Also known as: My Adopted Emperor Is a Wolf; After the Guardianship Goes Awry, My Student Pins Me to the Dragon Throne; So the Xiao Father and Son Are Both Squeezing Me Dry
Before the age of twenty, Gu Hengzhi fought in armor and wielded weapons, defending half the Xiao realm. After twenty, his chronic illness kept him bedridden and secluded. He was all about "retired God of War online, focusing on wellness."
He thought his life would just carry on like that, until Emperor Xuan, Xiao Qilin, grabbed him on his deathbed. "Junqing, I entrust the Crown Prince and the realm to you."
Gu Hengzhi's heart softened, and he agreed.
So he pushed through his illness, helped the young ruler ascend the throne, purged corrupt officials, and stabilized the realm, raising Xiao Yi from a little crown prince into a young emperor.
He thought he was following the script for The Wise Minister Who Raised a Brilliant Emperor.
But after Xiao Yi took power, he stripped Gu Hengzhi of his authority, cut off his allies, and imprisoned him against the dragon throne. Long fingers brushed his pale face, hot breath grazed his ear, but the voice was cold enough to cut to the bone:
"Teacher, you belong to me."
Gu Hengzhi: What? I raised an emperor, not a wolf, right?
Even more shocking, he later discovered that the supposed deep bond of their youth and the deathbed guardianship might have been a carefully orchestrated scheme from beginning to end.
[Bonus Scenes]
1. Retirement Request
Gu Hengzhi: "I am old and frail. I request permission to retire."
Xiao Yi: "Denied."
Gu: "I am ill."
Xiao: "I have imperial physicians."
Gu: "I want to return to my hometown."
Xiao: "Then I'll give you the capital."
Gu: "What exactly do you want?"
Xiao: "My teacher."
Gu: "...I really am indebted to your family."
2. On the Dragon Throne
Gu: "I taught you how to be a ruler, and you learned well."
Xiao: "I had a good teacher."
Gu: "Then let go of me and get me off the throne first?"
Xiao: "The first rule of being a ruler: what you want, you keep in your grasp."
Gu: "You ungrateful student! You ungrateful son! Tyrant!"
Xiao: "Call me whatever you like, Teacher. If you get tired, take a rest. You're not going anywhere anyway."
Gu: "..." Who taught this little wolf cub?
3. Before the Late Emperor's Memorial Tablet
Gu: "Your Majesty, I have failed your trust. Xiao Yi... has improper intentions."
Xiao Yi poked his head out from behind him. "Teacher, tattling?"
Gu: "I'm talking to your father."
Xiao: "Can he hear you?"
Gu: "You could at least pretend."
Xiao: "Fine. Father, Teacher belongs to me now."
Gu: "Xiao Yi!"
Xiao: "See? He didn't object."
Gu Hengzhi: Former God of War, now a sickly beauty, victim of a deathbed guardianship, stubborn but softhearted. He thinks he's following The Imperial Tutor's Training Plan, but he's actually got The Obsessive Emperor's Care Manual.
Xiao Yi: A seemingly gentle and obedient young emperor, but secretly a possessive, obsessive big bad wolf. The adopted crown prince is not the late emperor's biological son.
Younger love interest, teacher and student, political schemes, frail health, obsessive love, possessive pursuit
Premise: True love means journeying together toward a brighter future.
