The Retired Emperor Is Only Twenty-Three

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Tang Yao has spent two years in the palace without ever seeing the emperor. She takes life at her own pace, unhurried and carefree. But just before His Majesty's seventieth birthday, the emperor suddenly dies, and Tang Yao, who isn't even ranked high enough to be a consort, finds herself on the list of those to be buried with him.

Her desperate struggle is futile. A pot of poisoned wine sends her deep into the imperial tomb.

In the dim, freezing underground palace, she is surrounded by the dead. Tang Yao cries out in despair, only to stumble into a hidden stone door.

A young man sits up in a white jade coffin, furious. "Who has disturbed my rest?!"

* * * * * *

Chu Yunxi began campaigning across the land at fifteen. In a time of chaos, he carved his way through the bloodshed on a white horse, wielding a long spear, and ascended to the glorious throne of the founding emperor.

He thought he had laid the foundations for an empire that would last ten thousand generations. Then a gleaming dagger plunged into his back. He thought it was all a nightmare, but when he opened his eyes again, he was in his mausoleum, facing a terrified girl meant to be buried with him.

Worse still, the empire he fought so hard to build is on the verge of collapse!

In this vast, mortal world, people revere me, fear me, and slander me. They see me as a true dragon soaring through the skies, yet not one of them knows that night after night, I am trapped in endless nightmares.

I have seen the splendor of an empire and watched my life's ambition crumble. I thought I had gone mad for half my life. Never did I imagine that, upon waking, I would be alone in a desolate tomb, waiting only for you.

#A fictional Ming dynasty setting. No historical fact-checking, please. The male lead has multiple personalities and severe psychological issues. This is a story about redemption and healing.#

[This synopsis was written on September 9, 2019, and a screenshot has been saved as proof.]

#See the author's page for another story in the same series, The Eunuch Lord's Thousand Years (a story about a powerful eunuch).#

Upcoming story 1: My Beloved Comes Only in Dreams

Synopsis: Bao Ying, a princess of the Great Zhou, is as fair as ice and jade, with a graceful, lovely beauty, yet she is the least favored of all the women in the palace. Neither her father nor the emperor cherishes her, and she has no older brother to protect her. Even her sisters look down on her.

In the late spring of the seventeenth year of the Kai Luan era, she wanders into a deserted palace that has been cold and empty for years while slightly drunk. She pulls out an ancient book, then falls asleep behind a bookshelf.

In that very dream, someone murmurs softly and paints a dot of cinnabar between her brows. The dream is tender and lingering, filled with intoxicating romance.

More astonishing still, everything she gains in her dreams becomes real when she wakes.

From then on, the deserted palace becomes her refuge. Bao Ying can only hope that one day her dreams will come true, and she will meet her beloved in person.

Who could have imagined that the world would suddenly change, her country would fall, and her family be destroyed? Reduced to a slave, Bao Ying hears that familiar voice once more amid the fleeing troops.

"Bao Ying?"

He walks toward her through the swirling snow, then smiles and closes his hand around her throat.

*

Tan Qingyan has always been regarded as an oddity. Love, desire, guilt, jealousy, and remorse, which torment ordinary people, are all empty notions to him.

He is confident that he can plan every step and turn the clouds and rain at will, all for the fleeting pleasure of toying with people's hearts.

One spring afternoon, he returns in a dream to the brilliant peach trees. Suddenly, he hears someone softly call from behind him, "My beloved."

He turns. Amid the drifting mist and deep spring waters, Bao Ying smiles as warmly as ever and throws herself into his arms.

Then a sharp blade pierces his heart.

Born evil & proud princess

Upcoming story 2: My Daoist Partner, Whom I Killed, Has Returned

Synopsis: On the second night in the dual-cultivation secret realm, I killed my daoist partner, Xie Zhuoxin.

Seeing the shock in his eyes, I gritted my teeth and activated a spell, draining him of his spiritual power. Then I plunged an Ice Soul through his heart.

To make sure he was dead, I took my sword and slit his throat as well.

This time, he was definitely dead.

On a moonless, windy night, I carried his corpse and sank it into the bottomless abyss beneath the forbidden grounds.

Hearing the muffled impact, I finally let out a long breath.

*

Ten days later, as soon as the period of dual cultivation ended, I hurried out of the secret realm and returned to Green Radish Peak.

The morning bell rang across the mountaintop, and clouds and mist filled the mountain path. Then a familiar, clear voice came from behind me. "Junior Sister, why did you leave on your own?"

I stood on the mountain path, as if covered in ice and snow, watching that person slowly emerge from the white mist with a smile on his face.

He was Xie Zhuoxin.

[The main story is not written in first person.]

Theme: Heal wounded hearts, leave the darkness behind together, and fulfill the value of life