After the Foolish Assassin's Mission Failed

Upcoming novel recommendation: The Treacherous Minister Faked His Death and Gave Up. Blurb at the very bottom. Blurb: Li Anzai is an assassin with the Zhenshui Tower. He studies assassination techniques diligently, and on the very day he finally graduates, someone tricks him into taking the highest-level bounty Zhenshui Tower has to offer. Assassinate the regent, Yan Qi. The tower's intelligence reports say Yan Qi is cold and heartless, vengeful over the slightest slight, uninterested in wine, women, or banquets, and has no hobbies. He is surrounded by guards, making him a difficult target. Li Anzai waits around and waits around, until at last he gets his chance: the chancellor is hosting a banquet for the court officials, and the regent has made time to attend. Disguised as a dancer, he slips in. When Yan Qi leaves, Li Anzai lifts his skirts and follows him into a guest room. The next second, a force twists both his arms behind his back. Li Anzai is grabbed by the nape and pinned against the door. A cool breath brushes the side of his neck. "Caught you." Yan Qi is this alert! Li Anzai immediately pulls the poison he prepared from his sleeve. This is Li Anzai's first assassination mission, and he's not very experienced. His fingers slip, and he opens the wrong packet of powder. Its effects quickly spread through the cramped room. The man behind him stiffens, his voice trembling with gritted-teeth fury. "...Li Anzai! Do you always use aphrodisiacs when you kill people?!" Li Anzai freezes. Oh no, wrong packet! A few days later, rumors spread that the regent has fallen for the dancer from that night. The prince's carriage bears eight sedan poles, and the dancer is welcomed into the residence in a formal wedding. Li Anzai sits in the sedan chair, clutching a dagger. Getting married into the prince's residence isn't so bad. Being so close to the target means more chances to assassinate him... Right? Later, muffled sobs can often be heard late at night from the main room of the prince's residence. Li Anzai's eyes are red-rimmed, tears on the verge of falling, as he lies sprawled on the couch, while the man above him still seems nowhere near tired. "An'an." Yan Qi scoops up the man melted into a puddle and kisses Li Anzai's flushed earlobe. "You poisoned me at the hour of the Rooster today, then shot a hidden arrow at the hour of the Dog, trying to kill me twice. I have to get my revenge..." Li Anzai buries his face in the pillow, trembling all over, from both anger and embarrassment. "Yan Qi... sob... Why are you so hard to kill?!" [Reading guide] 0. The shou's name is Li Anzai, not Li An. :( 1. A sweet little romance, silly and steamy. Don't expect too much logic or historical accuracy~ 2. The assassinations can be seen as a couple's way of spicing things up. 3. Nine-year age gap. 4. The shou is meant to be vacant, clumsy, and very cute. 5. The gong is utterly devoted. Blurb for upcoming novel The Treacherous Minister Faked His Death and Gave Up He's so tired. Truly. Now, at last, he's about to die. In the cold, dark imperial prison, Xie Xingzhou closes his eyes. ── As the emperor's tutor, Xie Xingzhou has controlled the court for more than a decade. He is domineering and willful, persecutes his colleagues, deceives the emperor above, and brings misery to the people below. The emperor and his tutor have been at odds for a long time. But the emperor is still young and has yet to come into his own. His power has long been stripped from him, and Xie Xingzhou keeps him in check at every turn in court. The emperor has hidden his strength for a long time, and finally strikes a fatal blow, arresting his tutor and throwing him in prison. After the tutor dies in prison of illness, no one knows that in the palace, on the phoenix bed beneath the dim canopy, white and red candles burn all around. It's both a mourning hall and a bridal chamber. "Teacher... How dare you die without my permission?" "Xie Xingzhou, I hate you so much." ── His faked death fails. When Xie Xingzhou opens his eyes, he finds himself tied to the dragon bed. The emperor he raised himself has grown dark and twisted. He grips Xie Xingzhou by the throat and says he'll make him feel a pain that tears his heart apart. Xie Xingzhou :) Whatever. He's spent ten years exhausting himself. He's tired now, and he's going to commit to laziness for good. Living is fine; dying is fine too. Soft bedding is nice, but he can sleep on a hard couch as well. If his wrists are tied, someone can feed him. He just doesn't know why the emperor, who used to want to skin him alive and dismember and devour him, now clings to him like a rain-soaked puppy that's been abandoned. "Teacher, please smile for me... I'll give you anything. Please don't be unhappy..." Theme: Together, let's enjoy this vibrant world.