This will be long! They are the antiheroes pair and my favorite pair. Their side of story highlight moral failure, moral dilemma, moral ambiguity etc. A morally grey couple. Despite being the main pair, they have the feel of supporting characters even if the plot moves according to their actions like Tian Ya Ke's WenZhou. You'll see Zuo Yunqi the younger one risking his life to save others in morally grey means but got nothing in return and Lou Zhu is a schemer who watch the drama unfold. They have questionable methods but they are not downright evil the more you dissect them. You can say they are bad people but not evil. I say Zuo Yunqi was used to Jianghu's survival of the fittest but manage to formed a good heart with his experiences but the only way he know how to execute it is in morally gray means so his actions has good intention while Lou Zhu is a transmigrator who decided to save himself and abandon his consience after facing discrimination toward transmigrators but from time to time you'll see him hesitate.
Surprisingly, this pair is all about being inspired by your romantic interest to survive and be stronger even if they are already struggling to live or get by. They are survivors. They are in sync, and have deep understanding of each other. They are known as the "medicine pair", not because they are good to each other in good way but more like even if they are poison/flawed they manage to be a solace to each other to never give in to how cruel the world is. Remember what Lou Zhu said in the ending? A poison can also save others. That's them.

They have at least 10 years age gap but I think readers misunderstood them because of their age gap and assume its an underage romance story. Trust me. They look problematic at first but they are actually a sweet jaded couple if you can look at the nuance of their characters. 18 is the age of consent in ancient china's standards so its age gap romance and tbh nothing explicit I expect worse happened to them during that period in main story. They just confess indirectly to each other in form of teasing without giving a clear answer. That's it! Their age was never even mentioned in the book's text! You will only get that Zuo Yunqi is younger than Lou Zhu in the story. If being 18 is still not fine with you, they only end up together in the extra story that happened 5 years after the main story ended so they are both fully-fledged adults already with actual jobs when they implied to be official for real. One is a Pangmen leader and another is someone with high position in court. Zuo Yunqi is estimated 23-24 years old already in the extra story. Lou Zhu was also describe handsome looking, and didn't changed at his 30s so he must look youthful. When I said youthful, I mean he look he's still at his 20s. So both of them are "20s looking with same height" couple. Take note! Zuo Yunqi, the younger is the one who returned and continue pursuing Lou Zhu after the main story. Lou Zhu is fine writing letters with him for updates and he stated the letters are not even romantic because their enemies might read it and use it against them. Its like pen pal!! Zuo Yunqi also initiate their first kiss in his 18 before leaving Lou Zhu at the end of main story so Lou Zhu will never forget him and his promise. As official couple in the extra story, they accepted the fact they will be separated in their lifetime even if they love each other so its easier to see them as end game couple. Sure, they reunited sometimes but its rare. Their extra story describe their love story being similar to the myth of Cowherd and Weaver Girl where the star-crossed lovers only permitted to reunite "once" every year because of their forbidden love. Their story is also possibly inspired from the classic The Water Margin's Song Jiang and Li Kui's end. Song Jiang is like Lou Zhu who's in high position but got poisoned and Zuo Yunqi is Li Kui who wish to bury beside him after he drink the same poison.

We don't really know when exactly they fall in love with each other but I think they fell in love over time. I mean, they are always together! They love having platonic quality time together such as eating dinner and playing cards. After all, Zuo Yunqi used Lou Zhu's Best Tower as his refuge to hide away from his father. They already like each other in the medicine arc in emotional sense but fell in love harder at the end of the main story. I think people find them ambiguous because they wear masks to hide their true feelings but that's part of their character. They keep lying to each other but both are aware of it and understand the nuance behind it. I love it though because its fun to peel the layers of their actions and it proves that they are specially designed only for each other. You need to learn to read between lines and watch the changes of their interaction to appreciate them. For example, ZYQ refer to Naihe incense as "his payment" to LZ in the beginning but at the end of story he refer to it as "his gift". That means he realized he like LZ but just hide it well or his feelings changed. Also what do you expect? ZYQ is raised in Jianghu so it make sense he will not reveal everything to others easily just like how he refuse to say anything when LZ asked his ulterior motive in pretending as transmigrator. LZ on other hand, afraid of trusting natives because they are discriminative over transmigrators. In the beginning, Lou Zhu was only interested in ZYQ because of his assumptions if he knew ZYQ in his previous life since ZYQ is using Lou Zhu's memories/knowledge for his fake transmigrator persona. The book made it clear that Lou Zhu is interested in Zuo Yunqi because of his fake transmigrator persona not because Zuo Yunqi is young and want to pursue him. Of course, Lou Zhu miss his home naturally and he's one of the earliest transmigrator in Da Liang so that's why he want information from ZYQ about his original world. He's homesick! The donghua cut this scene so its understandable donghua only watchers didn't understand why they end up together. ZYQ is the first closest thing to Lou Zhu's world that he met after transmigrating but sadly, its all fake! Lou Zhu is heartbroken! So yes, he didn't see ZYQ as a kid but a fellow transmigrator he enjoyed company with. When Lou Zhu finally noticed ZYQ likes him in the main story near the ending, he use it as reason to persuade ZYQ to continue living by offering himself to be protected because Wuxia heroes like ZYQ prefer to protect others than be protected. This is his own way of pursuing ZYQ. Later, he explained its just a joke after finding out that ZYQ no longer can use martial arts because he don't want to burdened ZYQ to things he can no longer do. He felt bad that his words was taken too seriously by ZYQ in a way it risk ZYQ's life. He miscalculated. He don't want that to happen again but seeing that ZYQ is actually serious about courting him he feel its not in his position to reject him and its rude to ZYQ's feelings/efforts. Like ZYQ sacrificed his skills for Lou Zhu so rejecting him will be awful? He came to like ZYQ too so he just let ZYQ do whatever he want to do. So from what I see, his only wish is ZYQ to stay alive and to take care of himself. Lou Zhu describe his love selfish though even its the opposite of his action because he want ZYQ to stay alive despite how cruel the world is to someone righteous like him but tbh ZYQ followed him in Reverse Transmigration official AU extra after Lou Zhu died because of food poisononing and Lou Zhu was angry about it because he thinks 2 lifetimes is enough. So I say ZYQ is also selfish in his own way if he want Lou Zhu to transmigrate once more for 3rd time but with him this time lol That's why they are perfect for each other. I'll use what ZYQ said to Lou Zhu in the donghua. "Do you wish to die? Dream on." That's them. Their dynamic is so funny to me because Lou Zhu is like "I just want him to live even if we're not together. He's a bird who deserve to be free not caged so I support whatever his aspiration." and Zuo Yunqi is like "I don't know if I still can be a good person. I decided to meet you after 5 years to continue our romance so why are you not making a move?" but ZYQ is also like "I can't be with you because I want to help you and by staying by your side I can't do that but I truly like you so I hope you understand my love language. I know it will be hard not being together but its harder for me if I stayed with you and not doing anything to help you nor protect you. That's the only way I can show you my love so please let me. Don't forget I'll always love you and everything I do is for you to be safe. My promise to you when I was young is still valid and my feelings will never change even if we rarely see each other." so yeah, they ended up in a long distance relationship. Their relationship works somehow. As long as they keep sending letters to each other, why not? Communication is the key! Lou Zhu also planted some of his spy to watch over ZYQ in Pangmen so he'll know if ZYQ is really in danger or not. Lou Zhu can't leave his position because wealth is the only thing he can use to protect both of them because he don't know any martial arts.

Also! I want to share that they have the sweetest smut scene in Danmei ever but sadly its deleted. Its not a kink smut but affectionate smut. Its not included in the print because censorship. Lou Zhu is such a sweet but funny gong who attempted to use a medicine ointment as lube in their first time. I rarely like nianshang (older top) so its very surprising to me to love Lou Zhu. Zuo Yunqi on other hand, he love getting tender soft kisses from Lou Zhu. He's shy at first because I think he's afraid his "no longer beautiful" body thanks to the poison he tasted over the past years and battles he fought in Pangmen to secure his sect leader position is not desirable so what Lou Zhu did is he kissed/licked his scars and wounds to show respect. Once Zuo Yunqi was sure Lou Zhu still likes him, he become more bold and flirty as if his confidence when he's still a youth came back to him around Lou Zhu. I really love the metaphor that Zuo Yunqi thinks he's poisonous himself but Lou Zhu describe him that he smell and tasted like bitter medicine because Zuo Yunqi put medicine in his wounds/poison. Remember, they are the "medicine" couple for a reason! Like you tasted bitter but you're the one I like. This act also debunked the allegations against Lou Zhu that he only like Zuo Yunqi since he's young because the one he embraced is the undesirable jaded adult covered with ugly wounds and scars. Not the beautiful youth who he first met. Hence why I find their intimate scene very beautiful! I thought I will not like Zuo Yunqi as a shou because I prefer him as gong. I prefer nianxia trope (older bottom) but I think he really need Lou Zhu to touch him badly so he will know he's loved despite losing his martial arts and no longer has a beautiful youthful strong body. I still believe he will top Lou Zhu one day because when ZYQ is stubborn about something, Lou Zhu usually gives in so Lou Zhu will definitely let him do it. I believe in you Zuo Yunqi!! Show him you can be a gong!

The collateral damage pair with Bad Ending. Both of them also died in the earlier chapters so Zhou Rongqi know what will happen in the story later on and prepared for it. The sad thing about this pair is they are standing at the opposite side of most of the main characters so its expected they will suffer more but they are not really the bad guys because Zhou Rongqi's revenge is actually justified but he used morally gray means by joining the villain's side aka evil organization who brainwash people. You can't blame that to Lou Zhu's side because its ZRQ's decision to join Tuo Huang and Zuo Dao's side. Their different morals clash a lot because Li Ke is a good person who will hurt himself rather than hurting others and Zhou Rongqi don't mind hurting others for his loved one or for the sake of his family's justice. Yet Li Ke can't do anything to stop Zhou Rongqi because his hatred is that deep and so, Zhou Rongqi died with regrets and Li Ke stayed with him until his last moment. If LouZuo's love is they live for each other, YuKe's love is they die for each other. They are the "Poison pair" meaning the inluence of other resulted their fall. I'm not saying they are a bad influence to each other but more like the softness they felt for each other is the reason why they let their guard down.
I think the charm of this pair is Zhou Rongqi live for revenge but died for love aka him protecting Li Ke and Zhou Rongqi is well aware he turned into a bad man who don't deserve someone like Li Ke. Its an angst fest! At least Zhou Rongqi know what he's doing is wrong and wish for Li Ke to never meet him again in their next life but Li Ke is like "Nope. We better meet next life". To add to the angst, Li Ke's body is originally owned by Zhou Rongqi's best friend who he try to save before but failed so at least he manage to save Li Ke this time and even planned to be with Li Ke until the end in form of Chunfeng ci bi dagger. So Zhou Rongqi is not technically dead? His soul is always with Li Ke all this time. In the extra, it was revealed he planned to make his soul trapped into the sword so he will not cross over after death and watch over the alive Li Ke. In that way, he didn't break his promise to travel around together. People might hate that they got bad ending but the name of their ship/chapter is literally called "poison" so their tragic ending is expected very expected. It make sense if they are poisonous to each other. Its their brand. Angst is their brand.

Sadly, they are not a favorite of mine even if I like them because Zhou Rongqi might be interesting but Li Ke's role fall short, nothing's really happening in his character aside from accompanying Zhou Rongqi in his revenge arc after he part ways with Zuo Yunqi in Tuo Huang's introduction chapter which is a shame because I like Li Ke's character in the beginning. I wish he joined Lou Zhu's group against Tuo Huang. Like assisting the healer Dr. Tao Zhongchi? After Prince Yu's death, he disappeared then appeared again when they are saying goodbye to each other discussing their future plans. Maybe if they explore the uncomfortable feeling of Zhou Rongqi falling in love with the soul who's using his friend's body? That will pique my interest but it was not explored sadly.

My second favorite couple. The actual morally good funny protagonists who care about others. They are usually seen saving other characters or witnessing a conspiracy by accident. They are good scapegoats for morally questionable characters like Lou Zhu or Lin Kai. They have this ordinary people but hardworking energy. They are very likable! Xie Liang is yes a rich young master hero with feminine beauty who gets nervous or angry easily but inexperienced compare to Long Daxia. Fan Aiguo is not the best writer and just someone forced to plagiarize a novel by Lou Zhu to promote equality between transmigrators and natives but later realized he want to write his true feelings to help others. Even though they are not the best option in their field, they both have good intentions and have character development. They have the inexperienced graduate looking for a job and tired salaryman dynamic. They are bickering friends to lovers pair. I love that their story started with them assuming having two souls in one body as sickness but somehow it turn into they are more stronger when they are together. Their sickness and flaws are their strength. Both are implied they have romantic feelings for each other but they are not aware of it nor confess so its funny to watch them together grow to care about each other more. They are very cute and inspire each other similar to LouZuo. Unlike the donghua, there's really no love triangle in their story in the novel where a strong girl fell in love with Fan Aiguo.

The tallest guy and shortest guy among the characters. Introvert privilege older guy and extrovert jaded younger guy. I think they are the possibly canon married couple in the main story. The Heroes extra story only explore their first meeting but they are so married in their scenes in main story. Their extra story happened before their part in main story take place. I feel so bad when Long Daxia witnessed the Fuyang incident where he originally want to help others but other party use it to kill others. Way to destroy a righteous guy to become jaded. This pair is about finding the reason of their life in partner. That people are like puzzles where we just need to find the perfect missing piece to fill what's missing in our life. Finding love language that fits each other. We have Long Daxia who's pretty much a popular handsome hero loved by everyone but in reality he felt there is still missing even if he almost got everything and people only see him in his hero title. He's having midlife crisis even if he has good reputation as hero and have many achievements. He only realized what he's been looking for in his life when he became acquainted with Xiao Qian, a swindler who only care about money to survive and when Xiao Qian almost died because of Long Daxia's hero duty. He like Xiao Qian because Xiao Qian don't look at his handsome features and achievements but look at Long Daxia's earnings/hardwork and Long Daxia's Ding Ri side. It don't matter how much he make but as long as he earned something for him. It makes him happy. And so a hero decided to retire to live peacefully with his special someone. Its so funny that the public assume Xiao Qian is Long Daxia's only disciple. People, they are married!!

Well, these two is more questionable (pseudo-in*est, age gap) than LouZuo and angsty than YuKe. They first met when the younger is literally a child and the older one know how wrong it is. They have the guardian figure and the child he's taking care of type of story. Basically the child's parents were mu*dered and this neighbor, bamboo weaver has a debt to the child's parents so he decided to take care of this child who probably hate him for stopping him to take revenge but later formed a found family relationship. Its not everyone's cup of tea definitely. They didn't really end up together because the older guy take that secret in his grave and younger one also like him but he only realized its mutual or he really love him when the other guy is dead already. The younger one also heavily focus in his hatred and leading the Pangmen as adult so he's not always at home while the older guy spend his time left alone in their house most of his life as he grow older. Its a very tragic story. Its similar to LouZuo's long distance relationship where one of them visits the other even if they no longer live together but they never made it clear that both of them love each other romantically. There's no confession. After the older guy died, the younger guy visits his tomb frequently before he died himself and they are not even buried near each other but he carried the Chunfeng ci bi dagger in his tomb probably believing they will be together in death in that way since this small sword is known for trapping souls inside it. I guess their story is about being born in the wrong time so they can't be together. Its about bad timing and passed opportunity. Its all about regrets. Well, at least they shared the same surname so it look like they got married somehow lol They are the only couple that has a canon kissing scene if we exclude LouZuo's deleted smut extra.

Tbh its hard for me to read Lin Kai as character because he was describe as ambitious who want to achieve something and usurp power. He's more ambiguous than Lou Zhu! Because at least we get Zuo Yunqi's perspective that Lou Zhu is not downright evil but him??? Like I get Lou Zhu obsessing over wealth because that's the only way to protect himself and physically weak Zuo Yunqi but Lin Kai really want power for real?? This is only a conjecture but I think he got all of the achievements he can get so he can propose to Dr. Tao with confidence and for transmigrators equality because of his friend Lou Zhu??? So he did all of that for love??? I don't know!!!?? I still think he's a bad person though and worse than Lou Zhu but maybe he's a good friend. Dr. Tao rejected his proposal to marry him but she don't really fully reject him. She said if he can wait MAYBE she'll consider it after few years. Its a hopeful ending which I don't mind. Not all love story need to end up with marriage instantly.