Mu Rong Hui clenched her right fist tightly, hatred surging within her.
Since childhood, she had admired Mu Xiao and longed to marry him. Little did she expect that he would be harmed by the joint efforts of Xuan Yuan Li and his sister, Xuan Yuan Xin Zi.
That despicable pair—sooner or later, she would kill them to avenge Mu Xiao.
~
Light gauze fluttered as two palace maids attended to her dressing. Mu Rong Hui rose from the water, stepped out of the bathtub, dried herself, and changed into clean, cool silk garments.
Her snow-white skin and graceful, alluring figure were faintly visible beneath the fluttering gauze.
“His Majesty is in the bedchamber. Please follow me, Princess.”
Another palace maid entered the bathing chamber, bowing respectfully.
Mu Rong Hui took a deep breath, knowing she could not avoid it—sooner or later, she would have to face Xuan Yuan Li. She took several deep breaths in front of the mirror, gathered her spirits, and followed the maid out of the bathing chamber.
~
Xuan Yuan Li stood before the desk, brush in hand, painting.
Mu Rong Hui followed the maid into the grand hall, standing about two meters away from the desk. She pretended to nervously wring her hands while secretly observing his every move.
The twenty-three-year-old young emperor stood tall and straight, his dragon robe accentuating his handsome and imposing presence. An aura of unyielding authority radiated from within, forbidding any defiance.
If he had not conspired with Xuan Yuan Xin Zi to harm Mu Xiao, she would have gladly praised him as a formidable hero of troubled times, a true Son of Heaven.
But Mu Xiao was dead. Now, as she looked at him, her heart was filled with nothing but hatred.
She clenched her jaw tightly, forcibly suppressing the urge to kill him with a single stroke of a sword.
~
The palace maid placed a tray with wine on the desk, retreated outside the hall, and closed the doors.
Xuan Yuan Li never looked up from beginning to end, fully absorbed in his painting.
Time passed minute by minute until the final, defining stroke was added, bringing the image of a young girl to life on the paper, vivid and lifelike.
“Come here.”
He set down the brush, turned his head, and glanced at Mu Rong Hui with deep, penetrating eyes.
Mu Rong Hui had been standing for over half an hour, her legs sore and numb, cursing him a thousand times in her heart.
Seeing him put down the brush, she was about to complain again when she heard him call her over.
Bound by his status, she could only swallow her anger and bow to his authority.
“What are you standing there for? Hurry up and come here!”
Xuan Yuan Li narrowed his eyes dangerously as he saw her rooted to the spot, unmoving.
Mu Rong Hui’s heart trembled, not daring to delay any longer. She slowly walked closer.
“Ah…”
The next moment, she let out a startled cry as he forcefully pulled her into his embrace.
Her soft, fragrant body pressed tightly against his, her back stiff and unmoving.
As if oblivious to her tension and unease, he whispered in her ear with a lover-like tenderness, “Do you know how to paint?”
Mu Rong Hui suppressed her disgust and shook her head, unwilling to add any charm to his artistic pursuits.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t. I can teach you.”
Xuan Yuan Li embraced her from behind, his right hand holding hers as he picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and composed a poem on the left side of the portrait of the beauty.
In the painting, the young girl smiled while holding a flower, her beauty surpassing that of the blossom.
Mu Rong Hui lowered her gaze, looking at the girl’s face, which bore a striking resemblance to her own. It felt as if she had swallowed a fly, nauseating and revolting.
She was not so narcissistic as to think the girl in the painting was herself.
From the palace maids’ private conversations, she had guessed the identity of the figure in the painting.
Xuan Yuan Xin Zi!!
“So beautiful.”
After finishing the poem, Xuan Yuan Li set down the brush, leaned down, and whispered the words “so beautiful” into Mu Rong Hui’s ear.
It was unclear whether he was praising his own painting or the warm, soft, and fragrant girl in his arms, who was more delicate and beautiful than any flower.
The warm breath sprayed against her ear, causing Mu Rong Hui’s breathing to halt abruptly. She wanted to pull away, but at that very moment, he yanked her forcefully, turning her around against her will.
“Ah?”
Confused, she struggled and pushed against him.
Xuan Yuan Li paid no mind to her defiance. Instead, he felt a surge of amusement at toying with his prey. Leaning forward, he forced her to arch backward.
Watching her, in her panic, clutch helplessly at his lapel.
This sensation stimulated his nerves, making him want to torment her mercilessly.
To make her rely on him for the rest of her life, to submit beneath him, lost in pleasure and oblivion.
~
“Ah…”
Mu Rong Hui’s waist was painfully pressed against the edge of the table. Biting her lip to endure, she still let out a pained moan.
Her delicate gasps only further excited Xuan Yuan Li’s nerves.
He lifted her forcefully and pressed her down onto the table.
“No!”
Mu Rong Hui panicked, struggling and screaming in terror.
Her fearful, uneasy expression, like that of a wounded fawn, deeply stirred the hunter’s instincts.
Xuan Yuan Li’s gaze gradually darkened. He grabbed her ankle, tracing his fingers inch by inch up her delicate skin.
Mu Rong Hui trembled violently, struggling desperately.
The more she resisted, the more it fueled the man’s intense desire to conquer.
Xuan Yuan Li would not allow her to resist. Pressing her arms down with both hands, he leaned in, intending to kiss her lips.
Mu Rong Hui abruptly turned her head away, unwilling to let him touch her.
Xuan Yuan Li’s expression shifted, his gaze dark and unpredictable as he stared at her.
Mu Rong Hui lowered her eyes, a surge of fear rising under his intense scrutiny, her breathing gradually growing erratic.
A moment later, Xuan Yuan Li yanked her forcefully off the table and, without a word, shoved a pill into her mouth.
Before Mu Rong Hui could react, the pill had already slid down her throat into her stomach.
“What… what did you give me?”
Shocked and horrified, she tried to vomit, but he pinched her chin and forced a mouthful of wine down her throat.
“Poison.”
Xuan Yuan Li’s voice was soft and gentle, as if coaxing a lover, yet it sent chills down her spine.
“A poison with no antidote. You must take the antidote once every month to survive. I never intended to poison you, but you refused to obey. You forced me to do this.”
“Poison? You actually poisoned me?”
The look of terror, resentment, and helpless defiance in her eyes brought immense satisfaction to the hunter’s psyche.
“Be good, I’ve already told you.”
Xuan Yuan Li smiled contentedly, leaning down to bite her earlobe. “As long as you obey, submit to me, and serve me, I will grant you the antidote. I won’t let you die.”
“What do you want me to do?”
A shudder of terror ran through Mu Rong Hui’s entire body.
“Be good. You must learn to obey. Don’t ask questions you shouldn’t.”
A flicker of displeasure crossed Xuan Yuan Li’s eyes. As punishment, he bit her earlobe again, harder this time.
Mu Rong Hui cried out in pain, tears nearly welling in her eyes.
The girl’s pained moans pleased Xuan Yuan Li.
He pressed her down on the table, tormenting and humiliating her at will.
~~
Seven months later.
The deep winter night was bitterly cold, with snowflakes drifting down from the dark sky.
“Wah, wah, wah.”
The hoarse cry of a baby boy shattered the midnight silence.
“It’s a boy.”
The palace maid Peony joyfully picked up the newborn baby, wiped his little body clean, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and placed him before the mother.
“My son, my son.”
Xuan Yuan Xin Zi struggled to turn over, gently cradling her son in her arms.