The Little Monk I Flirted With Is the Emperor

Li Chaoge, the late emperor's legitimate daughter, had hoped to meet her ideal husband when she came of age. Instead, she received an edict from her half-brother, the new emperor, ordering her to marry for peace and go far away beyond the frontier.

On the eve of her wedding, she set fire to the princess's residence and escaped amid the chaos.

During her flight, she found a young monk in a ruined temple, hunted down and near death. His features were like a painting. Even covered in blood, he clutched his prayer beads and chanted sutras.

Li Chaoge lifted his chin with the tip of her sword. “I'm headed somewhere no one knows me. I need someone to carry my bags. Are you coming?”

Wuchen looked up. “This humble monk… is willing to follow you, benefactress.”

They spent five years together. She used him as cover, and he relied on her to escape his pursuers. When she was injured, he tore his monk's robe to bandage her, his fingers trembling. When someone harassed her, he broke his vow against killing for the first time. Afterward, he knelt before the Buddha and recited sutras all night to atone.

The borderlands fell into chaos, and no one in the court could be relied on. Li Chaoge decided the time had come. She would fight her way back and save the realm.

“Little monk, I'm going to fight for the throne. What about you?”

Wuchen looked at her. “Wherever the princess goes, this humble monk will follow.”

On the day the army marching to restore the rightful ruler breached the imperial city, Li Chaoge stood in her armor and looked at the man being welcomed by a throng of admirers.

He had discarded his gray monk's robes and donned the imperial yellow dragon robe.

He wasn't her Wuchen. He was the crown prince of the previous dynasty, Xiao Jingchuan, the true ruler of the realm.

Li Chaoge sneered and drew her sword.

Xiao Jingchuan dismissed everyone, then walked toward her sword one step at a time. He reached out, took hold of its edge, and pressed it against his chest.

“Chaoge. You said you picked me up. That was the greatest fortune of my life.”

“I'll give you the realm.”

“And I'll give you myself.”