After My Nemesis Set His Sights on Me

The full text has been polished. No responsibility is taken for pirated copies. Please add my next book, The Sickly, Delicate Chancellor, to your reading list~

[Frailly, cold-faced, sharp-tongued but soft-hearted censor x unruly, reckless general with eyes only for his husband]

Yan Shen and Xie Yu had always been at odds.

One was a close aide to the emperor, the other a rising star who had helped him seize the throne. They had been enemies since they were young, as incompatible as fire and water. The court was convinced these sworn foes would eventually fight to the death. That belief reached its peak when Yan Shen submitted a memorial that got Xie Yu demoted to the borderlands to die.

The only reason Yan Shen had gone so far was that Xie Yu had once flirted with him outside the palace walls, smiling as he called him handsome.

Outrageous! Shameless! He would make that reckless lecher pay!

But three years later, Xie Yu was not dead. Instead, he returned in triumph, becoming the foremost military commander at court.

Yan Shen: "..."

Worse still, after returning to the capital, Xie Yu began looking at him with a scorching gaze, like a hungry wolf eyeing its prey, with an unmistakable, indescribable meaning.

He was even excessively attentive.

When Yan Shen struggled through his illness, Xie Yu fed him medicine and massaged his aching back.

When Yan Shen took revenge on his enemies, Xie Yu helped him deal with all the sordid business that had to stay hidden.

Xie Yu cared for his frail, failing body with such devotion that even one extra cough made him anxious...

Oh no! When had this sworn enemy started having those kinds of feelings for him?

*

The once-glorious Yan family fell. The entire clan was exiled to Lingnan, and only the sickly young master, Yan Shen, survived.

Everyone thought the Yan family would never rise again.

Who could have guessed that, just after the new dynasty was founded, Yan Shen would drag his ailing body back to the capital, stir up trouble in a court full of circling wolves, and become the sharpest blade in the new emperor's hand?

The fifty-six members of the Yan family who had died unjustly were his deepest regret, and the obsession that kept him alive.

For their sake, he was willing to be a biting, vicious dog. He would charge straight into the blade's edge, even if it cost him his life.

On the day the truth was finally revealed, the culprit confessed and was executed. The taut string he had kept wound for years finally snapped. Exhausted in body and mind, Yan Shen coughed up blood before everyone's eyes. Scarlet splashed across the jade steps, and he lost consciousness.

It was finally over, he thought.

But when he awoke, the face before him was Xie Yu's, frantic with worry.

Yan Shen had always thought Xie Yu was so good to him because he wanted his looks. After all, there was nothing else about him worth coveting.

But now, the great general, who had never feared anything, held him close and stroked his back again and again, his voice trembling with anguish. "Yan Shen, can't you take your own life seriously? For my sake, just live. Not for the Yan family, not for everything that happened in the past. Live once for me, all right?"

The sworn enemy he had once guarded against so fiercely was so afraid of losing him that he was practically begging him to stay.

So there really was someone in this world who wanted nothing from him, and simply cared about him.

Perhaps he could live well for himself, and for this person who truly cared about him.

Blurb written on May 17, 2026

1. One-on-one romance, happy ending, entirely fictional setting, no need to nitpick the history.

2. The author is terrible at writing blurbs and has revised this one many times. Everything mentioned in the previous blurbs will appear in the story. The love interest is nameless at first; he will get a name later as the story progresses. They go from biting each other to grooming each other.

3. The political scheming is basic, and everything serves the romance. The author is a big dummy.

----Next up: The Sickly, Delicate Chancellor----

[One-night stand to love]

Everyone says Shen Qingyu is the most beautiful man in the capital, the most powerful minister in the Great Yong, and a treacherous official who delights in persecuting the loyal.

But no one knows that he has been poisoned by a strange toxin, is incurably ill, and is about to die.

The imperial physicians say the only way he can survive is through intimate contact with a Wuli person of a special bloodline.

But the Wuli were wiped out long ago, and only one person of their bloodline remains:

Xie Zheng, the great general who guards the nation, and the most viciously persecuted of all the loyal officials. He has Wuli blood on one side of his family.

Shen Qingyu: "...Please just bring me a cup of poisoned wine so I can die quickly. Thanks."

When the poisoned wine is actually brought to him, he suddenly changes his mind.

No! How can I die before Xie Zheng?

So he swallows his pride and starts plotting how to get close to Xie Zheng without making it obvious, without him noticing, and without getting caught.

*

Xie Zheng feels as if something unclean has attached itself to him.

The first time is at a palace banquet. Though he can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, he inexplicably passes out. Half-conscious, he feels a cool body press against him.

The second time is in his study. He loses consciousness for no reason, and when he wakes, his arms still remember a warm body and a soft, delicate touch.

The third time, he wakes up early.

In the hazy moonlight, he can just make out a small patch of jade-white skin swaying before his eyes.

What sort of demon or ghost dares to climb into his bed?

Xie Zheng is furious and decides to kill the intruder on the spot.

He grips the slender, fragile neck with both hands, about to squeeze...

Wait.

How is this the Shen Qingyu who always treats him like a dog?

*

Shen Qingyu is at his wit's end. To make absolutely sure everything goes smoothly, he carefully surveys the place and lays his plans in advance. To be safe, he even gives Xie Zheng twice the usual dose of sleeping medicine. And yet he still gets caught red-handed.

He has been tricking Xie Zheng since they were children. This time, he has finally messed up, and he's definitely in for it!

But Xie Zheng, who used to hate him to the bone, suddenly starts acting strangely. He not only comes over to kiss him and nibble his neck, but even asks, like an idiot, whether Shen Qingyu likes him.

Shen Qingyu is overjoyed.

This silly dog must have gotten the wrong idea, right?

Well, even better. He'll play along, pretend to accept Xie Zheng's advances, then flee overnight once the poison is cured and leave Xie Zheng to cool his heels.

Shen Qingyu thinks it, and does exactly that. He lives comfortably with Xie Zheng for months, pretending they're deeply in love. When the time is right, he fakes his death and escapes, changing his name and settling down to a peaceful life.

But what he never expected was for Xie Zheng to find him.

When the whole truth comes out, Shen Qingyu expects Xie Zheng to hate him and try to kill him.

But Xie Zheng does nothing.

The moon hangs high overhead. The grand estate is silent in the night, and a pair of strong arms clamps tightly around Shen Qingyu's waist.

"You deceived me? Used me?"

Xie Zheng's hand slides down the curve of his waist and gives the soft flesh at his side a gentle pinch. Even through the thin robe, Shen Qingyu's body shudders. His bones seem to melt, and he slumps against Xie Zheng's shoulder as if he can no longer hold himself up.

Xie Zheng presses his lips to Shen Qingyu's ear, his voice low and hoarse.

"But, Lord Shen, how come your waist goes soft the moment I touch it?"

Written on June 30, 2026

----Back to When My Late Wife Was Young----

[Soft, sensitive, innocent-looking but secretly cunning mute x domineering, old-fashioned, doting husband]

Yan Min had been raised in the Cui residence by his father since he could remember.

His father treated him wonderfully, nourishing his health every day with precious medicines and sending box after box of pearls and jewels to his room. There were too many ornaments made for him to count.

Yan Min thought he must be his father's most beloved child.

But the servants said he was not his father's son, just a mute slave he had picked up.

Yan Min didn't believe them. They had to be bad people, deliberately lying to him.

Otherwise... otherwise, why would his father treat him so well? Why would he raise him?

But he couldn't speak, so he couldn't argue. He could only hide away and cry under the covers. He cried and cried until he worked himself into a faint.

When he woke again, he was in a man's arms. He rubbed his little face against the warm embrace and murmured drowsily, "Fa... Father."

"No," Cui Zhi said, reaching out to pinch the tear-reddened cheek in his arms. "Not Father."

"Husband."

*

Cui Zhi was the regent, with power over the entire court. Though he was young, he held the power of life and death, yet he had never married.

The officials had hinted at it countless times, and even the Empress Dowager wanted to arrange a match for him herself, but he always turned them down with the same answer: "I, Cui, already have a wife."

Everyone stared at him in bafflement.

Cui Zhi added, "My wife has been dead for many years, and is now just eight years old."

Everyone: ???

*

Cui Zhi had been reborn.

In his previous life, he had a wife twelve years younger than himself.

His wife was a mute slave presented by the Chiyan Kingdom. His voice had been poisoned away when he was little, and he was a frail invalid who would not live long. Yet the regent doted on him, sparing no expense and summoning renowned doctors from everywhere to treat his wife.

But a chronic illness was hard to cure, and his wife eventually died in agony in bed.

On that same day, the regent Cui Zhi suddenly died. Everyone who heard the news lamented his passing.

When he awoke again, Cui Zhi found himself back on the day he had first been appointed regent. Ignoring the officials' objections, he personally led an army against Chiyan, crushed the enemy kingdom, and found his still-young wife in a hellish den where people were devoured alive.

As a child, his wife was like an abandoned kitten, pale and frail. Cui Zhi carefully raised and protected him. Since he couldn't speak, Cui Zhi taught him one word at a time, swearing he would never let him suffer as he had in his previous life.

Cui Zhi was always waiting for his wife to grow up.

But the first thing his wife said was "Father."

That night, the regent tossed and turned and did not sleep at all.

*

As an adult, Yan Min noticed his father had changed. Not only did he stop holding him as they slept, he also brought in all sorts of strangers, saying they were there to find him a husband.

At night, he secretly climbed into the man's bed and rubbed against him in his arms, aggrieved. "If I marry someone else, does that mean I can't sleep with Father anymore?"

"I don't want anyone else. I only want Father. Can I marry you?"

The regent's manor was decked out with lanterns and decorations for the wedding. On their wedding night, the regent patiently taught his wife to address him properly, one word at a time. "Call me Husband."

"Father!"

"...Husband."

"Father... Husband!"

Cui Zhi: (This is weird, but somehow it doesn't seem wrong.)

P.S. They only start dating once he is an adult. The love interest is also reborn and will recover his memories.

Theme: A sickly tree blooms again