Together with You

[Scheming, Black-Bellied Beauty of a Crown Prince × Unrestrained, Gentle General with Maxed-Out Combat Skills]

One day, a half-baked fortune-teller who couldn't read fortunes but was very good at fighting rescued a little crown prince on the verge of being killed in a coup. He was dragged onto the prince's ship and never managed to escape.

Xie Zun took the little prince sightseeing and helped him evade his pursuers. He had only two goals: first, to help the withdrawn young boy open up; second, to assess his future liege.

As it turned out, he accomplished both goals, and even got a clingy little tagalong as a bonus.

Wait, what?

How did he end up caught in this strange progression of rescuing someone, raising him, and then getting pounced on by him? All he wanted was to find himself a capable liege and fulfill his life's ambition! He wasn't looking for a partner!

Lu Jingyuan's response: It's perfectly reasonable to repay a life-saving favor by offering yourself, right? (Munch, munch.)

Lu Jingyuan had lived for more than a decade, yet it felt as if he had never truly lived.

His father and mother were at odds and paid him no attention. He understood that he was merely a tool for balancing imperial power and the great clans, so he never expected affection from his family.

Until one year, he met a boy who, like him, survived in the cracks, yet shone so brilliantly.

The boy became his study companion, keeping him company as he passed the time in the inner palace. Sometimes, he even took him outside to see the world beyond. He always thought, Just hold on a little longer. In a few years, when we've grown up, everything will get better.

But before they could grow up came an unexpected accusation.

The boy was exiled and died after falling off a cliff.

From then on, his world fell utterly silent.

So when the coup began and blood spattered his cheek, he simply let himself be swept along. He neither wanted to live nor to die.

But suddenly, someone appeared from the sky and took him out of the besieged city.

Watching that bloodstained back, he felt his heart begin to beat again.

Later, he realized he seemed to have fallen for his rescuer. Later still, he discovered that his rescuer seemed to be the little study companion who had been exiled because of him in their youth and had ultimately died falling off a cliff, only now with amnesia.

It had been you all along.

Some serious lines below:

“I want the north and south of these mountains and rivers, though different, to arrive at the same destination, so that Heaven and Earth become one and swords are forged into plowshares.”

“After the things I cherish by my side have vanished one by one, this body has nowhere left to turn. I sink into the eternal Gray River, and suddenly realize that all things will perish in the end. Life becomes a meaningless gravestone, and then even the gravestone will turn to dust.”

“However...”

This story is also known as: The Man Who Fell from the Sky Gives My Amnesiac Childhood Friend a Complete Makeover, and Make Way, My White Moonlight Is Back

How Does My Being Utterly Useless at Life Affect You?, It's Fine If I Can't Beat My Wife, and The Domestic Husband's Guide to Self-Improvement

Lu Jingyuan × Xie Zun

Scheming, Black-Bellied Beauty of a Crown Prince, Top × Unrestrained, Cheerful, Gentle General with Maxed-Out Combat Skills, Bottom

◆Reader's Guide◆

◇The bottom has amnesia at the start, and the two don't recognize each other, but their romance has no angst. You could call it: Even with amnesia, I'll still fall in love with you.

◇I posted some commissioned art of the protagonists on Rednote. Interested readers can take a look. It's an account that only posts content related to this story.

Rednote account: 9316674737

◆The neighboring story, Toxic Slag, is currently serializing! It's a sci-fi story set in the interstellar future, featuring two strong characters. Interested readers are welcome to check it out!◆

Here's the blurb. Happy reading!

[Gentle, Kind, Pure and Upright Cyborg × Self-Aggrandizing, Cold-Blooded, Ruthless Ambitionist]

In this dark age of frequent wars, everyone wants to find a way out for themselves.

Narcissus is an ambitionist disguised as a savior. He has secret identity after secret identity and changes his face faster than turning a page. His life's greatest wish is to rise above everyone else.

To fight for power, he kidnapped a highly capable tool and brought him home to modify.

The tool was powerful and handsome, and looked especially alluring with his tactical uniform soaked in blood. His one flaw was that his sense of morality was far higher than normal, making him difficult to use as he pleased.

So Narcissus considered his options and decided to win him over, while treating himself to a good meal on the side.

“Come here.”

In the mist-shrouded hot spring, Narcissus smiled and waved the red-glowing controller in his hand.

Fu Ling's face instantly turned bright red, heat puffing out of him like a boiling kettle. But his modified body couldn't resist, and all he could do was watch himself walk over and stop beside Narcissus.

“I'm not getting in.” Fu Ling made one last desperate attempt to resist.

Narcissus was itching with anticipation. He grabbed him and pulled him into the water.

Narcissus: Wow, forcibly picked melons are super sweet! (Munch, munch.)

After his two-faced true nature was exposed, Narcissus was deserted by everyone and became the enemy of the world.

After much thought, he decided to bear all the consequences alone. Without a second thought, he erased the memories of Fu Ling, who had hurried after him and said he wanted to share their “joint debt,” then tossed him away.

The past few years together had been pleasant enough. There was no need to drag the poor guy down with him, right?

The day of judgment arrived. Narcissus had planned a grand funeral for himself. The executioner's footsteps sounded from the end of the hall. He looked up and saw Fu Ling approaching with a longsword in hand, looking at him as if he were a stranger.

Even though this was his own choice, reading it still hurt.

The longsword pierced his chest. Trembling, Narcissus covered Fu Ling's icy eyes, afraid to look at him for long. His voice was hoarse, wild, and despairing.

“No one in this world has the right to kill me except you... This head is worth quite a lot of merit. Consider it... a parting gift from me to you.”

“Come take your revenge on me. I'll be waiting for you in hell.”

With that, Narcissus shut his eyes and let his legs give way, convinced he must finally be dead. But when he opened his eyes again, he saw a familiar face.

Fu Ling gently smoothed his wildly tousled hair, his touch so tender it was as if nothing had ever happened.

“Awake?”

“Was it fun tampering with someone else's memories?”

“You tampered with my memories, forced me to kill you, and even put a time lock on those memories. Ha, one hundred and twenty years?” Fu Ling laughed in anger. “You wanted me to remember you again just before I died? Narcissus, I can't believe you actually did that.”

Narcissus: ???

Oh no. He hadn't died, and he'd been caught.

“Haha... My life is worth quite a lot, after all. I didn't trust anyone else with the credit. Actually...”

Narcissus looked into Fu Ling's dark eyes, then at the silver chain around his own wrist. His voice grew quieter and quieter. At last, he simply smiled lazily, raised a hand to hook it around Fu Ling's neck, and showed his true colors.

“Yes, I did it.”

“So what are you going to do about it now, darling?”

“You know these little toys don't exactly count as punishment to me.”

About the “enemy of the world”...

Two hundred years later, in the year 3330 of the Post-Galactic Era

Nest City Level-One Administrator [Lily]:

Time will reveal the truth and deliver a just judgment to all.

Nest City character entry updated: Narcissus Cape

Character assessment: Tyrant → Extreme Martyr, Fraud, Playwright

Fu Ling × Narcissus

Gentle, Kind, Pure and Upright Cyborg × Self-Aggrandizing, Cold-Blooded, Ruthless Ambitionist

Straightforward, Devoted Hound × Flirtatious Beauty

◆Reader's Guide◆

◇A serious story set against the backdrop of interstellar war. The main plot is revenge and seizing power; the subplot is romance, perhaps a 7:3 ratio.

◇The bottom is morally gray and a little unhinged. He's ruthless to others and even harsher on himself. He's not a good person, but he's not exactly a bad person either.

◇The top will become corrupted later, but that change is directed only at the bottom. Though you could call it corruption, really, it's just him getting angry in a fit of rage after being pushed by the bottom. Aside from forbidding the bottom to leave his sight, he still gives him whatever he wants. ( ) ( ) ( )

Theme: You and I will eventually become part of the same earth, and from then on, we will live to watch over one another.