Ye Xuan Runs Away from Marriage Again

Inside the Ganlu Palace, the candlelight flickered.

Wu Lingxiao stumbled in.

"Husband! Husband, where are you?!"

Wu Lingxiao rushed into the inner hall and immediately saw Ye Xuan sitting by the window.

He had already changed out of his blood-stained clothes and was wearing a thin white inner robe.

He just sat there quietly, looking at the moon outside the window, his expression as calm as a pool of dead water.

This calmness made Wu Lingxiao feel an unprecedented sense of panic.

With a heavy thud, this imperious Female Emperor of Great Xia knelt directly at Ye Xuan's feet.

She reached out a trembling hand, wanting to hold his, but stopped in mid-air, not daring to touch him for fear of seeing a look of disgust again.

"I am sorry... I am so sorry..."

Tears streamed down Wu Lingxiao's face, her voice hoarse. "I know I was wrong, I really know I was wrong... I should not have trusted Shangguan Wan'er, I should not have been so utterly blind..."

"I do not ask you to forgive me right now, but please do not drive me away, please do not ignore me..."

"You are right, I am dirty, I am unworthy... but I will change, I will spend my whole life washing it clean..."

Ye Xuan slowly withdrew his gaze from the moon. He looked down at the woman kneeling at his feet.

Once upon a time, just to make her smile, he was willing to wash his hands and make soup for her.

Once upon a time, if she just scraped her finger, his heart would ache so much he could not sleep all night.

But now, seeing her crying like rain on pear blossoms, Ye Xuan's heart did not even have the slightest ripple.

There is no greater sorrow than a dead heart.

"Your Majesty," Ye Xuan finally spoke.

His voice was very light and faint, lacking his previous hysteria and sharp rejection.

Wu Lingxiao looked up abruptly, a tremendous hope bursting in her eyes. "Husband, you are willing to talk to me?!"

"I am Great Xia's Consort Xuan," Ye Xuan said indifferently. "But this identity now makes me feel somewhat awkward."

Wu Lingxiao froze for a moment, then nodded frantically. "I will do whatever you want. As long as you forgive me, I am willing to use everything to make it up to you."

Ye Xuan looked at Wu Lingxiao, the corners of his mouth suddenly curling into an extremely faint smile.

Falling into Wu Lingxiao's eyes, this smile was simply the fiercest poison in the world, making her instantly lose herself.

"The title of Consort Xuan is too petty."

Ye Xuan said softly, "Your Majesty, since you want to make it up to me, since you say you are truly repentant... why do you not crown me as your Emperor-Consort."

"Emperor-Consort?"

Wu Lingxiao's eyes widened, and then wild joy surged into her heart.

He was willing to be the Emperor-Consort, did that mean... he still had her in his heart?

He was still willing to spend his life with her?

"Good! Good! I will crown you!"

Wu Lingxiao was so excited she became incoherent. She stood up abruptly and paced back and forth in the hall. "I will draft the decree right now! I will announce it to the world! I will give you the best of everything!"

"Wait," Ye Xuan stopped her.

"What is it, husband? If you have any other requests, just ask! As long as I have it, I will give it to you!"

Ye Xuan lowered his eyes, hiding the cold gleam that flashed in them.

"Since it is an official crowning, naturally it cannot be rushed."

"I want the three letters and six etiquettes, a proper and formal marriage."

"I want ten thousand nations to come pay their respects, and the whole world to celebrate."

"I want this grand ceremony to shake the entire cultivation world. I want everyone to know that I am the sole male master of Great Xia."

Wu Lingxiao was overjoyed hearing this.

The more Ye Xuan demanded, the grander the scene, the more at ease she felt!

This meant Ye Xuan had truly thought it through and really wanted to live a good life with her!

"Whatever you wish! It will all be as you wish!" Wu Lingxiao laughed heartily. "I will hold an unprecedented crowning ceremony for you! I will have the immortals and gods of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, and the Three Thousand Dao Realms come to congratulate you!"

"There is one more thing," Ye Xuan slowly stood up, his gaze cold and clear. "During the preparation for the ceremony, according to ancient customs, the couple must not see each other."

"For this month, please do not disturb me, Your Majesty."

"I want to... quietly heal my wounds, adjust my state, and be the most perfect groom."

Wu Lingxiao was already overwhelmed by immense joy.

She did not overthink it at all, only feeling that Ye Xuan wanted to show his best self at the ceremony.

"Alright! I promise you!"

Wu Lingxiao looked at him affectionately. "One month. I will give you one month. One month from today will be our grand wedding. At that time, in front of the whole world, I will once again promise you a lifetime!"

Ye Xuan looked at her and bowed slightly.

"Thank you for your profound grace, Your Majesty."

With this bow.

He severed ten years of romantic ties.

He bid farewell to the passing clouds of the past.

For this month, the Great Xia Immortal Dynasty completely boiled over.

The Female Emperor nearly emptied half the national treasury for this grand crowning ceremony.

Countless spirit stones were turned into radiant, colorful lanterns, hung on every tree in the imperial capital.

Nine dragons were captured to pull the carriage, and seven-colored divine phoenixes circled and danced above the imperial palace.

Envoys from ten thousand nations and the Holy Lords of major sacred lands rushed over with heavy gifts to offer their congratulations.

Everyone knew that the Female Emperor doted on that Consort Xuan to the bone, even going so far as to bathe the Prime Minister's estate in blood for him.

Outside the Ganlu Palace.

It was surrounded three layers deep inside and out, guarded like an iron barrel.

Except for a few trusted attendants responsible for Ye Xuan's daily life, and several Body Integration stage almighty experts responsible for protecting Ye Xuan's safety, not even a fly could get in.

Wu Lingxiao truly kept her promise and did not step half a foot into the Ganlu Palace.

But every day, she would stand on the distant Star-Plucking Tower, gazing foolishly in the direction of the Ganlu Palace.

She fantasized about a month later, when Ye Xuan would wear a phoenix robe she designed herself, and walk toward her again in that highly anticipated moment.

Finally.

The auspicious hour arrived.

In front of the Weiyang Palace, it was resplendent and magnificent.

The envoys of ten thousand nations knelt and cheered for the Emperor's long life.

Wu Lingxiao, wearing imperial robes and an imperial crown, stood on the high platform, her face brimming with an unprecedented happy smile.

"Announcing the Emperor-Consort, Ye Xuan, to enter the hall!!"

The chief eunuch's shrill voice, amplified by spiritual power, spread throughout the entire imperial palace, and even across the entire imperial capital.

Everyone held their breath, looking at the end of the red carpet paved with supreme-grade spirit stones.

However.

One breath passed.

Ten breaths passed.

Fifteen minutes passed.

The end of the red carpet remained completely empty.

The originally festive music slowly became somewhat chaotic.

The envoys below began to whisper among themselves.

The smile on Wu Lingxiao's face could no longer be maintained. She frowned slightly, a trace of unease faintly rising in her heart.

"Go and see what is going on. Is the phoenix robe too cumbersome and causing a delay?"

Just then.

A stumbling figure rushed over from a distance, practically rolling and crawling.

It was the young eunuch responsible for serving Ye Xuan.

He was pale, and before he even reached the platform, he fell hard to the ground because his legs gave out.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty!"

The eunuch's voice was filled with terror, as shrill as if he had seen a ghost:

"This is bad! Something has happened!"

"His Highness Consort Xuan... His Highness..."

"What happened to him?" Wu Lingxiao stood up abruptly, a terrifying aura instantly sweeping across the entire venue.

"He fled the marriage!"

The eunuch cried out:

"There is no one left in the Ganlu Palace! His Highness Consort Xuan put on the red wedding robes, used a Ten Thousand Miles Traceless Talisman... and escaped the imperial palace!"

Wu Lingxiao swayed, almost pitching forward.

A metallic sweetness surged up her throat, but she forcefully swallowed it down.

"Nonsense!"

Wu Lingxiao let out a furious roar, her eyes instantly turning crimson.

"How is this possible?"

"The imperial palace is protected by the ancient Immortal Trapping Grand Array! Even a legendary Mahayana Realm cultivator wouldn't be able to use spatial teleportation methods inside it! A Ten Thousand Mile Traceless Talisman is nothing but scrap paper here!"

"Moreover, I dispatched four Body Integration Realm mighty figures to guard him day and night! Ye Xuan is merely at the peak of the Golden Core Realm, how could he possibly escape?"

"You dare deceive your sovereign? Drag him out and behead him!"

"Mercy, Your Majesty! Have mercy, Your Majesty! He is truly gone!" The eunuch kowtowed like a pounding pestle.

"I don't believe it... I don't believe it!"

Wu Lingxiao completely lost her composure.

Disregarding her imperial dignity, she turned into a streak of red light and rushed toward the Sweet Dew Palace like a madwoman.

Inside the Sweet Dew Palace.

It was terrifyingly quiet.

The window lattices were covered with the 'Double Happiness' paper cutouts prepared for the grand wedding, and the table was laid with red dates and longans, symbolizing the early birth of a precious child.

But the person was gone.

The man she yearned for day and night, the one she thought was finally going to change his mind and return to her, had vanished without a trace.

Standing in the center of the empty hall, Wu Lingxiao felt all the blood in her body flowing backward.

She had been played.

She had been played for a fool.

All that talk about making him the Empress, the grand ceremony, taking a month to prepare...

It was all a lie!

It was all just him stalling for time! It was all to lower her guard!

"Where is he?"

Wu Lingxiao spun around abruptly, glaring at the figures kneeling outside the hall.

They were four terrifyingly powerful experts.

The worshiped protectors of the Great Xia imperial family, mighty figures of the Body Integration Realm.

In the cultivation world, any one of them was a patriarch-level figure capable of establishing their own sect.

But now, they all kept their heads bowed, their expressions varied.

"I am asking you..."

Wu Lingxiao's voice was so chilling it seemed to drift from the Nine Nether Underworld. "Where is he?!"

"Four of you, four Body Integration Realm experts! And you couldn't keep an eye on a single Golden Core cultivator?"

"What are you even good for?!"

Facing the Empress's towering rage, the leader, an old woman with a face full of wrinkles, slowly raised her head.

She was Ghost Crone, a mass murderer with a bizarre and sinister personality.

"Your Majesty," Ghost Crone's voice was hoarse.

"Tell me! Did you fail to stop him, or did you not want to?" Wu Lingxiao stared daggers at her.

Ghost Crone sighed. On her usually eerie and terrifying face, a trace of unprecedentedly complex emotion actually surfaced.

"To answer Your Majesty... I did not want to stop him."

"What did you say?"

Wu Lingxiao simply could not believe her ears.

These were her deathsworn! These were the dogs the imperial family had raised for a thousand years!

"What exactly did Consort Xuan give you?" Wu Lingxiao interrogated harshly. "Did he promise you peerless cultivation techniques? Or supreme-grade pills? To make you dare betray me?"

Ghost Crone shook her head.

"No benefits."

"This old woman has lived for three thousand years, what treasures have I not seen?"

"It's just..."

Ghost Crone paused, then said calmly, "This old woman has fallen for him."

Even knowing that saying these words would invite the unimaginable agony of soul refinement, Ghost Crone still spoke with absolute candor.

Wu Lingxiao was so enraged she laughed, her face twisting in the process.

"Fallen for him? You, a three-thousand-eight-hundred-year-old relic, say you've fallen for him?"

"What charm does he possibly possess to make you bloodthirsty demons so captivated?"

Ghost Crone looked at the nearly manic Empress and suddenly asked a question in return:

"Then may I ask Your Majesty..."

"What virtues or abilities does Consort Xuan have to leave you, who possesses an entire harem, so captivated?"

"You!" Wu Lingxiao choked on her words, her chest heaving violently.

She turned her head and looked at the one-armed old man beside her.

This was Old Man Tiancan, the imperial family's most loyal watchdog, who had performed illustrious deeds for the Great Xia.

"And you?" Wu Lingxiao ground her teeth. "Don't tell me you've fallen in love with him too!"

Old Man Tiancan knelt on the ground and deeply kowtowed.

When he raised his head again, his cloudy old eyes actually shimmered with tears.

"Your Majesty."

"This old slave has been a dog for the royal family for the better part of his life."

"For the royal family, this old slave lost an arm, went blind in one eye, and had his face ruined. In Your Majesty's eyes, and in the eyes of the world, this old slave is nothing but a useful, biting mad dog."

"It has been so long... that even this old slave began to believe he was truly a dog."

Old Man Tiancan let out a miserable laugh, his voice trembling.

"But... His Highness Consort Xuan treated this old slave like a human being."

Wu Lingxiao froze.

"This past month."

Old Man Tiancan reminisced, a touch of warmth appearing on his face. "The nights were bitter cold, and my leg ailment flared up, leaving me shivering outside the hall. It was His Highness Consort Xuan... even though his own cultivation was sealed, he draped his winter white fox fur coat over my shoulders."

"He said, 'Old uncle, the night is deep, don't catch a cold.'"

"He even personally brewed a bowl of ginger soup for this old slave... It was brewed by His Highness Consort Xuan's own hands."

"It wasn't just me."

Old Man Tiancan pointed to the other two people beside him.

"When Ghost Crone suffered qi deviation from her cultivation and was in excruciating pain, it was His Highness Consort Xuan who disregarded his own safety, using golden needles to help clear her meridians and watching over her for an entire night."

"And the third and fourth brothers... we are a bunch of monsters, neither human nor ghost. In this life, we've known nothing but killing and being cursed at."

"Only Consort Xuan."

"Only he looked at us without fear, without disgust, but only with respect in his eyes."

As Old Man Tiancan spoke, he tremblingly pulled a letter and an object from his robes.

"Your Majesty."

"This old slave has braved death for the royal family for so long."

"This life should have been returned to heaven and earth long ago."

"Now, this old slave only wishes to die for him."

Having said that.

Old Man Tiancan raised the items in his hands high and offered them to Wu Lingxiao.

It was a letter.

Pressed on top of the envelope was an old belt that had faded somewhat white.

The craftsmanship of the belt was extremely rough. Embroidered on it was a pair of mandarin ducks, but because the embroidery skills were so terrible, they looked like two crooked ducks.

Boom!

The moment she saw this belt.

Wu Lingxiao's tears burst forth instantly, like floodwaters bursting through a broken dam.

She recognized this belt.

It was from the first time she learned needlework. To give Ye Xuan a surprise, she secretly pricked all ten of her fingers, laboring half the night just to embroider this ugly thing.

When Ye Xuan saw it, he teased the Empress, saying she was supposed to be a seamstress, yet her skills were so crude.

Yet afterward, no matter how high Ye Xuan's cultivation became, no matter how noble his status grew, no matter how many immortal dharma robes or supreme-grade spiritual treasures he possessed.

Tied around his waist was always this ugly duck belt.

But now.

This belt had been left behind by him.

He didn't take it with him.

He didn't want it anymore.

With trembling hands, Wu Lingxiao grabbed the belt and pressed it tightly against her chest.

It still held the lingering warmth of Ye Xuan's body, but at this moment, it felt as cold as ice.

Trembling, she opened the letter.

On the letter paper, the handwriting was elegant and vigorous, yet it exuded a resolute coldness.

There were no lengthy accusations.

There were no heart-wrenching reproaches.

There were only a few words:

Once an embroidered belt with a pair of mandarin ducks, now regarded as nothing but ordinary.

[Wu Lingxiao, this belt is too heavy. The person you are now is no longer worthy of the love we once shared.]

[From now on, we are divorced. We shall never meet again.]

[Written by Ye Xuan.]

After reading the letter, Wu Lingxiao let out a heart-rending wail.

"No!"

"Husband! How could you run away! How could you abandon me!!"

"That was our token of love! How could you leave it behind!!"

She gripped the belt tightly, pressing it against her chest, her body convulsing in agony.

He was gone.

This time, he was truly gone.

He didn't even want the last memento.

He truly didn't want her anymore.

"Kill... I'll kill you all..."

Wu Lingxiao raised her head, her eyes bloodshot. The terrifying aura of a Tribulation Transcendence realm expert instantly enveloped the area.

She wanted to slaughter these sinners who had let Ye Xuan escape.

"You deserve to die! You all deserve to die!!"

However.

Her sword, raised high in the air, hesitated to fall.

Because she remembered that letter.

If she killed these people...

Would Ye Xuan, who treated them as actual human beings, hate her even more?

If she killed these people, wouldn't she be completely severing the last trace of kindness Ye Xuan had left in this world?

Clang.

The Emperor Sword fell to the ground.

Wu Lingxiao slumped to the ground, as if she had aged decades in an instant.

She covered her face, tears streaming wildly through her fingers.

"I won't kill you... I won't kill..."

"Tell me... which direction did he go? He is injured, where could he possibly go?"

No one answered.

Because no one knew.

The Ten Thousand Mile Traceless Talisman randomly teleports its user anywhere, to the very ends of the earth.

After a long while.

Wu Lingxiao suddenly stood up and wiped her tears.

The fragility in her eyes vanished, replaced by a near-morbid obsession and madness.

"Pass down My decree!"

"Mobilize all the forces of the Great Xia Immortal Dynasty! Deploy all shadow guards, spies, and vassal sects!"

"Seal the borders! Open the Heavenly Eyes! Even if you have to turn these Three Thousand Dao Realms upside down, you must bring the Xuan Consort back to Me!"

"At all costs!"

Wu Lingxiao's voice echoed before the grand hall, carrying an unquestionable madness:

"Whoever provides a clue shall be rewarded with a million supreme-grade spirit stones! Ennobled as a Marquis of Ten Thousand Households! Promoted in rank and title!"

"Whoever dares to hide him... will have their nine generations exterminated!"

"Ye Xuan... you cannot escape."

"You are mine... even in death, your ashes must be buried in My imperial mausoleum!"