After My Childhood Friend Became Emperor

Childhood sweethearts | A love born of resentment | Reunited after a breakup

Gentle ray of sunshine x proud, sweet-on-the-outside-and-dark-within | New emperor x deposed empress

The first time Yue Xi saw Shen Suiyu, he was sitting on the wall in her backyard.

The little boy sat atop the white wall and black-tiled roof, swinging his legs as he tossed her a kite. "Here, this is yours."

Yue Xi had once been certain that she would marry him.

*

Later, the Yue family switched sides in the struggle for the throne, betrayed the Shen family, broke off their engagement, and sent Yue Xi into the palace as empress.

The entire Shen clan was stripped of their rank and exiled a thousand miles away, never to return to the capital.

The day Yue Xi was married was the very day the Shen clan set out for exile.

Shen Suiyu tried every way he could to get a letter to Yue Xi.

He didn't care about anyone else, but he had to ask her: why had even she betrayed him?

As the fierce west wind howled, he waited for Yue Xi's maid to tell him, "The Empress says that from now on, you go your way and she goes hers. Take care of yourself, Young Master."

*

Years later, Shen Suiyu led his troops into the imperial city. The emperor's defeat was certain, and he abandoned the city and fled, leaving Yue Xi alone in the palace.

As expected, Shen Suiyu moved the former empress into the Cold Palace and ignored her for months.

Half a year later, the new emperor had secured his position. His ministers repeatedly urged him to choose an empress, but their pleas were put off time and again. No one knew that on many a late night, a woman's choked sobs could be heard from the Cold Palace.

"Speak." He was as gentle as he was cruel. "A Chan, did he come to you too?"

"Look at me and tell me, which of us is better?"

1. The female lead is not a virgin; the male lead is.

2. A Chan is the heroine's childhood nickname, homophonous with the character chan in the phrase "the stream flows gently."

3. The dynasty and government system are entirely fictional and anachronistic. Don't nitpick the historical details. All the political intrigue exists to serve the romance, so don't overanalyze it.

Blurb dated 2026.3.9

Theme: People change their hearts with ease, yet claim that the heart of the one they once loved is the one that changed.