Strongly Spoiled by the Villainous Tyrant After Climbing into the Dragon’s Bed - Chapter 4

The fuddled yet handsome Emperor had clearly forgotten what he was thinking just a moment ago.

Zhan Yueqing was even less aware of his thoughts; instead, he was trying hard to recall that summer in the modern era with his ex-boyfriend. His meager sexual experience left him somewhat uncertain about how to please a man.

In the past, it had always been the ex-boyfriend pleasing him.

Zhan Yueqing then thought of those rigid medical facts from his textbooks…

Well, it should be just barely enough, right?

He recalled the textbooks, somewhat clumsily lifted his leg, and sat upon Tan Huairan’s waist.

When Zhan Yueqing crossed over him, Tan Huairan first caught the scent of his aura.

So fragrant…

Tan Huairan silently took a sharp breath in his heart.

The tips of Zhan Yueqing’s ears grew redder and redder. He lowered his gaze, saw Tan Huairan’s abdominal muscles, and couldn’t help but reach out to touch them—

The muscles were taut, the eight-pack abs were clearly defined, and the texture was excellent to the touch.

Tan Huairan narrowed his eyes dangerously. If this weren’t his “White Moonlight,” he would truly be going insane.

He suddenly really wanted to ask the System what was going on with this Zhan Yueqing. After all, the mission to snatch the person had been issued by that “dog thing” System.

However, Zhan Yueqing only touched his abs briefly before withdrawing his hand, looking up at Tan Huairan and blinking.

Tan Huairan paused.

Tsk.

Was he flirting?

He had long since stopped falling for such tricks.

Tan Huairan sneered in his heart, yet on the surface, he remained indifferent, tinged with a bit of doubt: “Is this all the skill you have? Did the Prince of An only teach you this?”

Zhan Yueqing was a bit dizzy and didn’t hear clearly what he was saying.

Perhaps it was because he hadn’t eaten much earlier, or perhaps because his taut nerves had relaxed due to the tyrant’s promise, the suppressed headache and dizziness came roaring back.

“I…” Zhan Yueqing saw stars and instinctively said, “Headache…”

He was likely truly ill; his voice was very small.

Tan Huairan heard him clearly, however. His sword-like brows furrowed, and just as he was about to speak—

Zhan Yueqing fainted right onto him.

Tan Huairan: “…”

The position he fainted in was quite “appropriate.”

Is this a new method of seduction?

But when he felt Zhan Yueqing’s abnormal temperature, his expression suddenly changed.

That night, the Palace of Brocade was brightly lit.

In the Imperial Academy of Medicine, the sixty-year-old Senior Physician was dragged out of his bed by a hidden guard, his face dark as coal.

“Physician Zhang, please forgive me,” Zhou Jiu said, bowing low in apology. “It wasn’t me who wanted to wake you; the Emperor summoned you to the palace!”

Put the blame on the Emperor’s head!

Physician Zhang had followed Tan Huairan since his time as Crown Prince. With decades of mutual affection, he was technically a physician but also effectively half a mentor.

While others were submissive before the tyrant, the old physician was not.

Zhang laughed coldly. “What trouble is that boy stirring up again? Day after day, he never seeks me out unless there’s a problem—why didn’t he call the Head of the Academy to check on him?”

Zhou Jiu gave a bitter smile.

A long time ago, Zhang had wanted the position of Head of the Imperial Academy, but for some reason, Tan Huairan had blocked him. Consequently, the old man would sarcastically needle him every time they met.

“The Emperor’s thoughts are not for a subordinate to speculate… You should hurry to the palace. If he goes mad later, the palace servants will have to be replaced in batches again.”

Zhang only had a slight grudge against Tan Huairan and did not wish to make enemies of others. He let out a sigh, his heart softening. “Fine, fine, let us go.”

Half an hour later, inside the Palace of Brocade.

Zhang frowned as he took the pulse of the hand extending from the bed. Halfway through, he suddenly turned to ask Tan Huairan, who was standing nearby: “Your Majesty, who is behind the curtain? This official needs to inspect other areas.”

Tan Huairan stiffened.

Seeing this, the clever Zhou Jiu immediately spoke up: “It is His Majesty’s new favorite.”

Tan Huairan: “…”

“Go receive twenty strokes of the board yourself.” Tan Huairan pointed outside, swept a cold glance at Zhou Jiu, and spoke indifferently.

Zhou Jiu was stunned. “Huh?”

Tan Huairan’s eyes carried a murderous intent.

Zhou Jiu’s heart jolted, knowing his master’s “madness” was acting up again. He called out loudly: “Understood!”

Anyway, the ones carrying out the punishment were the hidden guards, and they usually went easy on him. Heh heh.

He went out chuckling.

Zhang didn’t understand why Zhou Jiu was happy about being punished, nor did he care to ask. He simply looked back at Tan Huairan and said, “Your Majesty, this person inside…”

“My heart’s beloved,” Tan Huairan said.

Zhang was a bit hard of hearing and didn’t catch it. “What? Regardless of who it is, this official needs to see his tongue coating and complexion to make a proper judgment.”

Tan Huairan stepped forward and lifted the curtain.

Zhang was shocked.

On the bed, the youth’s neck was covered in marks from being strangled. It was evident that the person who choked him truly wanted him dead in that moment; the force hadn’t been lightened at all, and the area was now swollen with terrifying purple-blue bruises.

Zhang Yunnian was over sixty and had seen everything. He had treated many princes and nobles in the capital, but he had never seen someone treated so destructively.

He looked at the youth on the bed, who was about the same age as his own grandson, and a nameless fire rose in his heart. “Your Majesty, it is one thing to have no restraint on the battlefield, but even in the bedchamber—”

Tan Huairan suddenly pulled back the collar of his own clothes. There was a purple-red bloodstain there, looking as though a lethal blow had been intended.

It was from when Zhan Yueqing had choked him during their earlier struggle.

His “White Moonlight” was not “pure white”; when interests were at stake, he was capable of doing anything.

For example, abandoning him.

Zhang Yu: “…”

It seems I don’t understand young people these days.

Zhang Yu’s old face flushed. He honestly took out his medicine box and began to treat the red, purple, and slightly bleeding wounds on Zhan Yueqing’s neck.

Tan Huairan, however, snatched the items from his hand. “I will do it—why did he suddenly faint?”

Zhang Yu sighed as he looked at the unconscious Zhan Yueqing. “He has taken medicine year-round. All medicine has a side of toxicity; having taken it for so many years, his physical foundation was already hollowed out. Coupled with a sudden cold and being choked by you, it would be abnormal if he didn’t faint… Wait, this knife wound on his left wrist, was that also your doing, Your Majesty?”

He suddenly noticed a deep, bone-exposing cut on Zhan Yueqing’s left arm, looking as if blood had been drawn from it.

Tan Huairan’s movements were gentle as he treated the neck wounds, but he looked at the scar, which appeared somewhat old.

It looked like it happened a few days ago.

Tan Huairan paused, his eyes narrowing dangerously, but he said nothing. Instead, he changed the subject: “You said just now, what medicine has he been taking year-round?”

Zhang Yu regained his focus and shook his head. “I cannot tell. You must ask him yourself.”

Tan Huairan’s eyes flashed, and his voice turned cold. “Then you know how to nurse him back to health, right?”

Zhang Yu was a master of restorative health. Hearing this, he raised an eyebrow in surprise—

Oho.

The tyrant knows how to care for someone?

It seemed this boy’s identity was not simple.

“He fainted before I even touched him,” Tan Huairan suddenly realized he had misspoken and immediately added: “If I want to enjoy frequent intimacy with him in the future, what if he cannot endure it?”

Zhang Yu: “…”

I thought too much.

He almost choked the boy to death, and he calls that “didn’t even touch him”?

Fine, the tyrant is indeed still the tyrant.

Zhang Yu said helplessly, “Your Majesty, recuperation is not something that happens overnight. Before then, it is best if you do not touch him.”

Tan Huairan: “Just write the prescription. You need not worry about the rest.”

Zhang Yu was afraid that as soon as he left, these two would end up in a bloodbath. He quickly urged again: “If you force it, he might die. This child looks no more than fifteen—Your Majesty should accumulate some merit.”

Tan Huairan paused.

He remembered this hidden guard’s body was twenty years old, but the frame was so thin and weak it looked like fifteen.

Hmph, I don’t know how the Prince of An raised him.

A waste of space.

“What use is accumulating merit? I don’t care for it,” Tan Huairan said impatiently. “Get out and write the prescription. If he hasn’t woken by tomorrow, you shall be buried with him.”

Zhang Yu: “…”

Zhang Yu glanced at the hourglass and realized—dawn was approaching, and the Emperor’s “madness” was about to set in.

He sighed and retreated.

Tan Huairan also noticed the time. His movements became uncharacteristically hurried. He quickly finished treating Zhan Yueqing’s wounds and changed him into thicker clothing.

A palace servant entered with the brewed medicine.

Tan Huairan took the bowl, dismissed the servants, lowered the curtains, and began feeding the medicine to the unconscious Zhan Yueqing.

The dark decoction smelled very bitter.

Tan Huairan’s brows knit. He propped Zhan Yueqing up against his chest, holding the bowl in one hand and prying his lips open with the other to force the medicine in.

It was meant to be a tender gesture, but as time passed, a surge of irritability rose in Tan Huairan’s heart.

It was almost the Hour of the Rabbit (5:00 AM).

From the Hour of the Rabbit to the Hour of the Ox—he was not allowed even a shred of affection.

Though unconscious, Zhan Yueqing seemed to have some perception. The bitterness made him dodge in a daze, though he didn’t realize that in this posture, he was unconsciously leaning closer into Tan Huairan’s embrace.

“Don’t want to drink… so bitter…”

His voice was very soft, sounding pitiful.

The veins on Tan Huairan’s forehead bulged. His voice was low and hoarse: “Be good, drink it.”

Even if his mind wasn’t clear, Zhan Yueqing judged that the medicine must be extremely bitter. He looked at him with misty eyes and shook his head. “No…”

Tan Huairan narrowed his eyes dangerously, the veins also popping on the arm holding the medicine—

“Drink it. Otherwise, you can forget about your position in the Imperial Academy.”

Zhan Yueqing’s brows furrowed. In his subconscious, he felt this was something very important. His eyes reddened, looking incredibly aggrieved.

Tan Huairan: “…”

Tan Huairan was at his wit’s end and began to use enticement, his voice light and ambiguous: “—Open your mouth. As long as you drink it obediently, I guarantee you can travel anywhere under heaven without hindrance. I’ll even give you the Imperial Seal to play with.”

His voice was beautiful and familiar. Zhan Yueqing, in his daze, was about to agree, but the moment his lips touched the bitter liquid, he immediately turned his head away, still dodging. “What is an Imperial Seal… I don’t want it.”

Seeing that he wouldn’t respond to the carrot or the stick, a flame of anger instantly ignited in Tan Huairan’s heart. He tilted his head, downed the medicine into his own mouth, pressed his lips against Zhan Yueqing’s, and transferred it over.

Zhan Yueqing looked like he wanted to struggle, but his head was too foggy, so he gave up.

Outside the curtain, the sand in the hourglass finished draining.

The Hour of the Rabbit had arrived. A sinister electronic voice sounded punctually in Tan Huairan’s mind—

“Ah, good morning, Your Majesty.” It used Tan Huairan’s eyes to see his actions. “Hmm? Such an old trope… My, you’re quite fierce in bed.”

It saw the wounds on Zhan Yueqing’s neck and his bitten lips, commenting: “Not bad. This is very ‘tyrant-like’.”

Tan Huairan gave a cold laugh, slowly laid Zhan Yueqing back down, and tucked in the quilt.

The System saw this action: “This is a bit out of character—”

“I injured him like this during S&M last night; I can’t just be heartless after getting off.”

Tan Huairan’s words choked the System back.

The System thought it made sense, so it didn’t issue an electric shock punishment. Instead, it said: “Then—it is time for the morning court, Your Majesty.”

Tan Huairan turned around, his gaze instantly becoming dark and sinister.

Palace servants filed in from outside to change him into his court robes.

Perhaps because they were in a rush, or perhaps because Tan Huairan’s expression was too terrifying, the servants’ hands were shaking. One accidentally knocked over a golden basin filled with water.

Clang!

“This servant deserves death! This servant deserves death!”

Tan Huairan’s brows knit, but he said gloomily: “Shut up.”

He turned slightly, allowing the servants to place the crown on him, while his peripheral vision flickered toward the curtain.

Fortunately, he wasn’t woken up.

Tan Huairan shifted his gaze back to the trembling servant on the ground.

“Are you not going to kill that servant?” the voice in his head asked.

Tan Huairan gave a light chuckle.

The servant’s name was Tao’er. Hearing him laugh, she almost cried out in fear.

The Emperor before her, clad in black and gold robes, exuded an aura like a god of slaughter returning from a battlefield.

“Drag her out and give her fifty strokes of the rod.”

He passed judgment on the servant lightheartedly.

Two black-clad hidden guards suddenly appeared, covered the servant’s mouth, and dragged her out.

The hearts of the remaining servants in the hall were filled with even greater terror, yet they dared not show a trace of it. Their movements became even more cautious and meticulous.

Just for a small mistake, fifty strokes of the rod—the tyrant truly lives up to his name.

Tan Huairan lowered his eyes, his expression icy cold.