The One Behind the Curtain

At sixteen, Zhao Nanyin picked up the throne from among his brothers, who were busy fighting one another during the Rebellion of the Five Princes, which had drenched the imperial capital in blood.

Before that, Zhao Nanyin had been considered the prince least likely to ascend the throne. He had nothing in his head, and his only redeeming feature was his handsome face. He couldn't even recognize all the characters in the Four Books and Five Classics.

Trembling with fear as he first took the throne, he had no powerful maternal relatives to protect him and no hint of political cunning. With no one to turn to, he had no choice but to offer himself to the regent to keep the Zhao dynasty secure.

Unfortunately, the regent supposedly had a first love he couldn't forget. No matter how obedient the emperor was or how beautiful his face, the regent remained as unmoved as a startled animal. It was as if even when a great beauty threw himself into the regent's arms, the man slept with him unwillingly.

The regent was handsome and dignified, at least on the outside. Zhao Nanyin was young and naive, and at first he was not without affection for him. But after year upon year of seeing the man's sour expression, as if he were being forced into bed, Zhao Nanyin found him no fun at all.

However, his body had long since learned to crave such pleasures. Since he was trapped within the palace walls anyway, he might as well make use of the privileges of being the emperor. From then on, he cast Xiao Yutang aside and realized that the aloof top scorer, his haughty younger imperial brother, the foreign chieftain... everyone else seemed more pleasing to him!

They say people are perverse by nature. Once he hid his true feelings, those men all changed their tune. After that, every man with a little talent or good looks came to compete for the position of his empress consort!

Even Xiao Yutang was no exception.

But by the time he came to his senses, there was no longer any place for him in the emperor's bed.

With no other choice, the man donned a black imperial dragon robe, knelt down, and recalled their past, begging Zhao Nanyin to grant him a favor.

The beauty stroked his face and smiled. "If you can learn to please me like the others do, I might even make you a favored consort."

A stubborn, arrogant regent gong x a beautiful emperor shou with just a little bit of scheming

The gong's first love was fake. At first, he's a foul-mouthed, aggressively straight man, and the shou's beauty gradually turns him gay. He spends the whole time doubting that he's really become gay, so he misses his best chance to spend his life with the shou as his one and only.

The shou's first time is with the gong, but later there are plenty of other men, so this definitely isn't a story where both leads have had no prior partners. Read with caution if that's a dealbreaker.

Theme: Cherish the person in front of you