Slow on the Uptake

[A sharp-tongued, soft-hearted prince on top x a beautiful, razor-tongued scholar on the bottom]

Gu Mian saw Zhou Buyi again in a brothel.

Beneath blue curtains and white drapes, bare feet lightly hooked the curtain. In the swirling haze, sheer gauze barely covered the figure beneath it.

Gu Mian thought Zhou Buyi looked like a demon.

Seductive to the bone, with eyes like an abyss.

Zhou Buyi's eyes could devour a person.

Anyway, the capital was already decadent and steeped in luxury. The world wouldn't be any better without one more dissolute prince.

He paid a fortune to buy Zhou Buyi and take him home, to be his...

slave.

Ever since he was little, Gu Mian had known that Zhou Buyi was moody and unpredictable.

Though Zhou Buyi was breathtakingly beautiful, like a heavenly immortal, he was also a lunatic bastard.

Sometimes Zhou Buyi was a merciless, cold-faced demon. Other times, he was full of wicked ideas and teased Gu Mian.

So, as a child, Gu Mian either cried from Zhou Buyi's taunts or blushed and cried after being teased.

Back then, Zhou Buyi would bend down, smiling as he said, "Your Highness, why are you acting like such a little girl?"

Little Gu Mian, still a child, flushed bright red with embarrassment. He clutched Zhou Buyi's sleeve and buried his little head in the patch of fabric. "Teacher..."

He liked... Teacher so much...

Gu Mian had thought that even if Zhou Buyi was a terrible person, he would still love him without reservation.

But who could have known Zhou Buyi was a complete bastard? After stirring up his feelings, he simply disappeared.

Zhou Buyi had played him. He refused to acknowledge their relationship and then vanished for ten years.

Young Gu Mian stared at the empty courtyard, his fists clenched tight.

One day, he would make that bastard pay.

When they met again, everyone believed Zhou Buyi was dead.

By the time Gu Mian brought Zhou Buyi home, his beautiful teacher was little more than a withered skeleton wrapped in skin.

Gu Mian stripped Zhou Buyi bare and pinned him face down on the bed, carefully feeling every part of him, even the most intimate places.

"Behave yourself and remember what you are now."

"You're nothing but a private slave who should be serving me in bed."

Zhou Buyi put himself at stake in order to help Gu Mian unify the realm.

He had thought that once the great work was done, he could retire. But Gu Mian, now a ruler, confined him and refused to let him leave.

Gu Mian eventually became an emperor for the ages. He thought that at last, after all his hardships, he could happily spend the rest of his life with his teacher.

But once his mission was complete, Zhou Buyi once again tried to leave him behind and never return.

"Why can't you ever understand, Teacher?"

He pressed closer, then gave a bitter smile.

"If you still won't understand, then I'll have to force you."

In the dim light of the long night, Gu Mian lowered his head and kissed the tears from his beautiful teacher's cheeks.

"Teacher... just let me have this, please..."

[Both pure in body and heart, happy ending, teacher-student romance with the younger man on top. The original title was I Don't Get It, also known as After Failing to Become His Disciple, This Prince Bought His Teacher as a Private Slave]

[Content Warnings]

☆ When I first started writing, I was inexperienced and didn't know what people considered a dealbreaker. One of the extras has a fake role reversal scene (though it's just a nightmare the top has and doesn't really happen, but please check carefully if that bothers you).

☆ Angsty. I personally think it's really angsty. The afternoon I finished this book, I almost jumped off a building... This isn't my first book, but it's the only one that affected me this much. I really recommend it only to readers with strong hearts, though it might just be me.

☆ My writing isn't very polished yet, and I'm hopeless with the internet. Please forgive me, and I apologize for everything!

Theme: I once wished to share a life with Zhu Yan, and now I hope to share my heart with Mian An.