In her previous life, Shen Qingwei only realized how deeply he had sinned on the day his title and newlywed wife were taken from him.
Because of his father, the peerless Lou Songling became a “plaything” in the chancellor's bed. When Lou Songling plunged a dagger into his heart, Shen Qingwei saw overwhelming hatred in his bloodshot eyes. He accepted his death with a clear conscience.
When he opened his eyes again, it was a rainy night, and he was ten years old.
Lou Songling was curled up in a ruined temple, barely alive. A murder weapon was concealed in Shen Qingwei's sleeve, and the hand gripping it was trembling slightly. Just as the dagger was about to fall, he heard the doglike, frail body beneath it mumble in its sleep, “Father...”
The person who had killed him in his previous life was now just a child waiting for a father who would never return.
This time, he resolves to defy fate and change their destinies. Saving the Minister of Personnel's daughter is part of the plan. Bringing Lou Songling into the Minister of Works' residence is part of the plan. Even their both entering the Court of Judicial Review is part of the plan. But he never counted on the bodies of children surfacing in the brothel's hidden canal, the “Spirit Serpent” organization that once struck terror into the capital reappearing, or the gambler father who should have been long dead showing up again.
“Brother, do you think raising me is enough to atone for your sins?”
Lou Songling pins him against the torture frame in the imperial prison. His fingertips trace the old scar on Shen Qingwei's neck, then run over the whip marks covering his back, something Shen Qingwei has never shown anyone... the “discipline” he received from his father.
He grips the imperial marriage certificate bestowed by the emperor and puts a writing brush in Shen Qingwei's hand. His eyes are full of obsession and love. “Brother, if you don't want to marry me, I'll change my surname to Shen.”
Before-reading guide:
1. Both leads are virgins. The gong is only the chancellor's adopted son; this will be explained later.
2. The gong is younger. There is a three-year age gap, and they are not blood brothers.
3. The shou is straight and is gradually turned gay.
4. I've revised the blurb. I'm no longer writing the previous version of the story. Sorry.
5. I came up with this story on October 29, 2024, and have saved the document history.
Theme: Love can save a tragedy
