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Well, this chapter is getting posted sliiiiiightly later than I intended, but frankly, I have a lot going on rn, so… Enjoy ;3

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Well, Ning Yingying did usually get her way. The two of them were now standing in front of the door he kept Shen Qingqiu locked behind, his wife waiting for him to let her in. However, Luo Binghe felt it appropriate to give her a few disclaimers before doing so.

"Yingying," he said. "Before I unlock the door, I'm going to say: he will likely be asleep. I've been giving him a mild sedative to keep him calm. Also, he probably won't try to harm you, but if he does, he harbors some of my blood parasites, so I will be able to stop him immediately."

"Why does he need a sedative?"

"His behavior recently has necessitated it. I do not plan to give it to him forever."

She gave him a nod, albeit with slight hesitance, but she didn't make further comment. And with that, Luo Binghe opened the door.

XXX

The room Luo Binghe led her to was simple, but there wasn't anything wrong with it. It was clean and had sturdy furniture, more-or-less comfortable even if it wasn't as opulently decorated as the rest of the palace. So, although it was rather plain and looked uninhabited, she was sure it was leagues better than the prison her husband had kept Shen Qingqiu in the first time around.

She stepped into the room, and the door was locked behind her. It wasn't hard to find Shizun in such an empty space. He was, as her husband had predicted, laying in bed asleep. She could see he was wearing clean robes, but to observe him further, she had to approach the bed. Sitting down, she let her eyes wander over the sleeping man.

He looked the same but also different. His face hadn't changed much, but it had just a little. His robes, obviously, were new ones that Luo Binghe had provided rather than the green ones he had once worn on Qing Jing. In fact, she was pretty sure these were sleeping robes, which probably made it a bit scandalous for a woman to see him, but she was a married woman with her husband in the room, and the emperor at that. No one would accuse them of anything untoward having happened. Not that most would have dared regardless.

His hair, which had always been kept in an updo, was freely spread over the bedding. It was messy, strands going in every direction and even a few crossing his face. His expression was peaceful, unmoving, and if he wasn't visibly breathing, she might have wondered if he was dead after all.

And then she saw the bandages.

Both of his arms and his neck were wrapped with clean white cloth.

"A-Luo…," she gasped. "Why is he covered in bandages…?"

She felt a little guilty for it, but she assumed that they were the result of something her husband had done. After all, she had few illusions about the emperor's temper by now.

But, Luo Binghe sighed before lowering himself to sit on the floor in front of the two of them.

"That…," he began. "Is what I told you about before we came. A little while ago, he injured himself severely. He's been healing well, but the wounds were deep. That's why I have him sedated."

"He… injured himself…?" Ning Yingying repeated.

Part of her wondered whether Luo Binghe was lying, that maybe he really had been the one to hurt their Shizun and didn't want to tell her. After all, her husband had inflicted countless injuries on this man before, even if she didn't know the details. She could guess that, whatever injuries lay hidden beneath the bandages, Luo Binghe had done worse. But there was no point in lying to her when she already knew what her husband had done, was there?

"What… did he do…?"

Shen Qingqiu probably wouldn't want her to know, but concerned curiosity drove her forward.

She knew her Shizun wasn't innocent, knew that her own husband was badly hurt at his hand. Her Shizun had killed so many people. He had undeniably done wrong. But he had also been kind to her. He was always nicer to her than he was to most of her fellow disciples. Once, she would have said he was close to a father to her.

He wouldn't have done something like that to himself before, she knew. Her Shizun was always perfectly poised and calm- it was hard to imagine him as being so not-calm that he would need a sedative. She couldn't quite blame her husband, but she was tempted to sometimes. Clearly, Luo Binghe's punishments had caused a change in their old teacher.

"The last time I left the palace, one of my servants tried to feed him off a porcelain plate. He broke it and kept a shard," Luo Binghe explained. "And then he used it as a blade."

"How serious?"

Luo Binghe breathed out, not liking the way his chest felt.

"He almost died. If the servant hadn't returned and summoned the doctor, he would be dead again."

Ning Yingying's face paled a little.

"Oh, Shizun," she said finally.

"I need to confess something, Yingying."

Hearing this, she tensed, hoping that she hadn't been wrong about her husband, after all.

"I've decided that I'm not going to harm him anymore," Luo Binghe admitted. "In light of what I've learned, I think what I've already inflicted is enough penance. I'm still going to keep him here, as he has killed many, but I have no desire to return to the previous conditions of his imprisonment."

That was almost as shocking as learning Shen Qingqiu was alive again in the first place.

"That… surprises me, husband," she said aloud. "I wouldn't have thought learning of his past would change your mind so greatly."

She could see him look over to their Shizun, and she realized he was checking to see if he was awake or not. Apparently satisfied, he answered:

"I have spent much time with him since his return."

He hesitated, so unlike his usual behavior. It was only their harsh teacher who could make him act like this, so unsure of himself.

"… I care for him, Yingying."

Was her husband trying to shock her into a qi deviation?

"In what way, a-Luo?"

NingYingying kept her question simple and her tone unbiased. She was started to have a hunch, one built upon old memories of watching her husband stare after their Shizun, trying everything he could to please him. Really, she thought that, if only Shizun hadn't thrown Luo Binghe into the Abyss, he might have forgiven everything else that had been done to him, so long as their Shizun would acknowledge him. He'd always focused so intensely on Shen Qingqiu.

It was why being tossed away had hurt so much.

She felt that her suspicions were already confirmed by the slightest hint of pink touching his ears.

"… Should I be expecting a new member in the harem, husband?"

"Ning Yingying!" Luo Binghe gasped, a hint of his younger self slipping through.

"Well, I'm right about the intentions behind your words, aren't I?" she huffed. "Honestly, a-Luo, I want you to tell me!"

"… Perhaps…," he admitted through gritted teeth. "I have noticed his appearance. That's all I'm saying."

Yes, she was definitely right.

"Why, because you're worried he'll hear you?" she teased.

"Yingying!"

"So he doesn't know."

"Of course he doesn't," her husband affirmed. "He still hates me, Yingying. I think if I admitted such things while he was awake, he'd have another qi deviation."

She frowned.

"He's had a qi deviation?"

Luo Binghe nodded.

She sighed.

"It seems that a lot has happened since you brought him back."

"You have no idea."

XXX

Shen Qingqiu was still experiencing the effects of the drugs he was given earlier, but there was some vaguely annoying chatter going on around him that pulled him toward wakefulness. He never woke up to chatter, especially not now. How odd.

"Oh, a-Luo, I think he's waking up now."

The voice was high in pitch, unfamiliar to his eardrums. How many years had it been since he'd heard a woman's voice?

Why was he hearing one now?

He tried to open his eyes, but the temptation of just going back to sleep was beckoning him.

"Shizun?"

With a groan, he pulled open his eyes. It took a moment for the haziness to fade from his vision, but when it did, he suddenly realized that there were two people sitting in his little room beside him.

Luo Binghe.

And Ning Yingying.

Distantly, he could feel his heart racing as he realized that she was really there sitting beside him and not some kind of dream or hallucination, but the drugs kept him from reacting too much. He felt so unnaturally calm, even though he knew that he should probably be reacting to this.

"… Yingying…?" Was all he could think to say.

She sat up a little straighter.

"Shizun."

He hadn't seen her in such a long time. Probably since his trial, and not a single word had passed between them that day.

She'd matured since then, clearly a full-grown woman and no longer the naive child he used to teach. Well, what could he expect? No wife of a demon could remain naive forever.

He blinked slowly.

He knew that her being here was significant, but he couldn't quite focus enough on that to do anything about it.

Maybe he would just take a nap…

"Sorry, A-Ying, there's still a lot of the sedative in his system. He'll be more awake tomorrow."

XXX

The next time his eyes opened, Shen Qingqiu was able to feel the shock of both Luo Binghe and Ning Yingying watching him.

So that really hadn't been a dream then, had it?

He looked over the woman again with a clear(er) mind, taking in every detail of how she'd changed, seeing more than just the shift in maturity. Why was she here? Luo Binghe rarely let anyone else into this room, only doing it when necessary and never anyone Shen Qingqiu knew. Had she discovered him somehow? Had she requested her husband let her see him? For what purpose? Did Ning Yingying hate him as much as her husband now?

She must.

"Good afternoon, Shizun," Luo Binghe greeted after the silence stretched for a few minutes.

"Hello, Shizun," Ning Yingying greeted him as well.

Her tone didn't give him any hints.

He just stared. He didn't know why she was here. Perhaps Luo Binghe hadn't been lying about not hurting him anymore- maybe he was going to leave the task to his wives, allowing them to hurt him as they saw fit to attain their own vengeance.

Oh, Qiu Haitang would be eagerly awaiting her own turn.

"Shizun, don't you have anything to say to the disciple you haven't seen in so long?"

Liu Mingyan would be just as eager, likely more so. But all the wives would delight in it to some degree. Though they might not all have personal vendettas against him, they all shared a husband he abused.

"…Hello, Yingying."

To his surprise, the girl gave him a gentle smile.

What was going on?

He must have been acting obvious, because Luo Binghe could see the question in his face.

"I told Yingying that you were back, and she asked to see you, Shizun," he explained. "I don't know if you remember, but we stopped by briefly yesterday."

This was throwing him off. Of all the tricks Luo Binghe could have pulled, he hadn't expected Ning Yingying to be one of them.

"… I see."

The silence that followed was awkward, and it let Shen Qingqiu's thoughts churn as he tried and failed to figure out why she was there. Had the girl really changed so much over the years that she would be willing to torture him, excited, even? He wouldn't have thought she was capable of it. But then again, she must have known what was happening to him the entire time. Perhaps his former disciple wasn't too different from her husband.

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"Shizun! We brought you food!"

Neither of the men in the room were saying much, and she was getting tired of watching the two of them stare at each other. So if they weren't going to talk, she would!

She could see Shen Qingqiu's eyes briefly dart toward the food before looking back to her husband, an exasperated expression on his face.

"… Are you trying to use your wife to get me to eat?"

"It's not the main reason she's here, but won't you at least eat willingly in front of her?" Luo Binghe replied. "You don't want her to see you having a tantrum like a child, do you?"

Before coming today, her husband had informed her that Shen Qingqiu had only willingly eaten half a meal in the entire time he had been back. Every other time, Luo Binghe had to force him using the blood parasites, or if he wasn't there, he would just not eat. But he also told her that their Shizun's cultivation was sealed, as he was still a prisoner, so that meant he couldn't practice inedia at all. Which meant he was trying to starve himself, but failing because her husband's tactics for 'persuasion' were quite effective.

"What tantrum?" Shen Qingqiu spat. "I can't even have a tantrum between you force-feeding me and putting me to sleep!"

"Please, Shizun?" Ning Yingying requested, pulling out her best pleading voice from her disciple days. "You should eat!"

Now, Shen Qingqiu's deadpan face was directed at her.

"Yingying, I'm not going to eat poisoned food just because you ask me to."

Her husband also told her about the supposed 'poisoning' incident in which Shen Qingqiu hadn't eaten for over a week, ate only that one willing half-meal, and ended up getting sick right afterwards, leading him to believe that Luo Binghe had poisoned the food as some kind of cruel joke. Luo Binghe, of course, promised he had done no such thing, and if Ning YingYing had to guess, starving himself for over a week had likely contributed to that illness. Regardless, their Shizun could not be swayed.

"It's not poisoned. It was never poisoned," Luo Binghe insisted, slightly exasperated.

Shen Qingqiu glared.

"It's still drugged."

From what she'd been told, he wouldn't have eaten it whether it was drugged, poisoned, or untampered with.

"Not today," her husband informed him. "I'll give you the sedative separately today. That way, you can talk with Yingying without falling asleep, and I can see how you're doing when not on the sedative."

"How kind of you," Shen Qingqiu replied sarcastically. "I'm still not going to eat it."

Luo Binghe sighed.

"Yes, you are. Now, pick whether you want me to force you or if you'll allow me to feed you."

Shen Qingqiu only crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. Though this was still serious, as their Shizun didn't want to eat, she couldn't help but find it a little amusing. Did they do this every day? It seemed so silly for a demon emperor to be negotiating with their Shizun, a man he'd once despised so much he tore him apart, just to get him to eat, all while their Shizun refused like a stubborn child.

The refusal continued, and so Ning Yingying sat and watched as her demonic husband fed a paralyzed Shen Qingqiu, him glaring venomously with every bite.

XXX

Luckily, Luo Binghe wasn't stupid enough to try to bathe/dress him with his wife right there. The demon lord might not care about nakedness with the size of his harem, but that didn't mean his wife was the same, and Shen Qingqiu obviously would die before he allowed himself to be undressed in front of his female former disciple. Even if Luo Binghe used the parasites on him, he would not allow that. He would simply die spontaneously before the demon had the chance.

That did leave Shen Qingqiu in the sleeping robes he had been wearing lately, though, which was inappropriate in itself. It was like when he first woke up, before Luo Binghe had started to clean and dress him. He'd been putting him in actual clothes for a while there, but it seemed that the younger man had decided it was pointless when he spent so much of the day asleep now.

Well, it's not like he could expect Luo Binghe to give him any shred of decorum to hold onto.

As he was freed from the control, he let his gaze return to Ning Yingying. He was still wary about why she was here, but he didn't think he was entirely off-base with his accusation that Luo Binghe was using her to get him to eat. Did he think that he could use her to control him without the parasites? That was silly- even if he'd been fond of Yingying when she'd been a disciple, she'd still married that little beast. And it wasn't as though Luo Binghe would threaten his own wife on the off-chance that his scum Shizun would behave for fear of her getting hurt. Really, all she could do was pester him or cry. She couldn't physically control him like her husband could. The most she could do was tell her husband to torture him, and that wouldn't be any different than Luo Binghe deciding to torture him again himself.

"How are you feeling, Shizun?" Ning Yingying asked him, a bit of worry gracing her expression.

Did she know about what he did? Or was she just asking because he was locked up by her husband? Then again, he was still wearing the bandages. She could probably guess that something had happened.

"That's a silly question to ask in this scenario, isn't it?" he responded, not answering.

As if he would tell her, just because she asked him. He wouldn't have confided his 'feelings' in her even when she was a favored disciple, so why would he tell her after she'd married the man who tortured him, with said man sitting right there, no less?

She frowned.

He wondered, if he were to be mean to her, spit at her like he did her husband, would that make Luo Binghe stop this farce? Would he grab him, rip out the tongue that insulted his wife, make him suffer for treating her that way?

"Ah…," she hesitated, her face falling.

"Perhaps you could answer it anyway," Luo Binghe requested. "After all, a-Ying is just expressing her concern for Shizun."

He sighed. Perhaps he'd save his antagonizing for later. Dredging up whatever was left of his past peak lord persona, he smiled lightly, empty and fake.

"I'm fine," he finally answered.

He could see the little beast's eyes widen a fraction. What, did he think that there was nothing of his former master left? Perhaps there wasn't much, but he could at least do this much.

"Do your wounds still hurt?"

Ah, so she did know about them, then.

"They are almost fully healed."

Ning Yingying nodded.

"That's good…," she accepted. "I was… surprised to hear what happened."

Unable to stop himself, Shen Qingqiu let out a short, dry chuckle.

"Were you? I see."

What exactly was the point in this conversation? Talking about his well-being, when it was her husband's fault that he was in whatever state he was in. Was Luo Binghe enjoying this? Did he want to see Shen Qingqiu cry about his circumstances to Ning Yingying? As if that would happen.

"Shizun."

There was a thread of warning in Luo Binghe's voice, making Shen Qingqiu's eyes narrow. Not that he really cared all that much about threats anymore.

"Your wife thinks she knows me better than she truly does, little beast."

Luo Binghe leaned on one of his hands.

"I think there are very few people who know you at all," he replied, the threat dissolving away. "But Yingying is right that, for the old you, it would be surprising. And the old you is the only one she knows."

Ning Yingying shifted in mild discomfort as they spoke about her in her presence. Let her be uncomfortable.

"You say that as if you know any more than her."

"You'd be surprised at what I know."

A twinge of alarm sparked in his chest, but he didn't let it show on his face.

"And what does that mean, exactly?"

Luo Binghe just smiled at him.

XXX

The two of them left Shen Qingqiu's room after he started to get drowsy, Luo Binghe having given him the sedative not long after their awkward conversation fizzled out.

She couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. Though he hadn't exactly been awful, her Shizun had never been so cold to her in the past. He'd always expressed some form of distant fondness. But today, she could tell that he was resentful, distrusting. Perhaps she shouldn't be surprised, but that didn't mean she was glad for it.

In the end, they'd barely spoken. She hadn't meant to anger him by asking about his injuries, but what else was she supposed to say? Couldn't she be worried about them?

The two of them ended up in Luo Binghe's office once again, and she looked to her husband, who only looked mildly exasperated.

"A-Luo."

"Hm?'

"Shizun has changed."

"Yes, he has."

Even without saying it, they both knew why.

"And he refuses to eat every day?"

"Yes," Luo Binghe confirmed. "He doesn't take care of himself at all. Granted, there are many things he can't do, but he won't do what he can either."

She frowned.

"Right now, he can't use his hands very well, though, so there's not much he can do in the first place, I suppose," he added. "But that's a more recent development. My point stands."

"Hm."

She thought for a moment. Shen Qingqiu wasn't very happy to see her. But surely, he was more happy to see her than her husband, wasn't he?

"A-Luo, I have an idea."

"And what is that?"

"Well…," she began. "Shizun refuses to eat, but maybe he'd be a little more willing to if it wasn't made by you or another demon? And he doesn't like that you force him. What if I cooked something and tried to get him to eat while you weren't around?"

He gave her an appraising look.

"Yingying, I already offered him food made by human hands, and he still refused it. He also refused to eat when I wasn't there before," he told her. "And besides that, it's not an Empress's job to cook for a prisoner."

She quirked an eyebrow.

"Says the Emperor who cooks for his prisoner," she pointed out. "And would it really hurt for me to try? The worst that will happen is he refuses, right?"

Luo Binghe shook his head

"I don't want you alone with him."

"Why?"

"He can get violent when he's upset," Luo Binghe reminded her. "I won't know to use my parasites if I'm not there, and I don't want him to hurt you."

"I'll be fine," she insisted. "I'm a cultivator, remember, and his qi is blocked. And besides that, he's injured. He won't be able to harm me."

"You'd be surprised at what he can do."

"I thought you said he can barely use his hands?"

Her husband went silent for an extended moment.

"… He's bitten me."

What.

"Shizun bit you?"

"Yes."

"Our Shizun?"

"Yingying."

She felt flabbergasted. Honestly, she couldn't even imagine it.

"A-Luo…," she breathed. "I really wish I had known about Shizun being back sooner."

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Yeeeeeah, so. Yingying really doesn't know the extent of Binghe's torture, so even though she knows it happened and knows it was bad, the lack of details kinda make her imagine it as LESS horrible than it really was. She knows Binghe is capable of terrible things, but he is kind to her and she rarely witnesses it first-hand, so she tends to 'give him the benefit of the doubt'. She literally can't imagine some of what Luo Binghe has done. So, she's really not taking this situation as seriously as she 'should' be, because she's seeing Shen Qingqiu being brought back as a good thing. She just… really doesn't get it? And believe me, Shen Qingqiu is gonna have a lot more to say about it.

Also, yup, Yingying is already the Empress in this story. Sorry to disappoint those of you who wanted Shen Qingqiu to end up as the Empress…

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