So what if she's my sister-in-law? You seduced me first.

The dark night enveloped the courtyard. Military doctors rushed in and out, urgently treating Ning Yu's neck wound. Behind him stood a large Buddha statue, making the doctors' hands tremble as they changed the dressings. They carefully stopped the bleeding, fearing they might lose their heads.

In the past, His Majesty appeared aloof and unapproachable, but he had never been seen to lose his temper. Now, His Majesty's brows were noticeably lowered, and his aura was imposing and terrifying.

An indescribable, silent air current made it hard to breathe. After bandaging the wound and explaining the extent of the injury, the military doctor withdrew as if granted a pardon.

Fortunately, it was just a superficial wound that broke the skin, and he would recover in a few days. If it had really pierced his flesh, he didn't even dare to think whether he would be able to leave unscathed today.

The commotion inside the room ceased, and everyone hurriedly left with their medicine boxes and basins of water. Qingfeng, who was guarding the door, glanced at the man sitting by the bed and closed the door.

Xie Xun stared coldly at Ning Yu, who had fallen into a deep sleep with a pale face.

The dim light illuminated the two figures intimately, as if there were no barriers between them.

Even in her sleep, Ning Yu could feel his terrifyingly heavy, gruesome flesh-slicing attack on her. She unconsciously frowned, and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.

Xie Xun raised his hand, his rough fingertips brushing against her delicate skin.

When he found out she had run away, he wanted nothing more than to strangle her. He vowed that when he caught her, he would kill her, subdue her, and make her know the price of deceiving him.

He was tormented by her and couldn't sleep day or night. At the critical moment of his southern expedition, he received news of her and rushed to this godforsaken place.

When he saw her smiling at another man, he thought he would tear them both apart and bury one in the south and the other in the north.

Reason told him that as an emperor, he couldn't let the world laugh at him because of a woman. He suppressed his anger and waited for them to return, only to hear her threatening him to commit suicide for another man, forcing him to bow his head, and saying that she had never loved him.

She doesn't love him? It doesn't matter. Whether she loves him or not doesn't matter. She can only be trapped in the palace for the rest of her life, embedded in his bones, and fused with his flesh and blood.

He stroked her cheek and slowly moved to the back of her neck. He looked at her face, greedily gazing at her eyes and brows. Suddenly, he lifted her up with force, lowered his head, pried open her teeth, and kissed her fiercely.

Strands of hair fell from his temples, obscuring his somewhat frantic expression. Even in her sleep, Ning Yu felt as if she had been bitten by something, and the pain made her twitch.

She murmured and sobbed, tasting the blood in her mouth.

When I woke up, the sounds of fireworks and firecrackers had long since stopped. The daylight outside was bright, softly bathing the courtyard and spilling through the windows into the curtains.

Ning Yu touched her neck and hissed as she felt the persistent throbbing pain.

With a creak, the door was flung open from the outside. Her expression hardened, and she peered through the curtains, spotting a man's figure.

Xie Xun walked over, stood by the bed, and lifted the closed curtains.

Their eyes met. Her alluring and beautiful fox-like eyes were filled with wariness and hatred. He sneered, "You've forgotten the pain once the wound has healed."

Ning Yu didn't react much to being scolded, and she stopped pretending to be obedient. From the moment she tore off the mask and turned against him, all the pretense of love was gone forever.

"Get down here and eat."

Ning Yu remained unmoved, silently confronting him.

Xie Xun glared at her. "Don't you want to know what will happen to Shen Huijun?"

"What did you do to him?"

"Kill him."

Ning Yu's heart sank, and her breath caught in her throat for a moment.

Xie Xun looked at her stiff figure, a sarcastic smile playing on his lips. "You should be glad I'm not a ruthless emperor; he's still alive."

He's not dead?! Ning Yu's face paled at his repeated tantrums, and she sneered inwardly at his shameless expression.

If he's not a ruthless killer, then who is? She should be thankful that her relationship with Shen Huijun was merely a nodding acquaintance from beginning to end; it was all a lie.

"If you get seasick from not eating, don't blame me for not reminding you."

"What kind of boat?"

"We'll return to Beijing this afternoon," he informed her.

Ning Yu was amused by his words, "Is Your Majesty deaf?"

Xie Xun's face darkened. "Insolence!"

"I made myself perfectly clear to you last night that I will not return to the capital unless you take my corpse back with you."

She didn't want to get entangled with him anymore. She couldn't afford a man like him who would stop at nothing to do anything.

"So what do you want? To stay in this godforsaken place, or to wait for your older brother to take you to the Northwest? Ning Yu, don't be so stubborn."

Ning Yu looked at his gloomy face and said coldly, "Xie Xun, I don't think I've done anything wrong to you. You helped me, and I gave you my body. You forced me to fake my death and ruined my life, and I accepted that. I spent so much time with you in the other courtyard."

"But what about you? You relentlessly pressed me, laying all my shameful secrets on the table, making a huge fuss, leaving me utterly humiliated, and causing the young master to lose face. Have you ever considered how I am supposed to live in the Xie family?"

"You don't. All you want is for me to stay by your side, and you even want me to be your concubine. Why should I, Xie Xun, do that?"

She felt a burning sensation on her face when she recalled the chaotic scenes of those days. She looked at him and said, "Please let me go."

How could Xie Xun let her go? He wished he could forcefully take her away now and bring her back to the palace. They had a long time ahead of them.

But thinking of how she dared to commit suicide to force him last night, a sinister glint flashed across his handsome face, and he said coldly, "Who told you to be a concubine? I'm giving you the position of Empress. Come back to the palace with me."

Ning Yu's expression froze. Although she didn't understand the power struggles in the court, she knew that the new emperor's empress must come from an elder family. How could she possibly be the daughter of a low-ranking official?

Moreover, wasn't the Xie family's designated matriarch before his rebellion the Princess of Huayang?

"Have you forgotten that I was once married to your elder brother? Many people in the capital have seen me."

There are plenty of dead people buried underground, sealed off from the earth. Can someone buried in the loess soil ever crawl out?

"No one will dance in front of you."

Ning Yu shook her head. "I won't go back. I don't love you. I'd rather die than go back to the capital."

She spoke the truth so lightly, it felt like a sharp knife piercing his heart and bones, and Xie Xun wanted to strangle her.

With a bang, the door slammed shut, and the room became quiet.

The house was heated by an underfloor heating system. It had just snowed outside, so the room was warm and cozy. Ning Yu lifted the covers and put on her clothes. She inadvertently caught a glimpse of the marks on her body and angrily wiped them off with a handkerchief.

There was no movement outside the door. She glanced at the food on the table and opened the door.