In the nineteenth year of the Mingzhao era, a new emperor ascended the throne and changed the reign name to Chengjing.
The young emperor Helan Xuan reclined in a gilded wooden chair carved with dragons. He swept his blood-red eyes over the assembled ministers and spoke languidly.
"Our late imperial father has been dead for some time. After much deliberation, I have decided that 'Li' is the most fitting posthumous name for him. What do you all think?"
At his words, the Zuwei Hall erupted in an uproar. One outspoken loyal official even shed blood on the spot!
Chu Wulan held his tablet in both hands, taking in the absurd scene in the hall without saying a word.
But Helan Xuan did not let him off. Staring at him without blinking, he asked with a half-smile, "What does the Grand Tutor think?"
A pair of eager eyes turned toward Chu Wulan. Unsure how to respond, he raised his head and fell into the abyss of those red eyes.
*
Chu Wulan had never imagined that the utterly innocent boy he had watched grow up in the Cold Palace would gradually lead him to sever every escape route for the sake of the throne, luring him into a trap from which there was no return.
"Innocent?" Helan Xuan threw back his head and laughed. His crown fell to the ground, revealing canine teeth worn smooth. "Grand Tutor, you're far too naive. Everyone who comes out of the Cold Palace is vile and shameless. There's not a single clean thing about them. The truly innocent died out long ago..."
No, it wasn't like that. The twelve-year-old Helan Xuan wasn't like that.
The year Chu Wulan first met Helan Xuan, he had only just come of age. He had entered official service young and was then an assistant tutor at the Imperial Academy, appointed by the emperor himself.
"Sir! Sir! Please give me some more food!"
The child was thin, and each time he bowed his head to the ground, he struck it harder than before. He eagerly called the eunuch bringing his meal "Sir."
Chu Wulan gave him a box of pastries and personally applied wound medicine to Helan Xuan's forehead, unaware that he would spend a lifetime repaying that gesture.
A noble, upright Grand Tutor who worries for the country and its affairs, as the pursuer x a seemingly pure, secretly wicked, mad, seductive emperor, as the pursued
(This little workshop doesn't hold back!)
Theme: Fight for justice in all things.
