Both of Them Have Gone Crazy

Over the next few years.

Wu Lingxiao went completely mad.

She no longer touched any state affairs, throwing all national matters to the Prime Minister, Shangguan Wan'er.

She dismissed all the attendants by her side and moved into the Sweet Dew Palace herself, guarding Ye Xuan day and night.

She personally bathed him, dressed him, and fed him.

She clumsily learned to cook his favorite dishes, making them over and over again. Even if the food burned or she scalded her hands, she would just stubbornly bring it to him with red eyes.

Ye Xuan would not eat it, nor would he even spare it a glance.

She would just sit opposite him, watching the food go from hot to cold, and then watch the palace servants clear it away before continuing to cook again the next day.

The atmosphere in the entire imperial palace was oppressive to the extreme. The palace servants walked on tiptoe, terrified of making a single sound that might disturb the two people mutually torturing each other in the Sweet Dew Palace.

Wu Lingxiao became volatile and desperately insecure.

During the day, she acted like a devoted and dutiful maid, personally feeding Ye Xuan, wiping his body, and washing his feet.

At night, she was like a child seeking warmth, curled up beside Ye Xuan, only able to fall asleep by listening to his heartbeat.

However, the hatred in Ye Xuan's eyes did not dissipate with the passage of time; instead, it settled deeper and deeper.

It was a disgust that seeped from his very bones.

Whenever Wu Lingxiao touched him, his body's instinctive stiffening and trembling silently screamed a single word—dirty.

This silent revulsion made Wu Lingxiao suffer more than if he had killed her.

She was on the verge of a breakdown.

She possessed the world, and she possessed his body, yet she had lost his heart, and she could never get it back.

Until that night.

Heavy snow fluttered down, just like the night they "married" three years ago.

Wu Lingxiao was drunk.

Stumbling back to her bedchamber, she looked at the haggard, crazed female emperor in the mirror and suddenly felt a profound sense of unfamiliarity.

"Embroidery Maid..."

"The one he loves is Embroidery Maid..."

A crazy thought surged into her mind.

If... if she changed back into Embroidery Maid, could everything return to the way it was?

With trembling hands, she dug out the slightly worn coarse linen clothes that had been pressed at the bottom of a chest for three years.

She removed the head full of pearls and jade, and washed away the exquisite makeup on her face.

Carrying a pot of warmed wine, she pushed open the doors of the Sweet Dew Palace.

"Little Ye..."

Wu Lingxiao stood at the door, a fawning, humble smile hanging on her face, and called out with a trembling voice:

"Big sister is here."

"Big sister brought your favorite wine... Let's... let's have a drink like we used to, okay?"

Sitting on the bed, Ye Xuan heard that long-lost address.

He slowly turned his head.

His gaze pierced through the dim candlelight and fell upon the woman wearing coarse linen.

One second.

Two seconds.

Ye Xuan's eyes flickered.

A sliver of hope ignited in Wu Lingxiao's heart. She eagerly took a step forward. "Little Ye, you still recognize big sister, right? I am Wu Ling, I am your wife..."

"Get out."

A bone-chilling word shattered all her fantasies.

Ye Xuan looked at her, his gaze no longer dead silence, but instead filled with the utmost mockery and disgust.

"How long are you going to keep acting?"

Ye Xuan's voice was as cold as crushed ice:

"Take those clothes off."

"You don't deserve to wear them."

Wu Lingxiao froze in place, her face deathly pale. "Little Ye, I..."

"I said get out!!"

Ye Xuan suddenly erupted.

He fiercely grabbed the pillow beside his hand and hurled it at her viciously.

"You are not Embroidery Maid! Embroidery Maid is already dead!"

"You killed her! You personally killed that pure, gentle big sister who only loved me!"

"You dirty female tyrant, don't wear her clothes to disgust me! Don't use her face to humiliate me!"

"Get out! Get the hell out!!"

Ye Xuan roared. Because his emotions were too agitated, he began to cough violently, coughing so hard it tore at his lungs, and blood even spilled from the corners of his mouth.

But he still glared fixedly at Wu Lingxiao, the hatred in his eyes almost tangible, as if wanting to slice her into a thousand pieces.

"No... it's not like that..."

The wine pot in Wu Lingxiao's hand fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.

Watching Ye Xuan spit blood, her heart ached so much she couldn't breathe.

She could not keep acting.

All her dignity, all her pride, and all her schemes completely collapsed in this moment.

"Wu wu wu..."

Covering her face, Wu Lingxiao let out a despairing cry.

She walked step by step to the bedside.

There was no fury, no coercion, no madness.

Under Ye Xuan's shocked gaze.

This Great Xia Empress who ruled over billions of territories and never bowed her head to anyone.

Her knees gave way, and she knelt before Ye Xuan.

The floor was freezing cold, but her heart was even colder.

She raised her tear-stained face, her trembling hands reaching out to grab the hem of Ye Xuan's clothes hanging off the bed.

"Husband..."

A mournful and broken cry.

"I was wrong... I was truly wrong..."

"What exactly do you want from me? What exactly must I do for you to forgive me?"

"I killed Zhou Xubai, I killed everyone who hurt you. Those consorts who beat you, I ordered all of them to be executed by a thousand cuts... I have laid my heart bare for you to see..."

"I beg you, please don't hate me anymore, don't drive me away again."

"It hurts so much... it hurts so much right here..."

Wu Lingxiao pounded her own chest, crying like a helpless child, her face covered in snot and tears. How could she still look like an Empress in the slightest?

"As long as you are willing to forgive me, I will give you whatever you want. I'll give you the throne, my life, and my dignity..."

"Husband, I beg you... just look at me, even if it's just out of pity..."

Ye Xuan looked at Wu Lingxiao, who was kneeling at his feet, crying uncontrollably.

He looked at the once aloof and arrogant Empress, who was now as lowly as a dog.

She had knelt.

To win back the heart of a male favorite, she had abandoned a ruler's final bottom line.

Ye Xuan's eyes went from shock to complexity, and finally slowly settled into a bottomless depth.

Three years.

He had waited for this moment, waited for three years.

What he wanted was not the position of Empress, nor fine clothes and rich food.

What he wanted was exactly this kneel.

He wanted to trample her dignity completely underfoot, to make her understand in this relationship.

Being the Empress was useless; if you did wrong, you had to kneel and atone for your sins.

In the room, only Wu Lingxiao's muffled crying remained.

After a long time.

A pale, thin hand slowly reached out.

Gently, it landed on the top of Wu Lingxiao's head.

Wu Lingxiao's crying abruptly stopped. She stiffened, looking up in disbelief, feeling the long-lost, warm touch on top of her head.

Ye Xuan looked at her. The previous hatred was gone from his eyes, but so was the love from years ago.

In its place was the coldness and calmness of a controller.

"Get up,"

Ye Xuan said indifferently.

These words were like heavenly music to Wu Lingxiao.

She scrambled up clumsily, wanting to hug Ye Xuan but not daring to. She could only look at him eagerly, like a child who had done something wrong and was waiting for punishment.

"I don't hate you anymore,"

Ye Xuan said softly.

Wu Lingxiao was ecstatic and was just about to speak.

"But."

Ye Xuan's tone suddenly shifted, his gaze becoming incomparably sharp, piercing straight into her heart:

"If you want to start over, if you want me to treat you as my wife..."

"You must agree to three conditions."

"Tell me! I will agree to anything! Let alone three, I would agree to three hundred!" Wu Lingxiao nodded eagerly, terrified that he would go back on his word.

Ye Xuan held up his first finger.

"First."

"I will not be the Empress, nor do I want the empty title of the Master of Great Xuan."

"I am still Consort Xuan. I want you to remember forever how I entered this place, and what my status is. I want this identity to constantly remind you that you owe me."

This was a form of humiliation, and also a warning bell.

Wu Lingxiao's heart trembled, but looking into Ye Xuan's resolute eyes, she gritted her teeth and nodded. "Alright! As you wish! You will always be my... my only Consort Xuan!"

Ye Xuan held up his second finger.

"Second."

"One lifetime, one couple—this is not just an empty slogan."

"I want you to dismiss all the concubines in your harem. Right here, right now."

"Whether they were sent by noble families or offered by sects, male or female, kick them all out. In this imperial palace, other than maids and eunuchs, there can only be one man—me."

"From now on, I am the only one allowed in your bed."

This was to completely sever all her routes of retreat, forcing her to offend all the powers in the world just for him alone.

"No problem!"

Wu Lingxiao agreed without the slightest hesitation, a flash of ruthlessness crossing her eyes.

"I grew tired of looking at those pieces of trash a long time ago. Tomorrow... no, I will issue the decree tonight! Whoever dares to refuse to leave, I will kill!"

Seeing her ruthless demeanor, Ye Xuan did not feel that anything was inappropriate. Instead, he nodded in satisfaction.

Then, he held up his third finger.

At this moment, his gaze turned somewhat eerie.

"Third."

"From now on, there can be no more incidents."

"You cannot lie to me anymore, and you cannot force me anymore."

"Wu Lingxiao, this is your last chance."

"If there is a next time, if I ever catch you in a single lie again, or if you do anything to wrong me..."

Ye Xuan leaned close to her face. His voice was as gentle as a lover's whisper, yet he spoke the cruelest of words.

"I will die right in front of you."

"And this time, I will shatter my very soul, leaving you without even a chance to save me. I will leave you to hold my corpse and regret it for all eternity."

Wu Lingxiao trembled all over.

A chill shot up from the soles of her feet straight to the crown of her head.

Looking into Ye Xuan's bottomless eyes, she finally understood that the gentle, jade-like youth was already dead.

The current Ye Xuan was a monster she had created with her own hands, one just as paranoid and obsessive as she was.

But... so what?

As long as he was here.

As long as he was hers.

Even if he was a monster, he was the monster she loved the most.

Wu Lingxiao suddenly lunged forward and hugged Ye Xuan desperately, her grip so tight it was as if she wanted to crush him into her very bones and blood.

Her eyes instantly turned crazed and obsessed. The yandere nature she had suppressed for three years completely erupted at this moment.

"Alright! Alright! Alright!"

She roared by Ye Xuan's ear, her laughter shrill yet sweet.

"Husband, I promise you! I agree to everything!"

"You are my Consort Xuan, my one and only man!"

"I will drive all those people away and give this entire world to you!"

"I will love you forever... forever and always, I will only love you!"

"And don't you ever think of leaving me... don't you ever think of it!"

Ye Xuan let her hold him, feeling her suffocating love, and let out a helpless sigh.