Chapter 35#

I lingered at the funeral home’s entrance for a long while before finally deciding to consult Chu Ruiyuan first on how to proceed.

Judging by the events of my previous life, I suspect this dynasty’s CEO-to-be would be particularly keen to eliminate the Southern Kingdom’s CEO-to-be.

But if Dugu Yan had reincarnated again, my momentary pity might well allow this terminal adolescent to stir up more trouble.

His affection runs deep as the sea, yet alas, I cannot swim.

The prospective CEO of this dynasty did indeed harbour a strong desire to eliminate the prospective CEO of the Southern Kingdom.

The moment I mentioned Dugu Yan to Chu Ruiyuan, he declared he’d long planted spies within Dugu Yan’s household. Should the latter show any signs of movement—say, attempting to flee to the Southern Kingdom—he’d be executed without mercy.

“But what if he shows no signs of movement at all? What if he grows up quietly in the capital?” I couldn’t help asking. The next thing I knew, I was pinned down on the bed.

‘Why do you care so much about him? Do you think he fancies you? Can’t bear to part with him?’ Chu Ruiyan, now nearly my height, asked with a dark expression.

Seeing the mix of jealousy and hurt on his small face, I immediately soothed him: ‘Of course not! If I couldn’t bear to part with him, why would I tell you I saw him?!’

Chu Ruiyuan’s expression eased slightly, though he still snorted coldly. ‘He merely developed possessive desires after you rescued him from misery and treated him kindly—hardly genuine affection. Had it been anyone else, he’d have ‘fallen head over heels’ just the same.’

The quasi-CEO of our dynasty paused, but before I could speak, he continued: ‘If you doubt me, wait a few more years. I’ll have one of my secret guards rescue him and take him in as my adopted son or younger brother. Then you’ll see how he behaves.’

And so, the plan for Dugu Yan was settled.

It’s no wonder those who secure the CEO position have such filthy hearts.

Those reborn like Chu Ruiyan possess hearts twice as dark.

Thus, I spent another year in sticky, clingy proximity to our future CEO with his doubly darkened heart.

One day, upon entering the palace to accompany him in his studies, he greeted me with a face like spring breeze, announcing he too had reached puberty.

Chu Ruiyan’s tone was thick with suggestive innuendo as he spoke.

But my mind went into overdrive.

Heaven knows how old our souls truly are, yet our bodies remain that of a thirteen-and-a-half-year-old and a twelve-and-a-half-year-old—proper budding blossoms of this era.

His ancient mindset finds nothing amiss, but bloody hell, all those years of modern civilisation’s influence haven’t been wasted on me!

Seeing him like this, looking so young, weighs heavily on my conscience. Honestly, I just can’t get it up, alright?!

Even if he were to take me, I couldn’t accept it.

So, I told him, my face flushed with embarrassment, that I’d occasionally heard Jiang the Divine Physician mention that engaging in relations too early not only leads to premature ejaculation but might also hinder proper development down there.

His Royal Highness’s radiant expression instantly froze over.

After the Grand Tutor’s lesson ended, he dismissed me promptly and saw me out of the palace.

I suspect he rushed off to verify this with the imperial physicians. But I’m not worried. Firstly, what I said is backed by modern medical evidence; Secondly, concerning matters pertaining to the future CEO’s lower body and his future sexual happiness, knowing the Imperial Physicians as I do, they would rather affirm than deny such claims—for if they dismissed it outright, what if His Royal Highness was inherently impotent or under-endowed? How would they account for that?

I have no idea how precisely the imperial physicians phrased it to Chu Ruiyuan, but suffice it to say he subsequently regained his virility, though without excessive fervour.

My mind was greatly at ease.

This peace of mind carried me through the following four years.

During these four years, certain events mirrored my previous life. For instance, I sought out the renowned physician Jiang to save my sister-in-law’s mother, allowing her to marry my elder brother at sixteen without enduring three years of mourning. Similarly, the child within the Imperial Consort’s womb—the very one that had triggered all subsequent events in my first life—was indeed miscarried once more.

Yet other matters unfolded precisely as they had in the life before last.

Indeed, the late Emperor met his end for the third time, struck down by sudden death whilst in the Imperial Consort’s bedchamber.

Scour official histories, unofficial chronicles, novels, and dramas, and you’ll find no emperor who met a more humiliating demise than the late Emperor.

Still, I rather think Chu Ruiyan suffered his own indignities.

When he ascended the throne in his first life, he at least had a half-brother (though that brother later plotted rebellion and was executed).

When he ascended the throne in his second lifetime, he at least had his Empress Dowager and a full brother (though his Empress Dowager ultimately had me killed).

Though I cannot fathom why he chose to do certain things or refrain from others, by the time he ascended this lifetime, he was truly without father, mother, brother, sister, or sibling.

A solitary sovereign, a solitary sovereign.

Well, though he was indeed the “Solitary Sovereign” and the “Lonely One”, he wasn’t truly solitary.

After all, he still had me.

If I were to say this myself, it would be utterly shameless, I know.

But these very words were spoken by His Majesty, the CEO of this dynasty, just moments ago.

‘Mingzhi, my dearest… Were it not for you, I would be left utterly alone in this world, a solitary figure indeed.’ Those were his exact words.

Hearing Chu Ruiyuan speak thus, I was deeply moved.

Had he not been stripping my clothes while saying it, I might have been even more touched.

The CEO of our dynasty is sixteen now, and his three-month mourning period for the late emperor has ended. If he wants to roll around in the hay with me, I’ve no real reason to refuse.

Besides, I don’t want to refuse.

Having a lover who was well-endowed, skilled, and handsome—ah, no, after two lifetimes of saying it, it’s a lover who was well-endowed, skilled, and handsome—if I hadn’t possessed relatively high moral standards and resolute willpower, I would have rolled around in bed with him long ago.

So as Chu Ruiyuan stripped me, I removed his dragon robe.

The dragon robe proved far more intricate than mortal garments. By the time I lay utterly stripped, he still wore an inner robe embroidered with subtle dragon motifs.

When he finally shed his last few layers, having survived death together, we stood before each other in utter nakedness once more.

I was quite aroused, but he was even more so, his member already standing tall and rigid.

He scooped some fragrant ointment from a small jar he’d prepared earlier and smeared it onto his dragon-like shaft before pinning me to the bed, kissing me as he entered me.

This body of mine was experiencing such intimacy for the first time. At first, when his thick, long blade thrust deep inside me, it still stung slightly.

But after all, we’d done this countless times in past lives and lives before that. We knew each other intimately, perfectly attuned. He moved rhythmically within me for only a short while before my rear passage gradually adjusted to the sensation of being stretched to its limit.

When he thrust a few more times against the most sensitive spot within that tight passage, he left me utterly limp. Had he not kept kissing me relentlessly, I’d have cried out in lewd, uncontrollable moans.

Chu Ruiyuan’s dragon-like member thrust in and out of me nearly a hundred times before the tip of my own member beneath my belly couldn’t hold back any longer, erupting in a thick spurt of white fluid. He too was driven to release by the tightening of my rear passage as I climaxed, pouring his hot, precious dragon-like essence deep into my male passage.

Even after ejaculating inside me, he didn’t withdraw his member. Still buried within, he continued kissing me. Before long, that shaft grew rigid once more.

Earlier, he’d likely been pent up for far too long, his thrusts as fierce as a storm. This time, however, he steadied himself. Gone were the initial wild, relentless thrusts; instead, he began a slow, deliberate rhythm within my tight passage - nine shallow strokes followed by one deep, grinding.

The sensation left me both blissfully satisfied and achingly empty. When he paused to kiss me, I murmured softly, ‘Harder… Your Majesty, harder. Deeper… I need more…’

Chu Ruiyuan kissed my lips again, smiling. ‘Since Mingzhi desires it, I shall grant her wish.’

And so, he spent half the night turning me over and over, thrusting with fierce intensity and deep penetration.

At first, it felt rather delightful, but Chu Ruiyuan’s stamina and vigour were truly beyond my own. By the end, he had worn me so thoroughly that I could scarcely muster any fluid to release. I could only beg him again, ‘Your Majesty, Mingzhi cannot go on… Let us rest for today…’

This time, his consent was not as readily given.

‘My darling,’ he murmured, ‘this is the last time, the very last,’ yet beneath me, his still-vigorous member plunged deep into my secret passage once more, commencing another vigorous thrusting.

This was the third time tonight he’d declared it ‘the last time.’ Though he was handsome, kissed with passion, and possessed impressive stamina, I was genuinely struggling to endure. I deliberately clenched my rear tightly, hoping to hasten his release.

To my surprise, this only fuelled him further. He seized my legs and thrust me forward, folding my body into an inverted U-shape with my rear opening exposed. Then he plunged into me repeatedly from above.

This position was rarely used between us. His member, gripped tightly by my contracting rear passage, soon buried itself deep within me and he released his load.

Flooded by his seed within my belly, I couldn’t hold back and climaxed once more.

But after being fucked and emptied countless times, my essence had long been drained dry. This time, what spurted from between my legs wasn’t white, viscous fluid, but a pale yellow liquid.

Chu Ruiyuan was still working me in that position, so I ended up drenched in my own urine, with a few drops of the pungent liquid splattering onto my face.

Not only had I been fucked into incontinence, but I’d also subjected myself to a golden shower.

Overcome with shame and fury, I couldn’t hold back—a kick landed squarely on Chu Ruiyuan. ‘Get the hell out!’

After the kick and the curse, I—a traitor deserving death by law—stared blankly at the CEO of our dynasty, who’d likely never been treated this way.

Committing an ancient capital offence in a moment of rage, I felt utterly flustered.

But the thought of His Majesty’s dragon-like member—now limp after ejaculation—still buried deep inside me gave me a jolt of confidence. As someone who values her dignity, I quickly began plotting a way to make amends.

Before I could settle on a plan, however, Chu Ruiyuan withdrew his member from my secret passage and swept me up in his arms. As he carried me towards the western palace baths, he chuckled: ‘I never realised before, but Your Majesty’s temper is rather fiery.’

With him putting it that way, I naturally played along: ‘It’s all because of Your Majesty… you… humph…’

Chu Ruiyuan carried me into the bath, washing me (taking liberties) while teasing: ‘When I made you relieve yourself before, you never seemed this annoyed. Why is Mingzhi so bashful today?’

Times change. Back then, I’d always thought of him as my high-ranking lover who needed coaxing.

Besides, ‘I’ve never made such a mess of myself before!’ Feeling his lower body stirring against mine again, I hastily shifted aside before continuing, ‘If Your Majesty were Mingzhi, you’d likely be even angrier.’

‘So it seems I was indeed in the wrong.’ Chu Ruiyuan murmured before pressing close again. His hand slid behind me, two fingers entering my secret passage, stretching the opening as he scooped out the viscous fluid he’d deposited inside.

His long fingers probed and scraped my innermost passage, my legs weakening once more. I leaned into his embrace, panting for half a moment before he’d cleared most of the semen from within me.

He carried me back to the bed, now freshly made by the palace attendants, and as he dried my hair, he murmured, ‘Having caused you such distress today, I must make amends…’

Having been worn out by him all night, I was utterly exhausted and lacked the energy to ask what form this compensation might take. Overcome by drowsiness, I gradually drifted off to sleep.

The following morning, the Emperor had to rise early for court, while I slept on the imperial bed until late morning.

After waking, I took my midday meal while he remained entangled in state affairs within the Imperial Study. Fearing another round of ‘flowering chrysanthemums’ upon his return, I had Eunuch Ning—who’d been specially left to keep me company—deliver a message for him before departing the palace by carriage for the Prime Minister’s residence.

Upon arriving home, I found my sister-in-law—recently diagnosed with a pregnancy pulse—resting in her chambers, while my parents and elder brother awaited my return.

The moment they saw me, they ordered me to kneel in the ancestral hall.

This scenario felt eerily familiar, reminiscent of the moment my affair with Chu Ruiyan was exposed in my previous life.