Synopsis
Jiang Yan is beautiful, beloved by her father and brothers, and the favorite of the Third Prince, a leading contender for the throne. She is the object of envy and jealousy among the noblewomen of the court.
The Fourth Prince, Cen Yuan, lost his mother as a child. Cruel, dark, and selfish, he is the least favored prince. He hates Jiang Yan, and resents how she is treated like a princess adored by everyone.
Even his Third Imperial Brother, who thinks the world of himself, is devoted to Jiang Yan and constantly courts her favor. Cen Yuan scoffs at him.
Then an accident leaves Cen Yuan drugged with a powerful aphrodisiac.
Furious, he drives away the women trying to approach him. When he turns around, he finds the woman his Third Imperial Brother loves standing timidly beside his bed, her face breathtakingly beautiful.
At a single glance, a wicked idea takes root in Cen Yuan's heart: he will make his future Third Imperial Sister-in-law his.
**
After accidentally falling into the water, Jiang Yan gains the memories of her past life.
Her eldest brother died in battle, and her second brother was left disabled for life.
The Third Prince, who loved her, lost his chance at the throne. The one who eventually ascended it was Cen Yuan, the Fourth Prince she had feared since childhood.
Because she had been too close to the Third Prince, her father was arrested and died miserably in prison.
Jiang Yan breaks into a cold sweat and decides to bring her whole family over to the side of the future emperor. Once she has made up her mind, the first time she meets Cen Yuan, he is drugged with a potent aphrodisiac and burning with desire.
Jiang Yan: “...”
Remembering that in her past life Cen Yuan had lost the ability to have children after failing to relieve the effects of the drug in time, Jiang Yan clutches her skirt and nervously approaches him, despite his furious shouting...
After countless nights tangled together, he makes her cry again and again. “Sister-in-law, what exactly did you drug me with?” His long fingers brush over her dazed eyes. Cen Yuan bites her earlobe. “How does it feel to be haunted by an evil spirit?”
**
Jiang Yan has always thought she must be Cen Yuan's savior. Without her, he would have given up on love and been left without an heir.
Until one time, when Cen Yuan is drugged again, he fights through the powerful effects and interrogates a prisoner for two whole hours. Only then does she realize just how deep his act goes!
--
Coming soon: Snow Hibiscus
Xue Fu is delicate as a flower, graceful and alluring, and the apple of the Duke's household's eye. Her first fifteen years go smoothly, until her marriage plans hit a snag.
Her parents arrange introductions, and she thinks the handsome top candidate in the palace exams is quite nice. The refined, scholarly top scorer would do, too.
They're both her type: refined in appearance and talented, sure to enjoy drinking tea, playing literary games, composing poetry, and painting with her in the future.
But disaster strikes when the emperor arranges for Kuang Bo, a formidable general, to marry her. He takes one look at the most beautiful noblewoman, Xue Fu, and insists that she is the only one for him.
Kuang Bo comes from humble beginnings and has distinguished himself in battle. His looks are nothing to complain about, but he is exactly the sort of uncouth brute Xue Fu hates most. He's tall and imposing, with a powerful build and bulging muscles. Just looking at him for too long makes her legs shake.
Back home, Xue Fu writes down all the ways they are incompatible in her little notebook: their ages don't match, their education doesn't match, their family backgrounds don't match...
After filling three whole pages, Xue Fu cries at home for three days and nights, reducing her parents to tears as they resolve to call off the marriage.
Then an accident leaves Xue Fu drugged, and she loses her virginity to Kuang Bo while barely conscious.
Since the two of them have already shared the most intimate act, the matter of breaking off the engagement is put aside. In the end, Xue Fu reluctantly marries into the General's household.
On their wedding night, their difference in size is so great that despite Kuang Bo's repeated attempts and the sweat pouring off him, they still can't consummate the marriage.
As Xue Fu lies there in cold sweat from the pain, she suddenly realizes something is wrong. She grabs his wrist, trembling with anger. “We never actually did it before we were married. I'm still a virgin, aren't I?”
For the first time, she sees panic on the man's face. As if struck by lightning, she refuses to let him near her for the rest of the night.
The next morning, Kuang Bo thinks Xue Fu is really going to leave him. He's about to lose his little wife.
But Xue Fu merely takes out her little notebook listing all the ways they don't suit each other and adds one more: their body types don't match (their sex life is extremely incompatible).
Later, Kuang Bo points to that line in Xue Fu's notebook and says lazily, “Even a mismatch in body type has its own pleasures.”
Xue Fu looks puzzled. “What pleasures?”
Kuang Bo whispers a few words in her ear. Blushing, Xue Fu scolds him, “You brute.”
Theme: Reborn amid the mire.
