[Size difference] [Dark romance with possessive abduction and a groveling redemption arc] [Secret identity] [Powerful man humbles himself for love]
Who in Southern Jin didn't know that the Northern Jin Crown Prince, He Shuolan, was a bloodthirsty man with a fearsome reputation for madness?
When Su Jin, Chief Astrologer of the Southern Jin Imperial Observatory, headed north, his colleagues warned him in alarm: "Lord Su, be sure to watch out for the Crown Prince."
But the person he met by the roadside was Shen Yetang.
The man smiled like the blazing sun. First, he barged into Su Jin's carriage, then at court he stood against the crowd to shelter him from every storm.
Su Jin fell for him in secret. But his elderly parents were back home in Southern Jin, and the Southern Jin Emperor's threats loomed behind him, so he didn't dare give in to his feelings.
"Lord Shen," Su Jin said, lowering his eyes, "I'm going back to Southern Jin."
Shen Yetang merely smoothed his hair, his tone intimate. "Going back where? A Jin, wouldn't you rather stay with me?"
The day of his departure finally arrived, and Su Jin thought he could at last escape this ordeal.
But waiting for him at the end of the road were the Crown Prince's guards, clad in imposing armor.
When he was bound and dragged into the Eastern Palace, he looked up and saw Lord Shen seated on a gold-lacquered chair, wearing the crown and robes of a prince.
"Shen... Shen Yetang?" Su Jin's voice trembled.
Only then did he understand that the man before him was He Shuolan, the Northern Jin Crown Prince famed for his madness and illustrious military achievements.
The man rose unhurriedly. The boyish sincerity in his eyes had vanished completely, leaving only an obsession that chilled the heart.
He Shuolan reached out and gripped Su Jin's chin, his fingers brushing over his reddened lips. "Didn't you miss home? From now on, this is your home."
Su Jin still escaped.
On the day Southern Jin's capital fell, He Shuolan gently kissed away the tears at the corner of Su Jin's eyes, then fastened a chain around his ankle.
"A Jin, there's nowhere you can go in this world except by my side."
Ruthless crown prince with a secret identity x gifted, aloof star official
Theme: In a world where everyone struggles to survive, keep your vulnerability hidden
