A graceful young man in his early twenties, sacrificed to the emperor's schemes.
"Most things in life don't go as you wish."
"I always hope that the one or two things that do will be enough."
Have you heard? This year's top three exam graduates are both young prodigies, barely twenty! One is a noble young master from the Rongzhi Court of the Anxi Prince's household, and the other is a favored student of the emperor, chosen at the "Qiongshan Discourse on the Dao." I wonder whose daughter will be lucky enough to catch one of them as a husband.
Huh? Why aren't either of them here?
You fool, they already found each other.
Found each other-
The letters I wrote you, he always read them with you?
Yes!
Did you tell the emperor when we'd meet and which courtyard we'd be in, too?
Yes!
Aren't you ashamed?
I didn't tell him everything.
"The Emperor's Treasure," obediently following orders x "False Traitor," harboring wolfish ambitions
Zhu Yunlang x Sang Fengnian
Shen Wunian x Qian Yiwan
Through all these things, I thought I'd done nothing to shame my sovereign...
Through all those years, I thought I'd escaped the rebel army's clutches.
More or less a story of love and strife, with the two saving each other in turn. The ending I've imagined isn't sweet, but there is a honeymoon period, so they can spend a good while shamelessly enjoying themselves. The early pacing is slow, and the couples' relationships will become much clearer later, probably around chapter ten.
Premise: A page in the history books, whether true or false, tells of one person's life spent in hardship and wandering. In that era, imperial power was the only winner.
