Shou's perspective:
Xiao Yao read a sugary romance novel about a young stepmother and fell for one of its characters: a twisted man confined to a wheelchair because both his legs were crippled.
The villain's life in the book went like this: he became an imperial general at a young age, married a gorgeous, wealthy husband, adopted a child prodigy, and enjoyed a happy family and a successful career.
Then one day, the villain, who had seemed to have it all, had an accident. Before he could recover from the shock of being crippled, he discovered that his beloved husband and dutiful adopted son had developed an unspeakable relationship.
He went mad on the spot, and from then on spent every day scheming about how to torment his husband and adopted son.
Amid the novel's cloying, sugary romance, Xiao Yao's greatest pleasure each day was watching this villain act like a mad scientist, dreaming up wild schemes to frame the two protagonists. He failed again and again, but grew more determined with every setback, becoming the book's most tireless and ambitious comedian.
He truly proved that the harder you try, the unluckier you get.
Eventually, the villain realized his husband would never come back to him. At last, he despairingly swallowed a bullet in front of his husband's portrait. Xiao Yao abandoned the novel with a smile that said he still wanted more.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself inside the villain's body.
*
Gong's perspective:
My name is Shang Luoyi. I'm an imperial general, a man who holds power in his own hands, and a formidable figure with an icy gaze like a god looking down from above. I'm haughty and untouchable.
I act swiftly and decisively. I'm as aloof as a flower on a mountaintop, blessed with both brains and beauty, and countless young men and women are smitten with me.
In the hearts of the people of the entire empire, I'm the moon in the sky, a flower reflected in a mirror, forever beyond their reach.
Until the day the nightmare began...
My body was taken over by a soul called Xiao Yao.
He played poker on the high-performance bomber I'd painstakingly built,
shook a pig's trotter as he danced in the square,
and invited his subordinates in a sing-song voice:
Come~ on~ and~ have~ some~ fun~ with~ me~
His subordinates were so terrified they flew away in the middle of the night.
He devoted himself to putting horns on me and getting my beloved husband, who was hopelessly in love with me, together with my obedient adopted son.
He acted as if he were me, wrecking my carefully cultivated image and making a mockery of my life.
I put up with all of that.
What I couldn't put up with was him stripping naked and drooling at himself in the mirror.
As if he thought I didn't know.
*
[Third-person narration.]
[The original novel's beloved husband isn't really a beloved wife type.]
[One gong and one shou, devoted to each other till death.]
[Aloof, devoted, crazy gong x gentle genius shou who speaks slowly]
[The original novel's adopted son and beloved husband are the main gong and shou. They stay together, their roles aren't reversed, and neither turns evil. They aren't blood-related and aren't registered in the same household.]
Added October 14, 2021.
Theme: Cherish the person by your side.
