Riding the Kite

An emperor x his heir

Xiao Ji raised an army at twenty, ascended the throne at twenty-six, and by thirty-four had become an emperor whose power reached across the realm, with all under heaven bowing before him.

His name would surely shine in the history books for generations to come.

After years of ruling alone, he still had no children. His ministers watched the vast empire risk being left without an heir and nearly worried themselves gray.

Yet at this moment, the emperor calmly announced that he would name the daughter of the late great general of Zhenguo as his heir.

When Xiao Yuan was seven, she once saw how dashing and imposing Prince Linjiang Xiao Ji was. By then, he had already divided the realm with the deposed emperor, taking half the land for himself. Later, she watched him wage war after war, command a million troops, and unite the realm.

He was the person she looked up to and revered, the one she had always pursued.

Later, her wish came true: she became accomplished enough to catch his eye.

On the day she was named heir, she gazed toward the magnificent palace and its nine tiers of imperial steps.

At that moment, her thoughts became perfectly clear: more than inheriting ten thousand miles of territory, she wanted the master of that realm, the noble and aloof Son of Heaven.

"Your Majesty, which young man do you think would make the best match?" She casually handed him the portrait album for the selection. "Or we could take them all. That wouldn't be a problem either."

The handsome, cold emperor's face darkened. He swept the album to the floor. "A pack of fools. These are the ones you've chosen?"

Xiao Yuan paid no mind to his anger. Picking vermilion pigment from her fingertip, she said indifferently, "Your Majesty needs an heir, and so do I."

Xiao Ji said nothing more, only gazed at her solemnly.

(The heroine is 18 at the start, and the hero is 34, a 16-year age gap. Don't read if that bothers you. Both are each other's only partner.)

(The hero is the founding emperor, with no imperial clan to constrain him, so he can choose anyone he wants as his heir. The heroine is simply his heir; you can think of it as abdication and succession. She has no connection to the hero at all, and they aren't even listed together in the imperial family register. She has the surname Xiao because she thinks it sounds nice.)

Cover: Ergou

Theme: Work hard, improve yourself, and become a better version of yourself.