[Dream of the Red Chamber] The Imperial Consort Has a White Moonlight

[Marriage first, love later | Forced love | A deceptively gentle, ruthless male lead who hides his strength]

[1]

For the sake of their family's wealth and status, the Jia family sent a young orphan girl staying with them to take the place of their own daughter, hoping she could marry up to the battle-honored Prince Su, Rong Chun, a prince of the highest rank.

But the prince had been confined to a wheelchair all his life. The rumors were worse: he was impotent.

The rear courtyards of his manor stood empty, and his attendants were all personal guards. No maid ever came near him.

By imperial decree, the orphaned Lin girl became his princess consort.

The three bows had barely been completed when the new bride coughed up blood and fainted on the spot.

The capital was in an uproar, and cruel jokes spread everywhere:

"We thought she'd be a widow in all but name, but the prince needs her to bring him good luck!"

"A cripple and a consumptive, truly a match made in heaven."

[2]

Deep in the prince's manor, husband and wife lived in separate courtyards, each nursing their own illness.

She upheld the virtues expected of a wife, ran the household well, and took devoted care of the prince. Everyone in the manor praised her as a worthy princess consort.

He plotted with his imperial brother to seize the throne, and his princess consort willingly played the obedient, pitiful wife in public while stirring up trouble behind the scenes.

The prince and his consort treated each other with respect and courtesy, and were even regarded as a well-respected, virtuous couple.

Her intelligence and tenderness were like a glimmer of light, shining into his heart, which had been dead for years.

A faint cough often drifted from the prince's study.

The prince would grant his consort indulgences far beyond a bowl of medicine, coaxing her into drinking it.

But the princess consort often sat alone by the window, weeping at the moon. Her poems were filled with the sorrow of a lonely wife longing for her love.

He secretly vowed that for the rest of his life, he would give his one and only wife the very best the world had to offer.

[3]

When the imperial edict came down, he was ordered to search and confiscate the Jia family's estate.

His usually frail, gentle consort actually held a hairpin to her throat and threatened to kill herself, begging him to spare her cousin Baoyu.

At last, he understood.

All her virtue and kindness had been nothing but dutiful performance!

Not a single one of all those tears and sorrows had ever been for him. She'd shed them all for that useless cousin, a pillow stuffed with embroidery!

Why should he accept this?!

Just because Baoyu could walk? Just because they had been childhood sweethearts?

Overwhelming jealousy burned away his reason!

He clenched the arms of his wheelchair, his knuckles turning white one by one.

A good-for-nothing like him deserved to be on his wife's mind?

Fine. Very well.

Since she was already his wife, in this life she would belong to him alone, in life and in death!

All he had to do was stand up again!

He had once conquered battlefields. Now he could reclaim the use of his legs for her!

He would make this moon, whose heart belonged to someone else, shine only on his realm from now on.

#The prince stands for love#

#First love vs. the one who leaves a lasting mark#

#She runs, he pursues; she can't escape even if she had wings#

◆ Reading Guide ◆

1. Both leads are pure and legally married, so there's no groveling arc.

2. This is mainly a romance, without any earth-shattering plot twists.

(The author apparently wrote a zombie Lin Daiyu so badly it broke them.)

3. As usual, Baoyu gets put through the wringer. The male lead might suffer too (50% chance).

4. It has none of the original Dream of the Red Chamber's details. This is a completely fictional setting.

◆ Forthcoming Li Wan story: The Red Chamber Widow's Daycare ◆

[Transmigrate into a book to save herself | Farming | Food | Cute kids | Guiyou version]

Li Wan, the widow of the Dream of the Red Chamber, young and widowed, with a heart as withered as a tree?

-- Not anymore. Even a barking dog will get kicked twice!

Li Wan, or Li Wan as she's known here, may have a similar name, but she's nothing like the character in Dream of the Red Chamber!

Her status as a chaste widow is her ticket to the moral high ground.

Refined and dignified is just an act. She's a social butterfly!

The Grand View Garden is suffocating her. She wants to live life to the fullest and break out of the mold!

She cuddles her little son Jia Lan, still just a toddler, spoils the adorable six-year-old Daiyu, who has no one else to rely on, watches the young ladies studying women's virtues in her room, and teases the silly Baoyu. Li Wan gets to enjoy raising kids with none of the pain.

But then she thinks of her troublesome mother-in-law, the stern old master, the self-serving servants, the lecherous uncles, and finally remembers the Jia family will be confiscated...

When Li Wan transmigrates into Dream of the Red Chamber, at first she thinks all she needs to do is handle household intrigue.

Then she discovers it's actually the Guiyou version... The family falls, they turn on each other, famine strikes, and dynasties change!

Half-informed Dream of the Red Chamber fan Li Wan: Make enough money, then run!

Theme: True love doesn't care who came first.