Inside the closed tent, Xuan Long's hair was tangled under his naked body and his legs were forced to rest on Yan Yuan's waist. The man's arms were resting on the nooks of his knees, and he was so close to him, so hot at every turn, as if he truly was born to be joined with him and could not be separated.

Yan Yuan leaned in and kissed him. The foetus in Xuan Long's belly was getting bigger, so it was a little inconvenient to kiss him, but he could still be kissed with a good posture. Slowing down his movements, he pressed his lips against his and asked gently, "Are you comfortable?"

Xuan Long's cheeks were tinged with a faint red, and his heroic face showed a bit of magnificence in the dimness. He turned his face sideways without looking at Yan Yuan, revealing the hideous scar on the right side of his face, which looked extremely ugly, but Yan Yuan became more and more enthusiastic, and when he hugged him, he felt the urge to rub him into his bones and blood.

In what should have been an affectionate atmosphere, Xuan Long simply ignored him, his sword brows knitted together in a concealed manner, as if he was repulsed and embarrassed. Yan Yuan could not get the answer he wanted and said discontentedly, "Why do you have to act as if I've humiliated you? At the very beginning, weren't you happy to be like this with me?"

Yan Yuan was not as rough as he had been before. He had brought a fresh jar of cream with him when he arrived and had just forced most of it on Xuan Long, and there was obviously something in it to help him. Xuan Long didn’t feel the pain very much, and the strange pleasure rushed to his limbs, causing his body to tremble with the manipulation of the other party.

He tried desperately to suppress the out-of-control feeling, but the other man was, after all, someone he had loved dearly, and there was no way to be indifferent when being treated with tenderness.

Such weakness and inability to hold himself together disgusted Xuan Long. His fingers were white as he dug into the mattress, biting through the flesh in his mouth to gain a brief moment of clarity, his chest rising and falling irregularly, his breathing heavy.

Yan Yuan was patient at first, but after being left out for so long, he had to find some other way to regain his presence, his peach blossom eyes showing animalistic lust. Xuan Long let out a few muffled grunts as Yan Yuan cupped his face and kissed him fiercely. No longer seeking answers, he smothered himself in what he wanted to do, whispering lovingly.

“A'Po..."

“A'Po..."

Hearing him call him that, Xuan Long's heart suddenly ached dully, and his icy turquoise eyes looked up without focus as he murmured, "The past and today... are always different."

Yan Yuan bit down on the man's neck, holding his entire body underneath him: "Where is the difference? You're still you, I'm still me. It's obviously the same."

Xuan Long's voice was hoarse: "The difference..."

Yan Yuan: "When I say the same, it means the same!"

Xuan Long's breathing was clearly disturbed by the tossing, but he still stubbornly spoke in a low, muffled voice: "It's different."

Yan Yuan became more and more ruthless: "It's the same!"

When he was gentle, he was a stalking dog, circling around, making people feel warm and affectionate. When he was ruthless, he was a cold-blooded and ruthless lion, capable of tearing people apart, leaving no trace of joy for the next person.

Xuan Long gradually felt the pain, but did not make a sound. He just thought in a daze about something that had long ceased to be important at this point, and looked up at the youth above him, still young and beautiful as ever...

You have a great future ahead of you.

I have only ten years left to live.

How can it be the same?

It won't be the same… A'Yuan, we were born different.

You can stand at the top of the hierarchy and look down on the world, deceiving others with ease to get what you want, while he is destined to be a piece of grass or dust to be trampled underfoot.

How can they be the same?

No wonder they have come to where they are today...

Xuan Long felt pain just from looking at Yan Yuan's face alone, a pain that was a thousand times greater than the pain his flesh was enduring, so he closed his turquoise eyes, unwilling to watch any longer.

The man on top of him suddenly stopped, stunned.

“A'Po... what are you crying for?"

Crying...

Did he cry?

Xuan Long raised his hand to wipe the corner of his eyes, and indeed touched a smear of wetness. He silently looked away.

"It's not. It's just a bead of sweat."

A bead of sweat coming out of the corner of his eye?

Yan Yuan would not believe it.

A being as strong as Xuan Long would not shed tears, and if he cried, it would be really painful and sad. Yan Yuan did not know what that meant, but was more or less panicked when he suddenly made him cry.

He dared not continue to act arrogantly and finished hastily, so he took the man in his arms and prepared to sleep.

It was strange, but when he slept with Ning Zhiyu recently, he always dreamed a lot at night and had trouble sleeping, but when he was with Xuan Long, he closed his eyes and opened them comfortably at dawn. Perhaps it was because the cold incense on Xuan Long's body had a calming effect on his mind.

The wound on Xuan Long's back was no longer bleeding and would probably heal completely in a few more days. Yan Yuan hugged him from behind and wrapped him in his arms. This position made him feel safe, as if he was hugging something very impotant.

His big palm crossed Xuan Long's waist and belly and pressed against his towering belly, touching it gently. Xuan Long was sure that Yan Yuan would not hurt the baby recklessly, so he let him have his way, for it was impossible to stop him anyway.

He just didn't quite understand why Yan Yuan would act in such a misleading way when he clearly hated their child.

The six-month foetus was already moving a lot, punching and kicking in his belly, always making a fuss over Xuan Long and being half-restless. At first he wondered whether the child was a boy or a girl, but now he was vaguely certain that it was a mischievous boy.

He was more like Yan Yuan in temperament.

As the days went by, the more Xuan Long began to think, worrying about whether others would not be able to control the child if he was no longer alive, or whether the child would be naughty and annoying.

Will he freeze, starve or be bullied...

The more he thought about it, the sadder he became. If he could live, even if the child in his womb was clumsy, it would still be his most cherished baby, and he would never let him freeze or starve and follow his old path.

However, the road that he had tried so hard to pave was ultimately in vain... Yan Yuan was as disgusted with this child as his mother was with him, and the hand on Xuan Long's belly at the moment made him feel uncomfortable.

He was very sleepy, but couldn’t fall asleep. The child in his belly suddenly kicked him heavily, Xuan Long let out a low gasp, long used to it, but Yan Yuan was so shocked that he froze, nervous.

"What's wrong?"

"The child... he moved." Xuan Long whispered back.

Just as the kick hit Yan Yuan's palm, he wondered, "How could he move?"

This was a silly question, but Yan Yuan had never had a child, so it seemed logical.

"Hmm. If he is alive, he can move."

Yan Yuan put his hand back on Xuan Long's belly and continued to touch it, "This little thing is quite strong..."

Xuan Long did not say anything.

Yan Yuan was a little excited for no reason, "The last time Hua Niang came to the palace to check your pulse, I saw her daughter, she was as cute as a marshmallow..."

Xuan Long paused and said, "I don't know."

"Since it is my seed, it should be like me." Yan Yuan mused to himself and added. "Would you say it is a male or female?..."

Xuan Long didn't know what he wanted to do. When he first knew he was pregnant, he had forced him to abort the foetus, but now he was discussing such an insignificant matter with him. He never knew what Yan Yuan was thinking.

"... It should be a boy."

"Is that so?" Yan Yuan was momentarily a little lost. "I think it's better to have a daughter, so soft, sticky and cute."

"......" Xuan Long pursed his lips, instinctively wary, sensing that Yan Yuan was likely to use this as an excuse to force him to abort the baby.

But then he thought about it again, he would be leaving tomorrow anyway, so whatever Yan Yuan wanted, it was none of his business.

Yan Yuan circled his arms around his waist and said behind his ear, "But both genders are allowed, whatever comes out of your belly will be my seed either way."

Xuan Long: "What exactly do you want..."

"Stupid dragon, don't you understand what I mean?" Yan Yuan nibbled on his ear as he embraced him in his arms and laughed. "If you really want to give birth to this child, you can keep it... If he is born like a normal human being, then everyone will be happy, if he really has two dragon horns on his head, as you said that day, there are so many halls in the palace, we can feed him well and keep him warm, he just cannot go out all the time like a normal human being."

Xuan Long had never thought that Yan Yuan would say something like that and was frozen.

A different emotion welled up in his heart, more than anything else, it was heartache, heartache that his child could not live in the sunlight like ordinary beings just because he was the offspring of a human and a dragon.

This was the same whether in the imperial palace or in the mortal world.

He wished that the child was purely human, or a dragon like him, so that it would be easier to survive in the world, but whether it was human or dragon, or half human and half dragon, was not for him to decide...

Yan Yuan: "Are you happier now?"

Xuan Long replied in a low voice: "I am happy."

Yan Yuan frowned at his perfunctory response and turned Xuan Long around by his shoulders, "You are lying, why do I see no joy on your face..."

Xuan Long did not meet Yan Yuan's eyes: "Your Empress, how can he tolerate it?"

Yan Yuan was silent for a moment and said, “A'Yu and I are married, and I have an heir with you. He will be sad, but he has a good heart, if you are determined to keep it, he will not force you to abort it. It is just that the child, like you, cannot have a name, and if the people know that he is an heir born of a dragon, it will be more and more difficult for him to gain a foothold in the palace, and he will be talked about. If you are willing, let him call A'Yu mother."

"......"

Seeing that Xuan Long lowered his head and did not speak, Yan Yuan continued.

"I know you are not willing. When the child is born, it will still be placed by your side for you to raise yourself, don't worry. When he grows up, I will find a proper status for him, such as imperial guard or something, so that he can be close to you, and if he has talent, he can also join the court as an official. Okay?"

Of course, all of this was based on the fact that the child would be a normal human being.

If he gave birth to a pair of dragon horns, Yan Yuan would not be as eager as he was claiming now. When he was no longer alive and Yan Yuan threw the child into the palace at will... an unpopular royal son would be trampled on at will, not to mention an unnamed child of unknown origin.

Xuan Long no longer trusted Yan Yuan.

He could afford to lose, but his child, he had to live well… Compared to Yan Yuan, he trusted Hu Le more.

“En."

Yan Yuan felt that he had arranged it properly, and seeing that Xuan Long answered, he hugged him and slept peacefully.

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.