Hostage Prince

1.

The Battle of Chenliu ended in a great victory for Northern Chu.

At the victory banquet, the once-cherished crown prince of Southern Yan was forced to attend as a hostage from the defeated nation.

Swallowing the shame of defeat along with his blood, Fu Xueqing kept his backbone straight and maneuvered through the wolves surrounding him, despite his frail health.

His father hoped he'd die in Northern Chu and make room for his brothers. Northern Chu's ministers hoped he'd make a mistake, so they could use his life to start another war.

But Fu Xueqing refused to give them what they wanted.

Shen Jiao, the regent of Northern Chu, commanded three hundred thousand cavalry, controlled the young emperor, and held absolute power over the court. He was the only person who could keep Fu Xueqing alive.

Fu Xueqing carefully set a trap and sent himself to Shen Jiao's bed.

The astonishingly gifted, transcendent beauty became a devil in the eighteenth level of hell, willing to do anything to survive.

2.

The emperor of Southern Yan was gravely ill.

As crown prince, Fu Xueqing had to return home and fight for the throne.

On the night before his departure, Fu Xueqing invited Shen Jiao to drink with him.

He drugged the wine, and the regent drank it without suspicion.

Clutching a dagger, Fu Xueqing sat awake all night, but couldn't bring himself to carry out his plan.

He'd only been pretending to care to stay alive, but in the end, Shen Jiao had warmed his heart.

Before dawn, Fu Xueqing slipped out of the city with his trusted followers.

But Shen Jiao realized what was happening and came after him with his men.

Facing each other between the two armies, Fu Xueqing dropped his gentle disguise. His immortal-like face was cold and unfeeling. "Commander Shen, you and I were only putting on an act. Now that the show is over, why keep clinging to me?"

3.

Everyone in Northern Chu knew that the crown prince of Southern Yan had seduced and abandoned their regent, using him and then tossing him aside.

Everyone said the regent would reorganize his armies and one day crush Southern Yan, stacking its crown prince's head atop a monument of skulls.

On the day of the coup in Southern Yan, Shen Jiao did indeed lead a troop of soldiers into the imperial palace.

In a chamber unseen by anyone, Shen Jiao cut off the Southern Yan ruler's head with one stroke. Gritting his teeth, he snarled, "Marriage or war. Your Majesty, choose one."

Fu Xueqing leaned closer and lightly touched Shen Jiao's lips with a fingertip. His eyes gleamed with alluring light. "I happen to be looking for an empress. Would Commander Shen be willing to take his place in the central palace?"

[A scheming, chronically ill beauty who lies through his teeth, paired with a fierce, wild, territorial lone wolf of a gong. The shou is a devil from the eighteenth level of hell who has grown a heart. The gong is a hopeless beauty addict who would rather have a beauty than an empire, and spends every day raging helplessly on the road to becoming more and more obsessive.]

I love you in your clear breeze and bright moonlight, and I love you in your filth and degradation. You are an immortal from heaven and a devil from the underworld. I want you either way., Shen Jiao.

Reading guide:

1. One true pairing. The gong and shou only have each other.

2. A sweet romance, a sweet romance, a sweet romance. It's important, so I'll say it three times.

3. The dynasties are fictional, and the setting blends different influences. Please don't nitpick the history.

4. Authorized illustration by the artist Pingzi Huamo.

5. Written on 2022/4/13, with a screenshot saved.

Upcoming Novel

Auspicious Hour Has Arrived, featuring a sinister ghost gong x a timid, honest shou

The gong wasn't a good person before he died, and he's no good ghost after death. He's a nasty dog with no morals or manners. The shou dropped out of high school and works in a factory. He's an honest, foolish pushover who can only scurry away like a fluffy little thing when he's pushed too far.

In the summer of 2013, Chen Sanshui overhears his adoptive parents talking and learns that he was born into a wealthy family. His adoptive mother secretly switched newborn Chen Sanshui with her own son so her biological child could live a better life.

After learning the truth, Chen Sanshui quits his factory job. Furious and full of hurt, he sneaks away from his adoptive parents and heads to Shuinan City to find his birth parents.

Chen Sanshui is successfully reunited with the Zhou family and ends up living under the same roof as Zhou Feng, the fake young master who took his place.

Zhou Feng is only half a month older than him, but he's handsome and talented, and supposedly got into Tsinghua University at fourteen. Chen Sanshui, on the other hand, dropped out of high school and went to work in a factory with the villagers at sixteen.

He feels both jealous of and resentful toward this fake older brother. He hates him for taking his life and envies how easy his life has been. Even though Chen Sanshui is back, Zhou Feng shamelessly continues living with the Zhou family.

But gradually, Chen Sanshui realizes that things aren't quite what he imagined...

The servants in the house walk without making a sound, appearing and disappearing like ghosts.

His parents secretly burn yellow paper in a corner, then put the ashes in his water cup.

And the neighbors around them are all friendly and warm to his face, but the moment they turn away, their expressions become chillingly malicious...

Even worse, some faceless, ghostly thing keeps climbing into Chen Sanshui's bed in the middle of the night, leaving him in a mess again and again.

To stay alive, Chen Sanshui can only pretend he knows nothing.

This villa... no, everyone in this neighborhood is abnormal. There are ghosts here.

The only normal person seems to be his bargain-bin older brother, Zhou Feng.

Trembling, Chen Sanshui seeks Zhou Feng out and whispers, "There's a ghost here. Let's escape together, okay?"

Zhou Feng's eyes widen in surprise. A grotesquely exaggerated smile flashes across his face, then vanishes. He asks again and again, "We can escape together?"

Chen Sanshui nods hard. "This place is so strange. Who knows what'll happen if we stay any longer..."

Zhou Feng grips his hand tightly and smiles. "All right."

Later, the two of them escape the haunted villa together.

But the haunting doesn't stop. The sleep paralysis gets worse and worse. At his wit's end, Chen Sanshui goes around looking for exorcists, only to discover in horror that the most terrifying ghost is right beside him.

Chen Sanshui wants to run.

But when he opens the door, Zhou Feng is standing there. The tall, handsome evil spirit bends down and smiles at him. "Where are you going, baby? Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?"

Both are virgins. A twisted love story between two people who deserve each other. I'm trying to throw morals and ethics out the window and write a chaotic two-person show. A wild ride for my personal tastes, with every plot point in service of the romance.

Theme: Persevere through every setback.