After Handing the Young Duke Over to My Mortal Enemy

Good news: Jing Yi transmigrates into a book and becomes the emperor’s nephew, the current Duke.

Bad news: It’s a story about a real and a fake young master. His status as Duke is fake; he was switched at birth.

Even worse, in the original story, the fake young master is arrogant and overbearing, abusing his power to bully the real young master for ten years. The real young master is patient and long-suffering from childhood. When he grows up, he escapes the fake young master’s clutches, reclaims his rightful identity as the son of a Duke, and casts the fake young master out. Reduced to a beggar, the latter starves to death in the streets.

*

To stay alive, Jing Yi first needs to get on good terms with the real young master.

As soon as Jing Yi transmigrates into the book, he hurries to find Gu Ye, whom the original owner had locked in the woodshed.

The boy is starving and barely conscious, but when he sees Jing Yi, he still has plenty of fight in him. He glares at him like a wolf, refuses to eat even a bite, and sinks his teeth into Jing Yi’s wrist.

Everyone expects Jing Yi to fly into a rage. Instead, the little Duke, usually cruel and vicious, ignores his bloodied hand and patiently feeds warm porridge into Gu Ye’s mouth.

Later, Gu Ye becomes Jing Yi’s trusted aide, and the little Duke never leaves him out of anything, whether it’s feasting, drinking, or having fun.

Jing Yi hopes he can soften Gu Ye’s heart this way, so that one day he might spare his life.

He never expected the plot’s deadly turn to come a year earlier than in the original book. Jing Yi hasn’t even prepared to run when a change of emperors takes place. His false identity as the fake young master is exposed during the coup, and overnight he becomes a discarded pawn despised by everyone.

Meanwhile, Gu Ye rises to become a high-ranking official assisting the new emperor, with Jing Yi’s life in his hands at any moment.

With no other choice, Jing Yi stages a deception. Right in front of Gu Ye, he falls into a city teeming with rebel troops, leaving no chance of survival.

That day, Gu Ye, usually so cold and grim, kneels atop the city wall and sheds tears.

After faking his death, Jing Yi thinks he’ll never see Gu Ye again. But fate has other plans. Less than a year later, he is locked in a dark room, blindfolded, and made into someone’s meal.

Jing Yi doesn’t have time to think. He bites down, ready to fight for his life. The faint taste of blood spreads, and the person in front of him tears off his blindfold before giving him a deep kiss.

Gu Ye licks Jing Yi’s lips and asks, “Are you still going to run?”

Terrified, Jing Yi quickly shakes his head. “Y-you can have anything you want!”

Gu Ye takes out an object. Jing Yi recognizes it: the Duke’s seal he left behind when he faked his death. Gu Ye places a document in front of him and says coldly, “This is what I want. Stamp it.”

To save his life, Jing Yi, who is no longer a Duke, nervously presses down the seal. Only after Gu Ye leaves, satisfied, does he look at what the document says.

Duke Jing Yi is willing to marry Gu Ye as his wife.

What a fine Duchess.

Jing Yi can’t take the shock and humiliation, and runs off in a panic. He has barely settled down at an inn when carriages and horses have already surrounded the place. Gu Ye, dressed in red, looks at him in confusion.

“Duke, are you really going to disregard our engagement and leave me behind?”

*

Content warning: This isn’t a typical crematorium-style redemption story, though it sort of counts. The characters are flawed. This isn’t a pure, innocent story or a wish-fulfillment romp.

Handsome gong, beautiful shou. The shou is the most beautiful person in the whole story, and I will not hear otherwise. This is a new author’s work, so please forgive any shortcomings (prostrates).

The story spans a long time, and I personally feel the writing style changes a little as it goes on. The blurb’s plot is fully resolved around chapter 70. The later chapters focus more on court intrigue and are somewhat dark and cynical, so read with caution if that’s not your thing. Please don’t yell at me.

[Important] I don’t recommend blindly buying the whole book at once! If you buy chapter by chapter, you can stop in time if it puts you off or isn’t to your taste, qaq.

No need to tell me if you drop the story.

Theme: Do good deeds, and don’t worry about what the future holds.