Prologue

The moon hung high, and the night breeze was faintly cool.

Within the royal autumn hunting grounds of the Kingdom of Changlu, several squads of iron-clad elite cavalry held torches aloft, searching through the forest surrounding the encampment.

Half a shichen ago, the ruler of Changlu had been assassinated inside his own tent, and his fate remained unknown.

The camp was in an uproar — cries and shouts rang out all at once. In another tent not far from the ruler's, a young man of handsome appearance sat upright at a desk, holding a scroll and reading.

"My lord, are you truly not going to take a look?" At his side, a servant pouring tea asked in a hushed voice.

The young man did not lift his head. "No."

"But if something were to happen to His Majesty..."

Before the words were finished, the young man raised his eyes and cast a cold, fleeting glance at the servant.

The young man was still quite young, his features refined and elegant — he even appeared a touch delicate.

He must have been just about to sleep, for he wore only a thin inner robe, which made his slender frame look all the more lean and willowy. His face was fair and flawless, save for a small cinnabar mole beneath his earlobe, its color a vivid red that was made all the more striking by the glow of the charcoal fire.

And yet, when he looked over in that manner, it sent a chill down one's spine and made one dare not meet his gaze.

The servant immediately broke into a cold sweat and hastily fell silent.

"You have been by my side for no short time. What ought to be said and what ought not — do you need me to teach you that?"

The young man turned a page in the scroll he held. "There will be no next time. Get out."

"Yes — yes!"

"Wait." The young man suddenly called after him. "Take the charcoal brazier away. It's too hot."

The servant paused slightly and looked toward the young man.

At some point, the air had begun to carry a faint, sweet fragrance of fruit wood.

Perhaps it was the warmth of the charcoal fire — the young man's cheek, all the way to the base of his ear, had visibly flushed a faint pink, which made the small cinnabar mole appear even more vivid and lent him a subtle, beguiling air.

He tugged at his loosened collar with a somewhat impatient expression. "What is it?"

"Nothing... nothing at all."

The servant suddenly found it somewhat difficult to breathe. Not daring to say another word, he hurriedly took the brazier and left in quick strides.

Only after stepping out of the tent and being jolted by a gust of night wind did the servant realize something was off.

The young lord had always been extremely sensitive to the cold. It was now deep autumn, and the nights were chill — so how could he be feeling hot?

Quiet returned to the tent. The young man sat straight and proper, but his gaze drifted past the top of his book and toward the outside. Seeing that there was no more movement out there, he let out a long breath, tossed the book onto the table, and slumped forward boneless, sprawling face-down against it.

"...Finally gone."

Roughly a quarter of an hour ago, Ye Shu had transmigrated into this world.

This was a political intrigue novel.

In the story, the three kingdoms of Great Yan, Changlu, and Western Xia held their territories in a three-way standoff. The male lead, Jin Wang, was the new emperor of Changlu.

This male lead was unlike any other.

Jin Wang was an extremely petty and vengeful man, cold-blooded and merciless, never letting a grudge go unpaid. Unloved by the late emperor, he had advanced step by calculated step — killing his father, slaughtering his brothers — and ultimately seized the throne. At his enthronement ceremony, every eunuch who had humiliated him in his childhood had their limbs severed and were cast alive into tiger cages before the assembled crowd, where they were torn apart and devoured.

After ascending to the throne, Jin Wang first used iron-fisted methods to execute corrupt officials and eliminate rival factions. He then stirred up war, led his armies personally into battle, and in just three years leveled both Great Yan and Western Xia, ultimately unifying the realm.

Ye Shu had transmigrated into a cannon fodder character who shared his name.

The original host was the son of a condemned official, reduced to servitude as a child. He had encountered Jin Wang when the latter was still a prince and had stayed by his side as a study companion. The original host and Jin Wang had grown up together, and after Jin Wang ascended the throne, he made an exception to appoint the original host as Left Chancellor, also granting him oversight over all court officials.

But the original host and Jin Wang clashed in their political views, and a rift soon formed between them.

In the third year of Jin Wang's reign, the original host colluded with foreign enemies in an act of treason, attempting to assassinate the ruler during the autumn hunt. But the assassination failed, and when it all came to light, Ye Shu's entire nine familial clans were exterminated. He became the first named cannon fodder character to be brought down by Jin Wang.

In short, he was nothing but a tool character to help the male lead rack up experience.

"What on earth is all this..." Ye Shu lay listlessly sprawled over the desk, listening to the cries outside the tent, his head aching terribly.

The wailing outside was lively, but no one knew that Jin Wang had not actually been in the encampment that night at all.

Well before the original host had finished plotting the assassination, Jin Wang had already anticipated it. What remained in the ruler's tent tonight was nothing but a decoy.

The moment the assassins struck, the original host's scheme would be laid completely bare.

Three days from now, Jin Wang would personally lead soldiers to surround the original host's residence.

Imprisonment, confiscation of property, death by a thousand cuts.

The original host had lived only three chapters in the novel. At the end of the third chapter, the original host was flayed down to a bare skeleton, then personally pushed from the city tower by Jin Wang, before being trampled into the mud by ten thousand iron cavalry.

— A true case of grinding the bones to dust and scattering the ashes.

Ye Shu shuddered in earnest, and at last could sit still no longer.

Setting everything else aside — this manner of death was simply too gruesome.

Transmigrating into a novel out of nowhere was already misfortune enough. He had absolutely no intention of dying like this.

No — he had to flee, and fast.

Whoever wanted to play this cannon fodder role was welcome to it. He was done serving.

The camp was in complete chaos, and no one noticed as a lone figure slipped silently out of the encampment.

Ye Shu knelt at the edge of a stream, cupped water in his hands, and splashed his face. His fingers were trembling ever so slightly.

Droplets of water ran down his neck and slipped inside his collar, leaving a meandering wet trail in their wake.

He tugged at his collar with a sense of unbearable discomfort.

Why was it... so hot?

The royal hunting grounds were set within the mountain forests on the outskirts of the capital, and it was deep autumn — mountain winds gusted through the night — yet not a trace of coolness could be felt on Ye Shu's body.

Earlier, he had been too consumed by the panic of transmigrating to notice the strangeness in this body.

Now, with the night wind blowing over him, his mind grew slightly clearer.

An indescribable heat spread through him like wildfire, growing fiercer and fiercer. A fine layer of sweat soon gathered on Ye Shu's forehead, and even his breath felt scorching.

Ye Shu lowered his head and looked at his own hands. A suspicion suddenly surfaced in his mind.

He couldn't possibly be... poisoned with an aphrodisiac, could he?

Who the hell had poisoned him???

"Not one was caught?"

The tall canopy of trees blocked the moonlight. A figure clad in black stood among the forest.

Behind him, the man at the very front spoke in trembling tones: "Y-Your Majesty, those criminals were exceedingly cunning and had planned well in advance. We truly could not..."

"Could not — or would not?"

Jin Wang's voice was light and even. Behind him, the imperial guards all dropped to their knees in unison. "Your Majesty, please show mercy! We would never dare betray Your Majesty!"

"Would not dare?" Jin Wang finally turned around. Those striking eyes of his were glacially cold in the moonlight, his gaze settling with indifferent weight on the lead guard. "That one — drag him away and flay him."

"Your Majesty, have mercy! Please, Your Majesty, have mercy!"

Anguished screams and cries rang through the forest. The others exchanged glances, momentarily too stunned to move.

"Hm?" Jin Wang raised his eyes, and every person he looked at shuddered from head to toe. Immediately, two men stepped forward and dragged the man away.

The cries faded gradually into the distance. The forest fell silent enough to hear a pin drop. Jin Wang said calmly, "If they have not been found before that man draws his last breath, you all know what comes next."

The others hurriedly cried out "Yes, Your Majesty!" and scattered away in a frantic rush.

Jin Wang walked through the forest.

Suddenly, a strange sound came from the darkness behind him. He stopped in his tracks, and in an instant, his fingertips had a golden needle at the ready.

A faint, sweet fruit fragrance drifted and spread through the forest.

A slight change crossed Jin Wang's expression.

That smell was...

Before he could react, a figure crashed into his arms. The impact sent Jin Wang half a step backward, his back pressing against the rough bark of a tree.

At the same moment, a piece of black silk fell across his eyes, blocking his vision.

"Don't move." Close to his ear, a hushed voice rasped out, low and faint, trembling almost beyond recognition.

A sweet, clean fruit fragrance filled his nose.

The scent was faint — like unripe plums after rain, present yet elusive in the dark, stirring and enticing, enough to make one's mouth water.

Ye Shu was in a terrible state right now.

The moment he realized he might have been drugged, his first instinct had been to escape before the effects took full hold. But who could have known this forest was absurdly vast, its paths treacherous and impossible to make out — he had barely entered the tree line before he was hopelessly lost.

Ye Shu had wandered alone in the forest for a long while, his body growing hotter and hotter under the influence of the drug.

And furthermore, he had no way to relieve himself on his own. He wanted — wanted someone to help him.

"I've been poisoned." Ye Shu drew a quiet breath, his voice plaintive. "...Can you save me."

A long silence.

The body in his arms burned with a terrifying heat. Jin Wang gave no outward sign of anything as he pocketed the golden needle and raised a hand to encircle the other's slender waist, his fingertips brushing lightly across the small of his back, drawing forth a shiver.

That faint sweet fruit fragrance instantly grew richer.

"You want me to help you?" Jin Wang seemed to find it amusing. He asked softly, "Do you know who I am?"

"You... you're wearing imperial guard's uniform."

Ye Shu gripped the other man's arm, clutching it like a lifeline. "Help me find someone... to cure the poison. I can repay you... Five days from now, go to a teahouse ten li outside the city. In the private room at the far end of the second floor, look beneath the table... That money will be enough to keep you comfortable for the rest of your life. You won't have to risk your life in service like this again."

The original host had wielded enormous power in Changlu and possessed vast wealth. Ye Shu had already made up his mind to run far away. He couldn't take all that wealth with him, but it would not be difficult to set aside some funds for this person.

There was no one else in this forest, and he could not find his way out — this was the only solution Ye Shu could think of.

But the man merely gave a soft laugh.

The sound was extremely low and deep, like a small mallet striking against the center of Ye Shu's chest.

"I don't want money."

Ye Shu's legs were too weak to hold him up, and even his eyes had reddened. "Then what do you want?"

The man turned the question back on him: "You are the one asking a favor of me — shouldn't it be you who comes up with something?"

"I... I don't know." Ye Shu's consciousness was growing hazy. His forehead dropped against the man's shoulder, and he murmured quietly, "Just help me, please. Whatever you want is fine..."

Ye Shu was pressed too close.

With his eyes covered, his other senses were far sharper than usual.

That fruit-wood fragrance seemed a hundred times more potent than before. The sweet, heady scent was all-pervasive, coaxing forth the most primal instincts buried in one's heart.

Jin Wang had never once imagined that the young Chancellor who had dared to argue with him in open court, who had stirred up rebellion, would turn out to have differentiated into a Kunjun.

In this world, some men and women, upon reaching adulthood, would undergo a second differentiation. Qianjun were typically rulers — powerful and of higher standing; Kunjun, by contrast, were relatively weaker in strength, and more easily... brought to conception.

Given Ye Shu's temperament, Jin Wang had originally assumed he too would be a Qianjun.

How very interesting.

The sharp corners of Jin Wang's lips curved up ever so slightly. Beneath the sweet, dense fruit fragrance of green plum, another entirely new scent began to unfurl through the forest.

The resonance-scent of a Qianjun was cold and fierce, intensely assertive — like liquor that had been sealed away for a very long time, mellow and rich.

Ye Shu let out an involuntary, tortured murmur.

He seemed to finally sense the dangerous aura emanating from this person and stumbled half a step back — only to be yanked forcefully back in.

The soft rustle of fabric and leaves against each other sounded, and the two of them tumbled into a patch of grass.

The black silk covering Jin Wang's eyes at last slid away, revealing those striking, cold and ruthless eyes.

Jin Wang looked down from above at the person held against him.

That fall had left Ye Shu's mind entirely muddled. His brows were tightly knitted, and he was still following his instincts and burrowing closer into Jin Wang's arms. His head lolled to one side, and the little mole at his earlobe had turned a deep, blood-red.

This was the mark unique to a Kunjun.

He hadn't even realized he'd entered his differentiation period — still as helplessly confused as ever.

Jin Wang cruelly ground his fingertip against that vividly colored mole, wringing out several sweet, soft murmurs.

Ye Shu could not endure this torment. He squirmed faintly against him. "Don't..."

Jin Wang's tone was mild. "Did tonight's matter have anything to do with you?"

"No..."

Jin Wang increased the pressure of his hand. "Say it."

"...I won't tell you." Ye Shu had been utterly burned through by the tide rising inside him. He buried his face in the man's chest and murmured hazily, "...You're standing there watching without lifting a finger to help. You're a terrible person. Why should I tell you anything."

Still that same air of unassailable self-righteousness.

Jin Wang was nearly provoked into laughing.

Over the three years since his ascension, Ye Shu had seemed like a changed person, opposing him at every turn. Yet tonight — he felt as though the Ye Shu of the past had returned.

That Ye Shu who had always responded to his every request, who had stayed by his side through years of hardship.

The collar of the person in his arms had come half-undone during the earlier struggle. Jin Wang finally raised his hand and covered it. "There is no one else here, only me. You tell me — what is to be done?"

Ye Shu let out a faint, soft whimper.

His answer came in the form of the fruit-wood fragrance, sweeter and denser than ever.

He had given up all resistance — like a fully ripened green plum, fragrant and overflowing, there for the taking.

Jin Wang gazed at him deeply and at last smiled, satisfied. "...Very good."

Moonlight filtered down through the canopy, scattering dappled shadows like thin gauze draped over the two figures held close together.

Jin Wang pressed a firm hold around the other's waist, breaking the soft murmurs at his ear into something scattered and faint. "Ye Shu. Ye Qi'an. You had better truly not have betrayed Zhen."

He lowered his head and closed his lips around the small mole at Ye Shu's earlobe, grazing and kissing it lightly, his potent resonance-scent flowing in.

Ye Shu's body trembled uncontrollably as he was drawn into Jin Wang's embrace.

As tender as lovers.

"Otherwise, Zhen will make you pay the price..."