A sweet, clingy, gentle beauty of an emperor as the top x an emotionless, beautiful and tragic, universally adored chancellor as the bottom
After Zhou Huai's rebellion failed and he was executed in his own fief, everyone who had once sworn to hunt him down rushed to the imperial palace:
The tsundere general: I didn't even get to beat him up. How could he die already?
The funny but foul-tempered Zheqing Guard commander: Hey! Get back here and pay for the stuff your cat scratched up!
His not-so-bright half-brother: Brother, you promised I could have anything...
The emperor pretends to be impassive and chuckles, playing the benevolent but cruel dog emperor who fears his ministers becoming too powerful. In private, though: Chancellor! Boo-hoo, how can I go on without you?
Meanwhile, Zhou Huai is thousands of miles away, happily faking his death and traveling through the mountains and rivers: Don't love me, there's no future for us. Don't fall for me in your next life, either.
But still, this is an angst story.
Theme: Taking by force is possessiveness; gentle restraint is love. How do you deal with the dullness that comes from being together too long?
