I Escaped the Prince's Mansion by Playing the Pitiable One

[A wimpy, gorgeous bottom who's terrified of pain and death × a cold, later unhinged and obsessive prince with an extreme need for control]

After transmigrating, Ji Xiangqing, a twenty-first-century shut-in, found himself an unlucky guy about to be sacrificed.

In front of him was a stone-faced prince threatening him in a cold voice. Behind him stood a highly skilled guard.

Trembling, Ji Xiangqing asked the System, "Is there any way out? Hurry, I'm going to die."

The System struggled for a while before finally saying, "How about you try acting pitiful, Host?"

Ji Xiangqing: "...You die."

With no other choice, he raised his watery eyes to the prince and said in a pitiful whisper, "The ropes are so tight. My hands hurt."

Gu Shanqin had lived for more than twenty years as a prince of high rank and power. For the first time, he was left a little stunned by someone kneeling before him, with a dirty little face and glistening eyes.

After a pause, he told the guard, "Untie him and find him a place to stay. Keep a close eye on him until the sacrifice."

Ji Xiangqing: "That actually worked? Is this guy crazy or what?"

Ji Xiangqing only wanted to stay alive under all that surveillance and escape Gu Shanqin's control before the sacrifice.

Unfortunately, the System didn't give him a single golden finger.

So Ji Xiangqing had to take matters into his own hands, putting his superb acting skills and astonishing good looks to use.

He pretended to be obedient, making Gu Shanqin relent again and again until the sacrifice was postponed time after time.

He played the victim, letting tears roll down his pointed chin until the highly skilled guard agreed to help him escape.

Once free of Gu Shanqin's control, Ji Xiangqing didn't hesitate to break his promise to the guard. He didn't go to their agreed meeting place and even deliberately covered his tracks.

From then on, the sky was the limit. So cool!

He didn't know that on the night he ran away, Gu Shanqin had spent the whole night outside his door rehearsing what he wanted to say: "I won't let you be sacrificed. I think I've fallen for you."

Nor did he know how sinister and terrifying Gu Shanqin looked when he walked into the room in the morning light, saw the empty bed, and found an outrageously provocative farewell letter.

Meanwhile, the guard, who had been willing to give up everything to be with Ji Xiangqing, finally learned he'd been played.

Before long, wanted notices for the little con artist were plastered all across the martial world.

[Ji Xiangqing is a character who's terrified of dying and getting hurt, and a brilliant actor. The slightest threat will make him tear up, hunch his shoulders, and cower, while he rants furiously to himself. So adorable, I could kiss him to death.]

[As is customary, the cold top goes mad and becomes unhinged. He runs, he chases, and he can't escape even with wings.]

Theme: A coward with maxed-out snark