The Lone Star and the Fallen Swallow

(Two male leads + happy ending + devoted to each other + older seme + equally matched)

A fox-like, smiling, scheming seme / a gentle, strong-willed, resilient uke

Xue Shen did not deny the prophecy.

It was only when the rumors spiraled out of control that he began to feel guilty. Everyone said he was in love with Xiao Yu, the eldest son of the Marquis of Weiyi, and had even taken up poetry and the classics again for his sake, passing the imperial examinations.

The storyteller spun their tale into a tender, heart-wrenching romance, making the two people involved cringe as they listened.

Xue Shen was shameless as ever. “Yu Lang, I love you so much.”

Xiao Yu kept a straight face. “Well, thank you for that.”

Years later, amid withered grass, wind, and rain, in a muddy marsh, Xue Shen spent the entire night digging through the torrential downpour with the hands that once held his brush and turned the pages of books. Of the sixteen bodies, not one was him.

His cold, numb hands, streaked with blood, held a cracked piece of jade.

Everyone said Xiao Yu was dead. He was the only one who refused to believe it.

Have you heard of the Xue family of Kaijing?

The Xue estate was once so lavish that even the guardian lions outside its gates were carved from jade. Every brick and tile was worth a fortune.

A clan that had flourished for nearly a century fell apart overnight. Its descendants were dead, or soon would be.

As Xiao Yu stood there in a daze, the man opposite him smiled and flicked the red tassel on his crown. The Xue family young master, who had supposedly died along with his entire clan in the story, even had time to tease him. “Yu Lang, the rumors in Yongnan are a little behind the times.”

Unable to read his own feelings, Xiao Yu set down the money and asked, “Are you coming or not? If not, I’m leaving.”

Xue Shen lagged a step behind. Watching the figure recede into the distance, he fanned himself with his folded fan, his expression as gentle as water. “Wait for me, will you, my dear Yu Lang? Wait for me.”