Being a Grand Tutor Is No Easy Job

Lu Zhibai transmigrates into a book as a brilliant... cannon fodder character.

In the original story, this cannon fodder passes the imperial exams at sixteen, earns the emperor's favor at eighteen after helping him weaken the vassal princes, marries the daughter of a powerful court official at twenty, becomes the Crown Prince's tutor at twenty-two, and at the young age of twenty-four is named one of the four regents chosen by the emperor before his death.

Then, at thirty-two, he gets caught up in his wife's family conspiring with Prince Yan to rebel, and is killed by the young emperor, whose power has grown stronger by the day.

*

The day Lu Zhibai transmigrates into the book, the original owner has just returned from the south after managing flood control. If nothing goes wrong, he'll have to marry the daughter of that traitor after returning to the capital.

He can't go looking for death.

Luckily, on the road he runs into a young woman who claims to have escaped from a bandits' den. In an emergency, Lu Zhibai hits upon a plan. To find a reasonable way out of the arranged marriage, and to stop the woman from hanging herself, he slaps his thigh and, despite the child still in her womb, "marries" her, telling everyone the baby is his.

*

The next dozen years pass peacefully. Lu Zhibai does his best to stay away from danger, using the original owner's memories and his knowledge of the future plot to thrive at every turn.

Not only does he become a tutor, just like the original owner, and help the new emperor ascend the throne, he also helps him put down Prince Yan's rebellion and earn his complete trust.

Apart from the woman vanishing after giving birth, leaving him to be the child's unwitting stand-in father for twelve years, Lu Zhibai can truly be called a winner in every other respect.

Time passes. By the time Lu Zhibai, who transmigrated into the book, reaches thirty-two, unlike the original owner who was sentenced to beheading, he is rich and powerful, and living a comfortable life.

His political enemies are gone, the child has grown up, and he's survived his destined death. He no longer has to be pushed along by fate and forced to follow the plot. Having accomplished his mission, Lu Zhibai feels it's time to retire and enjoy life.

*

Wait, this is bad. Why won't the emperor approve his retirement request?

Not only does he refuse to let him retire, he even gives him the empress's seal of office.

Emperor gong x tutor shou, 1v1 + happy ending;

#The tutor knows the plot, but everyone eventually goes out of character#

#Why is it so hard to retire and find a wife? This is driving me crazy#

/Please read before starting/

1. Two strong characters, younger gong, twelve-year age gap. The emperor falls first and pursues him relentlessly.

2. It seems like transmigration, but is actually rebirth. Both are each other's only partners. The shou is the original owner himself, a loyal subject in both his lives, though at the start he doesn't remember that.

3. The shou's marriage in the story is fake, so the gong is not anyone's affair partner.

4. Modern expressions appear because after the shou died, his soul spent time in the modern world, leaving him with lingering modern memories that make him think he's a modern person.

Here's a recommendation for my friend's novel, Why Is the Powerful Minister Like That?, by Yan Qingyao. Here's the blurb:

Zhao Jingshi is the greatest assassin in the Great Liang dynasty, commanding the largest killer organization in the land. He's capricious and flippant, with ruthless methods and no mercy.

Every assassination he plans succeeds.

After another mission goes smoothly, he is about to flee the scene when he runs into someone.

His name is Ji Lin, the most esteemed and powerful minister in the court.

In a flash, Zhao Jingshi turns the blade in his hand around and stabs himself.

He deliberately shows Ji Lin his profile, then reaches out weakly. "The assassin got away. Save me..."

Ji Lin hesitates for a moment. Though full of suspicion, he still reaches out to help him.

*

From then on, gossip spreads through the streets and alleys: the noble and elegant Lord Ji has brought a handsome man home to warm his bed!

And it isn't just his bed. Lord Ji, normally so sharp-witted, seems to have lost his mind. He turns a blind eye to Zhao Jingshi's schemes and even gives him a helping hand.

Zhao Jingshi knows it's because his profile looks so much like Ji Lin's late beloved.

Ji Lin is powerful and influential, while Zhao Jingshi has a major assassination to carry out. With Ji Lin's help, the mission is sure to go twice as smoothly.

So what if he's a substitute? Zhao Jingshi doesn't care.

A substitute and a stepping stone: what could be a more unusual match?

They're simply helping each other and getting what they need.

*

This "false affection" continues until Zhao Jingshi has completed nearly half his assassination mission. They work together seamlessly, in perfect harmony.

But then

Zhao Jingshi discovers the evidence Ji Lin has secretly hidden away, proving that Zhao Jingshi is none other than Ji Lin's long-dead beloved.

In the blazing summer heat, Zhao Jingshi feels as if he's fallen into an icy pit.

He knew all along.

So he's been putting on an act for me this whole time.

Then this charade has to end!

Zhao Jingshi clutches the evidence. His own former name stares up at him from the page, and his mind goes blank as he tries to plan his escape.

The door slams shut.

Zhao Jingshi turns instinctively. Ji Lin, who knows when appeared, walks toward him and locks the door behind himself.

"You don't have to admit it. But now you're trying to run?" His gaze is fierce, but his voice chokes with emotion as he backs Zhao Jingshi into a corner. "Was my acting that bad?"

*

When Ji Lin was young, he loved someone.

That person was a little immortal, still pure and untainted amid the treacherous currents of the world. Ji Lin was willing to give everything to protect him and keep him untouched by the world forever.

But then the high tower came crashing down, the dream shattered, and his little immortal fell, dying in a sea of flames that could not be extinguished.

Only later did he learn that his little immortal had crawled out of the fire, changed his face and name, and emerged with blood on his hands and dust covering his body.

It broke his heart.

A seemingly aloof, secretly dark and deranged powerful minister gong (Ji Lin) x a scheming, alluring assassin shou with a secret identity (Zhao Jingshi)

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Theme: Truly loving someone doesn't mean dragging the moon into the mud. It means striving to become better, then standing shoulder to shoulder with the moon.