Brother, Hold On Tight. I'll Take You to the Top

As the prince posing the greatest threat to the Crown Prince's position, Prince Cheng had always been regarded with suspicion by the heir. The Eastern Palace's people saw him as an enemy, and Prince Cheng had to tread carefully at every turn.

Fortunately, Prince Cheng had the support of an emperor who doted on him and wanted to depose the Crown Prince. The heir's position was precarious.

Later, during a battle to send reinforcements, the emperor had a hidden scheme in mind, yet the Crown Prince returned victorious. Not long afterward, the seemingly healthy emperor suddenly died, leaving no deathbed edict to appoint a different heir.

The Crown Prince naturally ascended the throne without a hitch. People quietly suspected that the new emperor had murdered his father to seize power. Prince Cheng, they thought, would soon meet with an "accident."

But events took an unexpected turn.

Before long, rumors spread that Prince Cheng's word carried more weight than the pillow talk of the emperor's concubines, and that there was no problem he couldn't solve!

A certain official who had angered the emperor and been demoted, another whose memorial had yet to be approved, and a third hoping to retire all stood outside Prince Cheng's residence, looking at one another in confusion.

Was this right? Everyone said the emperor listened to Prince Cheng, but no one had mentioned that Prince Cheng wouldn't see outsiders!

Those who had received Prince Cheng's help said: You can only hope to be lucky enough to meet him!

Not only that, the emperor's trust in Prince Cheng gradually reached an appalling level.

Prince Cheng was granted more and more authority, until he commanded the empire's armies and held power over the entire court.

The ministers all thought the emperor must have lost his mind. If Prince Cheng wanted to reclaim the throne he had once lost, nobody could stop him.

The corrupt officials, powerful clans, border generals, and foreign enemies who had been cut by Prince Cheng's blade said: We get it. A blade this useful might as well be put to work!

*

Everyone said the current emperor was a wise and enlightened ruler. Only he knew the truth: he was suspicious, sensitive, and capricious.

As the years passed and circumstances changed, people who saw through him came and went. When he looked back, only one person had stood unwaveringly at his side all along.

His own brother, Prince Cheng, was a peerless sword he had forged with his own hands to quell unrest at home and repel enemies abroad.

Yet after his younger brother had risked his life to save him three times, he had nearly broken him with his own hands.

He was a terrible older brother and a terrible emperor.

The so-called wise and enlightened ruler was only so because whenever he was weak and hesitant, or furious and foolish, there was one person who would pull him back, even when he was mistrusted and beaten, even at the cost of his own life.

Note:

1. Told from the male lead's perspective, with a focus on the plot.

2. The romance between the leads comes in the middle and later parts, and makes up a relatively small portion.

Coming soon: Please Don't Start a Rebellion. If you're interested, please visit my author page and add it to your favorites!

At the end of a dynasty, the people lived in misery. War broke out in Cui You's hometown, leaving her homeless and reduced to begging for food. She wandered far from home, but there she also met the benefactor who would change her life.

Her benefactor didn't just feed her. He also said something astonishing: she should save the world. At first, Cui You scoffed at his words. She couldn't even get enough to eat. How could she save the world?

But in time, she learned the skills she needed to make a living and stand on her own.

As it happened, a new emperor ascended the throne and held a special examination. Cui You seized the opportunity and passed at the top of the list. Afterward, she disguised herself as a man and entered officialdom, leaving her mentor far behind.

But she didn't grow distant from her mentor. Instead, she wrote down every detail of what happened to her and used her meager salary to pay people to carry her letters over thousands of miles.

Her mentor would never know that, during all her years at court, the happiest moments of her life were when she opened his replies.

Fortune smiled on her once more when a wise ruler took a liking to her and entrusted her with important work. Cui You truly began to see herself as a savior of the world, and she threw herself into her duties. Every time she sent good news to her mentor, she was full of enthusiasm.

At the time, Cui You didn't know why her mentor's replies were delayed or why he sometimes didn't write back at all whenever she praised the ruler's wisdom.

Cui You helped the emperor carry out reforms and save the crumbling dynasty with all her might. She did it not only for herself, but also for her mentor, who shared her aspirations yet was unable to serve the court for certain reasons.

Sadly, it was still too late. The land fell into chaos, warlords carved up the realm, and the age descended into disorder.

Cui You was entrusted with a grave mission in the midst of crisis, traveling from place to place to put down rebellions. Once, she saw a masked general on the battlefield between two armies.

Although he wore a mask and deliberately disguised his voice, she recognized those eyes and brows.

Her former mentor had raised the banner of rebellion and taken the opposing side. Cui You felt as though the heavens had collapsed.

She never even had the chance to stop him. She could only watch helplessly as he plunged into an abyss from which there was no return...

Theme: Be concerned with the world before you are concerned with yourself