After Swapping Bodies with the Cool, Sickly Beauty

King Liang's brutality has driven the people to fury, and lords across the land are rising in revolt.

In an age that prizes military strength over scholarship, anyone hoping to claim a share of the chaos needs a brilliant strategist.

Wei Yanling, heir to the Prince of Yunnan, has chosen Song Yanqing, a sickly scholar living in seclusion at Taoyang Mountain Retreat.

*

With ten years of friendship between them, Wei Yanling expected Song Yanqing to come out of seclusion and help him. Instead, he was turned away outright.

Song Yanqing stared at him. Anger flushed his pale face red, and his body trembled uncontrollably. "Young Lord, please leave. Don't come back."

*

That night, Wei Yanling went to bed early. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his wrist, jolting him awake. He found a wound so deep he could see the bone, a blood-red dagger lying beside the bed, and two braziers blazing in the room despite the sweltering heat.

Wei Yanling shoved open the window. Once he had cleared his head, he realized he had become Song Yanqing.

With blood pouring from his wrist, Wei Yanling went to the study to look for medicine, but a painting on the wall caught his eye.

The man in it had sharp brows, bright eyes, and a commanding presence. His gaze was especially piercing, as if it could see right through anyone.

Wei Yanling found him strangely familiar. But before he could think it over, an indescribable yearning welled up inside him, sweeping through every inch of his body. He began to tremble uncontrollably, and then…

Wei Yanling fell to the floor, panting. He wasn't satisfied, only consumed by an endless emptiness. He remembered reading in an ancient text about a rare constitution called a furnace cauldron. Its desires were insatiable; its bearer had to sleep with someone every day, or their health would steadily decline until their blood ran dry.

Now all the mysteries were solved.

No wonder someone so brilliant and gifted had secluded himself in this remote place.

No wonder he never saw anyone besides Wei Yanling.

No wonder he had tried to end his own life.

*

At daybreak, Wei Yanling changed back. He rushed to Taoyang Mountain Retreat and barged in without a thought for etiquette, for the first time in his life.

Song Yanqing was bathing. When he saw Wei Yanling, his face went deathly pale. As Wei Yanling approached, his body began trembling uncontrollably.

Gritting his teeth, he forced a hoarse word from his throat. "Get out."

Wei Yanling stared at the purplish marks on his body, the ones he had left the night before. "Sir, come with me. I'll help you."

P.S. The pursued has a secret crush on the pursuer. No psychological coercion.

A sweet romance.

Theme: Be bold and keep moving forward.