Three ex-husbands and a marriage

Torture

"Your Majesty, I beg you to bestow this marriage...I promise I will spend my life to repay your grace and pledge my loyalty to you for the rest of my life. Without her, I cannot live a fulfilling life," murmured Hu Xuan in the middle of his restless sleep. 

He shook his head, feeling unease and a tinge of desperation as the pressure emitted from the pair of cold eyes from above. The longer the silence the smaller he felt in this person's presence.  Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead but Hu Xuan knew that he must resist the desire to run. He will lose the person if he loses this battleground and he cannot afford to lose her. 

"You cannot live without her...without ...?" the voice echoed against the cold hard stone. 

Hu Xuan felt a sharp pain in his chest but that was nothing compared to the deafening racket in his brain. He couldn't hear the person's name. Who is it that he cannot live without? But regardless he knew the correct answer in his heart. 

"No, I cannot live without her!" he shouted with determination. 

"But you must, she does not exist in your real world...Hu Xuan...you love someone who does not exist," whispered the woman next to him. 

His eyebrows furrowed deeply even though his eyes are closed and he shook his head as if fighting against heavy chains dragging him into an endless abyss. 

"No! I cannot live without her... she exists, she is my wife!" he protested.

"Hu Xuan, stop fooling yourself, she does not exist. You have memory lost and you are delusional," the woman whispered into his ears. 

"She does exist! She exists and is waiting for me...I must get back to marry her...Bai...Bai..." muttered Hu Xuan.

The woman next to him narrowed her eyes at the sleep talking man and angrily pierced a few needles into his skull and neck to quiet him down and reinforce the hypnosis on him. It seems that his memories are resurfacing and his inner voice is getting more powerful. 

She thought about her current situation and ruminated on her bad luck. Of all the elite officers in her rank, she was selected to go on this tedious mission. Each night she was kept awake by the man's ramblings and each day she had to keep his paranoia at bay.

Tian Xue is an elite officer, having trained from birth and rapidly climbed the ranks of the Jade Mountain branch since the day she could wield a sword. Her future looked extremely bright as she calculated the accolades she would get from completing this mission but in reality she is tasked with babysitting. 

Lately Hu Xuan had awoken with more stronger memories of his past and his deep obsession with the woman. Today he raged and fought against her, breaking through her hypnosis and calming drugs.  If it were not for the suppression powder, Tian Xue will not be able to control the man. Now that he is in deep sleep he continues to dream about his past. 

Tian Xue sighed, the man is unfortunate, being trapped here without end but his resistance is getting stronger by the day. She made a mental note to herself to avoid relying on the suppression powder too much because of its dangerous side effects. She doesn't hate him enough to turn him into a simpleton. 

She closed her eyes, trying hard to ignore the whimpering man next to her and started to dream about the day that her master will release her from this endless drudgery.
....

"Young Miss, please wake up...Miss...wake up."

Unlike my rapidly pounding heart from being awoken from a falling dream, I slowly opened my eyes. The girl's pretty little face hovered over me and plastered with a polite smile.

"Who are you?" I asked confusedly. For a moment my heart leaped at the thought that I was back at home with my maids and not with the lunatic Man Chiu.

My heart sank when I saw the familiar decor and registered the girl's different hairstyle. Nope, still a captive here.