As the Years Go By

[The same-type historical danmei novel, Mistaking a Cold, Powerful Minister for a Sickly Husband, is available for pre-order at the end. Please add it to your collection!]

Shi Qian was born with blue eyes and hailed as a heavenly oracle. But his unreliable powers brought enemies down on his city, who launched a surprise attack and slaughtered its people.

With his life hanging by a thread, he was rescued by Ming Yan and escaped death. But once he returned to the capital, he was branded a traitor by everyone and thrown into prison.

Confused, Shi Qian heard the heavenly oracle predict that he was not fated to die.

Not long afterward, the enemy came forward and demanded him by force, rescuing him from death row and taking him away.

Shi Qian was branded a traitor, and Ming Yan was implicated and reduced to a hostage. From then on, he hated Shi Qian.

The two became enemies and went together to the enemy nation, turning a destined romance into a wretched entanglement.

(I)

Nine years passed in a flash. Shi Qian's blue eyes had disappeared, and he wanted to be a lazy, inconspicuous lackey, but he kept running into trouble and could barely get by.

With no other choice, he set his sights on his former first love.

Ming Yan was now infamous, a sickly canary doted on by the enemy nation's crown prince. He threw his weight around in a foreign land, was disliked by everyone, and yet no one dared provoke him.

Shi Qian hoped to benefit from his good fortune and find a way out, so he threw himself into Ming Yan's arms.

The lackey took a bite out of the canary, but instead of gaining anything, he got pecked until his head was covered in lumps.

When enemies meet, their eyes burn with hatred. The once easily flustered first love had turned completely dark, laughing as he coughed up blood and constantly trying to kill Shi Qian to settle old scores.

Shi Qian: You call this madman a useless invalid???

As he wondered, he received an order: "The celestial signs are changing, and the Eastern Palace is declining. Ming Yan is currying favor with the crown prince, so he must have ulterior motives. Go keep an eye on him!"

Shi Qian: "Huh? Me??? Keep an eye on him???"

(II)

Fate threw the two together, and they were forced to live under the same roof.

Shi Qian had wanted to see what the gloomy invalid was up to, but he also felt sorry for him as he struggled in pain and sank into self-destruction.

But the madman's gaze was becoming increasingly unsettling, as if he really wanted to kill him.

A steady, occasionally prickly, adorable lackey who rises above his station, the shou

VS

A wicked-tongued, hair-trigger, sickly beauty who calms down just as quickly, the gong

At their first meeting, he was the first love who saved his life. At their next, he was the dark first love who came to claim it.

If you give me a place to call home, I'll brave fire and water for you.

"Fate trapped me here. I've struggled, surrendered, and compromised, but I still want to fight back, cross this sea, and go home."

◆ Sick from beginning to end, again and again, never fully recovered, but extremely good at fighting

◆ Handsome, striking 188 cm gong x delicate-looking, handsome 177 cm shou

[Content Warnings]

1. The gong was once drugged and controlled, forced to have his future ruined and made to be a bottom. This is only part of the backstory and is not described in detail. Some plot points have been revised, so this version differs from pirated copies and comments.

2. The gong is sick. When his illness is stable, he's at the peak of his fighting ability; when it flares up, he's at rock bottom. Normally he's a beautiful, adorable type, but when he loses it, he's completely unhinged.

3. Beautiful shou x beautiful gong. The author has earthy taste: think different styles of beauty, like fine jade x jewels. The leads have to be beautiful. Happy ending.

4. Pure historical danmei, a 24K blood-soaked, melodramatic tale of love and hate. The adult version begins in chapter thirteen.

5. No secondary couples. The supporting cast is only interested in their careers.

--- Pre-order Divider ---

Hua Wanting is a top-tier star among the powerful ministers of the Great Zhou, a peerlessly elegant and handsome man who once stood at the center of the court, basking in glory.

But a spoiled idiot on horseback crashed into him and left him sickly!

The young prince, Lu Mingye, is arrogant and domineering, born into a powerful family and infamous as a lawless little tyrant. He came to apologize, though reluctantly.

Hua Wanting leaned against his sickbed and raised his eyes weakly, cool and breathtakingly beautiful, captivating everyone who saw him.

Lu Mingye had a heart attack on the spot: Wasn't this his first love who died young?!

*

Lu Mingye was punished by being sent to Hua Wanting's estate as his servant. He looked at Hua Wanting with even more eagerness and ardor.

Hua Wanting really had flirted with someone when he was young. He hadn't expected that, after all this time, the other person would still remember him and have sealed off his heart for his sake.

But Hua Wanting had escaped death and been reborn. Now all he wanted was to beat his enemies, trample his rivals, and wipe out the corrupt officials filling the court.

Hua Wanting planned to seduce Lu Mingye and then abandon him, but the collision brought back his old illness. His slender waist went limp, and he looked so pitiful that anyone would feel for him. Lu Mingye seized every opportunity to fuss over him and ask after his health.

*

The first love had suffered from a strange illness, and when it flared, a mark appeared in the hollow of his waist.

During the day, Lu Mingye respectfully called him "Lord Hua." At night, he would casually tug at Hua Wanting's sash, trying to loosen it without seeming to.

The first love was afraid of the dark, and Hua Wanting was afraid of the dark too.

The first love was afraid of the cold, and Hua Wanting was afraid of the cold too.

The first love was gentle and considerate, while Hua Wanting... would throw people over his shoulder at the slightest disagreement.

Lu Mingye was convinced his first love had returned from the dead, and he became completely obsessed, holding Hua Wanting every night as they picked up where they left off.

Illness made Hua Wanting lose his composure for once: "You... ah... got... uh... the wrong... person... ah!"

Lu Mingye stared at the faint mark appearing in the hollow of his waist. "Oh."

Lu Mingye helped Hua Wanting bring down the corrupt officials filling the court, hoping to make his first love a celebrated minister remembered in history.

Then the enemy invaded, and Prince Huaixi was defeated and rumored to have colluded with them. To prove his innocence, he volunteered to go save his brother.

Hua Wanting cast off his sickly demeanor, looking like a vicious demon: "You'd better really be staging a rebellion."

Lu Mingye: "...???"

A cool, noble, scheming sickly beauty who never forgives and holds a grudge, the shou VS a handsome man who claims to have sealed off his heart but is clingy, flexible, and shameless, the gong

◆ Sick since childhood, sick from start to finish, frail but formidable in a fight, can unleash his ultimate move with no windup

◆ Height difference ‖193 x 180‖ They can fight each other, or tuck one into the other's arms and sneak off

[Content Warnings]

1. One-on-one, both virgins, everyone is a local and fights fair, pure historical danmei, happy ending.

2. Sick, beautiful shou, cool and alluring.

3. The political intrigue is worth five cents: we'll trick them out, then kill them with one slash. No fancy tricks.

4. Chapters are being stockpiled. Expected launch at the end of October.

Theme: Better to be broken like an orchid or shattered like jade than to flourish like mugwort.