I've Decided To Be This Tyrant's Dark Moonlight - Chapter 77

Mingying sat on the edge of the bed, head lowered, her heart beating quickly. For a moment, she didn’t dare look at the emperor again.

Yunshao twisted this way and that, unable to break free of the ropes. She was so angry her eyes turned red, her cheeks rubbing against the soft, cool bedding until one of the pearl tears at her eyes fell loose. She bit her lip, thinking bitterly—she was already like this, yet Yingying still tied her up.

Was there anyone more unromantic and clueless than this?

Was Yingying’s heart made of wood?

But then she thought again—if Yingying treated her like this, then surely she treated everyone else the same.

That thought soothed her. She smiled sweetly and called in a delicate voice:
“Yingying, why don’t you dare look back at me?”

Mingying’s palm clenched. Her body stiffened slightly, and only after a pause did she slowly turn her head. She lifted her gaze and gave the emperor—wrapped up like a dumpling—a light glance, and in her heart confirmed, yes, very much like a meat dumpling.

The metaphor made her lips curve despite the risk of angering the emperor and losing her head.
“Your Majesty, what is it you want?” she asked.

Yunshao blinked, a tear slipping from the corner of her left eye, her eyes rimmed red and glistening. In a soft voice, she said:
“So Yingying wants to unwrap me herself?”

Mingying pretended not to understand.
“Unwrap what?”

Yunshao’s cheeks flushed scarlet. Lowering her head, she stretched out her tongue and licked the back of Mingying’s lowered hand.
“Unwrap me,” she murmured.

Mingying snatched her hand back as if burned, the hot, wet sensation still lingering, sending a strange numbness through her chest. She clasped her hands behind her back and looked at the bound yet still dangerously alluring emperor, trying to recover some ground:
“Your Majesty, where I come from, things tied up like this are hung out to dry.”

Yunshao tilted her head, eyes soft and wet.
“What things?”

Mingying: “Pig’s trotters.”

Yunshao: “……”

After a long pause, she managed to recover from the sorrow and indignation of being likened to pork. With a laugh, she said:
“Then let Yingying hang me up.”

Mingying was left speechless, helplessly staring at her.

Yunshao wriggled closer, rolling around on the bed. Her hair fell loose, and her peacock hairpin slipped off onto the pillow.

Mingying’s gaze drifted to it. She picked it up and examined it: a lavish piece, a peacock trailing its long tail, every feather inlaid with gemstones, dazzling even more than a real peacock in full display.

She looked at the hairpin, then at the lovely face shimmering with desire before her, and couldn’t help thinking—the emperor looked exactly like a peacock in mating season, willing to do anything just to attract her mate.

Yunshao’s eyes grew moist. She whispered:
“Yingying, untie me.”

Mingying: “If I loosen the silk, Your Majesty must promise not to move, all right?”

Yunshao’s eyes flickered. After two seconds she smiled brightly.
“All right.”

Mingying: ……

That guilty look—she saw it loud and clear!

So instead, she lifted her skirts, flipped the emperor (still tied up like a dumpling) over to the far side of the bed, pushed her into the corner, and then lay down on the other side under a separate quilt.

Yunshao squirmed in discomfort. Since her body was bound, only her mouth could move.
“Last time Yingying tied me up like this too. Is this… Yingying’s bedroom preference?”

She blinked innocently.
“I don’t really like it, but if Yingying enjoys it, I’ll try my best to get used to it!”

Mingying pressed a hand to her brow, exasperated.
“What bedroom preference? It’s only because, because Your Majesty is too…”

Too hungry!

Yunshao turned her head, smiling at the girl.
“Then feed me, Yingying. Feed me until I’m not hungry anymore, then I won’t bother you.”

Mingying muttered a Buddhist scripture:
“Your Majesty, form is emptiness, emptiness is form—please endure!”

Turning her back on her, she thought to herself she was like Tang Monk on his journey, forced to endure the pestering of a lustful demoness.

Luckily, she had excellent ropework skills!

Then Mingying froze.

A smooth, warm leg slid into her quilt, rubbing against her foot.

Mingying: !!!

She wanted to turn over, but remembering how the emperor had been naked earlier, she lost her nerve.

Soon, soft boneless hands reached around, slipping to her waist, stroking gently.

Yunshao’s smiling voice sounded behind her:
“Yingying, after last time, I learned how to untie ropes.”

Mingying’s lips tightened. Careless! The emperor was getting cleverer.

Yunshao asked again:
“Yingying, am I smart?”

Mingying sighed.
“Why can’t Your Majesty put that cleverness to better use?”

Yunshao’s fingers pried at her clothes, slipping inside like a boneless fish—only to be caught and pinned down. Mingying seized both her hands, trapping her legs as well. Still, the emperor’s warmth and fragrance seeped through the thin fabric.

Yunshao pouted, complaining:
“Yingying is no fun at all.”

Mingying: “Your Majesty, don’t do this.”

Since only her mouth was free, Yunshao pouted again, her eyes brimming with grievance.
“Yingying, are you… incapable?”

Mingying: ……

Yunshao went on babbling:
“If you can’t, then just lie there. Let me do it.”

Mingying caught her wrists firmly.
“Your Majesty, if you keep this up, I’ll leave.”

Yunshao huffed, staring at her with a wounded, reproachful gaze.

She had delivered herself to Yingying’s arms, yet Yingying was this heartless.

Sob sob q^q.

Could it be Yingying truly had no base desires at all?

Yunshao curled her fingers, scratching the back of Mingying’s hand, and rushed to speak before Mingying could.
“Yingying, let me, okay?”

Mingying lowered her gaze. The emperor nestled in her arms, her pure black eyes wide and earnest.

Under that look, Yunshao’s confidence faltered; she dropped her head with two soft whimpers. She tried to console herself: if Yingying didn’t have worldly desires, then she wouldn’t have them with anyone else either.

That thought made her feel better.

But still, she was unwilling…

She said pitifully:
“Xiao Qianxue sleeps with Yingying all the time, and the Noble Consort too has shared a bed with Yingying. The empress—well, maybe not her… But anyway, Yingying has slept with so many women. I’m no different from them. Just one among Yingying’s women, nothing special.”

Mingying: “Your Majesty, you are different. They are also your women.”

Yunshao was stunned, then chose to ignore the mood-ruining remark, humming unhappily.

Mingying comforted her:
“Your Majesty, Qianxue is more well-behaved than you. She only sleeps—she doesn’t grope around.”

Yunshao felt relieved, secretly pleased. As she thought—Yingying didn’t desire others, so she must be the closest one. Still, she put on a wounded face.
“Yingying praises other women in my bed.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

Mingying softened.
“Then I won’t praise her. Your Majesty looks very beautiful tonight.”

“Really?” Yunshao’s face blossomed with joy, then quickly fell again.
“But Yingying always praises others. I’m no different from them.”

Mingying thought, the little emperor is hard to please.

“You are the most beautiful,” she said, eyes closed, shamelessly.

Yunshao’s smile curved bright. Looking up at her, she said happily:
“Really? Then I prepared a gift for Yingying today—do you like it?”

Mingying: “If I don’t have to untie you, I’ll like it even more.”

Yunshao leaned closer, still smiling.
“Then… shouldn’t Yingying reward me a little?”

Mingying considered.
“Fine, but no spanking.”

Yunshao sighed regretfully, then looked at her with shining eyes.
“Then can you reward me with a little chu?”

Mingying blinked.
“What’s a chu?”

Yunshao lifted her face, leaned in, and kissed her cheek.

“Chu~”

Mingying’s face burned. Her chest felt prickly, itchy—a strange sensation. Strange enough that she wanted another. But Yunshao had already closed her eyes, lips curved.

“Yingying, come chu-chu me~”

Without thinking, Mingying lowered her head.
“Chu~”

Yunshao grinned in triumph.

Afterward, Mingying quickly turned away, clutching her chest. Claiming she was going to sleep, she said no more.

The emperor, already satisfied, embraced her and drifted off.

But Mingying lay awake, staring into the dark, heart pounding like crashing waves. She gripped the quilt tightly, feeling the emperor’s soft, steady breathing at her back.

She sighed softly.

Palace-Fight System: “Host, what’s wrong?”

Mingying: ……

System: “Don’t tell me that was your first kiss?”

Mingying: “Shut up.”

The system made mocking noises until Mingying threatened to file a complaint, whereupon it fell silent.

But two minutes later, it couldn’t resist.
“No way, no way… You spout all that flirty talk, but that was your first kiss?”

In all those little worlds she’d entered, her identities were always ambiguous, suggestive. And in the main world, relationships were open, casual—especially among mission-takers. Compared to them, her innocence was practically unheard of.

Mingying stayed silent for a long time before speaking quietly:
“Because of my parents.”

The system quieted. This was the first time it heard her mention her own past.

Her parents had met in a mission world, flirting with each other as if the other were just NPCs—only to discover afterward, oh, you’re a mission-taker too. From then on, they became a couple and married.

When Mingying was little, she thought herself as happy as a princess.

She had her own little planet, and the most excellent, loving parents. Later she realized, if she were a princess, then she was the Princess and the Pea—delicate and impossibly picky.

Having witnessed such a fairy-tale romance, she too became demanding, hard to please.

When she left her small planet, she discovered how out of place she was.

Though she lived in a highly open, fast-paced main world, she couldn’t understand love at first sight, or falling into bed after two glances. She couldn’t understand why the world spun so fast.

If the world were made of blocks, she must be the missing piece, a hollow gap that didn’t fit.

——

The next day, the sky was clear and bright. As usual, the autumn hunt was held at the imperial hunting grounds.

This time Prince Luling had learned his lesson. He stayed within the field, circling safely, not daring to chase stags. Every arrow he loosed, he glanced nervously at Mingying and the others’ expressions.

The Noble Consort, after squatting all night, appeared with Xiao Qianxue—both with dark circles under their eyes.

They weren’t in the mood to hunt; after greeting the others, they returned to rest. Of all the hunters, only the emperor seemed serious.

Mingying turned her head, watching the emperor draw her bow with such concentration, wondering why she was suddenly so invested. Yunshao, sensing her gaze, quickly averted her eyes, tugged the reins, and galloped toward the dense forest to the west.

Commander Wei at her side touched the hilt of his sword.

Mingying recalled the Noble Consort’s words from last night. Uneasy, she urged her horse forward, leaping the fence to follow—not too far, not too close.

Yunshao, hearing hoofbeats behind, let her lips curl up. Suddenly she steered her horse straight into a thicket. Mingying rushed ahead to stop her.

The horse’s hooves caught in vines, panicked, and reared, throwing the emperor off before bolting away.

Mingying only just managed to catch the emperor, rolling with her on the ground before clambering up, reaching out her hand.
“Your Majesty, are you hurt?”

Yunshao grinned.
“No. My horse ran off, Yingying—let me ride yours, all right?”

Mingying gave her a long, knowing look, then let her sit in front. She wrapped her arms around the emperor’s waist, about to turn back, when Yunshao began squirming again.

No, she insisted on catching some game in the forest first.

“Otherwise I’ll lose face!” she declared.

Mingying: “Your Majesty never cared about face before. I heard from the Noble Consort that you used to call one rabbit a great victory.”

Yunshao’s cheeks reddened. She clutched Mingying’s robe, pouting.
“So Yingying, help me win some honor back!”

Mingying chuckled helplessly, guiding the horse deeper into the woods.
“As Your Majesty commands.”

She caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Instantly, she drew her bow to full moon, aiming at the brambles—when suddenly her body jolted.

A hand had slipped into her robes. Incredulous, she looked down.

The emperor’s hand was still groping wildly, yet her face looked pure and innocent as she raised her head:
“I just want to see if Yingying can still shoot straight while distracted. Come on, Yingying, you need full focus to shoot!”

Mingying loosed the string. The arrow whistled, and a muffled groan came from the bushes.

There was an ambush.

Mingying’s brow furrowed just as arrows hissed through the air behind her.

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