Wasn't This Just a Deal? So Why Is the Prince So Smitten?

[Clever, Sweet Young Lady x Brooding, Powerful Prince]

Beloved and pampered since childhood, Shen Yiyue learns that she was switched at birth and isn't the real heiress. The Shen family can't bear to let go of the sixteen years they spent raising her, so they plan to marry her off to an elderly prince who abuses women.

To survive, she has no choice but to turn to Prince Jing Si, who has a grudge against her.

Yiyue clung to his waist and wept. "My lord, save me! I don't want to marry that old prince."

He Zhu raised her chin. "I'm no good man, and I don't do anything without getting something in return."

She rested against the man's knees, batting her eyes at him. "My lord is busy from dawn to dusk. Yiyue is willing to be your vessel and ease your weariness."

In public, Shen Yiyue called him her sworn brother.

In private, Shen Yiyue was his pampered pet.

She was a false heiress, but she still ruled the capital without fear. No one dared provoke her, and even the Shen family wouldn't dare lay a finger on her.

He Zhu knew she was ambitious. It was all for power, after all. If that's what she wanted, he would help her rise to the top.

But he never imagined that this obedient cat would not only kill her master, but marry someone else while he was away, and even personally end their child's life.

He thought perhaps he should lock her in a golden cage and kill all the men outside who tried to seduce her. Then she could be as obedient as she used to be.