Nah he just didn't know how relationships and emotions go
Exactly, I’m not justifying his rape and torturing by no means. But he’s currently finally learning after having noone to love and teach him things
Ya and it was emphasized again and again that Jins and Humans were very different. And it looked like the old Emperor did all those things in the past to get the uke's attention. I'm not saying that it's right. Like killing his friend and not letting uke go to his father, all those things are wrong by humans standards. But Jins don't have friends and family. They only have a lord they have to serve and a lover. They don't even care about their kids. So it makes sense why he kept wanting uke to only think of him. And he broke his ankles so that uke wouldn't leave him. Now that is too much. I have no justification for that. Other than that, pretending to be dead must have been a desperate attempt by the emperor to get the uke's attention cuz by that time the uke started to seriously reject the seme. So he must have thought that this way he could get the uke to worry about him and fuss over him. But the uke killed himself. I want to see how the seme must have reacted then.
Y'all, he ain't a "new" seme, he's still the same bastard. His nature is still the same he's acting nice to get in his pants. Methods are different, but the goal is ultimately the same, to own and have him. Romance is dead.