After Plucking the Flower on the High Peak

Song Yusheng is cool, composed, and self-possessed. His phoenix eyes are refined and proud, his teeth are like rows of pearls, his lips red as fresh cinnabar, and the mole at the tip of his nose invites speculation. His exquisite face and aloof nature leave many people longing for him, wishing they could make him reveal a helpless, seductive expression beneath them.

At the Qionglin Banquet, Song Yusheng lowered his eyes and wrote with graceful ease. His pale wrist showed beneath his sleeve as his brush swept across the page, producing a splendid work. As his strokes grew more vigorous, he pulled the jade hairpin from his hair, dipped it in ink, and made the final stroke, both unrestrained and controlled.

His dark hair fell loose, making him breathtakingly beautiful. Song Yusheng's bright, dazzling presence outshone the peach blossoms, delighting the emperor. "Magnificent! Simply magnificent!"

"The Song family's youngest son is not only gifted with words, but beautiful enough to rival a woman."

Unexpectedly, Song Yusheng's expression changed. His gaze turned cold, and, heedless of the emperor's dignity, he tied up his hair with a twig and left early, haughty and refined to the extreme.

Even the emperor couldn't bring himself to punish that peerless figure. Despite his behavior, Song Yusheng still won first place at the Qionglin Banquet.

When the dynasty fell and a new emperor took the throne, everyone hoped the fallen would be scattered like monkeys from a toppled tree, giving them a chance to get close to the beauty. But the prime minister's family remained safe and sound. The proud, untouchable Song Yusheng, however, lost his voice in an accident and became mute. He shut himself away, and his former splendor faded.

At the ceremony to worship Heaven, the new emperor Lu Jue's newly favored consort stood quietly to one side, dressed in white. A long veiled hat concealed his features completely. But as he offered incense, a gust of wind lifted the veil, revealing a face that could steal a soul. The tiny mole at the tip of his nose only added to his allure.

The favored consort coughed softly, and the new emperor drew him into his arms to shield him from the wind, afraid he might suffer even the slightest discomfort. Everyone said he was blessed with good fortune, but the person in Lu Jue's arms had reddened eyes and bit his vermilion lips, looking unbearably tormented.

Lu Jue leaned closer. His hand tightened around the other's waist as he chuckled, "In front of everyone, with the ancestral tablets watching."

After a pause, his voice grew husky. "And you can still be this wanton."

Ignoring the other's stiff expression, Lu Jue coldly uttered two words.

"You slut."

A fallen heartthrob: a cool, noble, mute beauty shou, adored by all vs. a ruthless, patient, refined, smiling tiger gong

Theme: Love is giving; desire is taking.