A Strategist's World [Cool and Aloof X Lovesick]

A scheming strategist who dreams of usurping the throne every day

X

An emperor whose every clever thought goes into cuddling up to his lover

In his previous life, Qin Shuojian, the younger disciple, served the powerful ruler of Jing. But the ruler was sickly, cruel, and tyrannical, and died of illness before long. Jing fell into chaos, its territory was devoured by other states, and Qin became a former subject of a fallen kingdom, mocked and reviled by every nation, reduced to a stray dog. Lu Queting served the weak ruler of Lou and helped him become a great sovereign, only to be killed by Qin Shuojian at the Luyu gathering, just as Lou was becoming the dominant power.

The two were reborn on the day they left the mountain.

The rulers of Lou and Jing stood outside the thatched cottage, both asking the disciples of Guigu to come out of seclusion and serve them. Qin Shuojian snatched up Lou's invitation first, while Lu Queting silently took Jing's recruitment order.

Both were quite pleased with the arrangement.

Without his help, the unruly, capricious ruler of Lou would be lucky to hold on to the family fortune he already had. Meanwhile, after several generations of great rulers had kept their strength hidden, Jing was now stronger than the other states in every respect.

Working for someone else couldn't compare to being your own boss. The ruler of Jing was young and frail, so all Lu Queting had to do was keep a low profile, wield power in the ruler's name, and build up his own influence. Then he could send the ruler to the afterlife and claim his own hegemony.

In the end, neither of their plans worked out.

There's no need to mention what happened to that sorry excuse for a man, Qin Shuojian. Lu Queting lay on the dragon bed, baffled. They'd said the ruler was cruel, so why was he only cruel to him? They'd said he was sickly, so how could he keep going until dawn?

"Who are you thinking about, brother?" The young ruler rolled over and pulled him into his arms, his gaze shifting between light and shadow. "Your eyes and your heart can only belong to me. Do you understand?"

He really was sickly and obsessive.

Chancellor Lu stared at the ceiling, speechless.

His master had never said that after being a strategist, he would have to become a queen, too.

++

Yan Maifu first met Lu Queting when he was sixteen, still a hostage from the state of Wei.

The capital of Wei had fallen. Amid savage looting and ignorant roars, through the smoke of war and the blade-bright night, a figure in white on a red horse shattered the drifting dust and broke through the darkness, riding toward him against the light.

The face above the fine horse was cold, proud, and impossible to read.

It stirred his heart, yet allowed no one to entertain the slightest thought of possessing or defiling him.

From then on, his dreams held only that flash of white.

Three years later, he unexpectedly gained Lu Queting's service.

Lu Queting's cool, aloof eyes held the composure of a master strategist and the poison of someone who saw through the world. Those around Yan Maifu urged him to beware: this man was too wicked, a vulture wearing a crane's face, crooked in both heart and mind, and sure to betray his lord sooner or later.

Yan Maifu knew it as well as anyone.

"But I love tying him to the bedpost and watching him struggle and sob, unable to get away. And all it takes is one 'Brother, it hurts' for him to comfort me, no matter how unwilling he is. He'll force himself through the shame, crying all the while, just because I pretend to be miserable and feign guilt. Even when I grab his trembling ankle and force his leg higher..."

Yan Maifu smiled happily.

P.S.:

There are two POVs, though it is really more of a multi-POV story, with a bit of an ensemble cast.

Younger seme, with a five-year age gap between the leads.

The setting includes all kinds of original worldbuilding, with chaos and order reconstructed, and the savage coexisting with the divine.

Theme: Build a career in a healthy way, and love in a healthy way