Ye Lan transmigrates into a novel as a cannon-fodder prince and decides to give up and go with the flow.
On the day he comes of age, his mother consort wins him a chance at freedom: he can marry himself off.
Ye Lan points to the most handsome man.
The man turns around, fingering his Buddhist prayer beads. "I am Gu Fengnan."
Ye Lan is instantly thrown into turmoil. Isn't this the rebel leader who gets the original prince and his whole family executed?
That night, Ye Lan arrives at the man's door with a lavish wedding procession.
He'd planned to keep his head down and stay out of trouble, but the man's sandalwood scent bewitched him.
He only has three years left to live anyway, so Ye Lan decides to devote the rest of his life to the noble pursuit of seducing a handsome man.
If he fails, no loss. If he succeeds, he hits the jackpot.
Two years later, chaos engulfs the capital.
The original story's plot comes true: Gu Fengnan is about to rebel.
Ye Lan flees the city in the middle of the night, his belly already swollen with child.
Gu Fengnan slaughters the royal family until heads roll, and Ye Lan is hastily installed on the throne.
The first thing he does after ascending the throne is launch a campaign against the traitor Gu Fengnan.
Gu Fengnan laughs. "Your Majesty still wears my prayer beads, yet today you mean to kill me?"
Ye Lan grips his sword. "Today I am the Emperor of Chu. You have declared yourself King of Zhao. Our paths parted long ago."
Gu Fengnan embraces him from behind and murmurs, "The Imperial Seal was once my only goal. But now, I want the phoenix seal even more."
The new emperor leads his army in person, winning battle after battle.
But the people around him keep wondering:
Why is His Majesty's belly getting big again?
Lovers turned enemies, evenly matched opponents
Theme: When the state thrives, the people suffer; when it falls, the people suffer.
