The Young Empress

At eighteen, Zhu Qingchen went up the mountain to worship Buddha. Unfortunately, heavy snow blocked the passes, leaving him stranded for ten days. Ten days later, the snow melted and Zhu Qingchen made it safely down the mountain, only to discover... everything below had changed. The little restaurant he loved had become a grand establishment. The owner of his favorite pastry shop had gone from a grandfather to his grandson. And... Li Yue, the bandit chief who had grown up with him, had become emperor. Staring at his childhood friend in imperial black robes, a head taller than him and trying, without success, to hide his air of bloodshed, Zhu Qingchen gaped in shock. It turned out that he hadn't spent ten days in the mountains, but a whole ten years! He hadn't aged at all, while Li Yue, who had once been the same age as him, was now a full ten years older! On his first day at the imperial palace, Li Yue brought Zhu Qingchen there and made sure he had plenty to eat and drink. On the second day, Zhu Qingchen and Li Yue slept side by side, just like they had as children, and talked all night. On the third day... Zhu Qingchen discovered a lavishly decorated palace within the imperial compound. At its center stood an ancestral shrine, whose tablet was inscribed: The Most High Manifest Sage, Lord of the Nine Heavens and Grand Teacher, the Illuminating and Divine True Sovereign, First-Rank Loyal, Filial, and Upright, Sagely and Cultured Duke, Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, Scholar of the Lantai Academy, Upright Grand Historian, Lord of Bright Virtue and Empress, Zhu Qingchen Zhu Qingchen gaped in shock once again: ·O· · A short, sweet story, around 100,000 characters. Theme: Ten years may pass, but true love remains unshaken.