The Grand Secretary

[This work is available at half price in the upper-right corner of the app] Chief Minister Shen Xifeng, the shou, and Emperor Ye Jingyun, the gong. [Important: BE ending, both die]

1. Seeing Shen Xifeng's smile fade, Ye Jingyun felt a little stifled. After a long pause, he said solemnly, "I don't care about all that etiquette. With you, there's no need for it. No matter what position I hold in the future, in front of you, I'm just Ye Jingyun."

"Xifeng, the Crown Prince is a member of the imperial family. One day, he'll be emperor. Do you understand?"

Shen Xifeng said nothing. He lowered his eyes to the chessboard on the table, his hand holding a piece coming to a stop.

He understood. He knew.

But he didn't want to accept his fate.

"Father, I understand. But I don't want to."

Shen Xifeng slowly lifted his head and spoke each word clearly.

Ye Jingyun was going to become emperor one day, but he had also said that no matter what position he held, he would still just be Ye Jingyun.

So Shen Xifeng believed him.

2. The banquet celebrating Shen Xifeng, son of the Chief Minister Shen family, placing first in the imperial examinations was supposed to be a joyous occasion. Unexpectedly, it became the moment his father, Chief Minister Shen Yuchang, received his death notice.

His face stern, the man said each word with conviction: "As long as I, Shen Xifeng, am alive, the Shen family, which has served as tutors to three generations of emperors and produced the current Chief Minister, will not fall. I would like to see who dares lay a hand on my family."

3. Ye Jingyun often thought of what Shen Xifeng had said: "There are many things in life that we cannot have, but I won't ask for anything. Having you is enough for me in this life. I want nothing else."

4. New Year's Day marked the beginning of the year, the source of all things, and the renewal of everything. But things don't always go as people wish. In the end, Shen Xifeng fell asleep forever in the Jiangnan villa on the day all things came to life.

In short, it's about a half-dead shou steadily climbing the career ladder while falling in love on the side. He just doesn't live very long.

Next story: [The Gorgeous Prince Took Me?!]

Jiang Yuanshan is a shameless second-generation rich kid, hopeless at martial arts but every bit as imposing in his words as the self-important gong he thinks he is. He's the shou.

Xiao Shanqing is a beautiful prince, so strikingly androgynous that it's hard to tell whether he's a man or a woman. He's an exceptionally skilled martial artist, but also a scheming, tea-sipping gong who loves to deceive his darling.

Jiang Yuanshan is the second son of the wealthiest family in Jiangnan. He has one elder brother, his full brother, and no younger half-siblings. His parents are devoted to each other, and his older brother dotes on him, so Jiang Yuanshan grew up into a shameless rich kid.

But Jiang Yuanshan refuses to admit he's shameless. All he did was go to brothels a few extra times to listen to music, and fight a few extra rounds of cricket. He never did anything wicked, and the women at the brothel even say he's a good person. How does that make him shameless?

Then one day, he saw an incomparable beauty on the street.

Well... Jiang Yuanshan could swear that in his twenty years of life, he'd never seen a girl so beautiful.

So Jiang Yuanshan flicked open his fan and went straight up to her. "I am Jiang Yuanshan, of the wealthiest Jiang family. May I ask your name, miss?"

The beauty glanced at him sidelong. One look was all it took for Jiang Yuanshan to lose his soul.

The beauty, Xiao Shanqing, thought: Where did this idiot come from? Does he have eyes? Can't he tell men from women?

Later, Jiang Yuanshan clutched his sore backside and bitterly regretted everything. He wanted to slap himself twice. Why couldn't he help himself whenever he saw a beauty?

What the hell do you mean, "miss"?!

But the distant mountains stretch long, the cloud-covered mountains are wild, and the mountains are verdant.

Theme: Though circumstances may leave you powerless, with your heart set on the light, anything is possible