The first thing Shen Yan saw when he opened his eyes was that he was about to die.
He stood atop the steps of the palace hall. Looking down, he saw the Imperial Guards forcing "Shen Yan" to kneel on the flagstones in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, a blade already at his neck.
But the body he was in now had bony fingers, a heavy jade thumb ring, and five-clawed golden dragons embroidered on its cuffs.
There was only one thought in Shen Yan's mind:
"Oh no. I'm dead!"
The assembled officials watched in disbelief as their moody tyrant, who killed people on a whim, suddenly spoke in a lazy drawl.
"That beauty looks rather nice to me."
"Clean him up and send him to the Chenglu Hall."
.
On the first night in Chenglu Hall, candlesticks flew, porcelain shattered, and two figures fought tooth and nail.
Outside the hall, Zhao Zhongquan wept bitterly as he repeatedly instructed the young eunuchs, "Gently! Be gentle! Don't ruin His Majesty's mood!"
Inside the hall
"You wretch, give me back my body!"
"Keep your damn voice down. Don't curse people with my face."
"I am the emperor!"
"And right now, I'm the emperor."
After trying every method they could think of and failing to switch back, they could only agree on three rules: no disfiguring each other, no inappropriate touching, and no doing anything that would ruin the other's reputation.
Clearly, Shen Yan had come up with the last rule, because he knew the dog of an emperor didn't have a reputation to protect. :)
.
For the next three months, everyone in the capital said His Majesty had gone even crazier.
For the sake of a slender beauty from Yangzhou, he spent countless treasures on blood bird's nest, snow ginseng, a pearl pillow from the South Sea, and twelve new outfits.
He summoned him every night, and they stayed up together until dawn.
The court censors railed that a bewitching consort was paired with a foolish ruler.
Only Shen Yan knew that every ounce of silver he spent was for the sake of getting his body back.
And those supposed nights of passion were actually the emperor, wearing Shen Yan's handsome face, sitting in the Imperial Study and processing memorials until morning.
Shen Yan couldn't stop praising the foolish emperor. The full, fiery flavor of it was something only he knew.
.
Things were going quite well, until the official who had sent him into the palace finally delivered the first note to him:
"Shen Yan, it's time for you to make a move."
The hand holding the note belonged to Shen Yan, and yet it wasn't Shen Yan's.
[Reading Guide]
1. Happy ending.
2. They will switch back later.
3. The male lead's actions won't be whitewashed.
Theme: People have to want to stay alive before they can dare to want anything else
