Friendly reminder: The blurb is wholesome, but the story is a little unhinged. Everyone is evil, including the protagonists.
A female lead who's always been up to no good × a male lead who seems proper but isn't all that proper either
Jiang Xi's first sixteen years were peaceful and uneventful. She lived in luxury, eating, drinking, and having fun, committed to enjoying her life as a spoiled rich kid. Then, on the night of the coup, her good friend took her hand and said, "Join me in supporting the new ruler and bringing peace to the land. If we succeed, we'll be friends for life."
Jiang Xi: ...
First of all, I don't want to be just your friend for life. Secondly, she really wanted to ask what would happen if they failed. Would they die together?
But in the end, she tearfully agreed, and it turned out her friend's choice was right: they succeeded.
Unfortunately, she didn't keep her promise and become a celebrated minister who helped usher in a golden age. Instead, she became a ruthless warlord in troubled times, and, through a twist of fate, embarked on the irreversible path of maternal relatives seizing power.
You ask why?
Because she is... the villain!
As the two most important ministers who helped the young emperor ascend the throne, Xie Zhuyong and Jiang Xi couldn't stand each other for over a decade.
It all started when they met as children.
Back then, their families lived next door to each other. Jiang Xi climbed over the wall, pinned him down without giving him a choice, and kissed him. Then she shouted, "You're so handsome! When I grow up, I'll marry you!"
They were both too young to know better, and he thought it was a joke, as well as embarrassing.
But as the years passed, they became confidants, always together and inseparable. When it came time to marry, Jiang Xi kept making excuses to avoid it, and rumors that the two of them were lovers spread through the streets. Meanwhile, one of them kept acting ambiguously and teasing him at every turn... Before he knew it, the promise he'd once dismissed as a joke had taken root in his heart.
After a long struggle, Xie Zhuyong arranged to meet her, determined to lay their relationship bare. But to his surprise, Jiang Xi smiled and told him she was going to marry someone else!
It hit him like a blow to the head. He came to his senses, their friendship grew colder, and eventually their political views diverged until they were like strangers.
He thought that was the end of it. But years later, the person who was supposed to have nothing more to do with him climbed over his wall again and shamelessly asked him for a little favor.
After all these years, old grudges and new grievances surged back. The usually dignified and composed Grand Tutor Xie smiled darkly.
Jiang Xi: ...
#What do you do when your ex, who you didn't part with on the best of terms, turns out to be a yandere? #
Asking for a friend. It's urgent.
Reading guide: Let me think.
Theme: I would gladly die a thousand miles from home, if only I could succeed by morning.
