Strategy

Yin Zhi, a calculating and ruthless emperor, bottom vs. Zhi Lan Yu Shu, a refined and elegant chancellor, top

Zhao Congxuan vs. Xiao Boyu

Xiao Boyu could read poetry and books and understand the Six Jia at age five. By ten, he had mastered the essential meanings of the Six Classics. At eighteen, he took the palace examination and was awarded the title of Presented Scholar. He then served as the Crown Prince's Junior Preceptor.

Two years later, the emperor died, and the crown prince ascended the throne.

Xiao Boyu was appointed chancellor, second only to the emperor and above all others. He became The Outcast.

A year later, the crown prince eliminated the other princes under various pretexts. Not one of the late emperor's nine sons escaped.

Only Zhao Congxuan, a fifteen-year-old prince abandoned to the Cold Palace, survived the purge.

Two years after that, the emperor's true nature emerged. He indulged in wine and women, neglected state affairs, and nearly emptied the national treasury.

The realm descended into panic, and the common people were plunged into misery.

That year, with the emperor incompetent and the nation on the brink of collapse, the officials rallied around Zhao Congxuan and put him on the throne.

Seventeen-year-old Zhao Congxuan became the new emperor, terrified and bewildered.

The officials assumed the new emperor was weak and useless, at best a man of middling ability.

Only when he had seized firm control of both military and political power did he reveal himself as a true emperor, decisive and ruthless.

After a sudden upheaval, Xiao Boyu was falsely accused and thrown into prison.

He should have had his household confiscated and been executed, but out of regard for their past, the emperor instead exiled him to the barbarous southern frontier, forbidding him to return to the capital without a summons.

Zhao Congxuan's perspective:

As the least favored prince, Zhao Congxuan was taught from childhood by his mother to keep a low profile. In the eyes of outsiders, he was slow-witted, an incompetent fool.

At the Imperial Academy, he caught a fleeting glimpse of the Crown Prince's Junior Preceptor and was captivated by his talent and strategic brilliance.

The following year, his mother was banished to the Cold Palace, and he became a discarded prince whom no one cared about.

When the crown prince ascended the throne and his other royal brothers met their grim ends, Zhao Congxuan knew that to stay alive, his only chance of escaping the emperor's grasp was to curry favor with Xiao Boyu.

So he climbed into Chancellor Xiao's bed...

Even when he was pushed onto the throne, he still dared not reveal his full potential. It was only years later that he finally gained complete control of the military and political powers.

When Xiao Boyu was imprisoned, not one official dared to speak up in his defense.

Only Zhao Congxuan knew what he really wanted: for Xiao Boyu to bow his head.

Yet even when Xiao Boyu was demoted and sent to the barbarous southern frontier, he never bowed his head.

Before departing, Xiao Boyu asked him, "Your Majesty, how much of your affection for me was truly sincere?"

Reader's Guide:

1. One-on-one, happy ending, both characters' first relationship. Set in an imaginary dynasty. To keep the officials in check, the bottom will maintain a nominal harem, but have no actual relationships with its members.

2. The story is told primarily from the top's perspective to better serve the plot.

3. Happy ending!!! (As an emperor, the bottom did nothing wrong; in matters of the heart, he was completely in the wrong, and will have to pursue his husband...)

4. Older man, seven-year age gap.

5. Not for fans of highly controlling relationship dynamics.

Theme: Strong winds reveal the strength of the grass.