Flesh Blooms, Bone Fragrance

Also titled The Luan Tie. Here's the blurb (sorry, I'm terrible at these > <):

The first time I properly met Gong Buchen was in a lotus pond in Yunmeng. The kid was dressed all in white and walked as lightly as a butterfly.

Rao Xiuyu was sprawled in the mud, feeling around for lotus roots. Someone had smeared mud all over him, leaving only his teeth white. When he saw the white butterfly Gong Buchen flying over, he burst out of the pond and pounced on him.

Gong Buchen immediately thought this guy was something else.

Rao Xiuyu was the "other people's child" in every noble family's ears from the time he was little. He spoke early, started learning early, trained in martial arts early, became famous early, and lost his parents and clan even earlier.

It was as if one moment, Rao Xiuyu was a shining young star of a military family, adored by all. The next, everything holding that star aloft collapsed, and he became an utterly solitary star.

Gong Buchen feels sorry for him.

But Rao Xiuyu seems not to understand that the past is gone. He still acts as arrogantly as ever and still loves to charge into the fray. He not only has to carry the old Rao family army on his own shoulders, but also become a thorn in the emperor's side and a lone general targeted by everyone.

How dare he do that with no backing at all?!

Gong Buchen is furious, but family rules mean he can only try to persuade him patiently. Yet every time, he ends up arguing with Rao Xiuyu and making a huge scene.

Every court official says Gong Buchen and Rao Xiuyu are like fire and water, bound to explode whenever they meet. But who knows that Gong Buchen's concern makes him lose his head, completely and utterly, until he doesn't know what to do.

[Character setup]

Flirtatious, bewitching bottom whose mouth runs ahead while his morals try to catch up x dark, mother-hen top whose mouth runs ahead while he secretly worries about a million things

Rao Yan (Rao Xiuyu/bottom) x Gong Chen (Gong Buchen/top)

[The author knows exactly what they're writing! Rest assured and enjoy!]

Theme: Pursue your true self and live life with abandon.