Fushui of Yingzhou

[Thanks to everyone who supports the official release. Thank you all!]

[Scholar bottom x arrogant prince top]

As a youth, Zheng Yu was the crown prince's study companion. Through their daily comings and goings, he fell in love with the crown prince's younger brother, Prince Cheng, Lin Huaizhi.

Lin Huaizhi wasn't as good-natured as the crown prince. He was solitary and proud, and always avoided Zheng Yu, keeping him at arm's length. So Zheng Yu buried his youthful affection in his heart, letting the years cover it like drifting sand.

After the crown prince died unexpectedly, Zheng Yu's mourning period ended and he returned to court, determined to put all feelings aside and discover the cause of the crown prince's death.

Unfortunately, Zheng Yu ran into Lin Huaizhi again. Even more unfortunately, Lin Huaizhi was now his superior.

It was exactly the seventh year since he had first met Lin Huaizhi.

*

When Lin Huaizhi was young, he once loved someone who had jokingly said during the Lantern Festival that he would never marry anyone else in this life. Later, that person said he loved Lin Huaizhi's older brother instead. Lin Huaizhi told himself to let it go. As long as the man could live comfortably and freely, that was enough.

He hid his feelings, letting affection arise but never crossing the line of propriety. Yet as time went by, he couldn't help wanting to be good to the young man. After much hesitation, he took the first step.

But not long afterward, the young man went home to observe mourning, and that same year, Lin Huaizhi's older brother died of illness. In that moment, he understood that he could never take his brother's place in the young man's heart.

How could a living person compete with the dead? Especially when the dead man was the brother he had most admired.

Lin Huaizhi buried those feelings deep once more, but he still couldn't help wanting to see him.

Beneath the paulownia trees, in the shadowed corridor, Lin Huaizhi saw him again.

"This censor from the Censorate, Zheng Yu, pays his respects to Your Highness, Prince Cheng."

[Reader's guide]

* None of the characters in this story are perfect. They grow with the times. Thank you for understanding.

* The plot takes up more space than the romance. The story is plot-focused, with romance as a secondary element. [Please note! The romance is very slow in Volume One. Really slow.]

* Zheng Yu doesn't love the crown prince. They are close friends.

* The top appears first.

* The political intrigue isn't especially complex, and there is a secondary couple.

* This is my first book, so the writing and plot may be a little rough.

Core theme: Travel ten thousand miles, and at last you will see the moon shine.