A Little Heartache Is Good for the Soul

[First posted on LFT #Beautiful and Strong #Completed #Backup Copy #Short Story #Rambling, enjoy~]

[Contains physical and emotional abuse. The uke has a harem formed for political power and an adopted crown prince. Both the seme and uke are hopeless romantics with unstable mentalities, so please avoid if that's not for you.]

[An alternate setting with original details and a martial-arts world backdrop. The political maneuvering and struggles between nations are all over the place, with no logic whatsoever.]

[Third-person narration, alternating between two perspectives, mostly from the seme's perspective.]

[Basically... I think they both suffered about equally, more or less.]

The most beautiful man in the world, seme X former strapping young man, later iron-fisted emperor, uke (Lord of Duancheng X Emperor of the Yu Kingdom)

[Ji Chang (Yue Wuj i) X Mu Xiao (Dongfang Jun), the seme carries over skills from his past life (medical and poison expertise)]

[Blurb One]

Dongfang Jun followed Yue Wuj i everywhere, but in trying to catch up with his own past, he crushed the happiness of two people.

Two false identities led to real suffering.

When they face each other under their true identities, can these bitter lovers, still clutching the two ends of a red string severed unilaterally ten years ago, rekindle their romance?

[Blurb Two: The following is backstory. The main story begins when they meet again.]

In his previous life, he was a giant in medicine and poison, but a weakling when it came to martial arts. In the end, he was brutally executed by lingchi.

Reborn into the direct line of the former dynasty's Ji imperial clan, he became Ji Chang, young lord of Duancheng. After learning his lesson the hard way, he rose to the top in martial arts.

As a youth, he left the city to travel, and while "anonymous," he did a number of astonishing things.

For example, under the name Shuiyue, he co-founded Shuiyue Pavilion, the world's foremost assassin organization of the future.

For example, under the name Yue Wuj i, he challenged the world's greatest martial arts masters and claimed the title of "Number One Under Heaven."

For example, he fell in love with and married a strapping young man who called himself Dongfang Jun, built a home and career with him, and settled into a peaceful life of growing medicinal herbs and saving people.

Until his "wife" left without a word, and their happy life shattered in an instant.

He waited in vain for a year, his heart dying in despair, then returned to the city to inherit the family business.

He hated him for ten years, telling himself the man was dead so he could keep on living.

But the new ruler of the Yu Kingdom was ambitious and bent on unifying the world, constantly sending people to spy on and provoke him.

Furious, he left the city to confront him, but unexpectedly ran into the man he had already buried in his heart.

He was an unimportant, low-ranking prince of the Yu Kingdom. He had loved the martial world since childhood and knew the throne would never be his.

As a youth, he left the capital to study under a martial artist, but at first sight, he fell for Yue Wuj i, who had come to challenge his teacher.

All he had was a stubborn nature and an undying fire in his heart. He doggedly chased after the moon he so admired.

He won the moon, but was overwhelmed with gratitude and fear.

The moonlight gently embraced all of him and gave him a real home.

But the situation in the capital changed in an instant. His brothers died, and he became his maternal family's only hope of seizing power.

He couldn't sever his blood ties, so he could only betray himself.

He couldn't tell the truth or say goodbye, so he chose the worst possible way to leave.

But the moon still hung in his heart.

He gazed at his moon and, with blood on his hands, fought his way through intrigue and desperation to carve out a bloody path.

He became the last man standing.

Before his dying father, he was forced to swear that he would unify the world in his lifetime.

He became the iron-fisted emperor of the Yu Kingdom, and when his anger thundered, rivers of blood flowed.

But the imperial palace wasn't his home. His home wasn't here. All he had here was a carefully preserved shadow of home, but it was nowhere near enough for his heart.

He only wanted to end it all as soon as possible, faster and faster.

He only wanted to return to his moon.

Theme: A resilient, unwavering love always gets one last chance