Chapter 4: The protagonist receives thanks from Zhichi

In the prison dungeon, the light of several white candles bleached the weak shadows pale.

After Xie Zhichi was caned, the jail guards dragged him into the cell.
Blood still dripped steadily from his wounds.

As the guard shackled Xie Zhichi’s wrists and ankles with chains, he said, “Don’t blame this lowly one, sir.
I was only carrying out punishment.
I dare not disobey orders from above.”

“They originally planned to castrate you.
But Prince Lin knelt in the rain to plead for you, so His Majesty changed it to caning instead.”

The guard added, “His Majesty will come see you later.
If you act sensibly, perhaps you’ll even be released.
Then you won’t have to stay in the palace as a s*ave.”

The guard had some distant relation to Zhang Shu, the eunuch who served the Emperor.
Zhang Shu had hinted at the Emperor’s preferences.

After fastening the chains around Xie Zhichi’s limbs, the guard still felt it was not degrading enough.

“Forgive the offense.”

He wrapped another loop of chain around Xie Zhichi’s neck.

“This lowly one is doing this for your own good.
People like us—whether we’re dogs before His Majesty or dogs before some other noble—it’s all the same.
But you?
You’ve caught the eye of Great Ye’s Emperor.
To kneel before His Majesty as a favored dog is something countless people could never dream of.”

“Sir,” the guard continued, “if you submit now, one day you may still stand upright as a man again.
But if you keep resisting… in the end, you’ll live worse than a dog.”

After securing the chains, he smeared some of Xie Zhichi’s blood across his face to make him look even more pitiful.

“This lowly one knows you’re the top scholar.
You’re proud.
But to stay alive, even broken bones must endure.”

Normally the guard was not someone who talked much.
Only because Zhang Shu had subtly instructed him did he say so many things.

Once the chains were secured, the guard stood and retreated outside the cell.

He made up his mind:
when the Emperor arrived, unless ordered otherwise, no matter what sounds he heard, he absolutely would not turn around to look.

Fortunately, Emperor Xiao Juan had no habit of making people listen outside walls.
The moment he arrived, he dismissed all the guards.

Xiao Juan looked at the miserable figure inside the prison and deigned to step inside personally.

This was perhaps the filthiest place Xiao Juan had ever entered.

Rotting straw of unknown age.
A stench that clung to the air.
Bloodstained torture instruments.
Some still had bits of flesh stuck to them.

Xiao Juan swept his gaze across the room before finally settling his eyes on Xie Zhichi.

‘Beaten quite badly.
Still breathing though.’

Wrapped in chains, even the sharpest pride became laughable.

And yet, even in such disgrace, that beautiful face remained breathtaking.

No wonder the Chancellor’s child and Qie Yunü had both fallen for him.

Xiao Juan slowly approached.

He crouched down, seized Xie Zhichi’s chin, and looked into those defiant eyes.

Then suddenly he grabbed the back of Xie Zhichi’s neck and slammed him onto the ground.

Mercilessly.

His face scraped against the rough floor, skin tearing open instantly.

Xiao Juan said lazily, “Xie Zhichi.
Quite an elegant name.
When I offered you face, you refused it.
So now, it can only be like this.”

“Originally, I intended to castrate you and make you a eunuch s*ave.
I wanted to see how much backbone you’d still have once your manhood was gone.”

He sighed softly.

“But my Qie Yunü likes you far too much.
That frail body of his still insisted on kneeling in the rain for your sake.”

“If you died, then so be it.
But if Qie Yunü died, that would be troublesome.”

Xiao Juan released him and stroked the abrasions on Xie Zhichi’s face.

“With looks like yours, scars would be a pity.
I’ll have the imperial physicians examine you.”

“Xie Zhichi.
I’ll give you one more chance.
Wash yourself clean.
Beg for my favor.
If you do, I’ll let this matter go.”

Xiao Juan rose to his feet.

Dressed in black robes, the embroidered five-clawed golden dragon upon them looked sinister beneath the white candlelight.

Standing in that ghostly pale glow, Xiao Juan looked down at Xie Zhichi, waiting for his answer.

Half-dead, Xie Zhichi merely laughed twice.

A mocking laugh.

Blood frothed at his lips as he laughed.

This was his first caning.
The guards had shown no mercy.
He had accidentally bitten through his tongue.

So he could only laugh.

Use laughter as his answer to the Emperor who held all power in Great Ye.

He had studied the classics and passed examination after examination not to become a dog.

Cultivate oneself.
Order the family.
Govern the nation.
Bring peace to the world…

Xie Zhichi looked at the Emperor.

So this was Great Ye’s ruler.

This was the sovereign he had once served loyally.

Xiao Juan received his answer and sighed with faint regret.

“Very well then, Xie Zhichi.
From now on, you shall become the lowliest s*ave in the imperial palace.”

Xiao Juan left.

Xie Zhichi collapsed in the corner.
His blood-covered hands clenched tightly around the chains binding him.

In the night, Empress Chu Cizhao embroidered a silk handkerchief.

The previous one had been stained by the medicine that touched Lin Xiaoque’s lips.
Wu Ying had wanted to wash it away, but the Empress had refused.

“What’s the point of washing it?
Just throw it away.”

Yet instead of discarding it, he casually placed it inside his dressing box.

Wu Ying did not dare touch it.

And so the handkerchief remained there.

Late at night, after dismissing all attendants, the Empress would take out the handkerchief and clutch it tightly while lying in bed.

Ge’er possessed two sets of sexual organs.
The front one had been locked.

The Empress stared blankly at the lock.

Before marrying the Emperor, Chu Cizhao had once intended to marry a wife himself.
He had not wanted to become another man’s bound spouse.

But during a palace banquet, his father insisted on bringing him along.

That was how he was noticed.

“A beauty capable of toppling nations.”

At the time, Xiao Juan had still been Crown Prince.
He had only spoken that ambiguous praise.

Yet the late Emperor immediately issued an imperial decree.

And so Chu Cizhao became Crown Princess.

Later, the old Emperor died and Xiao Juan ascended the throne.
The imperial harem gradually filled.

After giving birth to Xiao Futu, Emperor Xiao Juan rarely visited the Empress’s palace anymore.

One night, Xiao Juan pinched the Empress’s face and said, “Aside from this face of yours, you’re utterly boring.
Sleeping with you is like sleeping with a corpse.”

The Empress forced back the moisture in his eyes.

Xiao Juan rose afterward and even courteously helped him dress.

Chu Cizhao had never lived for himself.

He had a son.
He had a family clan.

He had to fulfill his role as Empress properly.

Clutching the handkerchief tightly, Chu Cizhao finally pressed a kiss to the medicine-stained spot when no one was around.

Endure.
Endure again.

After all, he too was still human.

Kissing the handkerchief felt as though he were kissing that person.

And yet he could not say it aloud.

Even in the deepest night with no one present, he still could not bring himself to call that person’s name.

Under candlelight, Chu Cizhao embroidered another handkerchief.

The old one could no longer openly be used, so he could only make a new one.

The palace housed many master embroiderers, but for personal belongings, Chu Cizhao preferred to make them himself.

As he embroidered, he drifted into distraction.

Only when the needle pierced his finger did he return to himself.

And then he realized— he had embroidered the character “木” by mistake, missing only one final stroke.

Chu Cizhao’s heart trembled in panic.

Fortunately, no one else was nearby.

Breathing sharply, he hurriedly held the handkerchief over the candle flame.

Wu Ying entered carrying pastries from the kitchen.
Seeing this, she quickly set the tray down and hurried over with a bronze basin.

Before the burning cloth could scorch his hand, Chu Cizhao dropped the flaming handkerchief into the basin.

“Your Highness?” Wu Ying asked in confusion.

Chu Cizhao said, “I ruined the embroidery.
Looking at it annoyed me, so I burned it.”

“I could’ve burned it for you,” Wu Ying said worriedly.
“Did Your Highness burn your hand?”

Chu Cizhao shook his head.

Looking out into the night, he suddenly said, “Tomorrow, invite His Majesty, Tu’er, and Qie Yunü to dine here for the evening meal.”

Outside the window, the moon hung high in the night sky.

Its luminous glow flowed softly like water.

The same moon Chu Cizhao gazed upon was also being watched by Xie Zhichi in the dungeon.

Clutching his chains, he looked through the tiny prison window toward the outside world.

Freedom’s light.
Freedom’s night.

No hierarchy.
No noble or lowly.

Everything dissolved into the deep ink-black darkness.

He raised his bloodied hands, wanting to catch the narrow beam of moonlight falling into the dungeon.

But when he lowered his head, all he could see was blood.

Not the moon’s purity.

He remembered his childhood days studying.

Every day he had walked a very long road.

Before dawn, he would rise, put on straw sandals, grab his books, wrap two steamed buns, and head out.

Back then, the moon had not yet set.

It too hung high above him like this.

He had never feared the darkness before sunrise.

The moonlight accompanied him as he groped his way forward.

Sometimes he would encounter fireflies dancing through the night, making the road easier to walk.

After classes ended, he would walk back to the village until sunset faded and moonlight rose again.

His toes would rub raw and bleed, thick calluses forming over them.

Back then, those straw sandals had also been stained with blood.

Just like these chains now.

But the blood on the straw sandals had been a price he willingly paid to move forward.

These chains, however—

these chains existed to train him into a dog at the feet of the powerful.

He had walked too long as a human being.

He was used to standing upright.

He could no longer crawl.

He could no longer become a dog.

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