When Xiao Qingyu was six, he fought to push his playmate out of a burning building, but a falling beam struck him on the head.
Once the number-one child prodigy of the Great Liang dynasty, he fell from grace and became a foolish child, bullied by everyone in the cold palace.
Ten years later, the boy he'd risked his life to save returned to the capital at the head of a powerful army. He broke down the cold palace gates, brought the foolish Xiao Qingyu out, and set him directly upon the Dragon Throne.
The court was shaken, and rumors spread everywhere.
Everyone said that the Prince of Zhenyuan had taken the foolish emperor hostage to control the feudal lords, and that the Great Liang dynasty was about to be ruled by the Chu clan.
The Empress Dowager leaned close to Xiao Qingyu's ear and smiled coldly. “What's the use of a fool sitting on the throne? You can't bring your mother Consort back, and you can't protect the people you care about. You're useless!”
Xiao Qingyu didn't cry.
That night, in the imperial study, he spread out a sheet of paper and drew a map of the court's factions, writing down the names of forty-seven officials in neat rows. The ink was still wet when Chu Tian pushed open the door.
He slowly raised his eyes. The confusion that had clouded them for years was gone. After ten silent years, his clarity had returned.
“Brother A-Tian, leave the rest to me.”
Chu Tian stood silently by the door for three breaths, then walked over, took the brush from his hand, and picked up the shoe on the floor to put it on him.
“Fine. But put your shoes on first. I don't want you catching a chill.”
He had protected this vast realm with his armor as a shield, schemed on his behalf with secret plans as a blade, and paved the way for him through ten years of forbearance.
Now that he had awakened, from this day on, he would raise his sword for no one but him.
·Early story warning: he's genuinely a little fool, and it's genuinely sweet.
·His mind returns, and he instantly becomes a scheming genius. No angst, with a growth arc for the protagonist.
·Solid political intrigue, a mix of sweetness and angst, one-on-one, both are each other's first.
【Emperor bottom × powerful official top | older top raises younger bottom | forbidden ruler-and-subject romance | play the pig to eat the tiger | mutual salvation | happy ending】
Theme: Stand on your own two feet and grow stronger.
