After the Treacherous Minister's Son Returns to the Capital

Love triangle from hell x beautiful, strong, tragic protagonist x court intrigue x star-crossed lovers

Xiao Ruo's father is a treacherous minister, and Xiao Ruo is a junior one.

In the spring of the thirteenth year of Suqian, Xiao Ruo passed the imperial examinations.

As the third-ranked candidate of the first class, young Master Xiao was handsome and elegant, riding a white horse with flowers in his hat.

In the summer of the thirteenth year of Suqian, the two traitors, father and son, were exiled three thousand li away.

Wherever the Xiao family's prison cart went, the streets rang with curses.

In the winter of the sixteenth year of Suqian, Xiao Ruo returned to the capital alone on horseback.

His rank and power were low, yet he was stunningly elegant, like a jeweled blade coated in poison.

Scrutiny, covetousness, temptation, and surveillance.

From the moment he entered the imperial capital, countless malicious gazes clung to Xiao Ruo like a festering wound.

The prince who had been his childhood friend lured him into bed and abused him in every way. A sinister, ruthless eunuch lay in wait in the shadows, watching for an opportunity. His icy political enemy held his life in his hands and forced him to kneel as a slave...

The powerful men of the capital treated him like a plaything. They wanted to tear off his official robes, break his pride, and watch him kneel in the mire, face raised in submission.

Xiao Ruo answered them with a cold, scornful look.

The world called him a corrupt official, so he would live up to the insult.

Having fought his way back into the world, he swore to restore his family's fortunes and wipe out his enemies.

To the death!

[Notes]

1. Xiao Ruo has a terrible temper. He usually wears a cold, grumpy cat face and doesn't like talking to people. When he softens or speaks nicely, he's almost always putting on an act, so judge for yourself. In his head, he's constantly torturing his enemies over and over (yes, them).

2. The story features a series of one-on-one relationships, but everyone ends up together, happy ending. A beautiful shou who will stop at nothing to rise to the top x gongs who are utterly bewitched by their darling shou and burn themselves out for him. Only gongs who are sexually pure get a seat at the table. In the order mentioned in the blurb, they include, but aren't limited to: a wolf in the guise of an affectionate puppy; a sinister, obsessive fake eunuch who's cruel to Xiao Ruo and even crueler to himself; and a pretentious man who seems as pure and bright as the moon but is really thinking about censored erotic games and little whips (x). P.S. None of the gongs who make it to the table are throwaway characters. New characters will gradually appear, so keep an eye on the cast list!

3. The court intrigue is light, with some factional conflict. The setting includes a mountain of original worldbuilding. The shou is not truly a corrupt official, but a reformer slandered and crushed by the tides of power.

4. One more disclaimer: The political reforms are modeled on the Northern Song dynasty, and the bureaucracy on the Ming and Qing dynasties. I'm an amateur when it comes to history, so many details aren't rigorously researched. The story comes first, and I appreciate your understanding.

[Content Warnings]

For the sake of the plot, there are several instances of malicious objectification. To see if you can handle it, read the first half of Chapter 1 and the first half of Chapter 3.

Love and hate, melodrama, star-crossed lovers, a cast of deranged villains, dark themes, and non-consensual love.

Theme: Those who gather firewood for others must not be left to freeze in the snow.