Who Are You Calling a Canary? [Book Transmigration]

The main story is complete~ Pei Xiting transmigrated into The Caged Bird as a substitute lover, the one being kept. A violent, fiercely loyal young marquis; a rakish heir who’s gone straight after a life of sleeping around; and a green-tea, lovesick young master of the princely manor. Unable to win the favor of their unattainable white moonlight, the scum tops set their sights on his younger brother. One heart- and body-breaking substitute affair after another plays out, until the substitute lover stabs his own throat and dies. And so begins the passionate tale of remorse and redemption. After reading it, Pei Xiting: “Bleugh…” He’d barely gotten the sound out when Top One grabbed him by the neck and flung him onto the bed. Pei Xiting: “?” The scum tops are powerful and influential. To protect his backside, Pei Xiting, a stranger in a strange land, decides to cozy up to someone powerful. His target: the crown prince. The crown prince is a minor character in the original story, so there’s precious little information about him. Pei Xiting has only heard two rumors: First, the crown prince murdered his brother and poisoned his father. He’s ruthless and merciless, wielding such fearsome power that he keeps the court in awe. The emperor is now a puppet, while the crown prince holds the reins of power. Second, the crown prince is breathtakingly handsome and ranks number one on all sorts of lists, including “Yejing’s Dream Lover.” Unfortunately, he radiates a terrifying “I’m perfect on my own. Touch me and I’ll scatter your ashes” aura. To this day, no daring beauty has managed to get close to this lofty man-eating flower. He sounds dangerous, but with the arrow already nocked, Pei Xiting has no choice but to let it fly. So: At their first meeting, the crown prince’s phoenix eyes are calm as he stands like a figure from an ancient painting. Pei Xiting’s fingers itch: What a perfect model. I want to paint him! Later, the crown prince takes off his clothes to reveal broad shoulders, a narrow waist, defined abs, and long legs. Pei Xiting’s heart starts itching: Just painting him… won’t be enough! After latching onto a powerful patron who’s exactly his type, Pei Xiting isn’t content with office romance. When he likes someone, he goes for it, and confesses passionately: “Would you like to try being lovers with me?” The crown prince, with his cool, disinterested face: “I like the north wind.” His confession rejected, Pei Xiting makes a regretful, reluctant exit. Then, by a stroke of luck, the Matchmaker sends the crown prince to him, caught in a mishap and with his clothes in disarray. Pei Xiting pins down the crown prince, looking so alluring, and takes advantage of the situation. “A brief fling. We enjoy ourselves, then go our separate ways.” The crown prince declares with restraint: “I’ll kill you.” Sure, Pei Xiting gets his fill of the man, packs his little bundle, and runs. Until one night, Pei Xiting, hiding in his “safe house,” senses something and turns around. The crown prince has appeared like a vengeful ghost in the darkness. He sheds his mask of cool restraint and smiles at Pei Xiting, beautiful and alluring enough to terrify him out of his wits. “Where do you think you’re going?” * Pei Xiting is frail and timid, with nothing going for him but his exquisite looks. The scum tops secretly eye him up and prepare to use every trick in the book, only to find that their conclusions seem to be wrong: Pei Xiting can wield brush and ink with divine skill, solve cases, and hunt down criminals. He can also brandish a saber on horseback and hit a target from a hundred paces. He can handle both sides of the law and turn the tide of any situation with ease. The road to power is lined with trusted officials and aristocrats. Pei Xiting wears no official robes, yet stands tall among them in a vivid red robe, its sleeves fluttering in the breeze. The whole court looks on, wary, resentful, envious… but none of them can catch so much as a glance from him. The mild-mannered, weak substitute has become the moon reflected in water: visible, but impossible to grasp. A startling dream shows them how it all ends. They regret everything, desperate to make amends, only to see Pei Xiting kissing someone against a wall, their bodies entwined like mandarin ducks. His eyes, gorgeous and cool, the ones that always looked at them like dogs, now shimmer with springtime tenderness. “Don’t get distracted.” The voice is low and calm, like a towering jade peak, yet passion brings it crashing down like an avalanche. The man who stands above all others has already fallen into the mortal world, and now turns his jealousy and possessiveness into blades against those coveting the man behind him. Pei Xiting rubs the man’s Adam’s apple and grins like a fox who’s gotten his meat. “Mm-hmm.” [A decadent, ruthless artist who lives by “If it works, do it; if it doesn’t, die,” with a mercurial state of mind, masterful acting, and a freewheeling style of doing things; paired with a cool, abstinent, highly possessive, fatherly man of power who “likes neither men nor women, and in fact likes no living person.”] Reader’s guide: A couple of two calculating beauties; neither is a good person. The setting is a hodgepodge, so don’t overthink the historical details. Upcoming historical danmei [A black-hearted, direct, puppy-like boy who fears nothing except his big brother; paired with an upright, abstinent, powerful man of the court (crossed out) a sinister, ruthless, and pathologically obsessive man] *Later, everyone knew: Young Master Yan was the precious jewel held between the new emperor’s fangs, raised by his own hand and protected for life. No one was allowed to covet him.* Young Master Yan has always been cherished like a jewel. In his seventeen years, the only hardship he has ever suffered came from the ruler his big brother used to discipline him. One day, however, he dreams that he’s in a story about love between men, and that he’s a minor character about to fall off a cliff and end up as a wild beast’s meal. Young Master Yan refuses to accept it, turns over, and shuts himself away. Yan Song receives a message and hurries back to the capital overnight. As soon as they meet, Yan Dong throws his arms around his big brother and chokes out his last wishes: First, if he has to die, he wants to die in his big brother’s arms. Second, put his ashes in a sachet and carry them everywhere. Third, bury him with his big brother a hundred years from now. But his big brother comforts him all night, then turns around and catches the real culprit who “accidentally” made him fall off the cliff, grinding him to dust. The ominous fate is broken, and Yan Dong is alive again! But Young Master Yan is in trouble once more. His big brother has secretly brought someone home: a man who seems gentle and harmless but is actually quite calculating, and, most importantly, likes men! Yan Dong remembers the words on the original book cover, “Domineering heir top & cunning fox bottom,” and feels the sky collapse!!! Yan Dong can’t accept the thought of his big brother being taken away. Fear and anger churn inside him until he worries himself sick, with symptoms so strange he can’t make sense of them. He begins hearing a man’s panting in the middle of the night, deep and seductive, full of desire, but muffled as if heard through a curtain. There’s just one thing: the man keeps calling his name over and over, shamelessly saying all sorts of filthy things. Young Master Yan blushes and gets goosebumps. He wants to tell his big brother, but is afraid of dirtying his noble, proper, abstinent, self-disciplined, cool, pure-as-the-moon ears. So he decides to secretly hunt down the detestable lecher and castrate him before burying him! * Yan Song is away from the capital on official business when he accidentally falls under the spell of the love curse “Peach Blossom Dream.” When it takes effect, he desperately craves the touch and embrace of the one he loves. Otherwise, it feels like ants are gnawing at his heart, and the pain is unbearable. His only cure is Yan Dong, the beautiful, spoiled boy at home. The delightful part is that Yan Dong has also become much clingier at just the right time On a winter morning, still half-asleep, he brings Yan Song a warm cloth to wipe his face and joins him for breakfast. On a spring afternoon, he comes to the government office yawning, grinds ink for Yan Song, and keeps him company as he works. On an autumn evening, he fastens Yan Song’s cloak and meets him on his way home. On a midsummer night, Zhao Song catches the beautiful boy wearing a gauzy shirt and shorts beneath a thin quilt. His gaze darkens. “Where are you putting your hands?” Yan Dong’s eyes are brimming with springtime allure, but his tone is domineering. “You’re mine. I can do whatever I want.” [, Bonus Scene,] Young Master Yan has always been lucky: his whole family adores him, his friends are loyal, and he has an enviably wonderful older brother. Yan Song has always been “the child everyone else’s parents wish they had”: the best of his generation, the pillar of his family, and a trusted minister of the emperor. Steady, cool, and unyielding, he lets only Yan Dong be the spring breeze, the warm sun, and the honey that stirs him, warms him, and fills him with tenderness. In the twenty-second year of Cheng’an, the emperor falls ill and acknowledges the Fourth Prince Song, who has been raised for years in the Duke of Yan’s household, naming him a prince. The heir of the Yan family is suddenly a prince. Amid the shock, some people glance at Young Master Yan with glee and malice: The Yan surname has become Zhao, and the gulf between ruler and subject is as vast as the heavens. His big brother won’t be his big brother anymore! But one day, when trusted ministers enter the study, they hear soft snoring. Thinking the emperor has a cat, they walk around the screen and find Young Master Yan curled up on the dragon throne, fast asleep beneath the emperor’s blanket. They look around again and spot the new emperor, whose iron-fisted rule has the whole court in awe, sitting in a corner and diligently helping Young Master Yan with his homework. Everyone: I wish I could go blind ^_^ Theme: Adapt to whatever life brings, and let the clouds part to reveal the sun.