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

Ning Yu's chest trembled violently as her indifferent fox-like eyes stared at him.

"I was only married to your elder brother from beginning to end. It was just a transaction between us. You have no right to imprison me here. Xie Xun, this is stealing a subject's wife. The historians will record your absurdity and leave an eternal infamy in your imperial annals."

When Xie Xun heard her mention his elder brother again, his relatively gentle expression slowly faded, replaced by a chilling terror.

"Whose wife are you? You should now refer to yourself as your concubine."

Ning Yu said coldly, "I didn't marry you, so untie it for me."

Xie Xun remained motionless, staring at her face. Every time he thought of her feigned affection after she escaped, he longed for her to fall into his hands; she would not have a good end.

But when he saw her, he still couldn't bring himself to do it. He gave her a chance, telling her to just obediently go back with him, but she refused.

He was not a kind person. If she disobeyed, then what he did was not excessive. He chained her up in Changxin Palace. If she did not want to be empress, then she should follow him without a title or status. This was how it should be, and this was reasonable.

"I will release you when you come to your senses. If you remain as stubborn as you are now, I will imprison you for life."

The voice, so indifferent it was almost animalistic, enraged Ning Yu to the point of losing her temper. She grabbed a pillow from the bed, intending to smash it to her death.

Xie Xun caught her, threw her onto the mattress, got up, and carried her body to the bathtub at the back.

A pain shot through her ankle, and before she could even see clearly, the chain was undone, and she was lifted into the bathroom.

After washing up, Ning Yu's ankles were chained again, and she was forced to sit at the dining table and eat a bowl of porridge.

Xie Xun brought over the medicinal soup. "If news of your not eating reaches my ears again, you know what will happen."

Ning Yu wanted to put the medicine bowl on his head.

Xie Xun seemed to have anticipated her thoughts. He grabbed her wrist with one hand, his eyes, as cold as snow on a high mountain, flashed with indifference. He picked up the medicine bowl and drank it in one gulp, then forced her mouth open and fed it to her.

Ning Yu's eyes widened in surprise; she hadn't expected him to feed her like that, and she pushed and kicked him.

The bitter taste of medicine lingering in her mouth mingled with the scent of agarwood emanating from his body, filling her nostrils. He lifted her up and placed her on the table, his arms wrapped around her waist.

Xie Xun originally only wanted to feed her medicine, but as they kissed, his body unconsciously stirred, and their lips and tongues, which had been pushing each other, became entangled at some point. He leaned in and pressed even tighter, wanting to kiss her even more deeply.

Ning Yu was so overwhelmed by his kisses that she could hardly breathe, and she bit him fiercely.

Pain shot through her mouth, and she could faintly taste blood. A shadow crossed Xie Xun's eyes, and he pressed his grip on her head, kissing her even deeper.

His thin clothes couldn't hide him at all. Ning Yu realized what he was going to do and turned pale with fright.

She didn't know where her clothes containing the contraceptive had gone; she couldn't conceive his child.

"Xie Xun, get out of my way."

Xie Xun still preferred her fierce and unruly demeanor; it was much better than her lifeless appearance while lying in bed.

His movements softened slightly, his heavy breathing rising and falling, causing Ning Yu's breathing to become even more rapid, her body trembling involuntarily. "Don't you have any women left?"

Xie Xun was captivated by her soft body; once he touched her, he didn't want to let go. Hearing that she still acted recklessly, he bit her until she screamed in pain.

He should make her suffer a bit, see what kind of people can trample on her without his protection, let her rot in the mud, and let even a lowly servant girl take advantage of her. Then she will know how good he is.

He couldn't bear to see her like that; he wished she were power-hungry and willing to climb over him to get ahead. As an emperor, he could afford to support her like that, but now she was too lazy to even pretend.

"Ouch, you beast---"

Ning Yu's temper wasn't bad. Back at home, Madam Ning always said she was too easy to talk to. But after meeting Xie Xun, she became anything but gentle.

Xie Xun gripped her waist tightly, completely ignoring her angry curses, and carried her around.

A bronze mirror as tall as a person was added to the hall. Ning Yu didn't want to look at it, so she scratched him a few times and bit his shoulders and neck without holding back her strength.

Xie Xun buried his face in the back of her neck and breathed heavily. His long, narrow, and lustful phoenix eyes looked at her shy and embarrassed appearance in the mirror. "It seems you miss me very much."

The sound of the gold chain jingling and clanging rang out with his movements. Ning Yu, her eyes red, bit his arm silently.

Originally, it was thought that the emperor did not take in many concubines after his ascension to the throne because of the southern war. Who would have thought that he would go so far as to forcibly take women into the palace, and countless memorials were presented to the imperial study.

Many high-ranking officials also wanted to see who this woman hidden in the emperor's bedroom was, and they discussed it endlessly in private.

Upon receiving the news, the Xie family elders, who held the rank of one of the three highest officials in the council, rushed straight to the palace.

But as soon as they approached the palace gate, they heard a woman's broken cursing voice coming from inside.

"Are you deaf? Are you crazy?"

"Xie Xun! Xie Xun!!!"

The voice, so soft and seductive it didn't sound like a serious scolding, made the elders stop in their tracks and retreat in unison.

No wonder there was no one guarding the palace. In broad daylight, how absurd, truly absurd!

When the Xie family elder, who was leaning on a cane, saw Qingfeng rushing over, he turned around and left in anger. "Please inform Your Majesty that this old minister is waiting for Your Majesty in the outer pavilion of the Imperial Study. I have something to report."

The gentle breeze bowed its head in response.

The head of the Xiao family hurriedly followed behind, glancing at the tightly closed palace doors as he left, his face extremely grim.

Xie Xun ascended the throne with the backing of the Elders Council. After the marriage of Princess Huayang was cancelled, he still refused to allow the Xiao family girl to enter the palace. What was he planning?

Xie Xun, who was inside the hall, heard the noise outside but ignored it.

It was two hours later when it was over, and he carried her out of the water.

Ning Yu was so angry that she smashed the wine pot in his face. She knew he had many tricks up his sleeve in bed, but he was clearly taking all sorts of ways to bully her.

Xie Xun dodged and threw her onto the bed, not caring about her audacity. He felt a sense of satisfaction, thinking she deserved to be taught a lesson.

The joy emanating from his very bones was the relief of a fish returning to the sea. He stood by the bed, changed into casual clothes, glanced at her flushed face, and thought that it was too late to bring her back from Xianyang.

"Are you trying to kill me?"

Xie Xun bent down and gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. "Go to sleep."

Ning Yu looked at him and thought, "They must be enemies from a past life to have such a grudge and entanglement."

Her body was still trembling slightly. Feeling the chain on her ankle swaying, she asked in a hoarse voice, "When are you going to untie it for me?"

Xie Xun tucked the blanket around her, then stood up. "I've already said it, if you've thought it through, I'll let you go."

Ning Yu watched his departing figure, glanced at the gold chain on her ankle, and slowly closed her eyes.