Eighty Thousand Springs at the End of the Year

When Jiang Suiyi, the second young lady of the Marquis's household, was six, she used her life-jade to save a pretty little slave.

The little slave's limbs and neck were bound. Imprisoned in a dark palace, he couldn't even speak and looked like an abandoned dog.

"Jiao... Jiao..." The first words he spoke were her childhood nickname.

Years later, fate brought them together again. The mute little slave had become the young prince Ye Xuan, the Crown Prince's younger brother.

But fate crushed them both beneath its wheels...

Only then did Jiang Suiyi learn that in the ninth year of Jingyuan, Consort Shu had accidentally fallen into the Abyssal Pit, where a great serpent demon was said to be imprisoned. Consort Shu was found seven days later. Ten months after that, she gave birth to twins. The elder was Emperor Yan's heir, while the younger was an egg. When it hatched, a beautiful baby with snake scales emerged.

The physician and midwife fainted. Consort Shu secretly ordered someone to get rid of the "snake child," leaving it to live or die. Jiang Suiyi had saved the filthy snake child in the eyes of the world, giving him the chance to kill her family.

Why had she, a person rejected by Heaven's will, foolishly saved him? This was the greatest regret of Jiang Suiyi's life.

While Ye Xuan was overwhelmed with desire, Jiang Suiyi poisoned him. She watched helplessly as the young prince, his limbs stiff and numb, was dragged away by the shadow guards. Unable to speak, he clutched the corner of her robe with all his strength. Though born without tears, his eyes were clouded with a bloody haze of despair and grief.

Jiang Suiyi coldly pulled the corner of her robe free, even stepping on his fingers as she walked away.

In the end, Ye Xuan's heart was cut out and given to the Crown Prince to keep his elder brother alive. His broken body was thrown into the Serpent Abyss.

Gradually, Jiang Suiyi's nightmares faded, and she thought she would never have anything to do with that "snake child" again. On the day she married into the Eastern Palace, Ye Xuan returned from the flames of hell and drenched the royal wedding banquet in blood.

Before the assembled officials and noble clans, he killed the emperor, murdered his brother, and stole his bride. Blood flooded the Eastern Palace, severed limbs littered the ground, and the flames burned for three whole days.

Right before Jiang Suiyi's eyes, Ye Xuan even dug out the Crown Prince's heart with his own hands and crushed it, splattering her face with warm blood.

Ye Xuan usurped the throne and became emperor. Anyone who defied him died. The coiling dragon pillars of the throne room were hung with the heads of nobles and imperial relatives.

His subjects were silent with fear. Everyone in Jing was on edge, and he was known as the Emperor Slayer.

On the throne, beneath the curling bronze lamp, the emperor's crown beads swayed slightly. Shadows flickered across the new emperor's peerlessly stern face, their meaning impossible to read.

In his hand, he idly toyed with a thin silver chain, a tiny bell fastened to it with red thread.

Jiang Suiyi's pupils contracted, and her body and soul trembled.

Since Ye Xuan's return, she had been haunted by a bizarre dream.

In the dream, a silver chain was wrapped around her waist and red thread bound her wrists. To the bewitching sound of the silver bell, her body rose and fell rhythmically against the bed curtains as she desperately suppressed her trembling...

Above her, Ye Xuan's dark, damp eyes clung to every inch of her. He brushed aside her damp hair, nipped her earlobe with his tongue, and roughly kneaded her bud with his fingertips. In a shadowy voice, he asked, "Is this fun?"

He saw her terror and was quite pleased. The new emperor smiled faintly, shook the silver chain in his hand, and beckoned the girl kneeling in the corner with a finger. His voice was gentle, yet filled with hatred.

"Jiao Jiao, come here..."

--

Mortal girl x unhinged dragon who has lost his heart

*The title was inspired by "Dream Notes of Shen Jianqian" by Shi Xinyue of the Song dynasty: Within a mote of dust are three thousand worlds; within half a moment are eighty thousand springs.

Theme: To be determined