[Reborn] Assassinate That Tyrant!

Emperor Bai Fang, the last ruler of the Heng Kingdom, was cruel, bloodthirsty, and depraved. The loyal officials he had killed could have formed a circle around the imperial city. His people lived in hunger and rags, and neighboring states had swallowed up three-quarters of his territory.

At last, in the tenth year of his reign, the rebel army cut through the Imperial Guards protecting the capital and stormed his bedchamber.

But Bai Fang's life as emperor did not end at the rebels' swords. He remembered only that it was his twenty-fifth birthday. That morning, he didn't want to get up, and stayed in bed, cuddling his beloved male favorite.

As usual, he gave his favorite a deep kiss. When their lips parted, bitterness rose in his throat, and the taste of blood spread across his tongue.

The man curled in his arms, his expression unchanged, his face as pale as crumpled xuan paper. The dark red blood at the corner of his lips stood out like a poppy in bloom.

Bai Fang was poisoned by the man he loved most, bringing his ten-year reign to an end.

When he opened his eyes again, he was back in the spring of his fifth year.

It was time for him to begin his studies, but he pretended to be ill so he wouldn't have to go to the Imperial Academy.

His Crown Prince brother, ten years his senior and born of the same mother, came to visit, accompanied by Lan Yan, the celebrated young nobleman of the capital.

Lan Yan was the Crown Prince's study companion. They had known each other since childhood and were confidants.

By the rules of etiquette, Bai Fang should have called him "Brother Yu'an," but he was more used to calling him "An'an," his voice tender as a lover's whisper.

At seventeen or eighteen, Lan Yan's spine had not yet been broken, and he had not suffered the humiliating palace castration. He stood tall by the spring-lit window, more pure and refined than the magnolia tree in full bloom outside.

He was the Crown Prince's study companion and Heng's future chancellor. He should have devoted his life to serving the country and its people, leaving behind a shining name in the annals of Heng.

No one could have imagined that ten years later, he would grovel at the feet of the new ruler, Bai Fang, filthy, fragile, and on the verge of collapse, begging Bai Fang to bury the former Crown Prince's remains in the imperial mausoleum, to spare the one hundred and fifty members of the Lan family, and to let him die quickly...

Bai Fang granted none of his requests. In the end, tired of listening, he carried Lan Yan to his own bed instead.

From then on, Heng had no more noble and unblemished Lan Yu'an. There was only An'an, the timid little male favorite at the side of the tyrant Bai Fang.

Bai Fang had always known he would die at Lan Yan's hands, but he never knew he would see young Lan Yu'an again.

Reborn in another life, Bai Fang finally noticed how Lan Yan's hand was gently clasped with his Crown Prince brother's as they entered together.

Perhaps starting now, he could do something good and avoid being poisoned to death by Lan Yan twenty years later.

But he didn't want to. After being a tyrant for so many years, how could he possibly start doing good?

Taking advantage of his young age, Bai Fang held out his arms to Lan Yan and said in a childish voice, "Brother Yu'an, hold me, and I'll take my medicine."

In his previous life, Lan Yan had kept a stern face and lectured the feigning-sick, ingratiating Bai Fang with a string of classical phrases.

But this time, Lan Yan walked straight over and really did bend down to pick Bai Fang up.

"Your Highness, take your medicine. Then you'll get better soon." Lan Yan held Bai Fang as carefully as if he were a fragile porcelain doll.

Bai Fang thought, How boring. An'an has come back too.

*

Ever since the tyrant Emperor Bai Fang ascended the throne, Lan Yan had wanted to assassinate the illegitimate ruler.

He tried for ten years, and succeeded in the tenth.

When he opened his eyes again, he had returned to the years of his youth, before any of it had happened.

His body was whole, his family was alive, and the wise ruler he followed was full of ambition. Even the tyrant was still a harmless little dumpling who sweetly called him "Brother Yu'an."

Lan Yan should have killed the future tyrant while he was still in the cradle.

But he didn't. Not because the tyrant was a child now, but because in his previous life, the bedridden tyrant had taken Lan Yan's hand and pressed it against his own throat.

"Kill me, Brother Yu'an. Kill me, and none of you will have to suffer anymore."

What's the point of killing each other every day? Lan Yan thought. Since they had a second life, they should all live it well.

*

A former-life tyrant, innocent and cruel, now a free-spirited prince x a former-life male favorite who would rather break than bend, now a noble and unblemished chancellor

Bai Fang (Bai Zhaofeng) x Lan Yan (Lan Yu'an)

Bai Fang is the top in their previous life, Lan Yan is the top in their current life, and they switch roles after Bai Fang lives past twenty-five in this life.

They are twelve years apart, and all intimate relations take place after Bai Fang turns eighteen.

The inspiration may have come from Su Tong's My Life as Emperor.

Don't ask me what exactly inspired me... I should apologize to Su Tong here. When I read, my mind wanders to all sorts of things...

Theme: Treat life well.