In the original timeline, the main character died to save the Emperor. The Emperor was very sad because he was probably the only person who genuinely worried about him without ulterior motives (excepting his eunuch). Miraculously, the Emperor travels back in time before the incident (present timeline) and meets the main character again and due to some actions, realizing the main character has ALSO traveled back in time. Cue the massive overspoiling of the main character and romance.

Savinng the Emperor's life by acting as decoy and getting killed even though, in the previous life, the emperor simply liked him a little bit with no deep emotions.

My God!!!! What a complete beast ^_^

We're given exactly 2 incidents in the past to work with in terms of this being a mutual romance and not a one sided and obsessive one. One, that he tells the emperor he's good looking while unwell, which doesn't mean much other than that the emperor is good looking. And two, that the MC calls him by name and kisses him while trying trying to take his outer clothes for completely non-romantic reasons. How else would a person take a grown man's clothes? You pretty much have to make them think there's a fun reason to allow it. In the absence of other evidence, this isn't enough to show anything but loyalty.

really felt bad for the emperor when it was described how he mourned every year for MC TT and how he strived to give the MC a life free of suffering and showering him with his love because of that fortunate second chance ;-;

uke

I started reading his perspective and I became reluctant to the fluffiness of this novel. Was Rong Huai Zhen really into this relationship? Did he actually even love Duan Ming Zhang? I don't like novels where the uke is forced by the seme to be in the relationship so this turned me off in the beginning. I finished the novel and by the guidance of Banana, I reread the story. Our protagonist, Rong Huai Zhen is a TSUNDERE. The revelation of the story is when you're told how he died, disguising himself as the emperor and sacrificing his life. Well, why would he, a coward, do that? Well, there's one implicit reason: love. He loved the emperor before the relife and showed the emperor the utmost genuine affection stronger than anyone else. That's when I realized that throughout the entire novel, where Rong Huai Zheng dreaded his own death, [My first hope ever since rebirth, was if he was also reborn, that would be great. Otherwise, I am really worried I will die again. God knows how much I don't want to die ah!] He never had the consideration to just abandon the emperor. Legit, his only way of survival is if Duan Ming Zhang is safe. [But but, if that moment really came, probably still have no way around it ba. I continued looking at Duan Ming Zhang with melancholy, continued staring until nose starting to feel sour, eyes starting to become red.] The author uses the poisoning incident to further explore our courageous coward's insight on love. [If you really loved someone, you can't wait to die on their behalf, how can anyone bear to harm the other with poison?] Gah, I just love how the author hides such foreshadowing and hints throughout the short story about such pure love.

seme