The Regent Only Wants to Cuddle Up with Me

Gu Yan Chi died in the Hall of Golden Chimes, pierced through the heart by an arrow from the great general he trusted most.

Before his consciousness faded, he saw the regent, covered in blood, hurry over. With trembling hands, the regent clutched his corpse and shouted his name like a madman. His eyes were bloodshot, and tears clearly glistened at their corners.

Gu Yan Chi clung to his final breath, unwilling to leave. He watched Huo Ling Yuan lay his corpse on a bed of ice and keep him company night after night. Huo Ling Yuan slaughtered every rebel, yet delayed his coronation for a long time. Day after day, he draped Gu Yan Chi's robes over the dragon throne, content to remain regent.

Everyone said the regent had gone mad. Gu Yan Chi thought so too. If Huo Ling Yuan weren't mad, why would he kiss his fingers with such feverish devotion, stare at him with bloodshot eyes, and perform rituals, begging again and again for him to return?

Only when Huo Ling Yuan's bright red blood dripped onto his rotting corpse did Gu Yan Chi realize that the regent, who looked like a god of slaughter, might actually love him.

When Gu Yan Chi opened his eyes again, he had returned to the year he first ascended the throne. He was barely twenty, and relied on the regent for everything at court.

Knowing that the man loved him made Gu Yan Chi feel both shy and bashful, and his demands grew ever greater.

"Regent, I want stability at court, peace throughout the land, and a happy, prosperous people."

"All right."

"Huo Ling Yuan, I want the stars in the sky. Go pluck them for me."

"All right."

"Why do you agree to everything? Then I want to choose consorts and have heirs."

With bloodshot eyes, Huo Ling Yuan pinned Gu Yan Chi to the dragon throne, lifted his chin, and kissed him fiercely.

"Be good, Your Majesty. No. Having me is enough for you."

Later, even as Gu Yan Chi's belly grew bigger and bigger, he still couldn't figure out how an emperor like him had ended up completely under the thumb of this treasonous regent.

From the gong's point of view

Huo Ling Yuan couldn't say when, exactly, his feelings for Gu Yan Chi had changed.

Perhaps it was because this child from the Cold Palace had not a trace of foulness in his heart. Perhaps it was that Lantern Festival, beneath a blaze of lights, when Gu Yan Chi called out to him with a smile, and Huo Ling Yuan suddenly felt that if it were anyone, it could only be him.

Even if he had to stake his life and all his fortune, he would give Gu Yan Chi another chance.

Even if Gu Yan Chi was the ruler above all, Huo Ling Yuan would make him his wife, second only to himself, The Outcast.

P.S. Romance comes first, court politics come second.

Theme: Though life is difficult, never give up hope.