeling that was unfathomable in him.
Li Yan didn't say anything. A thousand emotions seem to flash through his eyes. He pursed his thin lips and looked at Zhangsun coldly. "Follow me!" He said in a freezing whisper. Zhangsun didn't say anything and followed Li Yan all the way into the Emperor's chamber.
The very moment Li Yan shut the door behind them, he turned around at lightning speed and gave a thunderous slap across Zhangsun's face.
Zhangsun gritted his teeth, closing his red eyes. He didn't say anything. He silently lowered his head and endured. Li Yan looked at him hatefully.
"Why didn't you stop me?"
Zhangsun knelt on the ground with a lowered head. "This subordinate was incompetent. Please punish him!"
Li Yan slammed a jade vase which shattered into several pieces amid a deafening sound. "Is that an excuse, Zhangsun? You clearly knew I was drunk!"
This time, Zhangsun didn't even speak. But his lowered eyes moistened at visible speed. He sniffed once convulsively but he went stiff immediately when he realized what he had accidently done. He didn't move and continued to stare at the floor.
Li Yan narrowed his eyes. "Crying? Is that an answer?" He grasped from Zhangsun's collar and pulled him up. Zhangsun shuddered conclusively when he was forced to stand on his feet. A painful hiss escaped his lips.
Li Yan's hand that grasped Zhangsun's collar got drenched with something sticky and cold. He slowly withdrew his hands and looked at his palm. It was blood.
Li Yan was stunned. Blood left his face. He stared at Zhangsun in incredulous disbelief. Then almost at once, he tore apart Zhangsun's collar and looked at his half revealed naked chest.
Li Yan was shocked. Upon that chest were numerous dagger marks of ruthless cuts. Zhangsun was highly skilled. It's impossible for anyone to harm him this way...
Li Yan took a step back weakly. He couldn't speak for a long time. His heart was in a terrible mess.
"Zhangsun... Did I do this to you?"
Zhangsun immediately knelt again. "This subordinate tried his best to stop Your Majesty but still failed! This subordinate is incompetent! Please punish him!"
Li Yan gulped. "I've injured you to this extent and... still you ask for punishments?"
He took another step back, feeling lame and his back pressed onto a pillar. He blindly leaned back onto it with his red eyes unfocussed. His fingertips shuddered under the heavy golden sleeves. His heart was in a mess. "Zhangsun...I'm sorry..."
Zhangsun looked horror-stricken. "Your Majesty!"
Li Yan gulped again. Cold tears left his red eyes. "I'm sorry. I don't deserve your servings... Zhangsun, I'm... I'm sorry..." He shut his eyes tightly and more and more tears fell down them painfully. He slid down to the foot of the wooden pillar slowly. His head was going to explode... Perhaps he was mad...
And not far away, at the Palace of the Empress, Xi Jiu lied on her bed weakly. She knew she won't be able to get up from the bed at least for a month... It was so intense last night that her energy had all drained up.
Her bare shoulders that revealed out through the half wrapped golden quilt around her were completely scarred with red and purple marks. Her neck was bitten mercilessly. The most unbearable pain was from her waist. She couldn't even move.
Her face was bloodless and deadly pale. She just couldn't believe Li Yan would have this much potential even after getting drunk. She did not know what to feel. She actually liked Li Yan. But she still felt a little hurt. Li Yan completed their marriage. But that love shouldn't have been her's. That should have belonged to someone called Nuo Nuo.
Who was Nuo Nuo? That cold morning, her personal maid stood apprehensively by her side. "Mistress!" She said in a lame whisper.
Xi Jiu looked at her weakly. "Luo Ying... help me do something, ok?"
The maid nodded repeatedly, feeling anxious. "Mistress, what should this maid do?"
Xi Jiu grasped from Luo Ying's wrist with a slightly shuddering hand. "Help me... find someone. Her nickname is Nuo Nuo. And she must be close to little brother... Zhanhua. She's in the Academy. I... want to know... everything about her. Ok? I want to know her... background, her personality and... everything!"
Luo Ying nodded furiously with tear stained eyes. "Luo Ying definitely will!"
Then the little maid left the Empress alone inside the room and went out in search of tidings.
That evening, Luo Ying arrived back. Xi Jiu was still lying on her bed.
"Mistress! There's no girl named Nuo Nuo learning at the Academy."
Xi Jiu furrowed her brows in pain. "That shouldn't be! Did you mistake?"
"But Mistress! This maid searched everything herself. There really isn't a girl called Nuo Nuo. There's only one person with that name. Mistress, he's that ger son of Grand Martial Ruoyun... Prince Shen Nuo. And there are some rumors saying that there indeed is something between Prince Shen Nuo and Young Master Zhanhua."
The Empress was shocked. Shen Nuo? That little innocent boy who was only eleven years old? She was horror struck. She couldn't recover from the shock for a long time. Was Li Yan serious? Or is he insane?
Then suddenly she remembered that following morning from a week before. That day when he pulled her onto the bed and got interrupted by Shen Nuo unexpectedly, didn't Li Yan also wear a strange expression on his face?
She suddenly realized. Li Yan actually loved Shen Nuo. So his so called true love was that cute and young ger...
Xi Jiu silently pulled up the quilt closer and wrapped it around her tightly. She didn't speak anymore. Cold tears felled down her eyes. The golden quilt still had the fragrance of Li Yan...
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