#look I just think cougar Tengyu is a great idea

[tiger-tally]

I’ve pondered an ageswap AU where teen Wu Zixu flees to Wu after the execution of his family, and enters the service of embittered milf Ji Tengyu, who’s the power behind the throne for her comatose husband...Fugai, who, two decades ago, killed her brothers and Chenfeng in a palace coup and forcibly married her.

Tengyu needs help maintaining control of the court and the kingdom, especially with the rumors that she caused her husband’s current condition (she absolutely did), especially in the hopes of holding onto power and surviving the mess when he inevitably dies--she's pretty sure her revenge is going to end up killing her too, but she doesn’t regret anything she’s done, and until then she’s going to give things her damn best shot. She’s happy to exploit Wu Zixu’s abilities and his desire for vengeance against Chu to further her own goals. But at the same time, they understand each other: survivors of great injustice and humiliation, pursuers of vengeance. And they can both show each other a few things about what you do with your life afterwards.

My basic idea of the plot: they solidify control over the court (possibly with Bo Pi’s help), cuck Fugai, have a kid before pulling the plug on Fugai--they'd have planned to have a son they could claim is Fugai’s (it’s a paper-thin excuse but no one dares say anything) so Tengyu could continue ruling as regent, but maybe they have a daughter like in canon and go fuck it, not risking another pregnancy with Tengyu’s age, she’s just gonna openly be the king now. Tengyu at last finds happiness and control over her own life/fate with her hot young thing. Also, with all the work of a coup already done for him, Wu Zixu might actually be able to conquer Chu before King Ping of Chu dies in this timeline. He gets his revenge but is also less brutal about the conquest and knows he has a wife and child to go home to, and retains more of his younger self’s personality than in canon.

Further thoughts, including some nsfw, under the cut:

It’s probably a darker, messier relationship than the canonical one. Tengyu grew up without anyone who could protect her, and she also does not have the same level of nurturing instinct as Wu Zixu to begin with. Wu Zixu is still young and untried and full of fresh grief and rage. Tengyu definitely feels at least some level of protective toward him, though--kid who’s also lost everything, who’s not the sort to make things easy for himself at court.

I’d still think they manage some kind of familial phase to their relationship due to the age difference and loss of other family, although they jump to the sexy phase a lot quicker than in canon. Tengyu is older and has her trauma in this timeline, but she does not have that level of self-denial...

They manage to treat each other in a dignified ruler/esteemed guest manner until they have their first screaming match and after that they’re pals.

Tengyu being stunned to receive a love poem from Wu Zixu--it’s the sort of thing she’d accepted she’d never get to have after her youth was taken from her, and she’s very aware of herself as an aging woman.

Wu Zixu being a careful considerate top and an adorable service bottom with the sex drive of a teenager...please imagine him trying to be good and not squirm while Tengyu edges him...

I think Chenfeng would be dead in this timeline--he was seriously injured in canon and no doubt only survived with prompt medical care, which Fugai wouldn’t have given him if he’d taken over the palace. But I imagine Shi Yiguang escaped the coup and lived in seclusion rather than serve Fugai. He can come back and help with the relatively advanced age pregnancy and any necessary birth control after that. Not sure where Goujian would be in this story.