[A cold-faced, tsundere censor × a proud, unruly general]
Xie Yun was reborn at the age of twenty-two, the phantom pain of his previous life's self-inflicted death still lingering around his neck.
In his previous life, he was a young general who rode across mountains and rivers, reformed the court, pacified the northern frontier, and spent half his life on the battlefield. He helped raise the Crown Prince to the supreme throne, only to be viewed with suspicion by the new emperor.
The man who had once known and stood by his side became the final straw that drove him to his death. The battle-hardened general did not die on the battlefield, but collapsed in his own backyard like an abandoned dog.
In this life, he gave up his military uniform and resolved never again to be a discarded pawn or weapon in a chaotic age. He also swore to stay as far as possible from his cold-hearted civil official rival.
But Xie Yun never expected that the more he tried to avoid him, the more this rival, renowned throughout the court for his dignified bearing and quiet restraint, pressed him step by step, until he pinned Xie Yun's hand firmly against his warm chest. A violent tremor pulsed beneath Xie Yun's palm, leaving his fingertips numb.
He began to act recklessly, pretending to humor the man and deceiving him with half-truths to pave his own way forward.
He began to do as he pleased, indulging himself out of spite in the man's warm kisses and tenderness.
He felt guilty and tormented by the way he used the man even as he grew attached to him, and in their constant push and pull he became clearheaded, then lost himself all over again.
Only when his lies were exposed, when he stopped deceiving himself, did he suddenly realize that he wanted to hold on to him, but it was already too late for regrets.
“Lord Pei, are you protecting your integrity, or your path to power?”
“Chengyu, is admitting you like me something shameful? What am I to you, really?”
When a famous courtesan died for no apparent reason, when a demon in a painting took a bride and killed her,
when the Turks came to pay tribute but their envoy died here,
when the archives of the Court of Judicial Review unearthed palace secrets from twenty years ago,
when the northern frontier's warning beacons blazed once more in his second life,
he finally realized:
Was his rebirth the end of a golden dream, or another game of abandoning the bow once the birds were gone?
Should he choose loyalty or self-preservation?
Behind every baffling case lay a shocking conspiracy. Tides of intrigue churned at court, and old enemies clashed once more.
He had always thought that standing firm would keep him invincible, that building high walls would keep anyone from breaking through. He never realized that his defenses had already crumbled.
Reading guide:
1. The political scheming is amateurish and the logic is a mess. Please leave your brain at the door before reading.
2. It's not that dramatic. They're actually very sweet and devoted to each other.
3. Both leads are reborn, but at different times.
4. 1v1, happy ending.
5. Pei is the top and Xie is the bottom. No role reversal.
Theme: We face the rivers and mountains together, and return through wind and snow
