The Frail Young Imperial Tutor Is Everyone’s Favorite

[Beautiful, strong, tragic, sickly imperial tutor × scheming chief minister × obsessive crown prince × loyal general × restrained hidden guard]

Everyone in the capital knows that Shen Lanshi is a beauty.

Just how beautiful? When he steps out of his sedan chair on his way to court, even the vendor selling candied chestnuts by the palace gates is left staring. Standing in his crimson official robes in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, amid a sea of purple and red, he alone resembles a red plum blossom blooming in the snow: pale, aloof, and fragile. The crown prince wishes he could lock him away in the Eastern Palace. The chief minister sends ginseng soup to his residence every day to help him recover his health. The Northern Frontier General hunts a snow fox to make him a fur coat, then blushes as he says, “It looks good on you.” His chief bodyguard has guarded him for fifteen years. His swordsmanship is peerless, yet he has to work himself up just to hand Shen Lanshi a bowl of medicine.

But Shen Lanshi cares only about cases. He stays up all night poring over account books, coughing up blood, and goes to court with a fever to impeach corrupt officials. He is little more than skin and bones, yet still forces himself to write trial outlines. He always says, “Once this case is closed, I’ll get some proper rest.” But one case follows another, and they never end.