Jade Concealed in Pearl

1v1, both leads are virgins. Forceful pursuit and a ruthless romance. Bonus chapters are available when the main text subscription rate reaches 90%. Pirated readers, please don't comment. Show some respect, thank you. Blurb: Shi Yunyu woke up to find herself transmigrated into the body of a frail little girl who didn't even have a name. Her parents had sold her to the prefect's residence for two taels of silver, where she became a kitchen maid tending the stove. She comforted herself: It's all right. If I can just hold out until I'm eighteen, I'll be able to buy my freedom and leave. At the time, she was given her first new name: Cuicui. * Life as a kitchen maid in the prefect's residence was miserable. Being beaten and bullied was nothing unusual. Fortunately, Shi Yunyu was lucky. The old cook treated her kindly and often secretly slipped her something to eat. Year after year passed. Watching her, the cook sighed. “Cuicui, you must hide that face of yours.” Shi Yunyu had read plenty of stories about household and palace intrigue, so she knew that a person could be punished simply for possessing something precious. She began to conceal her appearance. When she finally reached eighteen, Shi Yunyu happily went to ask the steward to let her buy her freedom. Just as she thought she was about to leave the residence, the prefect's concubine suffered a miscarriage after being poisoned. The trouble had started with the apricot-blossom cakes the cook had made. The cook was bound and taken to the inner courtyard. Shi Yunyu looked at the freedom within reach, then toward the inner courtyard. In the end, she gritted her teeth and decided to help the cook first. * Shi Yunyu never did manage to leave the residence. After helping clear the cook's name, she knelt on the ground, thanked them for their kindness, and took her leave. The young man seated above her snapped his folding fan shut and pointed at her from afar. “Didn't Mother say she wanted me to take a maid as a concubine? I think she's a good choice.” Shi Yunyu looked up in shock and met a pair of maliciously amused eyes. Her face went deathly pale. He was Gu Lanting, a third-rank official who had only just returned to the residence, the eldest young master. And so she acquired her second new name: Ningxue. Later, she escaped, determined never to give herself to anyone. * Gu Lanting came from an eminent family. He was charming and refined, but beneath that cultured exterior lay a cold-hearted, faithless villain. He pursued power and profit single-mindedly, regarding romantic love as something beneath him. It was only after meeting Shi Yunyu that he learned even a sharp sword could not sever the threads of love, and that the heart's boat was forever capsizing in a sea of obsession. A little scene: In the third year after arriving in the north, Shi Yunyu opened a small tavern. That day, cold rain tapped against the windows. The streets were nearly empty, and she leaned over the counter, working an abacus. A slender hand lifted the bamboo curtain. She raised her eyes lazily, and the blood in her body froze in an instant. The visitor wore a green robe and held a plain umbrella. His sleeves were damp with rain, as if brushed by spring mist. He stood at ease, smiling warmly. “Ningxue, it's been years. I hope you've been well.” Shi Yunyu stepped backward, gritting her teeth as she spat, “Who is Ningxue? My name is Shi Yunyu!” She was the Yunyu in “Jade within stone makes the mountain shine,” not the Ningxue in “Her fragrant skin, pale as snow, shows through her gauzy dress.” ［A charming, cultured villainous powerbroker vs. a resilient, unyielding woman who transmigrated］ Reader's guide: 1. An alternate-history setting / 1v1, both leads are virgins / happy ending 2. An over-the-top, melodramatic forced-pursuit romance. The male lead really is a villainous hypocrite (truly a villain, underlined for emphasis). 3. The female lead is stubborn as a rock, and isn't written to be perfect. 4. Both the female and male leads suffer. If this isn't your thing, read with caution (physical and emotional suffering for both). Fans of either lead should definitely proceed with caution! 5. Please don't bring up other stories in my comments, and don't bring up my story in other writers' comments. Please don't derail discussions. Thank you. 6. A third-rate author writing third-rate romance, writing to indulge my own tastes. If you have high standards for prose or plot, proceed with caution. 7. No unsolicited writing advice. There are countless good stories out there. If you don't like this one, just click away. You don't need to announce that you're dropping it. 8. Unkind comments and comments that disrupt other readers will be deleted. Anything else was deleted by a bot or an administrator, not by me. 9. Pirated readers, please don't comment. Show some respect, thank you. The original blurb inspiration dates back to 2025.9.4 and has been archived. Theme: No one is anyone else's appendage