The Fox Minister Keeps Trying to Overstep His Place

[Gorgeous, proud, ambitious fox gong x outwardly innocent, inwardly calculating, restrained, blind prince shou]

In his previous life, Yan Fengci was a powerful chief councilor, a man who could summon the clouds with one hand and the rain with the other.

He helped the Second Prince, Xie Jingshu, seize the throne with a forged imperial edict, only to be rewarded with an order for his execution.

Before his execution, he threw back his head and cried out in grief and fury: "When the cunning hare is dead, the hound is cooked!"

When he opened his eyes again, he had become a red fox. Not only had that heartless man shot him with an arrow, he was now holding him by the scruff of his neck. He had no dignity whatsoever.

Xie Jingshu's eyes were covered with black gauze, leaving him blind. Yet his fingertips brushed over the red fox's silky back. "Let it go. A thousand-gold fur coat cannot be made from the underarm fur of just one fox."

Yan Fengci sneered. What was with the benevolent act? In his previous life, you used that same gentle, harmless face to trick me into bed.

To stay alive, Yan Fengci had no choice but to endure the humiliation and curl up resentfully in Xie Jingshu's arms as his pet.

He endured having his fox ears stroked.

He ate the meat puree he was fed.

But when Xie Jingshu picked him up and stroked his fur, Yan Fengci could take no more. He sank his teeth into the man's neck with a sharp bite!

Blood immediately streamed down.

But instead of getting angry, the man later stroked him until he was as soft as a lump of dough, and even teased him: "You certainly have a temper. Where did all that ferocity go?"

Xie Jingshu didn't know that the fox who had bitten him regretted it every night: Why hadn't I bitten hard enough to kill him?

Later, Yan Fengci successfully took human form. His beauty was so dazzling that it left people utterly enchanted, though he himself found it an eyesore.

He enters the prince's mansion, serves as a guest advisor, investigates spies, takes on the prefect, passes the imperial examination, compiles the Veritable Records, and reopens old cases. Each step is like walking up a knife's edge, and the slightest misstep could send him plunging into an abyss.

Yan Fengci always thought Xie Jingshu knew nothing, until the night he took human form after drinking.

The usually dignified prince drew the red fox into his arms, his breath burning hot.

"Yuyi, I've known all along that Danu was you."

"If you want to eat me, I won't fight back."

Coming soon: the next novel

Legend had it that the Supreme Deity Taiyi was once an extraordinarily cruel god of slaughter, possessed of unfathomable power and command over all destruction and rebirth.

"Crunch, crunch, "

The Supreme Deity Taiyi lounged against an octagonal pillar as clouds churned beneath his feet.

He crunched rare spirit stones, savoring their rich fragrance as they filled his mouth, and asked in puzzlement, "Is that so? How come I don't know about it?"

The Supreme Deity Taiyi and the Kunlun Immortal Lord fought fiercely over a delicious ten-thousand-year spirit stone.

Taiyi was one of the strongest, and he easily seized the stone by overwhelming force. But just as he was basking in his triumph, a burst of magic power from nowhere sent him flying. The spirit stone shot toward the sky screen, which shattered.

The Heavenly Dao descended in a graceful flash and meted out its punishment: "Both of you will be sent down to the mortal realm. You may return to the Ninth Heaven once you have repaired the sky screen with your own hands and made peace."

Repairing the sky screen was easy. As for making peace... proud as he was, the Supreme Deity disdained the idea and turned to leave. Then he remembered that there were no spirit stones to eat in the mortal realm, so he reluctantly pretended to reconcile with the Immortal Lord.

Even when the Immortal Lord blushed and confessed his love, he gritted his teeth and accepted. It was only an act. Returning to the Heavenly Realm was what mattered.

But when he believed that his relationship with the Immortal Lord had reached a happy conclusion, and stepped forward in delight to leave, the gates of heaven remained firmly shut.

The Supreme Deity Taiyi grew uneasy. "What went wrong?"

The Immortal Lord lowered his eyes, his voice growing softer and softer. "I... have a twin brother. He was the one who struck the final blow that day."

The Supreme Deity's smile froze.

"Where is he?" he asked, forcing himself to stay calm.

The Immortal Lord lowered his head and said nothing. Only after a long while did he mumble, "My younger brother... always wants to take everything from me. I was afraid..."

Before he could finish, a figure spun down behind them, his voice cold as an icy spring. "It's too late now, Brother."

The Supreme Deity Taiyi turned and came face to face with someone who looked exactly like the Immortal Lord.

Only his eyes were so cold they held no warmth at all.

At last, Taiyi understood why everyone in the Heavenly Realm said the Kunlun Immortal Lord was capricious. There weren't one, but two of him.

One was as gentle as spring water; the other, as cold as ice.

The Supreme Deity forced a smile and held out his hand, trying to make peace.

The younger brother held his sword and turned aside, deftly avoiding him. A mocking smile tugged at his lips. "The Supreme Deity already has my brother. Could it be... that you want me too?"

Before Taiyi could reply, the other Immortal Lord spoke, jealousy filling his voice. "The Supreme Deity can only choose one. Will you choose my younger brother, or me?"

Looking at the two identical faces before him, the Supreme Deity felt a storm surge within his heart.

He might never get back to the Ninth Heaven.

[Bonus Scene]

During the hundred years he spent repairing the sky screen in the mortal realm, the Supreme Deity once happened upon an immortal herb and casually tossed it to the Immortal Lord.

The next night, the Immortal Lord pushed open his door and brought in a bowl of steaming soup. He held it out eagerly. "Drink it all. It's highly nourishing."

The soup had a strong smell. Just one sniff sent blood rushing through Taiyi's veins, and his scalp went numb. While the Immortal Lord wasn't looking, he secretly poured the whole bowl into a flowerpot in the corner.

The thirsty, withered flower straightened up at once, stiff as an iron rod, and stood motionless in the pot.

Taiyi's hand trembled. He almost crushed the bowl.

The Immortal Lord studied him for a long moment, saw that nothing was happening, and left full of suspicion.

The Supreme Deity Taiyi kept his guard up all night, and at last made it to the following morning.

The younger brother came in carrying an identical bowl of soup, his face expressionless.

The Supreme Deity broke down. "I already drank some last night..."

The younger brother's eyes brimmed with resentment. "Why can you drink what my brother gives you, but not what I give you?"

Holding the bowl, he climbed up beside the Supreme Deity and began undressing without a word.

Looking at the younger brother's red-rimmed eyes, the Supreme Deity Taiyi found himself thinking, for the first time, that getting back to the Ninth Heaven might not be all that urgent after all.

[Bonus]

A friend sent him a voice transmission: "Taiyi, we all believe you'll be back soon."

The Supreme Deity Taiyi was wedged between the two Immortal Lords, one on either side. After a long silence, he replied through his divine sense: "It's not going well."

His friend replied at once: "We all believe in you! Good luck!"

With his mouth occupied, Taiyi managed to move his lips with difficulty. Tears of emotion filled his eyes. "A friend for life..."

At the same time, in an immortal palace somewhere in the Ninth Heaven,

his friend made a mark on a jade slip. A pale golden glow separated from his body and merged into a dice tray. He turned to the assembled immortals and grinned. "Will Taiyi manage to handle both Immortal Lords? I'm betting a hundred merit points that he won't."

The immortals were in an uproar. "What happened to supporting him forever?!"

His friend blinked, looking sly. "Don't get me wrong! I support Taiyi with all my heart. It's just that if you bet against him, the immortal palace gets to keep its place above the sea of clouds."

Theme: Put the people first; the nation and the world are everyone's concern.