The Mad Dog Enters the Eastern Palace [Reborn]

(I)

In the twenty-first year of Chongyuan, the General's residence was falsely accused of treason and massacred. The Crown Prince heard the news and raced back to the capital, but it was too late. Only Xiao Jin, the young general, clung to life, his proud spirit crushed, abused and humiliated, castrated and disfigured. The Crown Prince resolutely sheltered him in the Eastern Palace.

Three years later, as the Crown Prince's power waned and the emperor lay gravely ill, he sent the eunuch Xiao Jin to attend the emperor. Xiao Jin seized the opportunity to rise to power.

Another three years passed. Xiao Jin held power over the entire court, yet still spent every night at the Crown Prince's bedside. As he added incense, his fingertips brushed the side of His Highness's neck. Looking at the fading red marks there, he asked in a low, husky voice, "Your Highness, does Your Highness still need my service?"

That same year, Xiao Jin joined forces with former members of the Chifeng Army to rebel, massacring the imperial palace. The Crown Prince shot down the rebels in the Golden Throne Hall and ascended the throne amid a sea of blood.

With corpses strewn throughout the hall, the Crown Prince bent down and grabbed Xiao Jin by the collar. Meeting his unfocused, smiling eyes, he demanded coldly, "Why did you rebel? Didn't you keep saying you would serve me forever?"

The Crown Prince never got an answer. The hand that had dared reach for his face fell limp before it could touch him.

(II)

On the night of his coronation, the Crown Prince was suddenly reborn, returning seven years into the past.

In the twentieth year of Chongyuan, the Crown Prince's maternal family was powerful and at the height of its glory. The General's residence had yet to suffer false accusations and massacre.

When he met Xiao Jin again, the sinister and ruthless eunuch of his former life was now a carefree, dashing young man, full of spirit and vigor, playing cricket with a few spoiled young masters.

He carried both Xiao Jin and his cricket back to the Eastern Palace. Beneath the warm red candles and curtains, he gazed at Xiao Jin's undisguised, burning stare and used a ruler to pry open the youth's collar. His voice was cold as he asked, "What is it? Does the young general want to serve me?"

Xiao Jin knelt on the ground and grabbed the ruler as it moved to probe further. The veins stood out on his hand, and desire surged in his eyes. "I do."

The Crown Prince gave a soft snort. "You mad dog. You certainly have the nerve to dream!"

Everyone knew that Xiao Jin, the disfigured eunuch dog, was cruel, ruthless, and tyrannical. But no one knew that he had once been the bright moon of the capital, a reckless young man who pursued the Crown Prince for three years and could never have him.

Reader's Guide:

1. One-on-one romance, mutually devoted, happy ending. Only the bottom is reborn. The top has no memories of his previous life.

2. The top was a eunuch in his previous life, but not in this one.

3. In his previous life, the top began as a spirited young man. He became a mad dog only after his entire family was killed and he was castrated and disfigured. He wasn't crazy from the start.

4. An alternate-history setting inspired by the Ming Dynasty, with countless original changes.

Core theme: A single lamp can illuminate the whole world.