Reborn, the Cold Top Is Racked with Regret for Chasing Me Too Late

Gong: Xie Jue Born into an esteemed family that fell on hard times, he earned the top spot in the imperial examinations with his extraordinary talent. He entered the Hanlin Academy at a young age and rose to a prestigious post, with a brilliant future ahead of him. He is widely regarded in the capital as the “handsome jade-faced top scholar.” Intensely proud and self-assured, he is aloof and haughty, with an unassailable pride at his core. He believes that “all pursuits are inferior; only scholarship is superior.” He keeps his emotions tightly guarded and rarely shows them. At first, his feelings for Shen Qingxian are a mixture of disdain and pity, along with an instinctive attraction to his beauty. Yet deep down, he has always believed Shen Qingxian is “all looks and no learning,” and unworthy of him. He loves him without realizing it, and even hates himself for sometimes feeling drawn to him. Shou: Shen Qingxian Before being reborn, he was the illegitimate son of a wealthy merchant. Because his birth mother was lowborn, he held little standing in the family. The family offered him to the rising star Xie Jue as a “gift.” After being reborn, he becomes the only son of Xiao Jingcheng, the Prince of Jingnan and the only non-imperial prince in the dynasty. Before being reborn, he was simple-minded, even a little foolish. He knew neither poetry nor strategy, and lived by instinct alone, like a blank sheet of paper. After being reborn, he retains some of his former innocence, but the upheaval of life and death and his change in status have made him complicated, sensitive, and resilient, with a prickly edge. He harbors a deep, searing hatred and resentment toward Xie Jue, refuses to acknowledge their past, and wants only to stay away from him.