Wei Sheng was born into the prime minister's household. He was handsome, gifted, and brilliant, and there was no one in all of Tianxuan who hadn't heard of him.
All his life, he sought to overthrow the Murong family, avenge his parents, and bring prosperity to the people.
For that, he didn't mind earning a bad name, bringing shame upon his family, losing all his friends, or being parted from his beloved...
The hell he didn't.
Why had no one told him he'd be the one to die at the end?
He wondered if he'd get scolded when he reached the underworld.
Looking at his colleagues' heads, at the beloved he had no choice but to push away, and at the torrent of condemnation raining down on him, he could only wish he could kill everyone outside the execution ground with his own hands.
He understood less and less. How had things come to this? How had it all gone so wrong?
Unlike the regret described in the books, by the time he stepped onto the execution ground, he didn't feel much of anything anymore. Hatred or resentment, it didn't matter. He only hoped to be scolded a little less when he reached the underworld.
Unfortunately, before he could reach the underworld, he was reborn.
When he opened his eyes again, he wasn't an official or a treacherous minister. He was just a student, an utterly ordinary student at the Imperial College.
His teachers were kind, his parents loved each other. His fellow students respected him, his friends liked him, and his beloved...
Why was Chu Yinhua here?
Looking at the other man's resentful face, as if he wanted to eat him alive, Wei Sheng rubbed his forehead. Why wasn't I the only one reborn?
When Wei Sheng talked and joked with others, Chu Yinhua had to watch.
When Wei Sheng made connections with the nobility, Chu Yinhua had to watch.
Even when Wei Sheng was only eating or resting, Chu Yinhua had to watch.
Fine, fine. He'd done wrong in his previous life, after all.
When Chu Yinhua was resentful, he soothed him.
When Chu Yinhua was angry, he calmed him down.
Now that he had another chance to see him, he didn't want to be parted from him again.
*
The longest-lived person Chu Yinhua had ever known lived to be eighty. The shortest-lived lasted two months. But the person who left the deepest impression on him was the one who lived only twenty-eight years.
In those brief twenty-eight years, his early glory was matched only by the desolation that followed his parents' deaths.
But in Chu Yinhua's memories, the prime minister was always there, gaunt and condemned by everyone.
The court officials looked down on him. The people never understood him. Even he himself had never treated himself well.
More than once, Chu Yinhua wondered how anyone could live such a miserable life, and how anyone who had suffered so much could still go on living.
Watching Wei Sheng disregard his own life and march to his death, Chu Yinhua hated him.
Watching Wei Sheng avoid him on purpose after being reborn, Chu Yinhua resented him.
It wasn't until Wei Sheng held him in his arms and comforted him softly that Chu Yinhua understood: in both lives, the person he hated was himself, and the person he resented was himself too.
It was because he lacked military power and ability that Wei Sheng had fallen into such a hopeless predicament.
So in this new life,
he would seize military power, and claim the place by Wei Sheng's side.
All he asked was that Wei Sheng rely on him, even just a little.
Theme: Even when you know the road ahead is rough, have the courage to start again.
