Did the Shadow Guard Recognize the Prince Today?

[Cold, devoted, and possessive prince × loyal, slow-witted but formidable shadow guard]

One-on-one romance, both leads pure, sweet affection and flirtatious push-and-pull + a buried past and old case + the open favoritism of someone in power

Ying Qi had always thought he was nothing more than a blade Prince Jing, Xiao Yelan, kept hidden in the shadows.

A blade should have no name, no desires, and certainly no hope of earning its master's favor.

But one autumn hunt and a cup of wine at a palace banquet changed everything.

The usually cold and aloof Prince Jing suddenly lost all restraint.

He carried Ying Qi to bed, shielded him behind his back, and stared at the jade pendant around his neck as he said, word by word:

“No one but me is allowed to touch you.”

After that, everyone in the prince's residence could see it:

The most inconspicuous shadow guard at Prince Jing's side had become someone no one could lay a hand on.

But no one knew that the jade pendant wasn't the only secret Ying Qi carried.

There was also a birthright erased from history, an old case connecting the previous dynasty to the imperial harem, and an obsession Prince Jing had spent three whole years searching for.

An old medicine resurfaces in the palace, the Empress Dowager keeps testing the waters, and the Li family's hidden agents begin to emerge.

Everyone thinks Ying Qi is merely a weakness Prince Jing is protecting on a whim.

Only later do they learn the truth:

He isn't a weakness. He's the one thing you must never touch.