Binding the Dragon for the Empress

tect me.”

When Yan Yuan heard this, his throat tightened up and the strong feeling of guilt inside him came back up.

Ning Zhiyu trusted him so much, how could he break his heart, this was the love of his life in his previous life…
What about Xuan Long, what should happen to Xuan Long?

The desperation of his dream made Yan Yuan unwilling to hurt Ning Zhiyu, while his inexplicable obsession with Xuan Long made him unable to be ruthless.
In a dilemma, Yan Yuan was hesitant.

He put the matter of appointing a concubine out of his mind for the time being and asked the palace staff to bring in a light meal.
Seeing that Yan Yuan was safe, Ning Zhiyu was finally willing to eat.
Taking one bite after another, he obediently ate the green vegetables and meat porridge that Yan Yuan spooned over to him.
He chewed slowly, which made him look particularly elegant.

After half a bowl had gone down, Ning Zhiyu waved his hand to reject the spoon offered by Yan Yuan, covering his lips and stiffly coughing twice, he shook his head and said, “No more.”

Yan Yuan knew that he had a small appetite, so he didn't force him, handing the bowl to the palace staff and letting them all exit, leaving the two of them alone in the hall.

“Are you sleepy?”

“I'm not sleepy when I look at you.”

Although Ning Zhiyu said so, his body was too weak and he could not hold on for long after taking the medicine, so Yan Yuan helped him lie down and ran his fingers over Ning Zhiyu's beautiful eyebrows.

Seeing his distracted look, Ning Zhiyu asked, holding back his exhaustion, “A'Yuan, do you have something on your mind?”

Yan Yuan was silent for a moment, met Ning Zhiyu's gaze, and gathered the courage to speak, “A'Yu…
I have something that I want to ask you.
If you are not happy to hear it…
then forget it.”

Ning Zhiyu's intuition was that it was something not very good, but he still smiled: “What is it? Just say it, I won't be unhappy.”

Yan Yuan had rarely been this apprehensive: “Haven't you always wanted to know why the medicine you are taking is so precious and hard to find?”

“In fact, it's not something that can be found from a cliff face at all, it's something that can only be found by entering a ten-thousand-foot-deep pond.”

“I was afraid of scaring you before and didn't tell you the truth.”

“Your remedy, it’s not herbs…
but dragon scales.”

“Dragon scales?…” Ning Zhiyu said in surprise.

Yan Yuan decided to tell the whole story: “En.”

“On the night of our wedding, you suddenly fell ill and your life was in danger, and the imperial doctors were at their wits’ end.
At this time, Zong Hua told me that there was a dragon in the thousand-year-old pond under Jinghua Mountain, and that the heart of the dragon could be used as medicine…
to cure all diseases.”

“Apart from this solution, I didn't know what else to do to wake you up, so I could only treat a dead horse as a living one, and took cultivators to the ancient pond the next day to capture the dragon alive.
I didn't know that I would run into an assassination attempt halfway through the journey, and I fell to the bottom of the pond by mistake.”

“It is strange that… it was clearly under water, but people can breathe freely, so I thought the dragon had cast some kind of spell.” Yan Yuan said this, and as if recalling something beautiful, his face unconsciously showed a little smile, which quickly disappeared because of the next words and he became a little frustrated.

“I originally thought he was as cruel as the rumours circulating in the rivers and lakes, but who knew that he was cold on the outside while treating me gently.
I took this opportunity to pretend to like him and tricked him into returning to the palace so that he could pluck dragon scales for you to use as medicine.”

“I wanted to cut his heart out while he was asleep, but I couldn't bear it.
He had no grudge against me.
Just because his flesh and blood could save lives, did he have to die? I couldn't do it.”

“So, I could only keep coaxing him in the name of love…
to get dragon scales from him and use them to suppress your illness.”

“Later, he found out that I didn't love him at all, that it was all a lie, and left.”

“This time, when I left the palace, I went to seek him for dragon scales, but I ended up encountering an assassination attempt again and lost my life halfway…
It was he who saved me.”

“So what?…” Ning Zhiyu knew that what Yan Yuan was going to say next was the main point.

“If it wasn't for him…
I would be dead.” Yan Yuan’s confidence bottomed out.

“I don't think I should let him give so much for nothing…
Since he likes me and is willing to stay by my side, I'm thinking of giving him a name and making him a concubine.”

Ning Zhiyu thought Yan Yuan might be crazy.
That's a demon, and regardless of whether it's true or not, what he said is unbelievable enough: “You want to appoint a demon as a concubine?…”

Yan Yuan hurriedly explained, “Although he is a demon, he has a gentle nature and is no different from the human race.”

“Don't worry, even if I appoint him as my concubine, the person I love the most is still you.”

Ning Zhiyu frowned slowly, “For thousands of years, the rumours in society are that all demons are evil and demonic and like to eat human flesh and blood, could he be staying by your side for some purpose…”

“No! What purpose could he have, he just loves me, that's why he's willing to extract scales to save you.” Yan Yuan didn't quite like the way Ning Zhiyu spoke about Xuan Long.

Ning Zhiyu looked at Yan Yuan as if he didn't know him, “A’Yuan, are you in love with him?”

“I am not! The person I love has always been you.” Yan Yuan blurted out, “If it were not for the cure of your illness, I would not have gone to such lengths to keep him.
The act of registering a concubine is primarily to stabilise him, and secondly, I feel guilty about the way I treat him…
at most, I only like him a little.”

“Is that so?” Ning Zhiyu withdrew his gaze.

“En.”

“Then… do you agree?” Yan Yuan finally turned towards Ning Zhiyu, and was more considerate of his feelings, “If you don't agree, I'll find an excuse to put it off, he's easy to fool anyway and won't do anything.”