Plants and Trees

A cold-faced but soft-hearted, wounded general, the top * a stoic, sickly, and scheming crown prince, the bottom

When Xie Zhixu first met Shen Linyuan, he was still a child.

He was an unpopular prince kept confined at the imperial palace outside the capital. Shen Linyuan was assigned to be his study companion by his father, the emperor.

Though they were about the same age, little Shen Linyuan was already solemn and taciturn. He would secretly keep track of Xie Zhixu's words and actions, then report him to their tutor in the Imperial Academy.

When Xie Zhixu came of age, upheaval struck the palace. His father remembered he had another son and summoned him back to the palace. Shen Linyuan refused the official post the emperor offered him, willingly choosing instead to stay by Xie Zhixu's side as his study companion.

He loved Shen Linyuan. He defied the emperor's order to marry the woman chosen for him, angering his father and earning himself a punishment: guarding the imperial mausoleum. Shen Linyuan went with him.

As his father's health declined, Xie Zhixu eventually accepted the neighboring kingdom's terms to secure power. He married a princess sent to cement peace between the kingdoms and became crown prince. Shen Linyuan volunteered to guard the frontier and avoided him.

In his life, he met many people, did many things, and made many mistakes. The only thing he never regretted was falling in love with Shen Linyuan.

Many years later, Xie Zhixu returned to the palace outside the capital alone. The plants in the courtyard where he'd lived as a boy were still there, but the people had changed.

Shen Linyuan, how could you bear to leave me alone in this world?

- BE aesthetic

- 2025.7.15

- Childhood friends who grew up and went their separate ways

Theme: Some things will always be remembered