After Failing to Keep the Grand Tutor

The Mad, Obsessive Emperor's Love Story

*

The first time Xiao Wanqing saw Fu Xiangyu, he stood beneath the moon, the very picture of a refined young gentleman.

She served as his maid for three years. After she became Crown Princess, she personally appointed him as her tutor.

Xiao Wanqing had thought they shared a deep and devoted love.

To marry him, she stood against all opposition, arguing with the ministers in court for three days straight.

But on their wedding night, Fu Xiangyu presented her with a cup of poisoned wine. Xiao Wanqing took it without a care, the smile gone from her long, narrow eyes.

Later, she imprisoned him in Weiyang Palace, making him a caged bird with no escape, day or night.

*

In the dungeon, Xiao Wanqing toyed with the back of Fu Xiangyu's hand, her head tilted with interest. A deep chill filled her eyes as she watched his suffering without looking away.

His face was pale, like porcelain long kept from the sun. Blood spread from the corner of his mouth to his eyes, grotesque yet beautiful.

With the arrogance of a phoenix-eyed empress and an aura sharp enough to cut, Xiao Wanqing said, "If you're going to be my dog, remember to lower your back when you beg for mercy."

Fu Xiangyu had forgotten.

Five years had long since worn away the last trace of youthful softness from Xiao Wanqing's face.

Her chin had grown pointed, her cheekbones more pronounced, and her beauty had become fiercely intimidating.

How could she possibly let him do as he pleased?

*

Unyielding in spirit, brilliant in verse.

The youngest top scholar in several dynasties knelt quietly, his back straight.

The young man was reserved and sensitive, his eyes brimming with tears, red marks blooming inch by inch like peach blossoms.

His Majesty liked to press her fingertips against his waist, and to see the faint blush spreading from the corners of his eyes to the tips of his ears.

Fu Xiangyu remembered Xiao Wanqing at fourteen, swinging on a swing before tumbling into his arms, chattering as she begged for pastries.

At seventeen, Xiao Wanqing was gloomy and obsessive, her ruthlessness so chilling that the court feared her.

Would His Majesty come today?

Fu Xiangyu gave a self-mocking laugh.

His Majesty came every day. How could there even be a question of her not coming? All he could do was wait for his master's occasional, half-hearted caresses.

His Majesty would look down at him coldly, her fingertips brushing his lips without a hint of warmth, and humiliate him without hesitation.

But sometimes His Majesty would arrive at Weiyang Hall late at night, drenched in rain.

She would hold him, rubbing her wet hair against his neck over and over, as if that were the only way she could find a moment's peace.

Both thunder and rain are the sovereign's grace.

One-on-one romance, happy ending

Coming soon:

Marriage first, love later; a frail emperor; feigned hatred, true love; happy ending

*

The first time Lu Lingyi met Xiao Yingci, it was snowing.

The young man had a gloomy expression. He offered her a dead branch and pulled her out of a pit.

She thanked him the whole way, but he remained silent, his steps growing faster and faster.

Lu Lingyi followed, stumbling through the snow. Flakes settled on her lashes, cool to the touch, but her heart was warm.

Only later did Lu Lingyi learn that the young man was to be her future husband.

She married into the cold, desolate Weiyang Hall and became the proper empress of Dazhao.

On their wedding night, Lu Lingyi remembered her father's words and, with trembling hands, slipped medicine into the wine.

She watched Xiao Yingci pause after taking a sip, then drink it all without hesitation.

Lu Lingyi's palms were slick with sweat. She seized the chance to push him down onto the brocade quilt. "Do you want to live?"

Xiao Yingci froze. As the young woman leaned against him, her ears faintly red, she reached for his belt and whispered so softly he could barely hear, "Just do as I say."

As she nibbled gently, Xiao Yingci could only remember the low moans she pressed into his throat. His brows drew together slightly.

Had he... hurt her?

*

Xiao Yingci probably hated her.

He hated that she was the daughter of a treacherous minister, and hated the humiliation she had inflicted on him on their wedding night.

Lu Lingyi smiled, though there was little bitterness in it.

Everyone was suffering. No matter how noble her station, she was still trapped in this place.

Xiao Yingci had broken her heart so thoroughly that she could barely remember the warmth of that snowy day.

But she held no grudge. Xiao Yingci was trapped here too, a puppet emperor who could never afford to lose his composure.

The day the Qiang people entered the capital, flames blazed sky-high at Taibai Hall, and Lu Lingyi received the edict deposing her as empress, just as she had wished.

Lu Lingyi had thought her heart had already gone cold. But when she heard that the young emperor had perished in the fire, grief tore through her.

In her despair, she smashed the imperial seal, removed every jeweled ornament from her hair, and threw her splendid robes into the flames.

The young emperor and his empress were no more.

*

Xiao Yingci had seen red everywhere. His parents, mentors, and friends had all died, and the wailing had gone on for three days without end.

After that, everything seemed cold and dull to him, because he could never have anything.

Even if he was the Son of Heaven.

He was despised, enveloped in love laced with arsenic.

Until Xiao Yingci met Lu Lingyi. She was poised and generous, refined and gracious from head to toe, like a noblewoman born to a great house.

On their wedding night, Xiao Yingci remembered the dimples that appeared when Lu Lingyi smiled, matching the ones at her waist.

He kissed her, kneeling on the ground, his frail, broken body all the more striking.

Xiao Yingci always felt he was unworthy of her. Still, the young emperor longed for her affection, hoping she might take pity on him.

Even if it was only the tiniest bit, because she was different with him.

Tip: The male lead is a little quiet.

Theme: Love me as you did at the beginning