A Defeated Minister Should Be a Guest in My Bed

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[Short-tempered, love-brained prince bottom x domineering, traditional emperor top]

Rumor had it that Prince Lin, Wen Tan, was handsome and graceful, with a dashing bearing. Whenever he went out in the capital, people would gather to watch and toss flowers at him.

He had once been closest to the crown prince, but after he began participating in court affairs at fifteen, the two often disagreed over matters of state. At eighteen, after losing the struggle for the throne, he was ordered by the former crown prince, now the new emperor, to remain confined at home. Later, when the new consort entered the palace, he was ordered to guard the imperial mausoleum.

Everyone sighed that a beautiful young man should never have gotten involved in the succession struggle, only to end up like this.

They didn't know that Prince Lin, rumored to have been sent away to guard the mausoleum, was actually being held captive in the imperial palace.

He was the new consort who had just entered the palace.

*

Wen Tan was a prince who had lost the succession struggle, but the new emperor, his older brother who had been the crown prince, didn't kill him. Instead, he kept him close, refusing to send him to a fief and making him stay in the capital.

Wen Tan couldn't understand what his brother was thinking, until one day he got drunk and woke up lying on the imperial bed. His brother's eunuch stood nearby, calling him Consort Tan with great caution.

Wen Tan finally understood what his brother had been thinking.

His eyes filled with tears. Wen Chao, you stubborn blockhead, why didn't you say so sooner? Then I wouldn't have fought you for the throne.

I like you too, damn it :)

*

Wen Chao had fallen in love with his younger brother: the brother he'd cared for since childhood, the brother with those seductive eyes, the brother who wanted to take his throne.

His younger brother wanted to leave him.

Wen Chao locked him to the imperial bed.

His brother cursed him, blamed him, and hated him. It didn't matter. He would teach his rebellious younger brother a proper lesson: what it meant to honor one's elder brother.

*

Later, in Fengluan Hall, the young man lay on the bed, his abdomen slightly swollen. The emperor held his younger brother's hand. "I know I was wrong."

The person on the bed looked at the emperor indifferently, then pulled his hand away. The gold chain rattled as he closed his eyes, not wanting to look at the man before him again.

The young man on the bed was frail and pale as paper. This little bird trapped in a cage was already at death's door. Even if the emperor laid all the world's finery and treasures before him, he still couldn't be healed.

Reader advisories:

1. Pseudo-incest; mutual love turns into coercive love; 1v1, both leads' first and only, happy ending.

2. Written purely to indulge the author's tastes; male pregnancy and birth!

3. The leads aren't perfect. They love each other very much, but when the sky falls, they hold it up with their mouths.

4. Alternate history with a mix of settings from different dynasties.

5. I think it's bittersweet, but note the angst and melodrama tags.

6. Updates according to the rankings.

7. I don't know how long it'll be, but it probably won't be very long.

Theme: Love can overcome a thousand miles of hardship.