Building Infrastructure on the Ancient Frontier

[Main story complete]

Lin Shuge has a master's degree in classical literature. He's juggling his thesis and studying for the civil service exam when he suddenly wakes up in an unknown dynasty.

Looking at his dirt-poor home and his younger siblings, gaunt from hunger, Lin Shuge can only pick up his books and continue down the civil service path, becoming a minor official in a small border county. Well, at least the job is nine to five, and he has a secure government position.

The county office still uses bamboo and wooden slips for paperwork, so he improves papermaking and invents printing, earning praise from his supervisors and colleagues. The borderlands are bitterly cold and produce little grain, so he builds irrigation works, improves the soil, and introduces better seeds, turning the small border town into a granary beyond the frontier. When foreign tribes raid the border, he builds city walls and develops new weapons to protect the frontier. To his surprise, he rises from a minor border official to become a commandery governor.

From a low-ranking clerk to the head of a commandery, Lin Shuge feels that everything has gone smoothly. Only one thing surprises him: he takes in an injured little stray.

Once the little stray has recovered, he is obedient and capable, always following Lin Shuge around and never going against anything he says. When he grows up, he wins battle after battle and is unstoppable, sweeping forward to repel the foreign tribes invading the border.

Lin Shuge is pleased. He didn't take in such a sweet and outstanding little brother for nothing.

Until one day, Lin Shuge catches him killing someone with a single stroke. His eyes are cold and sinister. "How dare you desire the person I don't even dare touch?"

The dead man had been leering and had just offended Lin Shuge.

Gu Chen was born into a distinguished family. His grandfather was one of the Three Excellencies, and his father and brothers all held high office. But after his family was falsely accused of treason and wiped out, he was the sole survivor. He changed his name and fled to the northwest, where Lin Shuge rescued him.

Gu Chen watches him rise from a minor official to a powerful provincial governor, everything he does for the people.

To him, Lin Shuge is like the moon: not as blazing as the sun, but gentle and strong. And he is so audacious as to want that moonlight all to himself.

Lin Shuge is so good that Gu Chen is always tempted to test his limits. And then, after testing them a little too much... he gets kicked right off the bed.

Lin Shuge: Xie Chen, that's enough!

Gu Chen, aggrieved: But, Brother, tonight is our wedding night.

Lin Shuge: That doesn't mean you can be so... Don't do that again.

Xie Chen: I was wrong, Brother. (I'll do it again next time.)

The next day, Lin Shuge rubs his aching lower back and sighs. He has only himself to blame for being too softhearted.

Gentle, resilient beauty bottom x scheming, jealous younger wolf pup top

Reader's Guide

1. The setting is loosely based on the Han dynasty, with plenty of fictional liberties. History buffs, please don't scrutinize it (bows).

2. The top is three years younger than the bottom. If that bothers you, this isn't for you.

Coming soon: My Students Fill the Entire Court. If you like it, please add it to your favorites.

Shen Xiyan transmigrates to an alternate dynasty and becomes a private tutor. He also gets bound to the "I'm a Good Teacher System," though the System is unreliable too: it drops off an item and vanishes.

Shen Xiyan wonders: Could this be my golden finger?

He eagerly opens it, only to find The Barefoot Doctor's Manual, The Militia Military Training Manual, and A Guide to Dual-Purpose Military and Civilian Talent, the three famous transmigration novels from Zhihu.

Just as he's ready to show off his skills and teach his students well, he discovers that the original owner was a pervert who liked fantasizing about his students. The victim was the academy's famous aloof beauty.

To avoid suspicion, he treats his other students with care and teaches them attentively. For the one whose mind is never on his studies, he teaches military strategy and engineering. He gently comforts the overly soft-hearted one and teaches him how to heal the sick and save lives. The one who loves socializing gets lessons in all kinds of business practices.

As for the aloof beauty, he avoids him at every turn and tries to spend as little time in the same room as him as possible.

Everything goes smoothly until chaos breaks out and heroes rise. One of his students becomes an invincible general, another a brilliant strategist, another a merchant rich enough to rival a nation, and another a miracle-working doctor. The most formidable all-rounder becomes the emperor who drives out foreign tribes and establishes a golden age.

Shen Xiyan feels it's time to retire after a job well done and find somewhere to enjoy his old age. But then a flash of dark robes embroidered with a dragon appears, and the aloof beauty, now emperor, grabs his hand. His voice is ominous: "You used to avoid me at every turn, Teacher. Where are you going to run now?"

Shen Xiyan feels guilty and helpless, so he can only agree to become the emperor's tutor. But he never expected that what the young man wanted was for him to become the empress.

Upright, optimistic teacher bottom x obsessive, calculating student top

Coming soon: Farming and Raising a Golden Crow in the Mountains

Xu Wenqiu is an overworked office drone. After several years of diligent work, he hasn't made much money and has only acquired a body full of ailments. Feeling his heart race nonstop, he finally resolves to quit and return to his hometown's little mountain village, hoping to lie flat and farm.

But the simple, cozy village he remembers is a little strange. First, a bluebird brings him a round egg and tells him it's his future husband.

Later, all kinds of unusual visitors arrive in the village: a youthful Queen Mother of the West, full of immortal grace but fond of sweets; Yinglong, who looks like a stern, tough man but secretly loves watching trashy dramas; and all sorts of fluffy spirit beasts.

Looking at all the extra mouths to feed in his home, Xu Wenqiu can only grip his hoe and work hard in the fields. But these divine beasts can't just eat and drink for free, so he puts them all to work farming.

And so Xu Wenqiu's farm gets a Golden Crow brand solar panel, an Yinglong brand rainmaker, a Hanba brand weed whacker...

Xu Wenqiu inherits a mountain and an egg. With careful nurturing, he hatches a dazzling golden bird covered in downy feathers. Its beady black eyes are so adorable that Xu Wenqiu's heart melts, and he can't resist petting and cuddling it.

That night, he dreams of a shy young man complaining that Xu Wenqiu can't be so outrageous. The young man is stunningly beautiful, and perhaps it's his imagination, but his expressions and movements are exactly like the bird he raised.

Later, the grown man pins Xu Wenqiu against the wall and braces one hand beside his head. "Your kind says yin and yang should unite, and three is a yang number. You are yin, and I am yang. So naturally, you should have me in you, and I should have you in me."

Xu Wenqiu looks at the firm abs in front of him, swallows, and points to the farm outside. "Have the watermelons had enough sun? Have you fertilized the corn? Why are you saying such filthy things?"

Theme: Improve people's livelihoods and bring prosperity to the people