A sickly, seductive scorpion beauty bottom x a cold-blooded, scheming top
Pei Qin’s greatest dream was to live a peaceful life with his mother.
But he was born with a face that people never forgot, and by the age of five, his poetry had made him famous throughout the region.
Worse still, he was the illegitimate son of the Xia emperor, conceived during one of the emperor’s visits to the pleasure quarters. He became a thorn in the side of the empress and others, and was forced to hide with his mother.
When Pei Qin was fourteen, Xiao Mingyi, Prince Wei of Liang, conquered Xia.
Pei Qin was abandoned as a hostage, escorted by Xiao Mingyi to the capital of Liang, and made the crown prince’s study companion.
In the capital, Pei Qin proceeded with caution, navigating the crown prince, the Liang emperor, court officials, and Xia’s royal family with obedient good manners and social finesse.
Only Xiao Mingyi wasn’t taken in.
He had seen Pei Qin before he came to the capital: bedraggled and lowly, yet still a scorpion raising its tail to strike even when trampled underfoot.
Xiao Mingyi sneered, “Silver-tongued and false, you’re unbearable to look at.”
Pei Qin smiled. “Your Highness is content to be a mere fish in a pond. Such magnanimity is something I can only admire from afar.”
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Xiao Mingyi was the emperor’s youngest brother, exceptionally gifted and revered as a spirit child by the influential White Lotus Sect of Liang. As a result, he had been kept away from the palace and court since childhood.
Until the emperor personally led a campaign against Xia, only to be captured, throwing the court into turmoil.
Xiao Mingyi used the opportunity to leave the White Lotus Sect and win great military honors. He brought the emperor home, but from then on, the emperor “kept” him in the capital, forbidding him to leave without permission.
With nothing else to do in his enforced retirement, Xiao Mingyi found himself intrigued by the hypocritical little scorpion Pei Qin.
He wanted to see how long this beauty, despised and coveted by everyone, could keep up the act.
But as he watched, his thoughts gradually took on a different flavor.
Xiao Mingyi: This scorpion is so charming with everyone else. Why won’t he even put on a pleasant face for me?
His words proved prophetic.
On a dark, windy night, cold rain soaked through Pei Qin’s clothes. He pulled them aside to reveal a knife wound on his waist. “Prince Wei, save me.”
Xiao Mingyi took him back to his residence, thinking, The scorpion bit the hook of his own accord. He can’t blame me.
Little did he know Pei Qin was thinking, He took the bait willingly.
Pei Qin, courtesy name Hongyu (bottom) x Xiao Mingyi, courtesy name Yunyan (top)
Monogamous pairing, both sexually inexperienced, happy ending
Set in an alternate world
[This version of the blurb was finalized on 2026.7.22 and saved as a screenshot]
Theme: Though I live in the gutter, my heart turns toward the moon
