Underneath The Moonlit Night

Extra Chapter: Heir To An Empty Heart (Takes place between Chapter 80 and 81)

Darkness enveloped Ming Zhe's chambers in Luzhu Dao like a shroud. He lay motionless across the silk bedcovers, one arm draped over his eyes as if to shield himself from truths too painful to bear. A lacquered table beside the bed held the remnants of his earlier attempt at solace—a silver pitcher of dragonfruit liqueur tipped on its side, an overturned cup, and vibrant crimson droplets spreading across the polished surface like tears.

The silence in the room was absolute, heavy, pressing down on him with a weight that matched the turmoil in his chest. He had barred the doors with explicit orders that no one was to disturb him, not even Duke Feng Xian or Queen Lihua. In this moment of vulnerability, he could not bear to be seen—not when the carefully constructed walls of his composure threatened to crumble entirely.

He Xuan's words continued to echo through his mind, each syllable a dagger slipping between his ribs.

"Qing Yi was able to conceive due to a biological trait we've only recently uncovered—all Koeh are born with dual reproductive systems. Because of what happened between you and him when he was young, his gender was permanently fixed as male. However, since he never underwent the Ceremony of Age—which would have removed his female secondary system—that organ remained dormant, though still intact. When Baihu merged with him, the celestial beast activated it, enabling Qing Yi to produce newborn energy vital to Baihu's recovery. Once Baihu has absorbed enough, he stops feeding. If Qing Yi conceives after that point, the pregnancy can be carried to term."

He Xuan had delivered this revelation with clinical detachment, her voice cold and neutral, yet to Ming Zhe, the words had fallen like stones upon his heart, each one heavier than the last. A bitter laugh escaped his lips, hollow and devoid of mirth. He removed his arm from his face, revealing eyes reddened not from wine but from emotions he had spent a lifetime suppressing.

"Pregnant," Ming Zhe murmured into the darkness. The word itself felt foreign on his tongue, laden with implications he could scarcely process. "And it is his..."

The image of Lan Xichen materialized unbidden in his mind—the Second Jade of Lan, with his serene countenance and immaculate white robes, the very embodiment of cultivation nobility. A man who had been given freely what Ming Zhe had spent years trying to seize by force. The thought ignited something primal within him, a conflagration of rage and jealousy that surged through his veins like poison.

This burning resentment stirred memories of another bitter period—the devastating grief when he'd received word that Qing Yi had perished at the hands of Baihu. That day remained etched into his memory like acid on metal.

He had been reviewing trade agreements when one of his shadow assassins materialized from the darkness of his study, face grim beneath the hood that shadowed their features. The assassin knelt, voice lowered as they delivered the news Ming Zhe had secretly feared since learning of the mission: Qing Yi had fallen to Baihu, with no remains recovered.

Ming Zhe had dismissed the assassin with mechanical composure, his face betraying nothing. Once alone, his legs gave way beneath him, knees striking marble as the weight of loss finally crushed through his carefully maintained facade. For the first time since childhood—since the day he killed Little One with his own hands—he felt something break inside him. Something fundamental and irreparable.

The weeks that followed passed in a fog of sleepless nights and hollow days. Food turned to ash in his mouth. Reports went unread on his desk. He moved through the palace like a ghost, speaking only when necessary, his responses clipped and distant. Servants whispered that the Ice Prince had finally frozen completely.

He had failed. For all his power, all his careful planning and relentless pursuit, he could not protect the one thing that truly mattered. Qing Yi had been sent to his death while Ming Zhe remained ignorant, powerless to prevent it. The irony was excruciating—that despite years claiming ownership of Qing Yi's body while failing to capture his heart, now Ming Zhe possessed nothing at all."