Powerful regent x young emperor
Xiao Rong x Duan Chengan
Warning: Old-school melodrama, setting takes priority, and a large age gap.
During the Jianming era, the emperor died, and the empress followed him in death. The young emperor had no heirs, so the ministers unanimously chose Duan Chengan, heir to Prince Huan, as the new ruler and made Xiao Rong the Prince of Qi and regent, charged with guiding the new sovereign.
Xiao Rong did not want the throne. All he wanted was power, and the ability to wield it without being cursed by the whole realm. And so Duan Chengan, once an innocent heir whom no one cared for, became a plaything for Xiao Rong to manipulate and torment as he pleased.
But how could he accept being a plaything? Duan Chengan sneered. Even if the man before him was at once father, elder brother, teacher, and friend, he would still fight him and reclaim his freedom.
It all came down to who could better cast aside the past, and certain desires neither dared to examine too closely.
A struggle that leaves both sides wounded, a contest in which neither can tell sincerity from pretense. The fiercer the battle, the deeper their entanglement.
Theme: People must not be treated like puppets.
