Rejected and Jilted? I Became the Crown Prince's Mother

For the sake of his pure-hearted stepsister, the crown prince tore up their marriage contract in front of everyone and sneered, “Yu Nanyi, you're dull and boring. I'd marry a dog before I'd ever marry you!”

The whole capital waited to laugh at the Yu family's legitimate daughter after her engagement was broken.

But on the very night it happened, Yu Nanyi “accidentally” fell into the bamboo grove behind Lingshan Temple and ran into Xiao Xuandu, the founding emperor, who was traveling incognito and had been poisoned by a deadly toxin.

Rumor had it that the thirty-seven-year-old emperor was ruthless, had lived a life of abstinence for all thirty-seven years, and held his prayer beads like a deity descended to earth.

But that night, as the poison took hold and drove him out of control, he trapped her on the meditation couch. Prayer beads scattered across the floor, and his eyes blazed with a madness that could drown a person whole.

“Will you be the crown prince's consort, or my empress?”

The poison bound them together. For the next three months, she alone could cure him.

At first, the cold, severe emperor warned her, “We are only treating the poison. Don't entertain even the slightest improper thoughts.”

Later, even after their thirty-seventh treatment was over, the emperor still kept her locked in his bedchamber night after night. His large hand gripped the young woman's soft waist as he coaxed her hoarsely:

“Be good, Nanyi. The poison hasn't cleared yet... Save me again.”

When the crown prince, regretting the broken engagement, knelt in the rain before Kunning Palace and begged her to take him back, the palace doors swung open. Her usually stern and cold father emerged with his dragon robe half undone, one arm around the blushing, impossibly sweet young woman. He looked down at the crown prince with a scornful smile.

“You insolent fool! Get on your knees and pay your respects to your mother!”