The Marquis's Abandoned Son Exiled to the Apocalypse Frontier

Ancient-style apocalypse, transmigration into a book, and a rise from obscurity.

A decisive, predatory commander top X a versatile, lazy bottom who knows how to play the pig to eat the tiger.

As punishment, Ruan Jingxian is transported into his own abandoned novel, titled Chronicles of the Later Li Apocalypse.

Even worse, he doesn't become the protagonist. Instead, he becomes a lazy cannon-fodder character.

To stay alive, he has to finish the story himself.

During the Later Li era, a bitter cold sweeps across the land. A plague runs rampant, plague demons roam, and the apocalypse descends.

Ruan Jingxian is the eldest son of the Marquis of Dongling. He lives in Jiangnan, the safest and most prosperous refuge city, but is sent to the frontier to take the blame for the favored son of his father's second wife. There, in the Youzhou refuge city, he is sentenced to penal labor.

Though Ruan Jingxian seems to be a good-for-nothing, he actually studied under the hermit Yu Guizi. He is skilled in the Book of Changes, divination, celestial observation, disguise, and concealed-weapon assassination. Even as a laborer, he can make a life for himself in Youzhou, where supplies are scarce and dangers abound.

Of the Later Li's five refuge cities, Youzhou is the one on the brink of collapse, always at risk of being breached by plague demons from the northern frontier. The previous Grand Commander nearly lost the city through tyranny and reckless advances, and was trampled and devoured by plague demons. At this critical moment, Wei Liao takes on the responsibility of defending the city, bringing a faint glimmer of hope to the devastated Youzhou refuge city.

Ruan Jingxian gradually makes a name for himself in the labor camp and lands a coveted position: doing the new Grand Commander's cleaning.

He only wants to slack off and coast through life, but when he tries to protect the place that gives him a roof over his head, Wei Liao discovers what he's really capable of. From then on, Ruan Jingxian is reduced to a workhorse, both attending to Wei Liao and running around on errands.

At last, Ruan Jingxian snaps. "Hah! Grand Commander, you think awfully highly of yourself, making me, the heir to the Marquis of Dongling, make your bed!"

Wei Liao never indulges his young master's temper. "Don't like making the bed? Then you can warm mine instead."

Ruan Jingxian: "Don't push your luck!"

Wei Liao: "Wake up. You probably won't hold on to that position as heir. There's still a place for you by my side."

Ruan Jingxian: "Hmph. I never cared for the marquisate anyway. The Directorate of Astronomy pays well and has little work. All I need is a cushy job. As for that place by your side, I'll think about it."

Theme: Adapt to changing circumstances, and find your way to each other.