Endless

The days Azure Emperor spent in the Sword God Palace were nothing short of an endless nightmare.

Every morning, the instant she opened her eyes, she was overcome not with anticipation for the new day, but with deep fear. She never knew what means Ying'er would use to frame her this time.

That morning, Azure Emperor was browsing through ancient texts in the Sword God Palace's Scripture Repository.

She sat upright on a meditation cushion, dressed in a simple yet elegant blue robe. Her long hair was pinned up with a jade hairpin, revealing her slender, fair neck.

In her hands, she held a yellowed ancient book. Her brows were slightly furrowed as she tried to find some secret art within its pages that might improve her cultivation.

She needed to become stronger—strong enough to make Ye Xuan look at her seriously, strong enough that she would no longer have to fear Ying'er's threats.

Yet she could not focus at all.

“Elder Sister Azure Emperor!”

A voice that made her scalp prickle came from behind her.

Azure Emperor's body stiffened. The ancient book nearly slipped from her hands.

She slowly turned around and saw Ying'er standing in the doorway, smiling sweetly as she carried a bowl of lotus seed soup.

Today, Ying'er was dressed in a pink-and-white ruqun embroidered with several peach blossoms along the hem. The outfit accentuated her beautiful, radiant features.

Her long hair was braided into two plaits that hung over her chest. Wispy bangs framed her forehead, and her large eyes were bright and limpid. At first glance, she looked pure and innocent.

But Azure Emperor knew what kind of vicious heart lay beneath that innocent mask.

“Ying'er…” Azure Emperor's voice was slightly tense. “What brings you here?”

Ying'er walked in with the bowl in her hands, her smile as sweet as the spring breeze of the third month.

“I brought you some lotus seed soup, Sister. My husband said you've been working hard these past few days, so he asked me to take good care of you.”

She placed the bowl on the table before Azure Emperor, then obediently took a step back. With her hands folded in front of her and her head slightly bowed, she looked the very picture of respect.

Azure Emperor warily eyed the bowl of lotus seed soup without touching it.

“Aren't you going to have some, Sister?” Ying'er asked, lifting her head with an expectant look in her eyes. “I made it myself.”

“I'm not hungry,” Azure Emperor replied coldly.

Ying'er's smile froze for an instant, then became even more radiant.

“Then leave it here for now. You can drink it later.”

With that, she turned and headed toward the door.

Azure Emperor let out a quiet breath of relief, thinking she had made it through yet another ordeal.

However, just as Ying'er reached the threshold—

“Ah!”

Ying'er suddenly tripped. Her entire body pitched forward, and her forehead struck the doorframe with a dull thud. The tray in her hands flew out, spilling the lotus seed soup across the floor, while the bowls and dishes shattered into pieces.

Azure Emperor's heart clenched.

It had begun.

Again.

Clutching her forehead, Ying'er sat on the floor. Her eyes instantly reddened, and tears rolled down her cheeks like beads slipping from a broken string.

She lifted her head and looked at Azure Emperor through tear-filled eyes. Her lips trembled as she sobbed, “Elder Sister Azure Emperor… why did you… why did you put something in the doorway to trip me?”

Azure Emperor's face turned deathly pale.

“I didn't!” She shot to her feet, knocking over her chair. “I didn't put anything there! You tripped on your own!”

Ying'er began to cry even harder, her whole body trembling. Her pitiful appearance would have tugged at anyone's heartstrings. She braced herself against the floor and tried to stand, only to collapse back down. Her knee struck a shard of porcelain, and bright red blood began to seep from the wound.

“It hurts…” Ying'er whimpered, her voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz. “Sister… I know you don't like me… but you can't treat me this way…”

Azure Emperor trembled with rage, her fingers gripping the hem of her robe so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She opened her mouth, wanting to explain, but found that her voice was stuck in her throat. Not a single word came out.

Just then, the sound of approaching footsteps rang out.

Ye Xuan appeared in the doorway of the Scripture Repository.

He wore a white robe, his long hair bound beneath a jade crown, his face cold and stern.

He looked down at Ying'er, who was crying on the floor, then at the shattered porcelain and spilled lotus seed soup scattered around her. Finally, his gaze shifted to Azure Emperor.

His eyes instantly became cold enough to pierce bone.

“What happened?” he asked. His voice was calm, yet carried the oppressive stillness before a storm.

“Husband…” Ying'er threw herself into his arms, sobbing so hard she could barely catch her breath. “Don't blame Elder Sister Azure Emperor… It's all Ying'er's fault… Ying'er shouldn't have come to bring her lotus seed soup… Ying'er shouldn't have stepped on the stone Sister put by the door…”

As she cried, she buried her face against Ye Xuan's chest, her entire body trembling like a frightened rabbit.

Ye Xuan lowered his head and glanced at the threshold. There was indeed a pebble there, about the size of a thumb.

His gaze grew even colder.

“Azure Emperor,” he said, his voice seemingly rising from the depths of the Netherworld. “Are you really so determined to make life difficult for Ying'er?”

“I didn't!” Azure Emperor's voice was so shrill it nearly broke. Pointing urgently at the pebble, she tried to explain, “I didn't put that there! I have no idea where it came from! She's framing me! She tripped on purpose!”

Ying'er poked her head out from Ye Xuan's arms and looked at Azure Emperor with tearful eyes. Her voice was timid and frail.

“Sister… why would you say that…? Why would I trip on purpose…? It hurts…”

She lifted her skirt, revealing the wound on her knee where the porcelain shards had cut her. Blood was still oozing from it. The injury was shocking to behold, and anyone who saw it would naturally feel pity for her.

Ye Xuan's expression darkened completely.

“Azure Emperor.” He released Ying'er and slowly walked toward her, each step landing on her heart like a hammer. “I gave you a chance. I allowed you to stay and become my concubine—that was already an enormous act of grace. And yet you dared to bully Ying'er right under my nose?”

“I didn't!” Azure Emperor took a step back until her back struck the bookshelf, leaving her nowhere else to retreat.

Her eyes reddened, and her voice was filled with grievance and fury.

“Ye Xuan, why won't you believe me? You'd rather believe a servant girl than me?”

Ye Xuan stopped in front of her and looked down at her from above.

He stood more than half a head taller than Azure Emperor. Now, as he lowered his head slightly, his gaze was like two sharp swords piercing straight into her eyes.

“Believe you?” he sneered, his voice thick with scorn. “How do you expect me to believe you? When you trusted me back then, how did you treat me?”

Azure Emperor's entire body trembled, and her face turned deathly pale.

“I…”

She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Smack!

A crisp slap rang through the room.

Azure Emperor's head snapped to the side. Five bright red finger marks immediately appeared on her left cheek.

She staggered two steps and crashed into the bookshelf behind her, sending the ancient books tumbling to the floor with a deafening rustle.

She did not fall. Instead, she braced herself against the wall and barely managed to remain standing. A thin line of blood seeped from the corner of her mouth and trickled down her chin, landing on the blue collar of her robe like a blooming red plum.

At last, she could no longer hold back her tears.

It was not because of the pain, but because of the humiliation.

She was the Azure Emperor, an unparalleled powerhouse who had once suppressed an entire era. Yet now she had been slapped by a man and toyed with by a servant girl, manipulated as easily as a puppet.

And she did not even have the courage to resist.

“Get out,” Ye Xuan said coldly.

He turned around, helped Ying'er to her feet, and asked her gently, “Does it hurt?”

Ying’er shook her head, yet she still couldn’t stop herself from sobbing. “Husband… don’t blame Sister Azure Emperor… She was only confused for a moment…”

Azure Emperor covered her swollen cheek and staggered out of the Scripture Repository. Though sunlight fell upon her, she felt cold all over.

She walked a long way, and only after making sure there was no one around did she finally crouch down, burying her face in her knees as she wept silently.

Her shoulders trembled violently, her fingernails digging deep into her palms as blood dripped between her fingers.

“Why… why did it have to turn out like this…”

She murmured to herself, her voice filled with despair.