Bind Him

Also known as "A Kite's Heart, Far Away"

[Dark, unhinged empress x sunny, cheerful hostage prince from a foreign land]

When they were young, the hostage princes sent from foreign lands avoided Yan Tang like the plague.

Yan Tang was gloomy, withdrawn, ruthless, deceitful, and selfish. No children wanted to be near her when she was little. As she grew up, she stopped at nothing to become ruler of Fengying, even poisoning and harming her own elder sister and confining her in the palace.

Of all the foreign hostages, Yan Tang detested Wen Jinguang most. He was nothing but a lowly hostage from another country, trapped in Fengying and stripped of his freedom, yet he cheerfully made kites and flew them, wandering around in front of her every day with a smile on his face.

To humiliate Wen Jinguang, Yan Tang decided to force him to become her lover. But when he heard about it, he neither got angry nor upset. He even smiled and said he was willing.

Rumor had it that, to serve her better, Wen Jinguang had secretly sought lessons from Fengying's most famous male courtesan. He learned everything from maintaining his physique and proper manners to sword dancing, serving wine, and the art of the bedchamber.

He taught her how to make kites.

To become ruler, she used the kite he had taught her to make to destroy his country.

After she became ruler, someone asked whether she would give him an official title. She sneered and replied, "He was only a hostage before, lowborn and humble. Now his country has been destroyed, and he's nothing but a stray dog. What title could he possibly deserve?"

Wen Jinguang had come to share his new kite with her and heard every word.

When he learned that his homeland had been destroyed, he returned overnight. The once prosperous, peaceful land had become a ruin. Smoke and dust blotted out the sky, broken swords and shields littered the ground, and the people had been driven from their homes.

He stood atop the ruined city walls. The love that had once filled his eyes was replaced by hatred.

"By order of the ruler, anyone who climbs the city walls without permission will be pierced by a hundred arrows."

When news of his death reached her, her writing hand paused. A moment later, she said coolly, "Then bury him."

That night, when a ray of moonlight fell on the new kite he had made, she suddenly felt as if a piece of her heart had been hollowed out.

"Wen Jinguang, I miss you."

[The heroine pursues her love after driving him away. Strongly old-school in style.]

Theme: Love yourself before loving someone else