The Popular Heir Doesn’t Get It (Reborn)

* Xie Changyan is the legitimate son of Duke Jingguo. His mother is a princess of the reigning dynasty, and he has lived in luxury since birth, destined for a life of wealth and honor.

If not for Xie Shiyu.

Xie Shiyu is his elder half-brother. Seeking revenge and the heir's title, he drove Xie Changyan's mother to despair, forcing her to become a nun. She died in a temple, and Xie Changyan was his next target.

Xie Changyan considers Xie Shiyu his mortal enemy. At the Imperial Academy, he uses every underhanded trick he can think of to frame him, ruin his career prospects and reputation, and steal the person he loves.

It isn't until an imperial decree arrives at the duke's residence that Xie Changyan learns Xie Shiyu is a prince who was lost as a child, and has no grudge against him at all. Xie Changyan has been thoroughly deceived.

On the eve of his imprisonment, he looks back and sees that, in his efforts to destroy Xie Shiyu, he used his power to oppress others, formed factions for personal gain, and became a bloodstained joke.

He drinks poison to end his life, but still can't avoid Xie Shiyu coming to demand an explanation.

He has nothing to say, yet Xie Shiyu, eyes red, refuses to let him close his eyes. Casting aside all decorum, he hurries to find an imperial physician to save him.

Fortunately, the physician fails. Otherwise, Xie Changyan would have had to face the resentful gaze of Zhou Zhixu.

He forgot to mention that Zhou Zhixu is the person Xie Shiyu loves, and the one Xie Changyan forced into an engagement with himself.

He regrets what he did, but can't make up for it. Fortunately, he's dead.

*Yet somehow, he is reborn on the very day he forces Zhou Zhixu to marry him.

Knowing that everyone despises him, he finds an excuse to call off the engagement.

From then on, he avoids Xie Shiyu and Zhou Zhixu at every turn. At the Imperial Academy, he devotes himself to studying the classics, then claims to be ill and requests a post compiling history at the Hanlin Academy.

General Qi Xiaocai lost his military command because of Xie Changyan in his previous life. He is Xie Shiyu's confidant and has always despised Xie Changyan as a spoiled aristocratic wastrel. He keeps showing up at the Hanlin Academy to find fault with him.

But Xie Changyan doesn't understand. Qi Xiaocai clearly impeaches him at court, yet after the session he grabs Xie Changyan by the hem of his robe, blushing.

Xie Changyan is the one who has cold air catch in his throat until he coughs and can barely breathe.

He understands even less why Xie Shiyu, despite seeing through his cruel nature, escorts him to the academy and court every day, stands up for him, and makes sure no one so much as mistreats him.

And Zhou Zhixu comes to see him, too, saying they love each other and hoping to settle their engagement soon.

Xie Changyan nearly chokes. Holding his chest, he sighs. This time, he has been behaving himself. All he wants is to live in peace.

* An unassuming, laid-back, sickly beauty bottom && a sensitive, split-personality top

Once the top's personalities merge, he becomes the Crown Prince.

2024.10.2

Theme: The moon's soul has died; its glasslike spirit shall not return