The Imperial Tutor Wept and Pleaded

[Complete. The next historical BL novel is The National Teacher Has Grievances] [Blurb]: Wen Cuiyu transmigrated into a book. The good news was that his job hadn't changed. He was still a teacher. The bad news was that he had exactly one student: the mercurial young emperor. The young emperor, Wei Yue, ascended the throne at the age of six. The regent held power over the court, and in the ten years since the puppet emperor's accession, Wei Yue had accomplished nothing besides eating, drinking, and having fun. He was cruel, temperamental, and violent. As for Wen Cuiyu, the imperial tutor appointed by the regent, Wei Yue treated him with defiance, madness, and arrogance. With a student who might kill him at any moment, Wen Cuiyu decided to follow the original owner's example: see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing, ask nothing, and simply recite the textbook each day before leaving. After all, staying alive was what mattered. He was already sickly and weak, and he wasn't cut out for scheming. However, he was bound to a "Teach Without Growing Weary" System. Whenever he tried to turn a deaf ear and play dumb, the System used "electrotherapy" to remind him to do his job. Wen Cuiyu, who was so fragile that the System could easily shock him into tears: ... So he had no choice but to be a conscientious teacher. The young emperor, Wei Yue, was distracted in class. Wen Cuiyu wanted to ignore it, but the System shocked him over and over. Wen Cuiyu had no choice but to grit his teeth and ask, as politely as he could, "Your Majesty, could you tell me why you refuse to pay attention in class?" Wei Yue was about to mock Wen Cuiyu for meddling, but when he looked up, he saw the young imperial tutor's eyes glistening with tears, his very breath catching with sobs. The look he gave Wei Yue was unbearably urgent and sincere. The young emperor, Wei Yue, burned a book and scalded his hand. Wen Cuiyu wanted to leave him be, but was forced to show concern. "Your Majesty's injury needs treatment. If you don't like having the imperial physicians near you, may I apply the medicine for you?" Wei Yue was about to sneer at Wen Cuiyu for asking for trouble, but Wen Cuiyu's concerned gaze fell on his injury, and he looked as if he was about to cry from worry. Wei Yue wouldn't memorize his lessons or do his homework, and Wen Cuiyu would cry. Wei Yue's handwriting was a mess, and Wen Cuiyu would cry. Wei Yue was a little tyrant who didn't act with kindness, courtesy, humility, or restraint, and Wen Cuiyu would cry. Wei Yue was too mild-mannered and let people bully him, and Wen Cuiyu would cry. Anyway, whenever anything went wrong, Wen Cuiyu would cry in front of him. It made Wei Yue's scalp prickle. He was afraid Wen Cuiyu's frail, sickly body would be drowned by his own tears, so he could only find ways to keep him happy. So it was that, later on, the young emperor who held all the power said, "I owe everything I have today to my imperial tutor, who spent all these years teaching me with tears and heartfelt pleas." He could never repay such a great kindness. A teacher for a day is a husband for life. Wei Yue decided to offer himself in marriage, with the empire as his betrothal gift, and ask the imperial tutor to marry him. Wen Cuiyu, who had raised such a student who defied all moral conventions: ... This time, he really did cry tears of grief. Unable to handle the situation, Wen Cuiyu decided to retire after completing his mission and fake his death to escape. - Imperial Tutor Wen Cuiyu lived up to his name: gentle as jade, astonishingly talented and brilliant. Sadly, like a jade orchid broken off its stem, he died young. After the imperial tutor's death, some ministers in the court mourned and regretted his passing, while others were relieved. His Majesty valued him too highly, and the imperial tutor held too much power, threatening the dignity of the throne. His Majesty had been bewitched, and actually intended to force the imperial tutor to become empress, threatening the empire itself. One court official said that the imperial tutor had now died saving the emperor, leaving behind the good name of a virtuous minister and mentor. They no longer had to worry about him becoming another regent, so it was a happy outcome for everyone. That very day, Wei Yue ordered the execution of the ministers who had called the imperial tutor's funeral a "happy occasion." Then he ordered preparations for the wedding of the emperor and empress. He would marry the imperial tutor's coffin. Anyone who dared object would be executed. For the next three years, the tyrant ruled, and the ministers finally understood that their emperor was a mad wolf. The imperial tutor had been the one holding him back. After the imperial tutor's death, no one could make him follow the rules anymore. So a few clever ministers came up with an idea: find a substitute for their emperor. They searched far and wide, determined to find someone who looked as much like the imperial tutor as possible! After numerous twists and turns, Wen Cuiyu, who had faked his death three years earlier and was now sent into the palace as a "substitute": ... [Advance blurb written on 20240925] [Revised and expanded on 20250220] ※Advance Preview 1: The Sickly Beauty Gives Up After Marrying into Power While Pregnant Blurb: Ning Yichu was the Ning family's fake young master. Everyone said he was a vile person by nature. As a child, he had pretended to be the Ning family's missing young master to get into a wealthy household. Even after the real young master came home, he shamelessly clung to the Ning family. As an adult, he even climbed into the bed of the He family's young master, who was about to get engaged to the real young master of the Ning family. In the end, though he was a man, he got pregnant and made a big show of it, using the baby to secure his place in the family. A shameless person like him had died young. It was truly satisfying... Ning Yichu knew that everyone around him hated him, including He Shixia, who had married him out of a sense of responsibility. But he didn't care. He only wanted to seize every chance to climb higher. But at the brink of death, Ning Yichu learned that he was nothing but a cannon-fodder villain in a story about a fake and real young master. The real young master of the Ning family was the protagonist. He, Ning Yichu, had been sickly and weak since birth. He had been abandoned, doubted, compared to others, and despised. No matter how hard he tried, he got nothing. In the end, he died while everyone else celebrated. That was his whole life. Reborn, Ning Yichu didn't want to repeat the same mistakes. But he was reborn at an inconvenient time: when he opened his eyes, it was the day after he and He Shixia had registered their marriage. Ning Yichu looked at his three-month pregnant belly and said, "Let's get divorced. I'll have the baby aborted. All you need to do is compensate me with money." He Shixia was silent for a long time before answering, "Fine. Come with me to finish filming the show, and then we'll get divorced." - Movie emperor He Shixia announced his marriage at the height of his fame. Rumor had it he'd married the person he'd had a one-night stand with after getting them pregnant. To quell the scandal about his frivolous behavior, He Shixia accepted an offer to appear on a daily-life variety show and arranged to take part with Ning Yichu. In his previous life, Ning Yichu had been cautious and considerate at every turn on the show, but everything went wrong, and nearly everyone ended up hating him. This time, Ning Yichu decided to let things fall where they may. He didn't care about anyone. He was just waiting to collect his paycheck, finish filming, go home, and get divorced. When a popular young actor pretended to be friendly while trying to embarrass him, Ning Yichu went straight for the jugular. "Do your fans know you have a girlfriend? Does your girlfriend know you're married and planning to have a third child? Do your teammates know you deliberately injured one of them and stole his opportunities?" When a man who openly wanted to grind him into the dirt, and was secretly in love with the real young master, showed up, Ning Yichu decided to take them both down with him. "I slept with He Shixia and ruined the chance of the two families arranging an engagement between him and the young master Ning. Didn't that give you the chance to pursue the young master Ning? Why haven't you divorced your wife and gone after the person you love?" When his husband in name, He Shixia himself, thoughtfully tried to take care of him, Ning Yichu refused. "We'll get divorced after the show. Stop pretending we're in love. It's a hassle, and it's not as if I'm going to lie and praise your bedroom skills." Netizens: Huh? Are we actually allowed to hear this? - After filming wrapped, Ning Yichu took out the divorce papers. He Shixia discussed it with a straight face. "If we divorce now, you'll only get a small amount of money. But if you help me keep up the marriage for three years, I'll give you ten times as much in compensation." Ning Yichu: ...A person can't refuse money just to save face. But three years later, He Shixia said, "If you help me keep up the marriage for another five years, I'll give you twenty times as much." Ning Yichu: ... ※Advance Preview 2: The National Teacher Has Grievances Blurb: Lin Xiwen was a sickly, mute man who transmigrated into a book as the national teacher, and he was still mute. In the original story, the national teacher, who had been unable to speak since childhood, was sinister and underhanded. He not only framed the highly favored Third Prince, who was about to be named crown prince, as a demon star, but also declared that the neglected Fourth Prince, confined to the cold palace, was the one favored by fate. This caused the princes to switch destinies. The Third Prince went through countless hardships and barely escaped death, while the Fourth Prince rose to power overnight and received the national teacher's guidance. But several years later, the Third Prince regrouped and made a comeback, ascending the throne as emperor. Afraid that his good days were over, the Fourth Prince hastily captured the national teacher to curry favor with the new emperor. The emperor ordered the national teacher to be executed by a thousand cuts, and the nation's most esteemed teacher died. After hearing the System's explanation, Lin Xiwen asked: ...So what's my mission? System: Follow the original story. Frame the Third Prince and assist the Fourth Prince, but change the original ending. You must help the Fourth Prince take the throne successfully. Lin Xiwen: ... Maybe he should find a nice plot of land and bury himself there now. Burying himself was out of the question, so he could only do his best to complete the mission. But he felt guilty about smearing an innocent prince's name. So, while openly teaching the Fourth Prince, he also hid his identity and secretly gave the Third Prince, who was in dire straits, a little help. Just as expected, several years later, the original story played out once again: the Third Prince ascended the throne, and the terrified Fourth Prince turned his sights on the national teacher. Fortunately, Lin Xiwen escaped quickly. Before he left, he set up a ruse to make everyone think he feared the new emperor and had killed himself. He hadn't completed the System's mission, but as long as he wasn't caught, he could stay alive. Lin Xiwen went into hiding and kept to himself, and life was bearable enough. Until one day, he woke to find a figure like the King of Hell sitting beside his bed: the late emperor's Third Prince, the new emperor Zhao Xingjin. Lin Xiwen: ... Zhao Xingjin shackled Lin Xiwen's hands and feet and took him back to the capital like a prisoner guilty of the most heinous crimes. But to Lin Xiwen's surprise, Zhao Xingjin didn't kill him. He merely locked him in the dungeon. Even more surprising, the dungeon had a high bed, soft pillows, fine clothes, and delicious food. Though Zhao Xingjin humiliated him every night, the treatment seemed more like that of... a male concubine? - Zhao Xingjin couldn't understand Lin Xiwen. Lin Xiwen had confidently declared that he was a demon star, turning him from the favored son of heaven into a criminal in the cold palace who had to go hungry and shiver in the cold. But when Zhao Xingjin had a fever that wouldn't break, it was Lin Xiwen, hiding his identity, who had taken his pulse, prepared medicine, and brought him food, clothes, and charcoal. Lin Xiwen had made him a target of public hatred, but when others bullied him, it was Lin Xiwen who pretended to be disgusted as he helped him out. It was also thanks to Lin Xiwen that even ink, brushes, paper, and inkstones were beyond his reach. Yet Lin Xiwen had secretly sent famous books to him. When he had nearly taken poison given to him by someone else, it was Lin Xiwen, wearing a mask and saying nothing, who hurried to stop him from facing certain death or a lifetime of disability... Zhao Xingjin hated Lin Xiwen to the point of wanting to cut him into a thousand pieces. But when the day finally came that he had the power to do so, Zhao Xingjin found he couldn't bring himself to act. When he heard that Lin Xiwen had killed himself, he vomited blood in a daze. - Lin Xiwen, you owe me so much. Your life and death are mine. ...What gives you the right to make that decision on your own? - On the way back to the palace with Lin Xiwen, whom he'd found alive after he faked his death, Zhao Xingjin had made up his mind. Lin Xiwen was hateful, so he deserved to be thrown into the imperial prison. But Lin Xiwen had also helped him, so they could make the prison comfortable. That way, the sickly man wouldn't get off too easily by dying of illness. Lin Xiwen was too vicious, so he deserved to be humiliated and left to cling to life. And so... Zhao Xingjin made Lin Xiwen his male concubine. Whenever Lin Xiwen was half-conscious, he could always hear Zhao Xingjin gritting his teeth beside his ear as he asked, "If you had another chance, would you still help your Fourth Brother and harm me?" Lin Xiwen could only try to shake his head. Zhao Xingjin twisted his meaning. "You refuse to answer?" Lin Xiwen: ... Lin Xiwen had suffered in silence, unable to speak up or explain his grievances. Your Majesty, if you expect a mute to answer your questions, shouldn't you give him some paper and a brush? Or at least stop gripping his hands so tightly so he can use sign language? - Theme: Treasure your life and live with optimism