Why Does My Regent Keep Faking His Death?

*Seeking affection for my upcoming novel: The Mistake Every Master Under Heaven Makes. Blurb at the very bottom~

[Main story complete. Some sections need revision; I'll write the extras after revising them.]

Blurb:

[Dark, possessive, unhinged emperor gong x free-spirited, sharp-tongued regent shou]

Shang Wuyu was born into a family of imperial tutors and was a prodigy from a young age.

His life's wish was to find a worthy ruler and become one half of a legendary ruler-and-minister pair.

He served three rulers in his life.

The first was an utterly hopeless tyrant, so he threw down his official seal and raised an army in rebellion.

The second was a wise ruler destined to be praised throughout history, but sadly, he was murdered and died young.

The third was the wise ruler's younger brother, clever and well-behaved, but with his mind set on the wrong things...

Upon ascending the throne, the new emperor's first decree was to appoint the regent prince as his empress.

Shang Wuyu burned the decree with a trembling soul and faked his death to flee back to his fief.

If he couldn't become half of a legendary ruler-and-minister pair, he still didn't want to be remembered as half of a legendary gay couple!

Five years later, at the new emperor's coming-of-age banquet, thirteen imperial edicts ordered the regent prince to return to the capital and report on his duties.

In the rear hall of the Jade Pool Palace, thirteen bright-yellow edicts lay scattered by the water.

The grown emperor twirled the hair of the person in his arms and kissed away the sheen of sweat on his brow. Yet his words were chilling:

"If you won't be my empress, how about becoming my nameless, titleless favorite?"

Lou Chumang resented him for faking his death and escaping back then.

He resented him so much that he crushed his pride, eliminated his relatives, and finally imprisoned him as a traitor, becoming more and more like a tyrant himself.

Every day, the gloomy emperor's face bore the red mark of a slap from Shang Wuyu's resistance, yet he remained shameless.

"Too gentle, too soft. Is that all you've got?"

Shang Wuyu lowered his hand, his heart full of despair.

Knowing he would never meet another worthy ruler in this life, he had no more interest in court politics.

He tossed aside the second decree naming him empress and faked his death to escape once more.

He never expected the emperor, who haunted him like a ghost, to find his hideaway three years later.

"Come back to my side. I have a lead on what happened to my elder brother."

That single sentence silenced Shang Wuyu's sharp tongue, ready to call him a shameless beast.

Shang Wuyu had never gotten over the sudden death of the ruler he had admired, and had been secretly investigating it all along.

Only after he returned to the palace did the possessive, gloomy emperor grip his chin and reveal the truth:

"I lied. I have nothing here."

Shang Wuyu raised the corners of his mouth, hiding the calculations in his eyes.

He had lied too. He'd already uncovered the truth about what happened back then.

He'd returned to the palace only to use the young emperor to take revenge.

As for what came after, he could always fake his death again.

It wasn't until many years later that Lou Chumang learned Shang Wuyu's repeated fake deaths and captures had all been part of a trap he'd set for himself.

He'd used Lou Chumang to investigate the emperor's brother's death, clean up the court, and rebuild the empire.

As for Lou Chumang, he was just a diversion to amuse Shang Wuyu, nothing more.

In response, Lou Chumang could only take his revenge more viciously on the person beneath him:

"A diversion to amuse you, nothing more, huh?"

Shang Wuyu bit down on the third decree naming him empress and swallowed a sob, looking utterly close to tears.

They'd been married for decades already. Who had gone and told Lou Chumang the nonsense he'd made up back then?

Wasn't that as good as asking for his life?!

--

Little scene:

Unofficial histories record that the most legendary regent prince of the Great Qian Dynasty died three times.

The first time he died, green weeds sprang up over his grave.

The emperor ordered them all burned away.

The second time he died, pale purple flowers bloomed over his grave.

The emperor ordered them uprooted and planted in the haunted Cold Palace.

The third time he died, a peach tree sprouted over his grave.

The emperor ordered all the peaches picked and replaced with pink-faced dumplings.

After three failed attempts to fake his death, Shang Wuyu cursed:

Lou Chumang, you little brat!!!

You burned my chives, pulled up my sweet potatoes, and now you're picking my peaches!!!

The young emperor, who spent the first half of his life chasing his beloved, had this to say:

I've got plenty of experience following the weeds on a grave to catch my wife faking his death.

Reader's notes:

1. One-on-one romance, both characters are sexually inexperienced.

2. A mild chase-your-lover-after-the-breakup arc.

3. The shou fakes his death more than once, and the gong has PTSD because of it.

2026.02.22

Please show some love for my upcoming novel with a similar vibe~

The Mistake Every Master Under Heaven Makes:

[Gentle but unhinged Demon Lord gong x pampered, precious-flower master shou]

Si Jingque, a gay immortal revered by everyone in the sect but despised by everyone else.

Though he had exceptional spiritual roots, he was sickly and promiscuous. So, despite recruiting disciples every year, he still had no students to show for it.

But he wanted to be a master too. So he dug a little bloodied boy out of a pile of corpses and used two chestnuts to coax him into calling him "Master."

The little disciple's spiritual roots were terrible, but he worked hard, respected his master, and served Si Jingque like an ancestor, letting him indulge in the feeling of being a master.

Sadly, before he'd had his fill of it, Si Jingque died in Soulbind Valley after being tricked while trying to snatch a heavenly-grade magical artifact for his disciple.

When his obedient disciple arrived, he didn't shed a single tear. He focused all his attention on pulling out Si Jingque's immortal bones.

Only then did Si Jingque remember: after being refined, wouldn't his immortal bones make an excellent heavenly-grade magical artifact too?

So that was the little brat's plan all along.

He'd only raised an ungrateful wretch. It was no big deal.

He'd only made the same mistake every master under heaven makes.

Demon Lord Mu Wanxiu hated three things most in his life:

First, using the Passion-Burning Art on his master, hypnotizing him into falling in love with him.

Second, telling his master that for his birthday, he wanted a heavenly-grade magical artifact that would awe the immortal sects.

Third, that his Soul-Calling Forbidden Art had failed for the thirty thousand and eighteenth time, turning the cultivator before him into a charred corpse.

The thirty thousand and nineteenth body was still on its way in the bridal sedan.

Eight hundred years after his death, Si Jingque was reborn. When he opened his eyes, he was in a bridal sedan.

There were no gongs and drums, no wedding chamber or wedding candles. He was taken to the depths of a frigid pool to serve as the living body for the Soul-Calling Forbidden Art.

Word had it that the Demon Lord prepared a wedding dress for every living body.

Because his beloved had died on their wedding day.

But why did the Demon Lord's voice sound more and more familiar?

The moment the forbidden art succeeded, Si Jingque, in agony, yanked off the red cloth and met Mu Wanxiu's utterly cold gaze.

Si Jingque: ...

Wait, he didn't even have any immortal bones left to refine into an artifact. Why was this guy still trying to kill him?

Little scene:

On their wedding night, Si Jingque was so thoroughly taken in by his sweet-talking little disciple that he forgot, for the moment, about the deep grudge over his bones being carved out.

He couldn't help it. He was born gay, and Mu Wanxiu was a little gay boy he'd raised himself.

He'd sleep with him and leave. He wouldn't take responsibility. He was a terrible master.

But the noodles his disciple made were so delicious, the bed he prepared so soft, and the way he used his strength felt so good...

Oh no, he was about to make the same mistake every master under heaven makes.

How about giving Mu Wanxiu that immortal-bone zither as an engagement gift?

Until one day, during a great battle, the Demon Lord's immortal zither was destroyed, and Si Jingque was heartbroken.

"I only had enough immortal bones for one artifact, and I used them to make yours!"

Mu Wanxiu paused, then gently kissed his beloved master's brow.

"How could I bear to use your immortal bones to make an artifact?"

"I made this demonic zither from the bones I carved out of myself."

"Your immortal bones are still being carefully nurtured inside me."

Theme: Don't fight, don't get angry. If you make yourself sick with anger, no one will take your place.