1. When Gu Xiaodeng turned twelve, he was suddenly told that he wasn’t the son of a traveling peddler, but rather the swapped young master of the Prince of Zhenbei’s estate.

Dazed and confused, he went to the prince’s estate to claim his family, thinking he would receive a warm welcome bonded by blood. Instead, his parents detested him for being slow-witted and s*upid, his eldest brother looked down on him for bringing shame to the family name, and his youngest brother loathed him for being crude and unrefined. No one wanted to acknowledge this relationship.

Everyone despised Gu Xiaodeng. Instead, they all adored Gu Jinyu—the boy who had taken over Gu Xiaodeng’s identity for the past twelve years. Gu Jinyu was strikingly beautiful, highly educated, sharp-witted, and skilled in both scholarly and martial arts. Gu Xiaodeng thought that if he could just become like Gu Jinyu, perhaps he would finally win their approval.

So, he studied tirelessly, trying his best to emulate just a fraction of Gu Jinyu’s mannerisms. Unfortunately, his natural talent was limited, and his efforts only earned him the mockery of others, who pointed at his nose and called him a “copycat.”

2. The following year, the estate established a private academy. Many young nobles came to study and stayed at the estate temporarily; they always took pleasure in bullying him. Among them, there was only one clean, elegant, and handsome young master who didn’t look down on him. Gu Xiaodeng fell in love at first sight. He secretly and cautiously harbored this unrequited love for several years, unable to resist visiting him constantly.

The young master never minded his clinginess and tacitly permitted Gu Xiaodeng to overstep his boundaries time and again. He told Gu Xiaodeng that he didn’t mind his dullness or crudeness. He even said he liked him.

For the sake of this affection, Gu Xiaodeng threw himself toward the young master like a moth to a flame.

Until one day, he accidentally overheard the young nobles chatting and laughing behind his back:

“Mingya, you’ve been getting so close to Gu Xiaodeng, have you tasted him yet? Is he as good as the young boys at the Spring Breeze Brothel?”

“Not even close. He can’t compare in any aspect. He doesn’t know how to please a man, his voice isn’t pleasant enough, and his waist isn’t soft enough.”

“Really? How about this: once you’re bored of him, Mingya, why don’t you push him my way to play with?”

Gu Xiaodeng heard Su Mingya reply, “Whatever you want.”

Panic-stricken, he turned around and ran. Completely numb and disoriented, he slipped and fell into the freezing mid-winter pond. After he was finally pulled out… He woke up to find he had time-traveled seven years into the future.

3. That night, Gu Jinyu—the now overwhelmingly powerful Prince of Dingbei who ruled over the imperial court—burned the spirit tablet of his “Deceased Wife, Shanqing.” He then tightly held Gu Xiaodeng with one arm while trying to feed him medicinal soup with the other.

Gu Xiaodeng was delirious with a high fever, his cheeks flushed bright red. The moment he cracked his eyes open, a stream of tears suddenly spilled over, splashing into the medicine bowl. “I want to go home… I want to be a peddler, I don’t want to be the young master of the Prince’s estate…”

With bloodshot eyes, Gu Jinyu spoke frantically: “Then I’ll be the merchandise. Sell me first.”

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