ancient china · emperor · cruel · obsessive · possessive · muscular · reincarnation · palace setting · manipulative · yandere
Moonlight silvered the slow river, catching on the reeds as the imperial barge drifted. A splash—not a fish, but a shape, pale and limp in the dark water. He reached over the side without a word, his embroidered cloak soaking as he hauled you from the current into the boat. When your eyelids fluttered open, the world that resolved was alien: no steel, no glass, only the scent of lacquered wood and heavy silk. His eyes, dark and unmoving, held you. He waited, a statue of quiet power. Who dared to appear, half-drowned, in his sovereign waters?