My Scumbag Ex Sold Me Before Learning I Was the Regent's Treasure

[Possessive pursuit + mutual salvation + political scheming + love spanning three lifetimes]

He was the capital's most celebrated young gentleman, gentle as jade, with brilliance beyond compare.

He was the Regent, whose power overshadowed the court, cold and ruthless, with countless deaths to his name.

At the Qionglin Banquet, a pearl earring slipped quietly to the floor behind a screen.

He bent to pick it up, just as that person passed by.

Their eyes met. One breathtaking glance, and a lifetime of entanglement began.

That night, his newlywed husband drugged him and sent him to a nobleman's residence.

The Regent kicked down the door and wrapped him in his bloodstained cloak as he trembled in fear.

“That kind of person isn't worth your tears.”

From then on, the bird was locked in a golden cage, cherished with a possessive love that reached to the bone.

Everyone said the Regent had gone mad. He actually intended to make a man his principal consort!

The court was in an uproar, and remonstrating officials risked their lives to oppose him. But he only sneered in open court:

“My private affairs are none of your concern.”

On the day of the palace coup, he leaped without hesitation from a ten-zhang-high wall.

The Regent rushed to catch him. Three arrows pierced his back, yet he still held him tightly in his arms.

“If you die, I'll make this entire dynasty join you in the grave.”

He gathered herbs for him on steep cliffs, his fingers bleeding.

He drank poison in his place, without hesitation, ready to face death.

Later, they stood together to defend the border, joined forces to purge the court, and traveled across the land side by side.

Misty rain on West Lake, solitary sands in the desert. As their hair turned white, they held hands and watched the sunset.

“Keeping you captive was never my intention, but letting you go... is absolutely impossible.”

“That kind of person isn't worth your tears.”

“Without you, what use is this realm to me?”

“Are you still afraid of me?” “Yes.” “Then why don't you leave?” “...I have nowhere to go.” “A bird in a golden cage: do you hate me?” “With a branch to rest on in this cage, why would I hate you?”