[Spoiled Heir Top vs. Cool Crown Prince Bottom]
A story about a clever, highly intelligent, rakish young lord and an arrogant, sharp-tongued crown prince who kicks people whenever they get on his nerves. They love and fight each other, and ultimately spend their lives together.
Emotional beats: sweet - angsty - sweet - extremely angsty - sweet
Ending: HE
Brief plot outline:
Over the course of his life, he has held many identities: master of the Mu Yue Pavilion, Crown Prince of Zongxi, strategist of the Bai Kingdom, and ruler of all under heaven.
His life has been full of misfortune. His parents died when he was young, and he never knew warmth growing up.
Once, he was the glorious crown prince, heir to the throne. Then he watched his subordinates rebel, while the former members of his personal guard turned against him.
They did not kill Si Mingyu. Instead, they planted a blood gu in his body, subjecting him to a cruel torment that tortured him physically and mentally every day.
He was imprisoned for two years, barely surviving in a lightless dungeon.
Then, one day, a sudden turn of events gave him a chance to escape. He headed south without ever looking back, following a merchant caravan's grain carts to a neighboring kingdom. Wounded all over, he forced himself onward for days before finally collapsing outside the gates of Mu Yue Pavilion. The elderly, kindhearted master took him in.
The master taught him the art of war, poetry, etiquette, boxing, and swordplay. The young crown prince learned it all, hoping that one day he could avenge his humiliation.
When the aging master retired, he took over the affairs of Mu Yue Pavilion and became its new master.
At a spring banquet in the palace, inside a restaurant, and by the roadside, their repeated encounters led him to meet Jiang Yixuan, a young lord from a neighboring kingdom.
A rakish playboy who takes life as it comes, Jiang Yixuan seems to care little about anything, yet he takes a special interest in Si Mingyu.
As they spend more time together, Jiang Yixuan gradually discovers what makes him extraordinary. After testing him in every way, he finally learns the reason.
His heart had been clouded and dull, but after meeting Jiang Yixuan, it seemed to come alive again.
The blood gu is the nightmare of Si Mingyu's life, while Jiang Yixuan is the lingering tenderness in his heart.
Theme: Unyielding devotion to serving one's country
