The Cannon-Fodder Prince Broke Character, but the Kingdom Survived

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Only after his death did Xie Qingci learn that he was a cannon-fodder prince in a book. The empire ultimately fell into the hands of his former foster brother, Xiao Di, while he died a miserable death by suicide.

Reborn, he found Xiao Di, once a man of wealth and power who had shaken the realm, in a wretched state: dragged behind a horse and subjected to humiliation, his leg broken, and cutting away pieces of flesh with a blade himself. Even a eunuch dared point a knife at him, threatening to cut the bad luck out of his body. Xie Qingci had intended to get rid of Xiao Di, but then a thought struck him: if he saved and supported him now, perhaps this man could grow into a fine steed who would protect the Xie family's realm.

For a while, Xie Qingci thought he had succeeded.

Worried that evil spirits might invade him at night, he needed someone with a powerful aura to guard him. Xiao Di volunteered, folding his long legs and sleeping obediently on the small couch at Xie Qingci's feet.

Xiao Di commanded a powerful army. Drunk, Xie Qingci straddled his waist, brandishing a riding crop and saying viciously, "You're just the little colt I raised. For the rest of your life, I'll be the only one to ride you! Don't you dare scheme about anything else!"

Xiao Di replied hoarsely. He was invincible to the world, and a docile steed at home.

Pleased, Xie Qingci patted Xiao Di's shoulder and promised he would never let him down.

He went to great lengths to secure an imperial decree for Xiao Di, whose military achievements were renowned, to be made a prince and sent away from the capital.

But the usually docile Xiao Di pointed his sword at the palace and broke into Xie Qingci's bedchamber in the middle of the night.

"So this is what you meant when you said you would never let me down, Brother?" Xiao Di looked down at him from above, his eyes dark and menacing. "It seems waiting like a good little colt won't get me what I want! It's time to switch positions!"

There's plenty of time yet. Xiao Di has his ways of making Xie Qingci learn just what he has been coveting day and night in this life.

*

Notes:

1. Sickly, seductive shou x sinister, unhinged gong. The gong is younger and was once the shou's foster brother, but they are no longer related in any way when the story begins.

2. At first, the gong plays the obedient little colt, putting on an act of being sweet and artless. Later, he'll show his fangs and become fierce and wild.

3. The shou is gentle and sweet, but he'll earnestly follow the plot.

My next novel, After Running Away, I Got Pregnant with the Emperor's Child, is now available next door. Please add it to your reading list.

Shang Yuan transmigrates into a book as a cannon-fodder spy who tries to drug and assassinate the tyrannical male lead. In the original story, the assassination fails and the male lead kills the cannon fodder with a single stroke. By the time Shang Yuan transmigrates, the original already drugged Huo Rong...

Shang Yuan: "...Other people transmigrate into books to bring warmth. Do I transmigrate just to die?" Assassination is out of the question. He can only grit his teeth and secretly find a way to counteract the drug under cover of darkness...

Afterward, Shang Yuan keeps the matter secret and lives as a noble young master. But the newly enthroned tyrant issues an imperial decree making him empress. After entering the palace and marrying him, Shang Yuan does his best to keep the secret of having drugged the tyrant.

To prevent the tyrant from killing him if he ever learns the truth, Shang Yuan starts playing the part of someone "deeply in love" and even keeps a little notebook of ways to stay alive.

"What's wrong with having a little fun with someone you love?"

"Your Majesty, you were the one I wanted so badly that I resorted to drugs. I'm the only one to blame for loving you so humbly."

But just two months after the wedding, his belly is already starting to swell like a ball!

Shang Yuan: "...I don't want to keep testing the tyrant's feelings. I'd better run away again before he finds out!"

He's soon caught and brought back. When everyone sees the empress's full-term pregnancy, the court is in an uproar: The empress has been unfaithful and must be executed.

"You got the person you wanted so badly that you resorted to drugs, so why run away?" The tyrant smiled as if amused and gently stroked his belly. "And if you still don't tell me whose child this is, I'll have to remind you myself!"

Theme: Good and evil each have their causes