The emperor he got for free was the man he'd spent one night with. Jiang Yi was relieved that he had woken up early and run off early that day, so the man hadn't remembered his face.
Jiang Yi, an illegitimate son of the Minister of Rites, had been abandoned in a country estate to fend for himself ever since he could remember. Behind a drafty wooden door, he curled up on his bed, nearly dying in silence several times when his heart condition struck.
They despised Jiang Yi as a monster who would bring calamity.
But if they had waited a few thousand more years, everyone would have learned that he was actually an omega.
Jiang Yi always said it: how could a father not love his child? The man seated on the imperial throne was his real father after all.
Jiang Yi looked up and met a pair of amused eyes through the imperial crown's hanging beads. He shivered instinctively.
Ji Chengyun appeared relaxed on the dragon throne, but in truth he was a ruler forged in a world of chaos and rivers of blood. He governed with harsh laws and punishments, and could kill without batting an eye even as he smiled.
He glanced at the little bundle in the hall, wrapped in fox fur and as white as jade. Since when did he have a prince who had grown up among commoners?
The heads of the last few impostors were still hanging on the city walls, and now here was another one.
But when he met Jiang Yi's clear, watery eyes and saw his shy smile and two dimples, the boy looked like a little immortal.
Ji Chengyun suddenly changed his mind.
He wanted to see just how long this little liar could keep up the act.
-
Having slept with his father was Jiang Yi's secret, one he would protect for the rest of his life.
He was far too attached to the feeling of being loved.
But someone found out and threatened to tell Ji Chengyun.
Jiang Yi thought it over for several nights. He was terrified, so he faked his death by using his heart condition as an excuse.
That night in the plum garden, the wind howled and snow fell hard. Jiang Yi lay in Ji Chengyun's arms, gazing straight at him with tearful eyes. Blood trickled from the corner of his lips, down his neck, until he fell silent forever.
Ji Chengyun held Jiang Yi all night. The heavy snow took his beloved away and turned his hair white. No night had ever been so cold.
They say the capital was decked in ten miles of red to escort a memorial tablet through the palace gates.
They say Ji Chengyun, who had always despised ghosts and gods, walked with his head bowed all the way up the mountain steps, asking only to see Jiang Yi once more.
In a teahouse, Jiang Yi listened to the story with a jumble of feelings in his heart. Just as he was about to leave, someone knocked on the door of the private room and said the emperor wished to see him.
-
Mini-scene 1:
Jiang Yi threw his arms around Ji Chengyun and looked up at him, eyes sparkling. "Father!"
Ji Chengyun scowled. "Who's your father?"
Mini-scene 2:
The miner kept working with his head down. "Don't you like Father? Why'd you stop calling him that?"
Little Jiang kicked him.
But Ji Chengyun caught his foot, leaned down to kiss him, and even gave him a playful wink.
[Smiling tiger, proper on the outside but actually a flirt, handsome gong, Ji Chengyun × clever, but not too clever, a bit temperamental, but not too much, soft and sweet shou, Jiang Yi]
Important:
1. The gong and shou are not related by blood. The shou is a fake prince.
2. The gong is chaste, the gong is chaste, the gong is chaste! Both are chaste, happy ending.
3. The gong is eight years older.
4. The blurb may be revised, but the core premise won't change.
Theme: Don't make decisions lightly
