[Patiently enduring, frail, irresistible bottom + a mad-dog top who falls for him step by step]
On the Blue Sparrow pleasure boat, the second young master of the Duke's household is murdered.
Xie Qingci, an unloved illegitimate son of a low-ranking official, is placed on the Tianshu Bureau's list of suspects.
Mu Hanyuan sends people to watch him. They see a sickly young man who pants after every three steps and coughs after every five, someone anyone could bully.
Mu Hanyuan has seen the shadowy figure on the pleasure boat with his own eyes. He knows Xie Qingci is a sharp blade hidden in the dark: he may stay sheathed, but once drawn, he'll strike straight through the throat.
To make Xie Qingci reveal his hand, Mu Hanyuan uses "organizing case files" as an excuse to take him back to the Tianshu Bureau.
One tests him in every way, the other hides his true self at every turn.
And so begins their game of hunter and hunted.
