The Golden Sparrow in Captivity

Yan Qinghe had a habit: whenever she heard footsteps, she would stand up at once.

She had learned it from the Gu family. When her husband was alive, the soles of his boots were dusted with the sand of the northern frontier. The moment he stepped through the courtyard gate, he would always ask, “Where’s my wife?” and then say, “Sit down.” As soon as she sat, he would come over and pinch her cheek, his rough palm rubbing against her skin as he teased her for having been so well cared for all this time without putting on any weight.

Afterward, those boots never crossed the courtyard gate again. A broken saber came back from the border, and the coffin was empty. She spent a night in a daze, and the next day she was taken into the palace.

The footsteps in the palace were quiet, but they frightened her even more.

The emperor’s steps were the steadiest. His boots crossed the golden bricks almost without a sound. By the time she came to her senses, he was already behind her, one hand resting on the back of her neck, his thumb stroking the hollow there. His voice was gentle, impossible to read. “This child has grown thin again.” She called him Your Majesty, but he told her there was no need to be so formal. When she was little, she had even sat on his lap.

She could not clearly remember when that had been.

The Crown Prince always approached with impeccable propriety, stopping three paces away to pay his respects, his features composed. He personally checked the temperature of every bowl of medicine sent to her. When she thanked him, he lowered his eyes and said it was nothing, but his gaze always fell on the sash tied tightly at her collar.

Her cousin never used the front gate. He would climb over the wall, brush off the dust, and grin as he asked for tea. He had once taught her characters and poems, and belonged to the innocent days she could not bear to look back on. Now he was a Grand Tutor, yet still as irreverent as ever. But when she reached for her teacup, he would catch her wrist, then let go and watch her with a smile.

When she edged back, he would move closer. He never crossed the line, but he never gave an inch.

Yan Qinghe was not much of a talker. If the palace maids said she was obedient, she was obedient. If the royal family said she should stay and recuperate, she stayed and recuperated. She tried to escape twice. The first time, she was stopped at the palace gates. The second time, she never made it that far.

Rumors began to spread through the capital that the young widow of the Yan family was lucky, having won the favor of both the emperor and his son.

Some people even secretly called her a little bird.

Beautiful plumage, kept in a golden cage, dressed in silk, fed on delicacies, and showered with endless affection.

All a bird had to do was sing.

“A Golden Sparrow in a Cage, A Golden Sparrow’s Desire”

A few notes before you start:

1. Coercive possessive romance. All male leads are chaste, including the emperor. Every man remains faithful to the heroine. A battlefield of competing suitors. Not all the male leads appear in the blurb.

2. The story has periods of one-on-one romance. The plot serves the love story.

3. The blurb may be tweaked, but the outline will not change.

4. Wishing you great wealth.

“A money-grubbing Cinderella heroine × a bunch of men”

The greatest wish of Qi Nian’s life was to marry a rich man.

You could hardly blame her for being materialistic. Her parents died young, and she had to live under someone else’s roof. She knew all too well what it was like to have no money. So she diligently built up good karma and conscientiously did good deeds, waiting for Heaven to open its eyes and grant her a wealthy husband.

At a noodle shop, she came across a boy in shabby clothes. After hesitating for a few seconds, she pushed her own bowl toward him.

Only later did she learn that he was the notorious mad dog from the neighboring school. After his family went bankrupt, he refused to deal with anyone, but he would eat whatever she handed him.

At an upscale café, she dressed carefully to “happen” to run into the legendary heartthrob of the finance department.

He was cool and distant, with nothing in common with her. He looked at her as if she were no different from a vase.

But that evening, she received a friend request on WeChat: “I’m Shen Du. Table 2 this afternoon.”

She had no idea that this proud young man, who never gave anyone a second glance, spent every weekend sitting in the café all afternoon, just waiting for her to come back.

Her distant cousin Jiang Yuzhou was a risqué internet celebrity. He would put on lipstick and flirt with the camera in his livestreams, then send her money after logging off, a lollipop between his teeth.

“Want to marry a rich man? Good taste. Your cousin supports you.”

“Can’t land one? No worries. Come back and I’ll take care of you.”

He said it with a carefree smile.

Until one late night, he got drunk and collapsed into her arms, his voice hoarse and unrecognizable.

“Niannian, why don’t you just stay single?”

“...I’ll take care of you for the rest of your life.”

The gentle and refined student council president would bring her an umbrella on rainy days, then turn around and beat the rich second-generation who had been following her into the hospital.

The unruly genius senior, who hated having girls near him, let her sit in a corner of his lab and do her homework.

They gradually drew closer, fell for her, and battled one another in the open and behind the scenes.

Qi Nian carefully kept track of her expenses.

“Today’s expenses: breakfast from Shen Du, 0 yuan; milk tea from Lu Huaizhi, 0 yuan; umbrella from Gu Yanxiu, 0 yuan...”

“Total savings this month: 328.5 yuan.”

“Still needed for a down payment: 97,060.7 yuan.”

She had no idea that the men had already reached an understanding in secret.

If she wanted to marry a rich man, then they would become the one most qualified to marry her.

As for everyone else?

Out of the running.

“I want money. Lots and lots of money.”

“...And just a little bit of love.”

The blurb was screenshotted on October 24.

Theme: Be kind to others.