A dazzlingly talented immortal-like beauty x a devoted, obsessive mad dog; the beautiful Imperial Tutor as the recipient x the strong yet tragic prince as the pursuer. Younger man, childbirth.
All the princes are reborn, creating a battlefield of love, with one-sided crushes on the Imperial Tutor and the legitimate love interest, Ninth Prince, trying to win him back.
Blurb:
At nine, Wen Yu became a disciple of the Imperial Preceptor. Before he was twenty, he passed the highest imperial examinations with top honors. Brilliantly talented and beautiful as an immortal, he was almost the perfect mortal transcendent, save for a somewhat frail constitution.
Yet at twenty-five, he died amid the turmoil and snowstorms of the imperial capital.
When Wen Yu opened his eyes again, he had been reborn in the years just after completing his studies and entering government service.
That year, he took over the post of Imperial Tutor from his late mentor, assisting the crown prince, the eldest legitimate son of the imperial family, in ascending the throne and instructing several princes, some of whom were a few years older than him.
But with his own strength, he suppressed the many factions at court, navigated the powerful clans of the capital, and defeated the Third Prince, who had the strongest support at court
Ultimately securing the Eastern Palace for the crown prince.
But the Ninth Prince suddenly rose in rebellion outside the city gates, rallying the people with a single call and turning all his years of effort to naught.
Suspecting Wen Yu of colluding with the Ninth Prince, the crown prince he had spent years laboring to support personally drove a sharp sword into his chest.
The spots of blood on the snow in the imperial capital that year looked just like the plum blossoms on his fan, which never faded.
Reborn, Wen Yu had lost all faith in the Chu imperial family. He wanted nothing more than to resign and retire, but he never expected that all the princes who had once fought so viciously would change their tune.
The Third Prince, who had treated him as a mortal enemy and wanted him dead in his previous life, suddenly began treating him with the utmost respect. He visited three times to request his services, even kneeling outside his door on a snowy night just to ask Wen Yu to teach him poetry and literature.
The crown prince, who had once been greedy for power, suspicious, and jealous, went so far as to petition the emperor to have his name struck from the imperial register and be demoted to a commoner, just so he could spend a quiet life farming, fishing, and studying with Wen Yu.
And in the lightless depths of the Cold Palace, Wen Yu finally met the "instigator" behind everything in his previous life
The Ninth Prince, who once hadn't even been worthy of a name
Chu Lan.
Back then, Chu Lan was only sixteen, gaunt and bony, with a sinister gaze.
After softening and helping him a few times, Wen Yu managed to slip away. Chu Lan, now already holding great power, rode his imposing steed in hot pursuit, consumed by rage.
He was determined to confront the self-righteous, faithless man who had ruined his "chastity," but then he saw something in the distance
On a mist-shrouded mountaintop in Miaojiang, the legendary immortal-like beauty...
Why was his belly sticking out?
Chu Lan was so shocked his legs went weak, and he nearly fell off his horse.
With this brush, I vow to write the story of you and me growing old together.
Content warnings:
1. One-on-one romance, both are virgins, happy ending. The actual love interest is Ninth Prince Chu Lan; the other princes are part of the romantic rivalry. The recipient isn't a traditional everyone-loves-them type, nor a pretty ornament or a beautiful fool. He has both looks and talent.
2. The childbirth plot comes much later in the story.
Premise: Saving each other