After Being Marked by the Eldest Princess, I Got Pregnant with Her Child [Transmigration into a Novel] - Chapter 23

“You?”

Yan Yue took two involuntary steps back, her eyes filled with terror as she stared at the person before her. Just moments ago, she had seen her at the banquet.

She had made a brief appearance at Xie Mingyou’s welcoming feast before excusing herself early due to fatigue. Yet now, Xie Mingyou stood before her.

The strong scent of alcohol clung to her, evidence of heavy drinking at the celebration. For some reason, Yan Yue felt a flicker of wariness as she regarded her.

Xie Mingyou’s gaze remained fixed on her, unblinking. Noticing Yan Yue’s retreat and the tension in her expression, she let out a cold laugh and stepped forward, her voice low and deliberate. “What? Afraid I’ll devour you?”

Yan Yue recalled Xie Mingyou’s menacing aura and unyielding attitude at the envoy’s residence that day. Now, with only the two of them left in the room, Xie Mingyou narrowed her eyes, closing the distance between them. Yan Yue couldn’t bring herself to meet that piercing gaze those sharp, phoenix-like eyes seemed to conceal something she couldn’t decipher. She was afraid to uncover what lay beneath.

“Why are you here?”

She had already humiliated her enough that day. As a ruler of a nation, it was the first time Yan Yue had been so disrespected on her own soil. Yet Xie Mingyou commanded formidable military power, leaving her no choice but to avoid direct confrontation.

“What do you think?”

Xie Mingyou advanced relentlessly, forcing Yan Yue to retreat until her back pressed against the thick, dragon-carved pillar in the bedchamber. Satisfied with having cornered her, Xie Mingyou raised a hand to brace against the pillar, caging Yan Yue within the shadow of her body. Trapped like a bird in a cage, Yan Yue’s heart pounded wildly.

The heavy scent of alcohol enveloped her. Turning her face away, Yan Yue whispered, barely audible, “I’m not feeling well today.”

“And?”

Xie Mingyou smirked at the clumsy attempt at refusal, amused by the transparent lie.

Her mocking gaze never wavered.

Yan Yue’s ears burned. This kind of situation was far from her forte, Xie Mingyou was clearly toying with her, deliberately making her squirm.

Lifting her chin, Yan Yue pleaded breathlessly, “It’s true.”

“Where does it hurt?”

Xie Mingyou traced a finger along Yan Yue’s cheek, the back of her knuckle gliding slowly downward. Yan Yue swayed unsteadily, as if her legs might give way.

Fear coiled in her chest. She had never experienced anything like this before, Yan Chen had sheltered her too well, leaving her utterly unprepared.

Now, with Xie Mingyou so close, every word and gesture dragged her thoughts toward the unthinkable. Clutching the pillar for support, her expression wavered between distress and embarrassment.

“Perhaps I can help ease your discomfort.”

The raw desire in Xie Mingyou’s eyes was laid bare, impossible to ignore. Yan Yue lowered her lashes, unable to meet that gaze, her long eyelashes trembling faintly.

So uneasy? So unwilling?

The sight of Yan Yue’s submission only stoked Xie Mingyou’s irritation. Who did she think she was? Did she not understand her position?

Back then, during the marriage alliance, what had she done to her?

Xie Mingyou would never forget, she had cherished her, protected her, loved her with all her heart. And in the end, Yan Yue had cast her aside without hesitation.

What kindness could Yue Kingdom possibly show to a political hostage?

The suffering she endured in Yue Kingdom all those years now, she would reclaim every ounce of it from this woman.

Yan Yue’s waistband loosened and fell away. She distinctly felt a cool breeze slipping through the parted fabric, making her abdomen tense. Xie Mingyou held her firmly, using her teeth to slowly tug open the collar of Yan Yue’s robe. Forced to tilt her head back, Yan Yue suddenly caught the faint scent of lotus blossoms permeating the air. Xie Mingyou observed her disheveled hair, then let her gaze trail downward along the parted robe as if searching for something.

A low chuckle escaped Xie Mingyou’s lips. “Who would have thought the Emperor of Zhao Kingdom is actually a Kun?”

The words reached Yan Yue’s ears in a haze, her mind processing them a beat too slow. Xie Mingyou paused while removing her outer robe, studying her intently before turning Yan Yue around. The gland was hidden too well. Brushing aside Yan Yue’s long hair, Xie Mingyou’s fingers traced the uneven contours of her butterfly bones, she was far too thin. Feeling Yan Yue shrink away, Xie Mingyou exerted pressure, pinning her in place.

Yan Yue could feel her body growing increasingly unresponsive. The lotus fragrance in the air was peculiar, no scented powders burned in the chamber, yet the aroma was unmistakably vivid.

Xie Mingyou let out a soft, deliberate laugh. Even the location of Yan Yue’s Kun gland was unexpected nestled within her inner thigh. As a misty haze clouded Xie Mingyou’s eyes, she reached toward the gland with deft fingers.

Yan Yue winced, tears welling up. It wasn’t so much pain as an entirely unfamiliar sensation. Xie Mingyou’s fingers were icy, mirroring her demeanor, yet from that frigid touch emerged a searing heat. The lotus scent intensified around them. Yan Yue felt an overwhelming surge of energy threatening to erupt within her, yet the sweet nectar seemed lost and confused.

Xie Mingyou lifted her onto the desk, gazing down at her fragile form teetering on the edge of tears yet stubbornly holding back. Leaning in, Xie Mingyou pressed a kiss to her lips. “Cry,” she murmured.

If she couldn’t hold back, then she might as well let go. Yan Yue clung to Xie Mingyou’s shoulders as pheromones were injected into her gland. The sensation tore through her like being split in two, leaving her trembling uncontrollably. Broken sobs filled the room intermittently. After a moment’s hesitation, Xie Mingyou’s eyes darkened with absolute dominance, guiding Yan Yue to the heights of ecstasy.

Afterward, Yan Yue felt as though a layer of herself had been stripped away. Xie Mingyou smoothed her hair, then carried her to bathe. Clad in nothing, Yan Yue didn’t understand what had just transpired only that the restless energy coursing through her had found release through this woman. The vexing sensations had faded, and the lotus fragrance had thinned.

In an uncharacteristically good mood, Xie Mingyou poured warm water over her and gently washed her. Both had regained their composure.

Yan Yue coughed weakly, her body feeling hollowed out. Exhaustion weighed heavily on her. Noticing her pale lips, Xie Mingyou glanced around, the room was sealed tight. Was Yan Yue ill?

Moving swiftly, Xie Mingyou finished rinsing her and helped her out of the bath. Once Yan Yue was settled in bed, Xie Mingyou tucked the blankets around her, only to find her hands alarmingly cold. How could this be, after soaking in warm water? Her pallor hadn’t improved either.

“Are you sick?”

Yan Yue met her gaze, her voice weak. “An old ailment. Don’t worry.”

She had expended too much energy earlier her body simply couldn’t keep up. But Xie Mingyou didn’t know that, and the ordeal hadn’t been unbearable. From initial forcefulness to eventual tenderness, Yan Yue had felt every shift. Having lived this long, she had only just discovered she was a Kun. The ruler of Zhao wasn’t a powerful Qian but a Kun. Even seated on the throne, the truth was undeniable.

Xie Mingyou had marked her. Their relationship was now irrevocably bound. The next time her condition flared, she would inevitably need Xie Mingyou again.

Xie Mingyou released a pleasant scent of cedar, carrying a hint of dominance that enveloped Yan Yue completely. Recalling the past, her delicate body grew even more exhausted.

Seeing her fall into a deep sleep, Xie Mingyou watched her motionless form. The red candles burned around them, the room silent enough to hear a pin drop.

Struggle flickered in Xie Mingyou’s eyes. Had she forgiven her so easily?

Had she been so quickly seduced by her body that she forgot everything that had happened before?

Did the injustices she suffered in Yue Kingdom just vanish like this?

Her family had passed away one after another after she left, and she hadn’t even been able to see them one last time before death.

The suppressed fury in Xie Mingyou surged back in an instant. No, she wouldn’t forgive her like this.

Yan Yue should repent. She should apologize.

Afraid of death and suffering, she had used Xie Mingyou as a shield. The journey had been long, and she had traveled alone with the marriage envoy for so long.

The Queen of Yue was cruel by nature, treating her, a foreign bride, with nothing but beatings and abuse.

“Look, this is the high and mighty princess of Zhao Kingdom. Let’s have the princess dance for us.”

The Queen of Yue held a beautiful concubine in her arms, not even bothering to glance at her properly. Amidst everyone’s laughter, she spread her sleeves and performed a dance of fleeting grace.

In the end, the Queen rose and pinched her chin, sneering, “Since you’ve been sent here, you’re no longer some noble princess.”

After dismissing the crowd, she endured her first inhuman torment. It was then that the glands in her body ruptured, and she realized she was a Kun. Countless humiliations and tortures followed every injustice she suffered in Yue Kingdom. She had once hoped someone would come to save her.

She thought of Yan Yue, wondered if there had been some hidden reason, if Yan Yue would plead with the late emperor to bring her back once she learned she had taken her place in the marriage alliance. Day after day, all her hopes turned to dust.

Kun women were born with a womb capable of bearing children. When she became pregnant with the Queen of Yue’s child, the xenophobic people of Yue forced a cup of abortifacient down her throat. The child was lost before it ever had a chance to see the world.

Xie Mingyou’s eyes reddened. The Gu You of the past was dead.

After enduring endless humiliation, she had been secretly pushed off a cliff and erased from the records of Yue’s royal harem.

Yet, perhaps fate had other plans. She survived, clinging to life at the foot of the mountain, and was rescued.

Her bones and tendons were reforged, her face altered, her body completely transformed. She went from being a Kun to a dominant Qian.

The physician who saved her took pity and taught her skills. After many twists and turns, she returned to Yue Kingdom and became the State Preceptor.

The agony of her body being tempered by medicinal wine, the countless nights more terrifying than death, she suddenly understood now. This was what Yan Yue deserved.

Why had she been the one to suffer in the end?

While she endured torment, this woman had been nurtured and protected as a future ruler, untouched by hardship.

Xie Mingyou clenched her fists, watching Yan Yue’s peaceful sleeping face, which seemed to have regained some color. Abruptly, she yanked the blanket away, startling her awake. “Get up. What are you sleeping for?”

If she couldn’t handle this much and needed to sleep, then what did all her past suffering mean?

“Did I say you could sleep? Get up!”

Xie Mingyou dragged her up roughly. Yan Yue woke in alarm, staring at her in confusion and fear. “What’s wrong?”

“Shut up. Get off. Go stand in the corner.”

Xie Mingyou glared at her viciously. Without waiting for Yan Yue to finish speaking, she roughly pushed her off the bed, dragged her to the window, and opened it just a crack. The cold wind rushed in as she watched Yan Yue shiver uncontrollably. Only then did Xie Mingyou feel slightly better, ashamed of her earlier moment of soft-heartedness. She had failed herself and the Gu family, how could she have shown this woman even an ounce of mercy? She shouldn’t have.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Yan Yue stood barefoot on the carpet, wrapped only in her undergarments. Though the floor heating warmed the room, the sudden draft from the window made her tremble after leaving the warmth of the quilts. Any drowsiness had been completely shattered by the torrent of abuse and rough handling.

Xie Mingyou hadn’t left yet. Still in her room, she stared with crazed, resentful eyes that seemed to pierce through her.

“I want you to experience it too, over and over.”

Xie Mingyou strode forward and gripped Yan Yue’s throat with one hand, enunciating each word deliberately.

During her years in Yue Kingdom, not a single envoy had visited her, nor had she received even one letter of concern. They’d truly treated her as an insignificant pawn, indifferent to her suffering, uncaring whether she lived or died.

Her mother and stepmother had wasted away from grief, soon succumbing to illness one after another.

Rage surged to its peak within Xie Mingyou, she genuinely wanted to strangle Yan Yue right then.

“But that would be letting you off too easily.”

As Yan Yue gasped for breath, Xie Mingyou released her grip. Doubled over in violent coughs, Yan Yue realized Xie Mingyou had truly intended to kill her. How could her emotions shift so drastically?

Yan Yue dared not provoke her further.

She remained silent, standing by the window as the night wind whipped against her body.

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