The Miaojiang Young Lord I Wronged Came Knocking

[Updating daily, but there's no flower icon because it's under 3,000 words ORZ]

[Fake sunny, cheerful, shamelessly brazen but secretly gloomy, obsessive younger Miaojiang clan heir x scheming, flirtatious beauty and lying young prince; 1v1, both virgins, happy ending]

[A bottom who lies at the drop of a hat, plays any role he wants, and excels at sweet-talking and hypnotizing people x an immune-to-poisons, devious top who's obsessed with hypnotic sweet talk; an adversarial couple, at odds at first, in love by the middle]

Gu Suining was a prince, pampered and privileged since childhood. The greatest setback he'd ever faced was stumbling into a strange Miao village while fleeing assassins, only to fall right into a young man's arms.

In desperation, he grabbed the young man's lapels and begged him to save him.

The boy asked, puzzled, "Why are they trying to kill you?"

Gu Suining blinked, tears brimming in his eyes. Without changing his expression or missing a beat, he replied, "Unrequited love. It's a crime of passion."

The boy studied his face, then nodded in understanding. "I'd do the same."

Gu Suining: ?

Gu Suining was rescued by the boy, who called himself A Mu, and taken home to be carefully nursed back to health.

A Mu had suffered a difficult upbringing and endured a great deal of bullying. Even so, he was frank and kind, treating Gu Suining with warmth and consideration and looking after him in every way.

His only flaw was that he was too clingy, wanting to be with Gu Suining every second of the day.

But their happy days didn't last. The clan leader discovered that Gu Suining was an outsider and flew into a rage, insisting that he be driven out.

As the argument reached a stalemate, A Mu suddenly appeared at Gu Suining's side. Without even blinking, he made the clan leader seize his own throat, then drove a blade into his heart. His smile was as gentle and innocent as ever.

"What a noisy nuisance."

Covered in blood, he walked up to Gu Suining and leaned against his shoulder with a look of delight. "Now no one can stand in our way. We'll be together forever, right?"

Gu Suining froze, too afraid to say no. He forced an awkward smile. "...Right. Forever."

As if.

He left a note saying "Hope we meet again" and ran away that very night.

*

The capital was thrown into turmoil.

Gu Suining was forced to leave the capital and take up his fief, and, as luck would have it, he ran into assassins again.

The good news: he met a kind stranger who saved him from a swarm of assassins.

The bad news: the Miaojiang clan heir, Zhai Liu Liyin, who commanded so many kind strangers and had them hanging on his every word, had a face that filled him with terror.

At that moment, Gu Suining thought he might as well have died at the assassins' hands.

The young man, dressed in dazzling silver ornaments that clinked with every movement, glided effortlessly through a mountain of corpses and across scattered flesh and blood, stopping beside him with a knowing smile.

"Looks like fate keeps bringing us together, dear brother."

Gu Suining opened his mouth to make an excuse, but the boy grabbed his cheeks and forced something with a rusty, bloody taste into his mouth.

Seeing Gu Suining's shocked expression, Zhai Liu Liyin leaned closer, speaking gently, as though there had never been any estrangement between them.

Gu Suining saw the frenzied, possessive darkness in his eyes, as if it were about to turn his pupils scarlet.

"Brother, are you going to leave me again?"

Before Gu Suining could answer, he gently pressed a finger to his lips and answered for him.

"No. Not ever again."

"You have fifteen minutes, brother. Think carefully about how you're going to please me."

Reading Guide:

* Updates follow the rankings before the paid chapters begin; daily updates afterward.

* Shameless, clingy, obsessive, crazy top x black-bellied, flirtatious beauty bottom. No swapping or switching. Both top and bottom belong to each other, body and soul. Happy ending.

* They start out as enemies who love and hate each other, then fall in love. A mutual, wholehearted love, with a bit of madness.

* The top has spent years roaming the martial world. He's ruthless, kills and lies without blinking, and stops at nothing to get what he wants. Please read with care if that's not your thing.

* No character's worldview represents the author's. It represents only their own. Don't conflate the two.

* An alternate setting with kindergarten-level political intrigue, all in service of romance. A slightly silly, comedic tone, with a small amount of fantastical, inexplicable, unscientific worldbuilding.

* Don't miss it if you come across it!! Please add it to your collection!!

Theme: Out of the jaws of death comes life.