Want to Live? Bend the Emperor

An upcoming infinite-flow novel I'm recommending: No Close Contact Between Players

A wicked, sly bottom who's great at pretending and full of dirty tricks X a lofty, sharp-tongued, argumentative, grudge-holding top

[This novel goes premium starting from Chapter 24. If you've read it before, feel free to buy it or not.]

How do you survive after transmigrating as a treacherous minister?

Xiao Yi knows when to bend, dropping to his knees: "Your Majesty, I have a report to make!"

Step one: sell out the other treacherous ministers. Check.

He drops to his knees again, with practiced ease: "Your Majesty, I am willing to drink poison!"

Step two: earn the emperor's trust. Check.

To the treacherous ministers, Xiao Yi keeps a straight face and spouts nonsense: "My lord, I am utterly loyal to you!"

To the emperor, Xiao Yi looks completely sincere and declares righteously: "Your Majesty, I only cling to your leg!"

Step three: speak one way to people and another to ghosts. Check.

Once, when drunk, Xiao Yi clung to Feng Tingyun's leg, crying and sniffling: "Your Majesty, I don't want to die without a whole corpse!"

Feng Tingyun helplessly scoops him up around the waist. "Don't cling to my leg. My waist is thicker."

Steps four, five, six, seven, eight... Bend the emperor's heart. The evidence speaks for itself. Check.

What do you do when your trusted minister turns you gay?

Feng Tingyun is dragged into a hellish pursuit of his love before he can even say a harsh word...

In the first life, he falls for Xiao Yi over time.

Before he can make their relationship official, court officials frame Xiao Yi, who dies in his arms.

In the second life, he falls at first sight.

Before he can even get a good look at the man, Xiao Yi is already kneeling before him.

Feng Tingyun takes one step closer, and Xiao Yi automatically imagines himself taking ten thousand steps toward the King of Hell's palace.

Feng Tingyun: ...

A bendy, flirtatious, oblivious, dramatic bottom X a self-disciplined, proper, self-deluded, lovesick top

Reading Guide:

1. No top-or-bottom preferences. If you have a strong preference, proceed with caution.

2. Not a traditional pursuit-after-a-breakup story.

3. Alternate-history setting, entirely fictional. Plot takes precedence over romance, and the bottom takes a long time to catch on.

4. No substitutes. The top and bottom are each other's first love. The top is beautiful, but not delicate.

5. Two lifetimes. The bottom transmigrates, the top is reborn, and the bottom is not reborn.

6. Not exactly sweet romance, not exactly a wish-fulfillment novel, and very bizarre and supernatural!

7. Historical offices and ranks may not be accurate.

Theme: Fulfill the duties of the office you hold.