No one knew that this one moment of his distraction irritated the unpredictable emperor Yun Su. After the middle-aged doctor finished with the patching of Shui Yinzhu’s wound, the emperor lifted his unwounded hand. He pointed at the doctor, “Someone, take him out and chop off his head.”

An innocent man was killed without any sign. The middle-aged doctor might not even know the reason at the end of his life. Many others didn’t either. But people would normally blame it on those beauties.

Whatever this young emperor did, his eyes were always fixed on his Sister Xi. He left the bedchamber after the older imperial doctor patched his wound. He did need some time alone in the study, or else the girl’s eyes would eventually cloud his judgment again.

As the door of the bedchamber closed, his girl in the beautiful red wedding dress was no longer in his eye. Yun Su whispered to himself - it was a whisper that others could barely hear, “Sister Xi, I know you hate me. But I don’t regret killing Kong Yue. I will never let Xuan Zhi live either. I know you won’t love me, so hate me as much as you can! At least I’m taking up some space in your heart!”

Even though someone was killed right in front of her by the tyrant, Shui Yinzhu still remained silent. She didn’t talk, not because of the pain. She was just already used to it. The lives of others didn’t matter as long as it was not someone she cared about. She herself suffered torture and the death of family members, but no one ever stood up for her. Human beings are selfish creatures. People never care about irrelevant things and only hide as far as they can facing troubles. Maybe it should be defined as selfishness, but maybe it’s just in human nature.

As she was the only one in the bedchamber, she stopped posturing and took a deep breath. The red wedding dress smelled worse, but she was not getting her clothes changed right away. Instead, she stood up and poured the tonic in her pocket into a cup. She mixed it with water and then poured it into the plants.

Uncle Zhi prepared the tonic for Shui Yinzhu to nurse her body from the heat poison. Now that she was stuck inside the palace again, there was no need for her to take this tonic. Maybe infertility was better for her future operation. She closed her eyes and chose to ignore the sadness in her heart, for reality was only more saddening.

Xuan Zhi, her most beloved one, was no longer with her. She no longer had the shoulder to cry on and the person to laugh with. Pain and agony had become a part of her daily life. She felt tired and badly needed a break, but there were no tears left in her.

Xuan Zhi and her just confessed their feelings for each other and took a vow. But now she was all by herself again, left alone in this eternal darkness. Man proposes, God disposes. Shui Yinzhu had to stay tough. She needed to stay calm in front of Yun Su.

Shui Yinzhu asked the servants to bring her a bathtub and some white clothes. As she soaked herself into the water, cleaned herself, and got changed, she was thinking about a plan.

Somehow she felt worried even though there wasn’t any sign. It felt like she was going to lose something again. Maybe she knows that Yun Su would never give up on killing Xuan Zhi in her subconscious. But that would be her bottom line. She dared not imagine that scenario. The girl kept trying to get rid of that thought but couldn’t help thinking of a plan.

It was late at night. In the Imperial Study Room, the young emperor changed to a clean imperial robe. He then sat on the chair with the dragon relief. No longer the learned and refined man, the emperor was immersed into thoughts as his eyes grew scheming.

Yun Su swore to himself that as he got his girl back this time, he would kill each and every person that had helped her so that she would have no one to trust and nothing to think of. Shui Yinzhu would be the property of Yun Su. No one would be allowed to lay eyes on her. She would never be able to run away. Even if he couldn’t win her heart, she had to physically stay by his side for her entire life. He would even include the afterlife if it existed.

This possessive man was no longer just in love with his girl. His mind was sick. Yun Su would never understand that he was only the emperor whose territory reached as far as the edge of the world but not heaven. The human being is the most unyielding creature in this world. Nothing but death can put a handcuff on the soul of a person. The harder he pushed, the more she would fight back. He wasn’t even able to keep her around in his own life, not to mention the afterlife.

But this mindset meant that Yun Su would never let go of Xuan Zhi, the man who took Shui Yinzhu away. Besides, Shui Yinzhu and Xuan Zhi’s interaction in the mansion of Qi Yuan really hurt him. The cruel emperor was not stupid. He knew what was happening between the two of them. Hence it wouldn’t be difficult to guess the mission of those confidential guards who disappeared after receiving his signal.

A man in black suddenly appeared in the room, kneeling in front of Yun Su’s table.

“Your Majesty.”

“How did it go?”

“I sent out three squads, and our men surrounded Xuan Zhi.”

“Okay, did you kill him?”

“We have him in custody.”

Hearing that, Yun Su punched so hard on his desk. That table was specially designed for the emperor. It took the punch without falling apart or even sagging. But the wound on his hand started to bleed again. Yun Su didn’t care about it. Shui Yinzhu took the last bit of sanity from him. He was no longer that gentle and learned man anymore.

“I didn’t tell you to keep him in custody. I want him dead. I told you to kill him. You know what I mean?”

“Understood, I will do that right away,” the man in black answered immediately. It was rare to see His Majesty losing control. And it was all happening in the very recent days for that Shui Yinzhu.

“Wait, don’t do it inside the palace. If Sister Xi knows it, she will directly suspect me.”

“What should we do, Your Majesty?”

As Yun Su calmed down, he said, “Put him in the death-row prison first.”

“Understood.”

“Come closer.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Even though he rules this world, Yun Su was still cautious when Shui Yinzhu was involved. Xuan Zhi had to die. But Yun Su didn’t intend to let his girl know this. Even if she knew it someday, he didn’t want to be recognized as the one giving the order.

The man in black disappeared as if he had never shown up. The young emperor was still sitting on that chair, his eyes growing more frigid. No one could read his mind. He left his hand bleeding until it stopped by itself.

It was still summer, the hottest season of the year. But the emperor’s bedchamber in the Empire of Yun felt the other way. The large room was now bone-chilling.

As Yun Su got back to his bedchamber, his servants stood up to greet him. But Yun Su held up his hand to stop them from making any sound. In front of his girl, he would always prefer the title of her husband to the emperor. But now, he has to keep her imprisoned using his power as the emperor. That one and only title of power was the reason why he could control his girl. But was it really going to work?

As he opened the door of the bedchamber, he found Shui Yinzhu asleep. Yun Su couldn’t help feeling worried about the wound on her face and neck. Without any lust in his heart, he got onto the bed and held her carefully in his arms.

Shui Yinzhu could never fall deeply asleep without Xuan Zhi holding her. This golden cage would only be too far from a cozy bed. Her mind had been tense ever since she got back to the imperial palace. The moment Yun Su got in, she woke up, but still intended to ignore him. As Yun Su unexpectedly held her in his arms, she directly struggled to get away from him.

“Sister Xi, don’t move. I simply want to hold you. If you struggle, I’m not sure if I will lose control.”

Though not quite into talking to him, Shui Yinzhu still started a conversation. She was worried about Xuan Zhi. As a clever girl, she talked firmly as if she knew it for sure, even though she was just bluffing.

“Yun Su, I thought you would let Xuan Zhi go away. Why did you get him back?”

Yun Su never expected that Shui Yinzhu would know it so fast. But he still had a backup plan. “How did you know about it?” He didn’t want to deny it since he was not sure about her source. But now that she knew about it, the servants in the bedchamber should all be replaced.

“That’s not important. Why are you taking back your promise?”

“Don’t worry, Sister Xi. I simply don’t want you to run away. He is safe. Now that you know I have him in custody, you should know that he is not hurt.”

Shui Yinzhu felt so upset after hearing the news. But as long as Xuan Zhi was alive, there was still hope.

“Well, Yun Su, I hope you can keep your words.”

Shui Yinzhu was no longer struggling for Xuan Zhi’s sake. She allowed Yun Su to hold her in his arms. Even though she felt sick, she held it back. The stiffened girl kept hypnotizing herself that the man holding her was just a dog... After a while, she finally fell asleep, relieving herself of such pain.

The man gently tucked her hair behind her ear. As he rubbed the face of the sleeping beauty, he sighed, “What should I do with you, Sister Xi?” He watched her sleeping face till dawn. Not feeling tired, the emperor felt a bit satisfied. At least it was him, not Xuan Zhi holding the girl.

After that night, all servants in the bedchamber were killed and replaced. It was never easy to know what an emperor was thinking about. But all of them were quite skeptical. Yun Su didn’t trust anything except his power. However, people would still blame it on the beauties.

The brutal and dictatorial Yun Su used to pretend to listen to the ministers’ opinions and keep the mask of a gentleman in the imperial court sessions in the morning. But today, he ignored all the objections and criticisms and announced that Shui Yinzhu would be the Empress. This was the girl he loved, and that title should belong to her and her only.

There would always be dissents from some ministers against any irresponsible orders of the emperor. But Yun Su wasn’t a normal emperor. Although he looked like a cultivated and harmless man, he was still a usurper and a cold-blooded murderer. Those ministers opposing him were literally putting their heads on the guillotine.

The two ministers standing with strong objections were immediately beheaded. Yun Su still smiled at his remaining ministers, as gently and normally as he could, and asked for further opinions. The fear of death now kept their mouth shut.

No matter how hard Shui Yinzhu hypnotized herself, her sleep was light all night until Yun Su left for the morning court session. What she didn’t know was that after she woke up, she would become Empress Xi, and no one would deny that.