Mu Wanwan had originally thought that sleeping while slumped over a chair would definitely be very uncomfortable and restless. But she was far too tired. Almost the moment she relaxed, she sank into a deep, sweet sleep. Naturally, she did not notice that after she had completely fallen asleep, Mr. Dragon, whose eyes had been utterly closed and who had shown no movement at all, had his eyelashes tremble lightly.
Ever since that battle, the core inside his body had been shattered, and Mr. Dragon had been immersed in endless pain. Ninety-nine percent of his divine consciousness was used to suppress the energy within his body, and the remaining sliver allowed him to regain awareness for around ten minutes each day.
When he woke today, it felt somewhat different from usual.
The pain from his severed tail was still there, but the sticky feeling of being soaked in filth and blood was noticeably gone. Something softer had been placed beneath him, making him less uncomfortable.
Even now, there was actually someone who would take care of him?
The tyrant mocked himself inwardly. From the day he was defeated, everyone around him had changed.
The friend he had once thought worthy of entrusting things to had, half a month after he was injured, taken the token he had left him and impatiently seized almost all the power in his hands.
For the sake of appearances, that friend had casually found someone with poor talent from the territory to be his bride for warding off bad luck…
He knew what he looked like now.
His beautiful, lustrous dragon horns had been cut off by the leader of the demon race. His elegant, mighty tail had been corroded by the witch race. Half his body was covered in rotting flesh. His once rather handsome face was now covered in the curse marks of abyssal monsters.
He was already a crippled dragon.
So on the day of the wedding ceremony, when he had happened to be awake and heard his little bride’s terrified, despairing cries, he had not felt surprised at all.
Even his damp, gloomy heart had felt no fluctuation.
Over the next few days, he would sometimes regain consciousness while that person was awake. His ears were filled with her tearful curses, and he only felt incomparably irritated, wishing he could kill her with one claw.
But today, why did it feel somewhat different?
The tyrant could not describe what he felt. Enduring the intense pain, he drew out a thread of divine consciousness and swept it around the room. Finally, he found the target on the chair.
It was actually that person who had been brought in as his bride.
The tiny trace of emotion that had just risen in his heart instantly shattered.
He withdrew his divine consciousness, mocking himself inwardly.
She must have been forced, right?
He had not forgotten a single word of her insults from the past few days. And Ao Qin was someone who cared about appearances. Yet he had actually felt a little pleased because someone had taken care of him. How ironic.
The tyrant’s face was pale.
From the moment he was born until now, he had never encountered anyone who treated him sincerely. How was it that now, after he had been injured and lost everything, he had begun fantasising that someone might be willing not to despise him and might treat him well?
Just wait and see…
She had been forced.
At most, within three days, she would begin to despise him. She would loathe him because of his tail, which repeatedly festered and rotted…
What exactly was he still expecting?
Before the intense pain dragged him back into unconsciousness, Mr. Dragon thought this mockingly.
…
Mu Wanwan knew nothing about the fact that someone had swept over her with his divine consciousness during the night.
The next morning, she was woken rather roughly by Bai Shuiyao.
“Wanwan, Wanwan.”
A soft, timid voice sounded by her ear. Bai Shuiyao’s hand pressed on her shoulder, shaking her without the slightest politeness.
Mu Wanwan tiredly opened her eyes and met Bai Shuiyao’s slightly red and swollen eyes.
“Bai Shuiyao?”
“Shh.”
Bai Shuiyao shrank back a little as she pulled her out of the sleeping palace. Between her brows was a faint disgust for the scent of the tyrant’s rotting flesh.
“You actually managed to fall asleep in that sleeping palace.”
Mu Wanwan impatiently shook off her hand.
“What is it?”
Bai Shuiyao said, “I begged Qingye to draw a map of the Tyrant’s Residence. At dusk, come to this place and meet me. With Qingye helping us, we’ll definitely be able to escape.”
Mu Wanwan had still been very sleepy, but the moment she heard those words, she became alert.
Qingye was a guard in the Tyrant’s Residence responsible for patrols. When they had married in, Ao Qin had also assigned them several guards and maids for the sake of appearances. The head guard was Qingye, while the head maid was Fuliu. Although Qingye and Fuliu were only at the middle stage of the second rank, dealing with two girls who were barely above the first rank was more than enough.
The task Ao Qin had given them was to watch Mu Wanwan and Bai Shuiyao and report to him regularly.
Speaking of which, it was strange. Qingye was usually said to be unmoved by any beauty. But perhaps because the female lead’s halo was especially powerful, from the moment he saw Bai Shuiyao, he had fallen hopelessly in love with her.
It was also because of his protection that Bai Shuiyao could move through the Tyrant’s Residence as if she were in her element. As a dowry maid, she could completely ignore the original owner, her young miss, and also ignore the tyrant, her nominal master, spending her days idly doing nothing.
Now, she had actually coaxed Qingye into risking his life to help them escape. Mu Wanwan had to admire Bai Shuiyao a little.
Bai Shuiyao bit her red lips and took out the map.
“Look. We’re currently in the deepest part. At dusk, when they change shifts, come here and meet me…”
But Mu Wanwan looked at the simple map and frowned.
She remembered the place where the female supporting character died in the novel. It was at the back gate of the vast Tyrant’s Residence. Furthermore, many places in the Tyrant’s Residence were fitted with mechanisms. Although the tyrant was not skilled at setting up formations, he had bought many from outside, and they were hidden throughout the residence.
But this map did not mention them at all.
Qingye was only a minor head guard, but he should still know at least a little about them. It seemed he had never truly intended to help Bai Shuiyao escape. This map was most likely something he had drawn just to coax her. It could not be trusted.
Mu Wanwan sighed.
“I’m not running.”
The moment Bai Shuiyao heard her words, the anger in her heart became almost impossible to suppress.
Since last night, Mu Wanwan had been constantly contradicting her. Clearly, back when they were at home, with Father there, this person had always been timid and obedient. Whatever Bai Shuiyao said was what counted. Yet how long had it been since they married into the Tyrant’s Residence? Without Father supporting her, Mu Wanwan, this so-called young miss of hers, had already started putting on airs.
If she didn’t want to run, then had she listened to Bai Shuiyao say so much just now only to laugh at her?
A thin flush of anger appeared on Bai Shuiyao’s face. Her mouth trembled, and she looked as if she were about to cry.
“Wanwan, I’m doing this for your own good too. If you stay here and keep serving that disabled tyrant, your whole life will be ruined.”
She cried beautifully, like pear blossoms in the rain, all delicate and fake.
Mu Wanwan sneered inwardly.
Last night, she hadn’t had the energy to pretend with her. But today, she would not just let Bai Shuiyao perform in front of her. It wasn’t as if she had read all those harem-fighting novels for nothing!
Let’s see who could disgust whom more.
Mu Wanwan secretly pinched her thigh, but on the surface, she seemed to be affected by Bai Shuiyao. Her voice also took on a trace of sobbing.
“Yaoyao, don’t say anymore. I know.”
She stepped forward and held Bai Shuiyao’s hand.
“I know you care about me the most and treat me well. But I can’t leave right now.”
“I’ve thought about it. You and I were sent here on behalf of the Mu residence. You’re a maid, so even if you run away, nothing much will happen. It won’t implicate Father. But if I run away, they probably won’t let you off either.”
“In any case, you’re only a maid. If you run, it won’t matter much, and you’ll still be able to preserve your own life and Father’s dignity. I’m not running, and that’s also for your sake.”
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