Chapter 40: CH 39

Tears In Eyes

The man on the bed was just as beautiful as the palace maid had described, but he looked too weak and pale, and seeing that he was so breathless that he could not even speak, he knew that he was terminally ill and would not live long.

Yan Yuan treated him like a precious piece of jade, carefully holding him in his palm, not even willing to speak too loudly.

Xuan Long had thought that Yan Yuan had treated him well enough, so well that he could not help but offer those feelings as the most important thing in his heart, but at this moment, those good feelings seemed very small compared to the man in his bed.

Yan Yuan would never be so patient with him, and would always get angry before he could say a few words.

It turned out that Yan Yuan was not just a child, but that he had given all his tenderness to others and naturally had no more room for him.

In fact, he was already reluctant to pretend to give him a little bit of his tenderness and act with him.

The dragon's breath remained within the body after Ning Zhiyu had taken dragon scales, and it didn't take long for Xuan Long to realise that the dragon's breath belonged to him.

What terminally ill friend... Where is there a terminally ill friend, it's clearly a couple who love each other deeply.

Xuan Long has not cried for a long, long time. When he was very young, he did not like to cry much because his mother always beat him, and if he cried, he would be beaten harder and harder. The more he endured it, the more he got used to it, and the more blood he shed, the more he could keep quiet.

The hardest he ever cried was the day he was expelled from the clan by his mother, who cut off his horns. He cried his heart out, hugging his mother's legs and begging her not to expel him, that he would be obedient and would go to a corner where she could not see him and he would not bother her.

His mother's heart was as cruel as ever that day, and she never softened her heart for him, so the little Xuan Long, who was not even a hundred years old, wandered away from the dragon clan with a badly injured body.

In the nearly ten thousand years that followed, no matter what happened to Xuan Long, he never cried again.

What could hurt more than being hurt by one's own family.

There is nothing else.

Until Xuan Long met Yan Yuan. The human smiled so beautifully, like a tiny ray of sunlight coming through a mossy rock crevice, and every morning when he woke up, he always felt that the world had changed.

He was happy to serve Yan Yuan, to wash his soiled clothes, to buy his favourite food from the market for him, to make several trips a day without any trouble, as long as Yan Yuan was happy.

As long as this person was happy, he was not even afraid of pulling the dragon scales off his body alive, and the pain was nothing compared to the weight of Yan Yuan in his heart.

This was because this weak human was the only being who had been willing to come close to him in nearly ten thousand years. As a result, he carefully nurtured this hard-won relationship, lest this fragile and delicate flower should break one day when he was not aware of it.

The love between a human and a demon must be much less easy than ordinary relationships. If he was in love, what did it matter if he gave in to that person at every turn? Apart from his life, he would be willing to give anything to Yan Yuan.

But he never thought that... Yan Yuan's good treatment of him was all a lie.

Could it be that... their meeting, getting to know each other, and loving each other, were, from the very beginning, all premeditated...

The answer is clear enough.

When Yan Yuan's empress became seriously ill and needed dragon scales to heal, he deliberately approached him and tricked him into trusting him so that he would willingly hand over the dragon scales.

With the words of the medical master and the fox demon ringing in his ears, Xuan Long knew it was time for him to leave, but it was as if a spell had been cast on his body, his feet had taken root and he could not move.

He hadn't shed a tear in ten thousand years, but now his eyes suddenly felt a little hot. He stared blankly at the scene of the two people rubbing each other’s faces in front of him, and a strange twinge of pain emerged in his heart.

He had thought that Yan Yuan was the one who would be soft to him, but it turned out that this was not the case, Yan Yuan's tenderness had been given to someone else, and his softness naturally belonged to someone else.

If it wasn't for the man in bed named 'A'Yu', Yan Yuan wouldn't have approached him, and they might never have crossed paths in their lives.

It was all a sham.

All the warmth and love that he had once felt was exchanged for dragon scales.

He was intoxicated and secretly rejoiced like a fool...

The two people on the bed were oblivious to Xuan Long's presence.

At this time, Yan Yuan was thinking about Xuan Long, he wondered why the dragon hadn't returned after so many days. The previous dragon scales had been consumed a few days ago, and without the dragon scales as a medicine, the prescription was useless.

Ning Zhiyu's health was getting worse and worse. Yan Yuan had previously said he would take him to the imperial garden, but now he could hardly even get out of bed and take two steps. Yan Yuan was so impatient, his fingertips softly brushed through Ning Zhiyu's ink-like hair at the corner of his forehead and he coaxed: “A'Yu, wait a little longer, soon those people will be back from their quest for medicine. I won't let anything happen to you, you can trust me."

"Mm." Ning Zhiyu nodded and looked at Yan Yuan, "What kind of medicine is it that is so precious?"

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Yan Yuan saw that his cheeks were thin and as pale as snow, and his heart ached dully. He held Ning Zhiyu's hand and said in a soft voice, "Didn't I tell you before that it was a very rare herb that was not available in the palace, and could only be found on the edge of a steep cliff."

"Mhmm." Ning Zhiyu had doubts in his heart and felt that he was hiding something, but since Yan Yuan did not want to say anything, he did not pursue the matter and said with a weak smile, "Look at me, I have been sick for too long, even my mind is not very bright anymore. It’s good that A'Yuan does not dislike me."

Yan Yuan smiled along with him and gently pinched Ning Zhiyu's cheek: "How could I ever dislike you, I treasure you more than anything."

Ning Zhiyu lifted his hand and wrapped it around Yan Yuan's neck, pulling him closer, then tilted his head up and kissed him on the lips, his dark eyes fixed on him, and he softly said: “A'Yuan insisted on taking me as his empress. My body is unfit for use, and being a man, I cannot bear an heir, so you are at a great loss with me."

Yan Yuan propped his arm at Ning Zhiyu's side and raised his hand to caress his brow: "Where does this come from?"

Ning Zhiyu hesitantly said, "As an emperor, without an heir, the ministers must not..."

Yan Yuan raised his hand and held his index finger over Ning Zhiyu's white lips, "Shhh."

Ning Zhiyu suddenly stopped speaking.

Yan Yuan's hand turned to touch his cheek, his expression serious: "Do not mention this again. It is enough that I have you, what do I need an heir for? When the time is ripe, I will choose a suitable royal son from the royal family’s side branches to be enrolled as one of the princes. If you can have children, I will be happy, but if you can't, it doesn't matter. I don't even want to look at a child born to someone else."

Ning Zhiyu did not say anything for a long time.

Yan Yuan looked at his appearance and smiled, "What? Are you going to cry? Silly A'Yu, I love you, so naturally I have to treat you with all my heart and soul."

"I am afraid that A'Yuan will regret it later, I am not as good as you think, how can I, Ning Zhiyu, be worthy of your imperial dignity and treatment..." Ning Zhiyu said dumbly, circling Yan Yuan's neck.

"If I say you are worth it, then you are worth it." Yan Yuan leaned down and kissed him on the forehead.

In his previous life, Ning Zhiyu died in his arms. Yan Yuan did not know why he died, but his intuition was that it was for him. Since that was the case, in this life, he would protect him and cherish him instead.

Not far away, Xuan Long watched Yan Yuan's smile with a frown. He should have been happy to see how happy he was with that man.

But this was not the case, and the sadness that welled up in his chest almost overwhelmed him.

Standing still in a self-abusive manner, he slowly started waking up from that big dream...

Ning Zhiyu used to love to read poetry and books, but now that he is ill, he rarely even reads books anymore, so Yan Yuan sits on his side of the bed and reads to him to lull him to sleep.

This is what Yan Yuan and Ning Zhiyu are used to doing, and it is naturally much more delicate than dealing with Xuan Long. After all, Ning Zhiyu is the Prime Minister's son, so they had a lot to talk about. Although he is not favoured, he has been taught by a teacher and is not lacking in literary skills. Unlike Xuan Long, who is not good at mundane things, and who seems lacklustre.

For Yan Yuan, his few uses are for indulging in lust, or for being a fresh medicine.

Before falling asleep, Ning Zhiyu vomited blood, soiling the bed. Yan Yuan's heartache was obvious, and his eyes were red. The palace staff bustled in and out, bringing hot water to help clean up Ning Zhiyu's blood and tossing and changing the clean mattress.

There is a difference between living beings, and Xuan Long has known this since he was a child.

For example, his mother hated him, but loved his siblings very much.

Another example was that of Yan Yuan at that time. He felt a lot of pain for that man, while he had pulled so many scales and shed so much blood, but he did not see how much Yan Yuan cared.

After all, they were different.

After Ning Zhiyu had fallen asleep, Yan Yuan brought Chen Yan in, fished an ink-coloured dragon scale with a silver glow out of his sleeve, and handed it to him, "Go personally, grind this dragon scale into powder and add it to A'Yu's prescription, boil it and send it here. Be careful, it's the last piece, if you mess it up, I'll make sure you're punished."

It was Xuan Long's inverse scale.

A beautiful dark green braided rope was attached to the moon-white scale, a gift from Xuan Long to Yan Yuan, but to Yan Yuan, it should have no meaning, otherwise why would he not have hesitated when he handed it out, without even a trace of expression on his face.

The little light left in Xuan Long's dull turquoise eyes faded with Chen Yan's departure.

He fished out the iris jade pendant from his chest pocket and rubbed it gently in his palm. It was given to him by Yan Yuan, and he said that if he accepted this token of love, he could not change his heart for the rest of his life, and he had never changed his heart.

But had Yan Yuan ever been sincere with him?

Xuan Long felt that he should perhaps be as ruthless as Yan Yuan, and smash this ridiculous jade pendant to the ground, thus ending their relationship, or show himself and confront Yan Yuan in person, asking him why he had deceived him.

However, remembering all that had happened in the past, remembering the moments of warmth Yan Yuan had given him, Xuan Long could not do so, and he was not the type to make a fuss. He held the jade pendant in his hand and left Luanfeng Hall as quietly and as feebly as he had come.

When he lifted his head, there were tears in his cold turquoise eyes.

Fortunately, no one saw him, and his wishful thinking wouldn't look too ridiculous.

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