At the beginning, Mu Rongkun was dissatisfied that General Dai had sent such a young child to protect him. This wasn’t protection, but burdening him with more responsibility. However, subsequent events proved that General Dai’s decision was correct. Mu Rongkun’s initial distrust of Dai Qiyu’s abilities turned into a complete trust where he could expose his back to him without worry. Dai Qiyu, in Mu Rongkun’s presence, transformed from a 13-year-old boy into a charismatic and vigorous young man. But his once smooth body was now covered with scars at such a young age.

The scars on Mu Rongkun and Dai Qiyu bore witness to their arduous journey and their relationship’s evolution from strangers to acquaintances, from acquaintances to friends, from friends to brothers, and from brothers to lovers. When Mu Rongkun and Dai Qiyu fell in love, Mu Rongkun already had a son and a daughter. However, after they fell in love, Mu Rongkun never touched anyone else again, not even his concubines, and no other children were born to him. 

When Mu Rongkun ascended to the throne, he also married him as his Empress. Consort Duan hated Dai Qiyu the most, or more accurately, she hated that Dai Qiyu had taken away Mu Rongkun. These three women, who had never received favor, were also calculating how to deal with him when he entered the palace. However, Mu Rongkun didn’t give them the chance.

In the first year of his reign, Emperor Mu Rongkun faced internal and external troubles. He didn’t allow Dai Qiyu to enter the imperial harem, but kept him by his side as a close personal guard. In the second year, with the assistance of Elder Weng and Old General Dai, he eliminated the remnants of the Duan family and Prince Lin, deposed Empress Duan, and directly declared Dai Qiyu as his male Empress, taking control of the imperial harem. 

Under Mu Rongkun’s control, Consort Jing and Consort Xian didn’t dare to act rashly. Afterward, Consort Xian’s family fell into decline. She had given up on seeking favor from the Emperor and focused only on living peacefully in the palace with her only daughter.

Emperor Mu Rongkun entrusted the upbringing of the imperial son to Consort Jing, but not to Dai Qiyu, who had suffered a miscarriage. Naturally, Consort Jing had her own schemes. She might not contend for the Emperor’s affection with Dai Qiyu, but if Dai Qiyu couldn’t conceive, unless the Emperor was willing to expand the harem, she would be the mother of the Emperor’s only male heir. 

For this reason, Consort Jing had cursed Dai Qiyu, who always had poor health, to die early countless times in her ‘cold palace.’ Now, it seemed that Dai Qiyu might truly be near death. Consort Jing was so excited that her whole body trembled. Her good days were finally coming. As long as the Emperor was willing to favor her, she was sure she could conceive a male hair, she was certain!

“Your Highness! Your Highness!” Consort Jing stood up abruptly, “What happened?” A panting personal maidservant who went out to inquire came over and whispered, “Your Highness, it seems the Empress is really in critical condition this time. All the physicians from the imperial medical institute have gone in. It seems… the Empress is suffering from heavy bleeding and he’s writhing in pain on the bed.”

“Really?!” Consort Jing was overjoyed. “It’s highly likely. I saw people coming out of his palace with cloths stained with blood. The people from the medical institute also said that the Empress is bleeding.”

Consort Jing hesitated for a moment and then burst into laughter in a low voice, “Dai Qiyu… Dai Qiyu… You’re finally going to die. You’re finally going to give back the position that rightfully belongs to me. Hehe, hahaha…”

“Your Highness!”

Consort Jing immediately suppressed her laughter and clenched the silk handkerchief in her hand. Yes, now was not the time for laughter. She composed her facial expression and said, “Accompany me to Jingyu Palace. At a time like this, I should go and show concern for our Empress to prevent the Emperor from later accusing me of lacking manners.”

“Yes.”

The outer chamber of Jingyu Palace was in a mess, all due to Emperor Yongming’s destruction. General Dai had also arrived. Hearing the commotion inside, General Dai was also deeply worried. He asked Elder Weng who was frowning, “What did the physicians say?”

Elder Weng shook his head. “Even the physicians couldn’t make sense of it.”

“If anything happens to my Empress, I will have all of you buried with me!”

General Dai clenched the cane in his hand and told the people around him, ” Suyan, you go inside and accompany Qiyou.” Suyan was also a male wife. He was the most suitable person present to go in. Suyan walked into the Palace and saw Emperor Yongming sitting despondently on the ground, holding his head in his hands, far from the demeanor of an emperor. Suyan walked over and half-knelt down, “Your Majesty.”

Emperor Yongming looked up and as soon as he saw him, tears welled up in his eyes. He reached out and grabbed Suyan clutching onto him like a lifeline. “Uncle Yan, save Qiyou, save my Qiyou.”

In the inner chamber, Dai Qiyou’s weak cries had become quieter, not because the pain had subsided, but because he had no strength left to cry out. Suyan’s eyes were also red. He patted Emperor Yongming’s hand and said, “Your Majesty, please allow me to go in and stay with Qiyou. Qiyou must not want you to see him in this condition right now. Your Majesty, please wait here for news. I will pray with you for Qiyou’s well-being.”

Emperor Yongming nodded and released Suyan. Suyan then raised his hand and wiped the corners of Emperor Yongming’s eyes as an Elder would, then he helped Emperor Yongming stand up and walked towards the inner chamber. Emperor Yongming’s fists were clenched so tightly that they turned white. He wanted to go in, but Dai Jiang and the other court guards, who were in similarly disheveled states, stopped him again. With the Empress’ life hanging in the balance, the Emperor couldn’t afford any mishap.

At this moment, a eunuch came in to report. “Your Majesty, Consort Jing has arrived.” Emperor Yongming directly roared in anger, “What is she here for? To see if she can become the Empress? Tell her that if anything happens to the Empress, I will want her to be buried with the Empress!”

Initially, Consort Jing had come over under the pretext of a visit, but in reality, she came to see when the Empress might die. After receiving the ‘imperial decree’ from Emperor Yongming, she knelt down in fear, kowtowing to beg for forgiveness. However, Emperor Yongming was currently too preoccupied to care about a woman who was practically insignificant in his eyes. It was Elder Weng who intervened and told Consort Jing to return to the palace first and apologize when the Emperor’s mood improved. Consort Jing, who had come with high hopes, left dejectedly.

Suyan entered the inner chamber and seeing the person on the bed, tears immediately welled up in his eyes. He blinked his eyes forcefully a few times to prevent the tears from falling, then hurriedly stepped forward, wanting to hold Dai Qiyou’s hand.

“Master Bai, don’t!” The chief physician of the medical institute, Ning Mu, shouted loudly, and Bai Suyan’s hand halted in midair. Ning Mu’s brows were furrowed, and he said with a pair of grizzled eyebrows, “The sweat and blood on the Empress’ body are filled with poison. You mustn’t touch him.”

“What?!” Bai Suyan was greatly alarmed. “How could this be?” Then his complexion changed drastically and he asked loudly, “Is someone poisoning the Empress?”

Ning Mu shook his head and said, “The Empress wasn’t poisoned. The physicians are still trying to find the cause, but it’s certain that the Empress’ suffering isn’t due to poisoning. Instead, these toxins seem like residual toxins that weren’t fully expelled from the Empress’ body previously.”

“Residual toxins?” Bai Suyan swallowed, feeling extreme heartache, “Then what’s causing Qiyou’s abdominal pain?” Ning Mu continued to shake his head. “None of the physicians in the medical institute can identify the cause of the Empress’ abdominal pain. The Empress has been bleeding continuously. Initially, we thought it might be a miscarriage, but after multiple examinations, it doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“Um…” At this moment, the semi-conscious Dai Qiyou was awakened by the pain again. Bai Suyan immediately moved closer and called out, “Qiyou, Qiyou, don’t sleep. Uncle Yan is here. You have to hold on, you must hold on. The Emperor is waiting for you.” Dai Qiyou bit down on his already injured mouth and struggled to open his eyes. His hair was soaked with sweat caused by the pain.

Bai Suyan tried to blink away the tears in his eyes, took a white cloth from the side, and gently wiped the sweat and blood from the Empress’s face. Blood was oozing from Dai Qiyou’s eyes, ears, mouth, and nostrils. Fortunately, he had forbidden Emperor Yongming from coming in. If Emperor Yongming saw him in this state, he would surely go insane.

Dai Qiyou’s tears, mixed with blood trickled down. His lips trembled and he whispered hoarsely, “Yan… Bo… I… hurt…” Bai Suyan couldn’t hold back his tears any longer. Through the white cloth, he gripped Dai Qiyou’s hand, which was wrapped entirely, and tears streamed down his face. “Uncle Yan knows you’re in pain. Uncle Yan is here with you. You have to hold on, you must hold on.”

“Ah—!” Dai Qiyou suddenly tightened his grip on Bai Suyan’s hand and cried out in pain once more. Streams of blood gushed from between his legs, and the sheets beneath him were almost entirely soaked in blood. Dai Qiyou’s body began to convulse, but Bai Suyan ignored the danger and embraced him tightly. “Qiyou!”

“Qiyou!”

“Your Majesty!”

“Stop the Emperor!” A bright yellow figure finally rushed in and the two chief physicians hurried to intercept, but were violently pushed to the ground by Emperor Yongming. He dashed to the bedside. Seeing his beloved enduring such torment made Emperor Yongming lose his sanity.

“Qiyou!” Shoving Bai Suyan aside, Emperor Yongming embraced Dai Qiyou, who was bleeding from all seven orifices, and turned his head to roar, “How dare you all keep the poisoning of my Empress a secret from me!”

“Your Majesty!” Bai Suyan, who had been lifted up, grabbed Emperor Yongming’s hand, yelling, “Qiyou isn’t poisoned. It’s residual toxins in his body. You can’t touch him. You’ll be poisoned!”

“Get away!” Shoving Bai Suyan aside once more, the already frenzied Emperor Yongming completely forgot that the person in front of him was an elder. He held Dai Qiyou, who was in agony, tightly in his arms and shouted, “Qiyou, Qiyou, I’ll be with you, I’ll accompany you. If you die, I won’t live either!”

“Your Majesty!”

“If Qiyou dies, all of you will be buried with him! I’ll annihilate your clans to nine generations!”

“Ah—!”

“Your Majesty, the Empress is bleeding. You can’t hold him like this!” For a moment, Emperor Yongming’s intrusion escalated the situation further. Bai Suyan, who had been helped up, ignored his aching old bones and held Emperor Yongming’s hand, yelling, “Give the Emperor an antidote pill!”

Immediately, a physician brought an antidote pill, but Emperor Yongming refused to take it. Bai Suyan scolded him loudly, “Your Majesty! Do you want Qiyou to suffer like this while worrying about you?”

These words struck a chord within Emperor Yongming. He opened his mouth and swallowed the antidote pill, but still refused to let go of Dai Qiyou. Dai Qiyou, who was in Emperor Yongming’s embrace, cried out in pain, and Ning Mu, who had been watching his condition, was sweating profusely.

Ning Mu pressed his hand against the Empress’s abdomen, his eyes filled with confusion. “Empress, push with all your strength. You must, please.”

“Ah—!” As the Empress exerted effort, more blood gushed out. Emperor Yongming’s eyes turned red. “Don’t let Qiyou push so hard! He’s already lost so much blood!”

“Your Majesty, especially at a time like this, you should listen to the chief physician!” Bai Suyan reached out and touched Dai Qiyu’s forehead, “Qiyu, push, your uncle and fourth brother are waiting outside for your safety. You must hold on!”

“Ah ah—!” Dai Qiyou felt as if his belly was about to burst open. He saw white light in front of him and heard no cries around him, nor did he hear Ning Mu shout. “Something is coming out! Empress! Push with all your strength!”

“Qiyou! Push, push!” Dai Qiyu could only hear Emperor Yongming’s voice vibrating against his chest, pressed tightly. He didn’t know if he was exerting force, as he could no longer summon any strength. Something seemed to have come out from his numb lower body, and then everything went dark for Dai Qiyou. He couldn’t sense anything anymore.

“Qiyou! Qiyou!”

The person in his arms suddenly went limp. Emperor Yongming swayed and his vision darkened. Bai Suyan quickly supported him. “Your Majesty! Chief Physician Ning, quickly check on His Majesty and the Empress!”

Meanwhile, Ning Mu was staring blankly at the fist-sized mass of flesh that had emerged from between the Empress’ legs, unable to react.

 

Edited by: Jaisland

Proofreader: 

 

Support translation: