West of Yangguan Pass

On the night of the wedding, every guest in the hall was waiting for Prince Yong'an to cry.

The bastard who grew up in the Cold Palace had been married off to a man he'd never met. Who wouldn't cry a few tears in his shoes?

Besides, the two of them were five years apart. By any measure, the young heir was robbing the cradle.

And so, on their wedding night,

the little prince glared at his groom, wrapped in a quilt, his eyes red.

But no one could have predicted what happened next.

The emperor's marriage decree was meant to humiliate him. Yet, at some point, the heir began choosing the prince's clothes for him in person.

Then, at some point, when the prince woke in the morning, the heir would be kneeling beside his bed, brushing his hair one stroke at a time.

Later, the entire court thought Xie Shiqi was a sycophantic minister who knew nothing but how to curry favor, while Jiang Hua had grown too powerful for the emperor and was bound to die sooner or later.

That was, until Xie Shiqi executed a court official before the emperor and carried his head through the streets.

The assembled officials trembled. "Young Lord, please come back!"

Xie Shiqi listened to the report with his chin in his hand and said regretfully, "Then why am I still alive?"

He prayed to heaven, earth, and his parents, and worshiped Buddhas, gods, and Guanyin.

Let him die.

Let him pave a clean, peaceful road for his beloved Ziyun-gege.

Caretaker gong x mad beauty shou

[Reader Advisory]

1. Most of the framework for the setting is based on the official system after the reforms of the Northern Song's fifth year. Some details may be inaccurate, so corrections are welcome.

2. One-on-one, both virgins, a growing-up romance, and a slow-burn relationship. They are nearly five years apart in age. The shou is fifteen and the gong is nineteen from the start.

3. It's a happy ending, it's a happy ending, it's a happy ending.

Theme: Beyond Yangguan Pass, there are no old friends.