The Cage Bird Escapes
Yan Cheng Tai Shou Sheng
(1) At the age of eight, Yan Zhi was sold into the palace and became the tyrannical emperor’s eighth personal attendant. The previous seven had all been beaten to death. The thirteen-year-old tyrant pinched his cheeks and said, "If you want to survive, you must pledge loyalty to me alone in this lifetime. Dare to have disloyal thoughts, and I’ll cut you down with one stroke." Yan Zhi nodded eagerly, patting his chest, swearing unwavering loyalty to His Majesty. To survive, Yan Zhi served diligently for ten years. When the tyrant was ambushed, he stood in front and was pierced through by a sword. When the tyrant went to war, he carried weapons, never stopping, always guarding. When the tyrant was served medicine, he gulped it down in one go, letting the imperial physician test it... Turns out, the medicine wasn’t poison—it was an aphrodisiac... Every time he did these things, the tyrant rewarded him with a pastry. Crispy on the outside, crumbling with a bite, and inside, snow-white cream as soft as a cloud. He tried to share some with the tyrant, but he’d always cross his legs, wave him off, and watch him eat. Yan Zhi licked the cream from the corner of his mouth, thinking—maybe the tyrant wasn’t so "tyrannical" after all. He was just bullied by bad people, just like how back home, his father and stepmother always bullied him. Oh, and the tyrant had a name—Xiao Cuan. As he ate his cream puff, staring at Xiao Cuan, he chanted in his heart over and over: *"Xiao Cuan, great guy! Xiao Cuan, great guy!"* (2) When Yan Zhi turned eighteen, Xiao Cuan purged all opposition, cleansed the court, conquered enemy nations, and unified the realm. It was also time to select consorts, establish an empress, and fill the harem. Yan Zhi dared not protest, accompanying Xiao Cuan through the initial, secondary, and final interviews. Xiao Cuan grabbed his hand and forced him to choose from the candidates—who would be his future master. On the empress coronation day, red silk draped the palace. Yan Zhi finally couldn’t hold back. Clutching the crimson wedding robes, he gazed at Xiao Cuan with pleading eyes. Before he could speak, his vision blurred with tears. Xiao Cuan gripped his chin, amused. "You want to be empress, too? To be empress, you need *‘Power 90, Talent 90.’* Even as a consort, it’s *‘Power 80, Talent 80.’* What can you do? Wait here obediently. I’ll bring you a cream puff when I return." He turned away, casually throwing on everyday robes, and attended the coronation as usual. Yan Zhi didn’t understand. He only felt his heart ache—ache so badly he could die. So he ran. (3) The day he was caught and brought back, Xiao Cuan locked him in the imperial bedchamber. Before him towered a mountain of cream puffs. Xiao Cuan kneeled on one knee, splitting a puff open and smearing cream on Yan Zhi’s lips. "Zhi-Zhi, take a bite. One bite, and the affection meter will refill." Yan Zhi looked up at the empty red bar floating above his head and seemed to grasp something. So this was the world as His Majesty saw it. So he... was never a great guy at all. *Initial, secondary, and final interviews: first interview, second interview, final round* · Old-school melodramatic novel where the husband grovels to win back his wife · The top is a transmigrator but pure in body and mind · The bottom will gain a career and friendships that drive the top to deadly jealousy; The top will pay with his life to win him back.