I've Decided To Be This Tyrant's Dark Moonlight - Chapter 104

“Shengsheng! I’ve finished my calligraphy practice!”

“Shengsheng! Hehehe, I caught a caterpillar!”

“Shengsheng, why are you sleeping again? You’re the one who’s supposed to assist me in the future, how can you be this lazy? Get up, get up!”

The noisy voice crawled into her ears like bugs. Wei Ying couldn’t help frowning, thinking: this is exactly why she hated bratty kids the most—so unbearably annoying.

Without opening her eyes, she waved her hand as though swatting a mosquito.

Smack!

A crisp sound rang out.

For a moment, the world fell quiet. Then came an even louder outcry—

“Sheng, you actually hit me! I’m going to tell, tell Yue Sheng! I’m the future emperor, how dare you hit me!?”

Wei Ying covered her ears, the racket giving her a headache, until at last she lost patience and opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw were the lush grapevines climbing up the trellis. Broad green leaves stretched out, sunlight pouring through the gaps, spilling all over her.

It seemed like just another ordinary afternoon. She had been napping in a reclining chair, only to be forced awake by the noisy brat. And when she opened her eyes, she met a pair of familiar, deep black pupils.

Wei Ying froze for a moment, locking eyes with the young girl hiding behind the grapevine trellis. Then the girl’s head quickly ducked back, vanishing into the tender greenery. At the same time, a large face leaned in close before Wei Ying.

“Sheng, what are you looking at again?”

The voice opposite her was clearly dissatisfied.

Wei Ying leaned back to put some distance between them, finally getting a clear look at the brat. Calling him a child was not quite accurate—he looked already twelve or thirteen, a boy on the cusp of youth. Like Yun Shao, he too had deep, dark brows and eyes, a straight nose, thin lips pressed together, his whole demeanor tinged with a trace of gloomy sullenness.

But the next second, whatever shadowy solemnity he carried was utterly swept away by his words:

“Wow, you dared hit me! When I become emperor, I’ll definitely punish you—have you flogged, cut your pay, everything!”

Wei Ying narrowed her eyes at him. “Become emperor?”

“Of course!” the boy puffed his chest proudly. “I’m the true dragon’s bloodline. Of course I’ll be the emperor. Mother told me so!”

Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

The boy’s eyes lit up, and he rushed to open it. “Mother!”

Wei Ying walked out from under the trellis, silently watching as a woman entered. She wore a palace maid’s attire, her looks touched with exotic features, though her thin lips pressed tight gave her an austere, mean air—it was the Western Empress Dowager, whom Wei Ying had once encountered in the palace.

As soon as she entered, the Empress Dowager swept the boy into her arms, fussing over him, looking him up and down with tender concern, clearly cherishing him.

Wei Ying glanced back. Behind the grapevine, the young girl peeked her head out, staring at the mother-and-son embrace, her eyes filled with barely hidden envy.

As the mother led her son past, she did not spare even a glance for her daughter.

Wei Ying’s heart twinged. She turned and walked toward the girl.

Yun Shao noticed her coming, her eyes widening in surprise, frozen in place.

Wei Ying reached out, patted her head, and bent down to gaze at her.

The Yun Shao before her was older than the little bean sprout she remembered from her dreams—now in between child and maiden, soft peach-fuzz still on her cheeks. She stood there, lost and uncertain, tearful eyes opening wide, lashes trembling like feathers.

Wei Ying asked gently: “Why don’t you go over? …Your Majesty.”

In the dream, Yun Shao looked up at her. Black eyes misted with tears, pure and fragile.

She twisted her sleeves and whispered: “Mother doesn’t like me. Brother doesn’t like me either… No one likes me.”

Wei Ying smiled softly. “Silly child. Sheng likes you.”

In the present reality, Yun Shao gazed at her mother, recalling that warm afternoon.

“Sheng likes you.”

Perhaps those words had only been her teacher’s passing moment of kindness. She knew Sheng was always gentle.

Yet each time she remembered them, it felt like spring wind brushing her face, blossoms in bloom, sunlight just right. For the chance to hear those words again, she would have gladly given up everything.

She sat in the Buddha hall, surrounded by golden statues towering above her, looking down. She lifted her head—incense smoke curling, wrathful Vajras glaring, merciful Bodhisattvas frowning gently—yet all seemed to see through her life of blood and sin.

The Western Empress Dowager trembled faintly, fingers fumbling with her prayer beads, muttering curses again and again: “Madwoman, madwoman—you’re a madwoman! Why aren’t you dead yet? Why won’t you just die!?”

Yun Shao smiled and turned her gaze on her mother.

Meeting those dark eyes, the Empress Dowager involuntarily flinched.

Softly, Yun Shao asked: “Mother, why did you help that spy in the palace?”

The Empress Dowager’s face turned deathly pale, words tumbling in panic: “I don’t know what you’re talking about! Get out, out!”

Yun Shao rose slowly, approaching step by step, looming over her. “Why does she look so much like Sheng used to look?”

Who else knew what Sheng had looked like in the past?

Who else could understand the shameful, sordid longing she had harbored for her teacher?

Before her eyes rose the scene of that great fire: thick smoke billowing, crimson flames blooming like lotus from hell, licking everything. The heat waves came in surges. In her hand was a dagger, blood dripping one drop after another to the ground.

She looked down at a face so like her own.

Once so proud and unrestrained, now twisted in disbelief, staring up at her.

Ignoring the hatred in those eyes, she bent down and pulled from her brother’s robes a single crimson maple leaf.

The boy had gripped her wrist with all his strength, his hold painfully tight.

But it hadn’t lasted. Bloodied hand fell, lifeless, his body slumping like a dead fish. He stared up at the girl holding the leaf to her cheek. Though she still clutched a bloodied dagger, having committed the cruelest act, she smiled like an innocent child.

“Sheng is mine,” she whispered with a gentle smile. “The dead can’t steal from the living, brother.”

Recalling the past, Yun Shao lowered her eyes, fists clenching beneath her sleeves.

Only that once… had she let the darkness buried in her heart erupt, growing wild. That crazed, demonic face of hers—only one person had ever seen it.

Later, when she returned to Shengjing, she was met with Sheng’s death. She drifted half-mad for weeks. During the inspection of the burned summer palace, they found a charred corpse, seemingly his. A faithful servant who had always been with them was also missing.

Yun Shao glanced at the trembling Empress Dowager, lowered her head, and smiled faintly. When she looked up, her face wore an expression of grief, black eyes misted with tears. Her voice broke: “So… brother didn’t die?”

The Empress Dowager sneered. “The sin you committed—you still don’t understand it?”

Yun Shao knelt halfway to the ground, tears streaming down her cheeks, nose reddened, sobbing softly: “I don’t understand what Mother means. Since I was little, Mother always liked Brother, never me…”

The Empress Dowager’s eyes blazed with hatred. “So you killed your own brother! How could you be so vicious?”

Yun Shao shook her head, crying. “No… why would Mother think such a thing? He was my real brother, my only kin besides you. How could I harm him?”

Empress Dowager: “Then why was it you who survived?”

Yun Shao lowered her lashes, tears brimming, yet inwardly her thoughts turned cold.

The one she stabbed back then had not died. He had fled to the northern tribes, hiding, plotting revenge. And he had even made contact with the Empress Dowager. Her words just now proved she didn’t know the truth of the fire.

Perhaps the spy courtesan had passed on his words, though not the whole secret. After all, fratricide was hardly something to boast of.

Yun Shao wiped away tears and said chokingly: “How could I ever do such a thing? It was a band of black-clad men who set the palace ablaze, trying to kill us. I only barely escaped with my life.”

The Empress Dowager clutched her beads, still unyielding. “You and he looked so alike. Why didn’t you die in his place? That’s what you were raised for—to die for him! Instead, you took his identity. You’re venomous.”

Yun Shao gave a bitter smile, eyes red. “At that time, Brother and I were in different wings of the palace. By the time I saw the fire, it was too late to reach him. Black-clad men chased me all the way out. I thought with dragon’s aura protecting him, Brother would be safe.”

The Empress Dowager exclaimed: “Of course he had dragon’s aura! He is the true Son of Heaven!”

Yun Shao’s eyes lit with feigned hope. “Then… Brother truly lives?”

The Empress Dowager hesitated.

Yun Shao wept again: “If Brother is alive, I would gladly return the throne to him. I am a woman. I was never meant to sit here. If anyone finds out, it will mean ruin. Back then, I only dressed as a man to protect myself and you, to stand in his place…”

Her shoulders trembled as she lowered her head, sobbing. “These years I’ve walked as on thin ice, never a day of joy. Each night I can’t sleep, only thinking—if Brother were here, how good it would be.”

The Empress Dowager wavered. “Truly?”

Yun Shao raised tearful eyes, firm in voice: “Of course. Mother, please believe me, just this once?”

The Empress Dowager sighed. “Yes… Yunshan survived. He even married a Northern princess, now a consort-prince.”

Yun Shao’s heart skipped, then she slowly smiled. “Truly?”

The Empress Dowager nodded. “It was that courtesan who told me, she brought his token. It’s all true. Now there’s no need for war with the north. With Shan’er on the throne, both dynasties are his.”

Yun Shao’s smile widened gently. “That truly is wonderful.”

The Empress Dowager’s face glowed with pride. “Of course! Shan’er was always destined to rule the world. If he had ascended back then, the Gong clan would never have grown so arrogant!”

Yun Shao did not reply, her brows soft, lips smiling faintly.

But the Empress Dowager, meeting that smile, felt an inexplicable unease, turning her face away.

Yun Shao slowly wiped her tears, still smiling. “Mother, do you know? I’ve always regretted something.”

The Empress Dowager frowned. “Regretted what?”

Yun Shao said lightly: “That day, in the fire… I wasn’t brave enough. Not resolute enough.”

The Empress Dowager thought she meant failing to save her brother, and pursed her lips. “You should have gone back for him. But since he lived, it’s fine. A blessing in disguise.”

Yun Shao tilted her head, finger tapping her lips, and suddenly burst into laughter—clear, childlike. Just like back then, in the inferno, she had worn an innocent face while committing the vilest deed.

“I regret… that after stabbing Brother once, I thought he was bound to die. I didn’t strike again.”

The Empress Dowager’s eyes widened in horror.

Yun Shao shrugged. “Who would’ve thought? He’d already collapsed, blood pouring everywhere—and still he lived. Truly worthy of the dragon’s aura.”

The Empress Dowager’s lips went bloodless, trembling. “You—you… it was you…”

Yun Shao smiled sweetly, voice soft as honey. “Yes, it was me. Brother wanted me to die in his place. He never imagined… I’d wanted him dead long before.”

The Empress Dowager raised a hand to slap her, but before it could land, Yun Shao caught her wrist.

Holding it tightly, she spoke with tender warmth: “I even told him I’d gladly die in his place. Just if he would hug me once. He was so moved, nearly cried. And then I…”

She mimed drawing a dagger, pressing her other hand against the Dowager’s belly. “Slid it in right here. No bones in the way, so easy. The moment it pierced, blood spurted out like a spring, hot and scalding my hands.”

The Empress Dowager trembled violently, pupils shrinking. “Monster! You killed your own brother—you’ll never die well!”

Yun Shao’s smile grew serene. “A pity it didn’t finish him. If only I’d coated the blade in poison. No matter. I can always kill him again.”

The Empress Dowager shook her head frantically, repeating: “Fratricide! You’ll die a wretched death!”

Yun Shao’s lips curved sweetly. “Not just that. I killed Father too.”

The Empress Dowager froze, eyes wide with horror, as though the person before her was no longer human.

Yun Shao: “You should thank me, Mother. If I hadn’t gotten rid of Father early, that lunatic Concubine Gong would’ve talked him into handing the throne elsewhere. You’d have been destroyed by her long ago.”

She released the Dowager’s wrist, stood straight, and raised her eyes to the gods above.

The Buddha hall glittered with gold, the Eighteen Arhats scowling, the Three Bodhisattvas gazing down coldly.

Incense smoke curled from the gilded brazier, like the thick smoke of that inferno. She stood in the flames of hell, blood-red, and smiled radiantly—half mad, half divine.

The Empress Dowager shrank into the corner, seizing the censer and hurling it at her. “Patricide, fratricide—you demon in human skin! Madwoman! I’ll expose you to the world! Everyone will know!”

She tried to rush for the door—only to find two armored guards blocking her path.

Yun Shao ignored her screams and curses. She bent down, set the fallen censer back on the altar, lit three sticks of incense, and placed them reverently. Then she knelt on the prayer mat, closing her eyes in devout supplication to the myriad gods.

“Patricide, fratricide, blood on my hands—let all sin fall on me. Only… do not harm Yingying by even a hair.”

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