The Emperor's Confession

An officially licensed, non-commercial audio drama is in production.

If you're interested, follow the studio on Maoer: Yiyan Tang Studio.

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Above the River of Forgetfulness, a young man led a white deer. The deer pressed its antlers against him, yet backed away on all four legs.

The man had to cross the bridge to be reborn, but the white deer was shy and refused to go.

A ghost officer patrolling the area was puzzled. He looked through the records of the two wandering souls and discovered that the person before him was the young emperor of the Great Qi, who had died just last month. Brave and decisive, with achievements that would benefit generations to come, he should never have ended up in this underworld.

The white deer had once been his subject. For its disloyalty, lack of filial piety, and unrighteousness, it had been stripped of its human form and turned into a four-legged beast.

The ghost officer sneered. "Your Majesty, why waste your time on a mere beast? If you don't cross the River of Forgetfulness soon, the Golden Bridge will dissolve into light..."

But the young emperor asked whether his merits could be credited to the white deer. He was willing to cross the Jade Bridge or the Bronze Bridge, and even to be reborn as a wild animal in the mountains and forests.

The ghost officer was baffled. The records in his hands revealed that the lord and his subject had been separated by a blood feud and should never have formed a bond. Yet now, they were connected by a red thread that had snapped and been tied together again.

Neither lord nor subject was willing to drink from the River of Forgetfulness, so the ghost officer had no choice but to take them before Yama.

The once-proud king knelt before Yama, eyes lowered as he recited his crimes. He asked only that the white deer be made to drink from the river and go with him into the next life.

The story he told was the exact opposite of what was written in the records. Tears filled the white deer's gentle eyes.

But when someone is truly loved, what need is there for proof?

A spoiled, mad schemer x a gentle, patient, devoted minister

Top: Qiu Zhaoyan (I) x Bottom: Dong Baiyu (Ku Zhai)

Younger top, one-on-one. No third party interferes with their relationship. No switching, no reversal.

Please note the content warnings: |First person|Tragic ending|Top's point of view|A devastatingly painful angst fest|

Theme: Never bow to fate.