The Empress and Ye Xuan

Deep within the forbidden grounds of the Great Xia Imperial Mausoleum.

Here, gloomy winds howled year-round, blocking out the sun. The surrounding vegetation took on an eerie, ashen hue; even the plants seemed to have lost their vitality out of fear of the vengeful spirits buried here.

At the very center of this deathly silent land stood a solitary grave.

There was no grand underground palace, no luxurious burial offerings—only a blank stone stele and a handful of wildflowers that had withered who knew how many years ago.

This was the tomb of Consort Xuan, Ye Xuan.

It was also the only place in the entire Great Xia Immortal Dynasty where this tyrant would sheathe her fangs.

Wu Lingxiao had dismissed her attendants. She even restrained the terrifying aura around her that was powerful enough to crush the void. Like a lovesick maiden going to meet her sweetheart, she tidied her slightly messy hair at her temples before slowly walking toward the lonely grave.

She reached out, her trembling fingertips caressing the rough, wordless monument. Her eyes instantly softened, brimming with a tenderness that seemed ready to melt into water.

"Xuan'er... I have come to see you."

"I have good news to tell you. I have found you."

She pressed her cheek against the cold stone monument as if it were her lover's chest, murmuring to herself:

"This time, I will absolutely not let you suffer again. I will present the best things in the whole world to you... We will meet soon. This time, I will never fail you."

"Heh heh..."

Just then, an old, hoarse laugh, like the cry of a night owl, abruptly echoed through the deathly silent mausoleum.

"Never fail him? Hahahaha... What an absolute joke!"

Wu Lingxiao's tender expression instantly froze.

She slowly turned around, the tenderness in her eyes transforming into ten-thousand-year-old ice in a flash, as she stared dead at a figure stepping out from the shadows.

It was an old man with one foot in the grave.

He wore a tattered eunuch's uniform, exuding a foul stench of decay, holding a balding broom in his hand.

One of his legs was crippled, causing him to limp as he walked. In his cloudy old eyes, there was not the slightest trace of reverence for this ruler of the Immortal Dynasty, only deep mockery and hatred.

The gravekeeper, Old Fu.

He was the only personal palace servant who had stayed by Ye Xuan's side back then, and the only person in this world who dared to insult Wu Lingxiao to her face and still live to this day.

"Old thing."

Wu Lingxiao narrowed her eyes, her voice incredibly dangerous. "I am in a good mood today and do not wish to kill. Scram."

"Kill? Have you not killed enough?"

Instead of retreating, Old Fu leaned on his broom and approached step by step, his spit almost flying onto the face of this Tribulation Transcendence stage female emperor.

"It has been eight hundred years. Do you even deserve to stand here? Do you even deserve to utter the words 'never fail him'?"

"You tyrant! You madwoman!"

Old Fu pointed at Wu Lingxiao's nose, roaring hysterically:

"If it weren't for your actions back then, how could Consort Xuan have died? You killed him! You personally forced that boy who loved to smile the most to his death!"

Wu Lingxiao's face instantly turned ashen. Her hands hanging by her sides clenched tightly, her nails piercing her palms, letting drops of blood fall.

If it were anyone else, even a prince or a noble, they would have long been crushed into dust by her at this moment.

Yet, facing this old man who only had Golden Core stage cultivation, like a mere ant, she stood rigidly in place, hesitating to make a move.

Because... this was the only person Ye Xuan had ever cared about during his lifetime.

If she killed Old Fu, there would truly be no one left in this world to tell her about the little details of Ye Xuan's life from back then.

"Shut up."

Wu Lingxiao gritted her teeth, squeezing the words out. "I have changed... For these eight hundred years, I have repented every single day... Now that I have found him, I will absolutely not be like before..."

"Changed? Hahahahaha!"

As if he had heard the biggest joke in the world, Old Fu laughed until snot and tears ran down his face, laughing so hard he couldn't stand straight.

"Wu Lingxiao, it's one thing to deceive yourself, but don't dirty the ears of Young Master Consort Xuan!"

Old Fu suddenly stopped laughing. His cloudy eyes stared dead at Wu Lingxiao, his gaze revealing a piercing and sorrowful sharpness that saw right through people.

"Your Majesty, let Consort Xuan go."

The old man's voice suddenly lowered, carrying a trace of pleading. "Since he has already reincarnated, since he has already forgotten the past... I beg you, give him his freedom. Let him live the life he wants to live, whether it's roaming the world as a righteous hero, or marrying and having children... Do not ruin him again."

"You cannot bind him. His heart is the wind, and the wind cannot be caught."

"Shut up!!"

Finally unable to endure it any longer, Wu Lingxiao let out a furious roar that made the entire imperial mausoleum tremble.

Her eyes were bloodshot. Like an enraged lioness, a murderous aura erupted from her body into the sky.

"He is mine! In every lifetime, he is mine!"

"Who says I cannot bind him? In this life, I will build an even stronger cage! I will cut off all his avenues of retreat! He can only belong to me!"

"It won't happen again... This time, I will absolutely not let him die again!"

Watching the female emperor who had fallen into madness before him, the pleading in Old Fu's eyes gradually faded, replaced by a deep sense of pity.

"That is hard to say..."

Old Fu let out a long sigh, his gaze filled with lamentation.

"Your Majesty, do you still remember? After Consort Xuan returned, he once said a sentence to you."

Wu Lingxiao's pupils suddenly shrank, and her body began to tremble violently.

The memory of that day was her eternal nightmare.

Old Fu grinned, revealing a mouthful of missing, yellowed teeth. He spoke word by word, each word piercing her heart:

"He said—"

"A dog cannot stop eating shit!"

Boom!

This sentence was like a divine thunderbolt from the nine heavens, viciously striking the crown of Wu Lingxiao's head.

Her terrifying Mahayana stage pressure instantly lost control. With her at the center, the ground within a hundred-zhang radius collapsed in an instant, and countless tombstones were reduced to powder.

"You are courting death!"

Wu Lingxiao let out a shrill scream and raised her palm. Terrifying spiritual energy gathered into a giant palm that blotted out the sky, hovering right above Old Fu's head.

As long as she pressed down gently, this hateful old man would instantly be reduced to ashes.

The fierce wind howled, blowing Old Fu's tattered clothes until they flapped wildly.

Facing death, Old Fu did not dodge; he did not even blink an eye.

He merely looked at Wu Lingxiao calmly, a mocking smile hanging on his lips—it was the tranquility of someone seeking death.

"Kill me. Do it."

Old Fu said softly, "Send me to see the Young Master. It's perfect, I have so much I want to say to him... I want to tell him that the madwoman who caused his death is still exactly the same, not having changed a bit."

Wu Lingxiao's hand froze in mid-air.

The world-destroying power trembled and roared, yet it ultimately could not fall.

A long time passed.

"Scram."

Wu Lingxiao withdrew her hand. Her voice was terrifyingly hoarse, as if she had instantly aged a hundred years.

She didn't dare to look into Old Fu's piercing eyes, much less kill the person Ye Xuan cared about the most right in front of his grave.

She turned around in a wretched state, transforming into a streak of light, and fled in panic from this imperial mausoleum that suffocated her.

Behind her came Old Fu's mournful and crazed laughter. It echoed for a long time in the empty mausoleum, lingering like a disease in her very bones, impossible to shake off.

Returning to the bedchamber filled with Ye Xuan's presence.

Bang!

The heavy doors shut tightly.

Wu Lingxiao leaned against the door, her body slowly sliding down until she slumped onto the floor.

At this moment, how could she still possess even a shred of the majesty of the Great Xia Empress?

She hugged her knees, burying her head deep in the crook of her arms, trembling uncontrollably.

No... I am not...

I have changed... I really have changed...

Ye Xuan... Xuan'er... do not listen to that old fool's nonsense...

She raised her head, looking at the empty grand hall. Tears flowed silently, her expression twisted in agony:

Please come back... As long as you are willing to come back, I will listen to whatever you say...

However, the only response she received was a deathly silence.

In a daze, time began to flow backward.

It was a thousand years ago.

The Great Xia Immortal Dynasty, a season of blooming spring flowers, yet filled with bloodshed.

That year, the previous Emperor failed his heavenly tribulation and perished.

The battle for the throne caused rivers of blood to flow.

The Second Imperial Princess, Wu Lingxiao, possessing a Heaven-grade Lightning Spirit Root and the True Dragon Dao Body, was ruthless and decisive. For that dragon throne, she personally severed the head of her eldest imperial sister and poisoned her third imperial brother, who was deeply favored by their imperial father.

Stepping over the corpses of her closest kin, she ascended step by step to that supreme position.

On the day of her coronation, ten thousand immortals came to pay their respects.

The newly enthroned Wu Lingxiao was full of vigor and high spirits.

Standing above the grand hall, she looked down at the masses kneeling at her feet. Her heart held only a thirst for power and a dedication to cultivation.

At that time, she did not understand what feelings were, nor what love was.

That was when she was at her most triumphant.

She was a born emperor; those who submitted to her would prosper, and those who defied her would perish.

In her eyes, everything in this world—power, territory, treasures, men—as long as she wanted it, it had to be hers.

Until... that youth named Ye Xuan appeared.

The Imperial Palace, the Entertainment Bureau.

This was a cage of utmost luxury.

Imprisoned here were all the chosen men who had been rigorously selected and offered as tributes from various regions.

They were either descendants of nobles and aristocrats or the chosen geniuses of immortal sects. Without exception, they were all exceptionally handsome and possessed extraordinary skills.

At this moment, inside the spacious bright hall, hundreds of chosen men wearing thin silk garments sat upright on woven mats, earnestly listening to the instructions of the female official at the front.

The air was filled with the rich fragrance of cosmetics and powder.

As male concubines, your foremost duty is obedience.

Her Majesty's joy and anger are your heavens. If Her Majesty tells you to smile, you must smile more tenderly than a flower. If Her Majesty tells you to cry, you must cry like pear blossoms bathed in rain...

The chosen men sat up straight and proper. Some were secretly touching up their makeup, while others practiced that charming yet submissive smile in front of bronze mirrors. Their eyes were filled with longing for the future—as long as they could win a single smile from that newly ascended Empress, they would fly up the branches to become phoenixes, and their entire families would rise to the heavens with them.

Except in a corner.

A youth wearing a green shirt was sprawled across a desk, sleeping soundly.

His sleeping posture was extremely ungraceful, and he even let out faint snores, making him look completely out of place in this serious teaching atmosphere.

Ye Xuan!

The female official in charge of instruction, Nanny Yan, finally reached the end of her tolerance. She slammed the discipline ruler in her hand viciously onto the desk.

Smack!

The loud noise startled the surrounding chosen men, making them tremble all over.

The youth sprawled on the desk groggily raised his head and rubbed his sleepy eyes, revealing a face completely free of makeup yet stunning enough to captivate all living beings.

Even in this Entertainment Bureau where handsome men were as common as clouds, Ye Xuan's face still possessed an overwhelming advantage.

He had sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, with a high, straight nose bridge. Especially those eyes—they were so clear that one felt they could see straight to the bottom at a glance, yet they carried a wildness that had not yet been tamed by the mundane world.

Has class ended, that you are sleeping?

Ye Xuan yawned and stretched, not paying the slightest attention to the furious Nanny Yan standing before him.

How audacious!

Nanny Yan trembled with anger, pointing at his nose and scolding, Having entered the Entertainment Bureau, you are a slave of the imperial family! Everyone is learning the rules, learning how to serve Her Majesty, and you actually dare to sleep? With such stubborn misbehavior, if you offend Her Majesty, how many heads do you have to chop off?

The surrounding chosen men cast glances of disdain and schadenfreude.

They were jealous of Ye Xuan's face, and they could not stand his aloof and arrogant demeanor even more.

Ye Xuan slowly stood up, patted off nonexistent dust from his sleeves, and his eyes instantly turned cold:

I am not like them.

He swept his gaze over the powdered and painted men around him, a flash of disgust appearing in his eyes:

They entered the palace willingly, but I was captured and brought here by you.

Although my cultivation is low, being merely a Qi Condensation Second Layer cultivator, I am still an upright and honorable man.

I do not want to serve any Empress, much less learn how to wag my tail.

After speaking, he looked straight at Nanny Yan, his voice resonant and powerful: Let me leave.

Silence.

A deathly silence.

Everyone looked at Ye Xuan as if they were looking at a madman. In this imperial city where imperial power reigned supreme, there was actually someone who dared to say he did not want to serve the Empress?

Nanny Yan laughed out of pure anger: Let you leave? Having entered through these palace gates, even if you die, your ghost belongs to Her Majesty!

Men! Beat him!

At Nanny Yan's command, several burly guards immediately rushed in and pinned Ye Xuan to the ground.

Thick imperial canes smashed ruthlessly onto the youth's frail back.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The muffled sounds of flesh being struck were enough to set one's teeth on edge.

After all, Ye Xuan was only a low-level Qi Condensation stage cultivator; he simply could not withstand such heavy blows.

Severe pain washed over him. His face instantly turned deathly pale, cold sweat poured down like rain, and tears reflexively spilled from his eyes.

It truly hurt.

Every strike felt as though it was breaking his bones.

He twitched all over from the pain, his lips bitten into a bloody mess, as tears mixed with cold sweat dripped onto the floor.

Crying now? Do you know fear now? Nanny Yan sneered. As long as you kowtow and admit your mistake, and say 'This slave is willing to serve Her Majesty,' I will spare you.

However.

The youth lying prone on the floor, while wailing loudly from the pain, still raised his head.

In those tear-blurred eyes, two balls of inextinguishable fire were burning.

I won't...

Ye Xuan sobbed, gritting his teeth as he roared:

I won't serve... I won't be a male favorite...

I just won't... woo woo woo... even if you beat me to death... I am still not... a slave...

He cried like a child, yet he was as stubborn as a mule.

This bizarre scene left Nanny Yan completely dumbfounded. She had trained countless chosen men; even those proud and arrogant Holy Sons of immortal sects would yield after a few rounds of whipping.

But this Ye Xuan... he was clearly in agonizing pain and terrified out of his wits, yet his spine alone remained so unyieldingly stiff that it induced despair.

Right at this moment.

Behind the curtains on the second floor.

A pair of cold and deeply amused phoenix eyes was quietly observing all of this.

It was none other than Wu Lingxiao, who was making an incognito inspection.

Your Majesty...

The old female official kneeling beside her was drenched in cold sweat. "I am incompetent, Your Majesty. This Ye Xuan... is truly a tough nut to crack. His innate talent is an extremely poor five-element mixed spirit root, and his cultivation base is pitifully low. Aside from his pretty face, he is completely worthless. Yet, he is incredibly stubborn. Over this past period, he has tried to escape seventeen times and gone on hunger strikes five times. No matter how much he is beaten or punished, he simply refuses to bow his head."

Wu Lingxiao gently swirled the jade wine cup in her hand, looking down at the young man below. His skin was torn and his flesh gaped from the brutal beatings, and he was sobbing uncontrollably, yet he stubbornly refused to yield.

For some reason, looking into those eyes brimming with hatred and defiance, Wu Lingxiao felt an unprecedented thrill and a dark desire to conquer surging within her.

She had long grown tired of submissive men.

A thorny, biting little wildcat like this was the only kind that still held any interest for her.

"Why must we force him to bow his head?"

A cruel yet breathtakingly beautiful smile curled the corners of Wu Lingxiao's lips.

"If you pull out its claws and fangs, the little cat won't be fun to play with anymore."

"Pass down my decree."

She slowly stood up, her imperial robes sweeping elegantly across the floor.

"Since he refuses to learn the rules, then there is no need for him to learn them."

"Wash him clean and bring him to my bedchamber tonight."