I Am the Imperial Academy’s Libationer

The key to becoming an excellent teacher: cultivate your heart and character, control yourself, and uphold propriety.

Tan Yan thought he did a pretty good job. Unlike other teachers, he was just a little frail and a little too close to his students.

At the slightest cough, a dozen handkerchiefs would be offered to his lips, and a dozen faces would crowd around him. How was he supposed to choose whom to look at? It was so frustrating.

A frail body was convenient for avoiding trouble, and for making trouble too. Tan Yan was in his element, playing up the persona of a man who smoked opium until it ruined his lungs.

Until one day, a wolf cub came from the grasslands.

At their first meeting, he caught Tan Yan light as a swallow, playing the gentleman thief on the rafters.

At their second meeting, he found Tan Yan in a horse stance, pulling a willow tree out of the ground.

At their third meeting, at the Imperial College, he saw the abstinent Lord sitting in a wheelchair, coughing up blood every few steps.

The two stared at each other, eyes wide. Tan Yan promptly fainted.

The students cursed the wolf cub. "Look at that scary face of yours! You scared our teacher unconscious!"

Qi Yu, the wolf cub, smiled without warmth and bowed to the unconscious Tan Yan. "Your student Qi Yu pays his respects, Teacher."

Tan Yan plotted how to silence him. He set several traps, but Qi Yu dodged every one perfectly, and Tan Yan nearly got caught in his own snare.

At the palace's New Year's banquet, the music drifted through the rafters.

In a corner, Tan Yan, who had never beaten his own student, was pinned humiliatingly against the wall with his hands twisted behind his back. Something pressed against him. Trembling with rage, Tan Yan snapped, "Qi Yu, you shameless scoundrel."

The person behind him stiffened, then laughed softly. "How could you think such filthy thoughts of your student, Teacher? It's my sword."

Tan Yan's voice turned cold. "You brought a sword to the New Year's banquet. Are you planning to assassinate the emperor?"

"Oh," the man said, pretending to be surprised as he patted Tan Yan's waist. "I've been found out. Teacher, should I silence you?"

Tan Yan kicked him. "You know my secret too, so we're even."

"No, no." The man leaned closer, his warm breath brushing Tan Yan's ear. "Your student knows even more of your secrets. I know you want to assassinate the emperor too, Teacher."

Tan Yan froze. A murderous look appeared in his eyes, but the man continued, "I can be your sharpest blade. Please show your student some affection, Teacher. I'm more useful than any of them."

"Stop looking at other people. Your student is really... going mad."

A seemingly rebellious but secretly devoted wolf-dog seme x a seemingly frail and kind but actually ruthless shou with a dark side.

The shou has a family vendetta, so his friends, relatives, and students are just tools to him. If they die, they die. He genuinely wants to kill the seme too.

The names of both leads will be changed.

Theme: Be a good person.