I Didn't Realize I'd Turned Gay After Offending the Villain

(This story will be reposted with major revisions to the opening. I'll let everyone know in the blurb once I've decided on the repost date.)

Chu Yueqing was born into the Muyang Marquis's household, a pampered darling born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

He is exceptionally handsome, with a face unmatched in the capital. But his health is poor, and no matter how many precious medicines he takes, everyone says he won't live past twenty.

Using his frail health to his advantage, he has the Marquis and his wife wrapped around his little finger, getting whatever he wants.

He throws his weight around, bullies men and women alike, and does whatever he pleases without regard for right or wrong. He's the perfect little villain!

As the common folk say, thank goodness he won't live past twenty!

Then one day, he beats someone up in the street. As it happens, the delicate-looking fellow is the child groom of Regent Pei Heng...

Everyone in the Muyang Marquis's household: Good heavens! Third Young Master may not even live long enough to die peacefully at twenty!

In response to his family's concerned pleas, Third Young Master Chu Yueqing strolls around the back courtyard, playing with cats and dogs, and calmly tells them: "How can I walk away from someone who went out of their way to provoke me?"

Pei Heng was once the all-powerful regent of Dongsheng, but the emperor is suspicious of him and the officials shun him.

He holds the imperial family's power in his hands and commands a million troops. It seems he could topple Dongsheng with a mere flick of his fingers.

As the late emperor lay dying, he specifically sent someone to beg Pei Heng to support the new emperor.

People have all sorts of theories about his identity. Some say he is the late emperor's illegitimate son; others claim he is a remnant of the previous dynasty...

But while supporting the new emperor, he somehow ended up replacing him with a new ruler for Dongsheng.

Chu Yueqing looks at the man on the throne: ...In all history, he's the only one to put himself on the throne with his own hands.

The tides of the world shift: what is united will eventually divide, and what is divided will eventually unite.

With the country beset by internal and external troubles, Chu Yueqing says, "May all under heaven find peace." Pei Heng is then more than willing to don his armor and build a prosperous empire for him.

To Chu Yueqing, Pei Heng is a complicated bastard he can never get away from. He would lay ten miles of red silk to win a single glance, don armor to build a prosperous empire, and use that cool, detached face of his to steal someone's heart.

At the moment of life and death, Pei Heng will always remember his beloved galloping to him, breaking through the enemy lines alone and rescuing him from the blood mist, promising him a lifetime of deep love.

Chu Yueqing also remembers that the man beside him unified the realm and holds all its power, yet is willing to protect him for the rest of his life and promise him peace throughout the land.

1. Both male leads are good people, good people, good people. It's important, so I'll say it three times.

2. This blurb was written on December 1, 2020, and revised on January 6, 2021. Screenshots have been uploaded to Weibo.

Theme: Look beyond appearances to see the truth. Don't let surface-level ideas of good and evil deceive you.