LINKDING

<Summary: blockquote>Twelve years after the Chiyan massacre Jingyan, bitter and grieving, is urgently called back to the capital and presented by unexpected marching orders by his mother: he's to leave his military career and marry Mei Changsu, an eighteen-years-old maiden who claims to be a daughter of his mother's old friend, mysterious Mei Shinan. Jingyan is furious, but he's too filial a son to disobey his mother...</blockquote> ➤ NiF canon divergence fic where Jingyan is called back to the capital to an arranged marriage with a young maiden named Mei Changsu ➤ I love seeing what is and what is not different in the plans and in how the two of them relate to each other, in this changed context! ➤ some great cameos from other characters too ➤ what a fun and satisfying read! ➤ 10k words in length

<blockquote>Mei Changsu approaches sex toy acquisition the same way he does corporate espionage, public relations scandals, identity theft, and meal planning before grocery runs. (or, Mei Changsu wants to fuck Jingyan until he screams.)</blockquote>

<blockquote>“The seventh prince of Da Liang has arrived at Mount Langya.” Mei Changsu sat very still, his eyes wide in the face he had worn for only a few months now, since Meiling. Then he set down the ink brush and straightened his back. “Get rid of him.”</blockquote>

<blockquote>Jingyan was leaning in, one fist clenched on the table, and Mei Changsu searched for something to say that could ease the terrible solitude that Jingyan carried like a weight, and was also true, and would not compromise the deception necessary to achieve their goal.</blockquote>

<blockquote>The poem, Prince Qi later told Lin Shu, was a better lesson for Jingyan on how the quarry conflict had played out than any lesson he himself had tried to impart. “Normal lectures hit his thick skull and decide to march around rather than chance the passage between his ears,” Prince Qi said. "Who knew the solution was to get our Xiaoshu drunk and improvise verse?" His compliment lit up Lin Shu like a sky lantern – in one tipsy, inspired flight of improvisation, he had made his friend blush so gorgeously and pleased the Crown Prince. But Lin Xie had not been so delighted.</blockquote> ➤ mutual pining in their young days, and why it's a bad idea

<blockquote>Prince Yu challenges Jingyan to an unconventional drinking game.</blockquote>

<blockquote>The excavation of the tomb of Xiao Jingyan, Emperor Wu of Liang, reveals some ancient secrets on national television. The history nerds have their moment.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Jingyan knows what is happening to him. In the first hours, the sensation was familiar, the subtle burning under his skin distinct and memorable. He had asked his mother about the flower and the drug many years ago, omitting to mention that he had taken it himself. He had been a little alarmed by her description of the consequences if the pair who had taken it were unable to reunite — she had put it less euphemistically — but had decided to put it out of his mind. Whatever might happen over sixteen years, it couldn’t touch the bond between him and Xiao Shu. He hadn’t even been sure the drug had had much effect. The rest of that season had been filled with triumphs of strength and with heated, stolen nights, but who could say whether that was the drug or mere suggestion working on their youth and strength? They were already invincible. They were already in love.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Mei Changsu dies at the age of thirty-three on the fields of Meiling, as a military strategist for Commander General Meng Zhi of Da Liang who is leading the war against Da Yu. He wakes up on the fields of Meiling, wearing battle armor that's over a decade old and surrounded by men who have long since died, killed in an unjust battle for a crime they didn't commit.</blockquote> ➤ time loop doesn't stop looping, but it's still a satisfying ending

<blockquote>Prince Jing needs an heir but needs some help getting there... if only he had a trusted advisor to guide him, wink wink now with added Feelings (TM)</blockquote>

<blockquote>or, the famous strategist mei changsu plays xanatos speed chess against truth serum: the fic. </blockquote> ➤ yessss

<blockquote>Jingyan tucked his hands into his sleeves and said with serene and infinite calm, “I am going to kill him.”</blockquote>