The Secret Crush of a Devoted Eunuch

They had lived together since they were seven, and only death could part them. 1 When Fang Zhanyue was seven, she found a boy who had been castrated and abandoned. She kept him by her side as her personal eunuch. As the years passed, they grew up together, childhood sweethearts with an effortless closeness. They shared countless nights whispering cheek to cheek, their intimacy so deep that they seemed to draw ever closer to one another. In the end, only an inch remained between them: the most intimate distance, and the most unreachable. Que Chunshen knew he had no right to love her, yet he could not help taking over her life inch by inch. He was skilled at all sorts of clever handiwork, embroidery, and cooking, and took care of every aspect of her daily life. Until she abandoned him for another man, ending their relationship with a few chests of gold and silver. Without the princess, he was a lonely ghost, drifting through the wilderness with nowhere to call home. He threw himself into the river. Perhaps he would end up in a fish's belly. The princess loved eating fish and drinking fish soup; maybe she would eat a fish that had eaten him. The person who wanted to die did not manage it. He realized that life and death were both empty, and that he might as well live with abandon. There was no need to hide anything anymore. He would seize her heart and demand her love. 2 A towering mechanism-filled pagoda in the North Sea was their bridal chamber, and also their tomb. There was no food there, only a pot of meat soup. He smiled as he cut off a slice, red with blood, while stroking her face, lovely as a pearl or jade. “You always loved lying to me. Lying was one thing, but then you abandoned me, leaving me all alone by the Cuckoo Blood River. I waited for you there for seven days and seven nights. In the end, I chose to jump in. I went to die, so I wouldn't be in your way.” “But I survived. A dog must sink its teeth deep into its master's flesh and never let go.” “I won't call you Master anymore. You're my prisoner, but I won't be as cruel to you as you were to me. I'll treat you well, and we'll live here happily ever after.” “Eat up. This is what it means to become one, never to be parted again.” Both leads are sexually inexperienced. Content warning: The male lead is a real eunuch. He is submissive and obsessive early on, but later turns dark and will force his love on the heroine. (When he loses control, she punches him flying.) The heroine's abandonment of the male lead is a misunderstanding. A female supporting character has a crush on the heroine, but the heroine sees her only as a friend. For similar stories, see Fragrant Bait (a little coercive romance, a little angst, extremely sweet, and mutual salvation) and The Two Villains Keep It in the Family (a food-focused story, comedic and extremely sweet). A preview of Fragrant Bait, available for preorder: Tan Wuguang was an unlucky child. The weight of a powerful family's political machinations fell on his shoulders, too heavy for any life to bear. Dragging his half-crippled body and the shameful reputation of a disgusting eunuch, he endured year after year in the imperial palace. From the time he was a small child, he lay in wait. Through the long nights in the palace, his only companion was a lamp shaped like a celestial maiden. He sent his enemies to the underworld one by one, while his heart crumbled along with them. The arrival of Zhu Qingyu was a springtime he never expected. This wandering heroine from the mountains mistook him for a medicinal captive held in the Hall of Everlasting Life, and insisted on helping him escape. He pretended to go along with her, living an ordinary life with her, sharing three meals a day and the changing seasons. Like a man who had nearly drowned, he greedily savored the warmth of everyday life. The vicious dog she had been was sheathed of its fangs by its master's gentle touch. But the heroine was betrothed to someone else. Step by step, he drove away the man she loved, laying a gentle trap and gradually becoming the kind, innocent man she believed him to be. Unfortunately, her irritating fiancé swore he would expose Tan Wuguang's identity and tell the heroine that the man she loved wasn't a man at all. He would reveal just how shameless Tan Wuguang was, and how much blood stained his hands. A frail scholar was no match for a eunuch who had slaughtered cattle and sheep since childhood. Tan Wuguang sliced through the tendons in his limbs with his sword and cut out his tongue. Then he stood tall and immaculate, untouched by the grime of the world. Killing a man was just like slaughtering cattle or sheep. As his hand rose and the blade fell, thunderbolts lit up the heroine's terrified face. Tan Wuguang smiled, sated yet desolate. He brushed aside his hair, which had become matted with blood and flesh, like a starving demon from hell. In a soft voice, he said, “He was so foolish. If he didn't die today, someone else would kill him tomorrow. I was helping him.” Rain fell from the eaves of the ruined temple. That night, he coiled around her like a venomous snake, squeezing her tight, tenderness gone for good. Even among mountains and rivers, one can build towers. He imprisoned her. The lake wind swept through a cage among the mountains and waters, one she could never escape. Content warning: The male lead is a real eunuch. The romance is a little coercive, but sweet. The fiancé is a terrible man. The engagement was originally the male lead's, but the fiancé stole it by pretending to be someone else. A sweet romance inspired by the Ming dynasty. There is no career plot; it is simply about the two leads falling in love. Theme: Love is the surrender of free will.