After the Cold, Powerful Minister's Maid Ran Away

*[Stubborn, Honest Maid x Noble Young Master as Pure as the Breeze and Bright as the Moon]*

The powerful one bows his head | Coercion | SC | Regret and pursuit | Scheming beneath a handsome facade

Baosheng is a kitchen maid in the Cui household. All she wants is to buy her freedom and marry her cousin.

But the Cui family's Second Young Master, Cui Lang, has returned to the estate after being posted away. The old madam takes one look at Baosheng chopping wood beneath the eaves and decides she is just right to become her grandson's bedchamber maid: graceful, beautiful, and proper.

Baosheng cannot escape her fate. With a small bundle over her shoulder and tears on her face, she enters Cui Lang's courtyard.

She nervously observes all the rules. Beneath the bed curtains, she does not even dare to open her eyes. Only once, when he leaves her utterly undone, does she sob and cling to his shoulder, begging him to let her leave the estate someday.

The man pauses, then gives a cold laugh from amid the shadows. "All right."

At last, Cui Lang is about to discuss a marriage alliance. Baosheng is overjoyed. Kneeling before him, she begs him to keep his promise. But the young man, newly sated, calmly tears her indenture contract to shreds right in front of her.

"You've been in my bed," he says, his voice so gentle it chills her. "Who else could you possibly marry?"

Baosheng cries, then escapes under cover of night.

-

Cui Lang is as pure as the breeze and bright as the moon. A heaven-blessed favorite since childhood, he has never truly cared about anything.

When his grandmother chooses a bedchamber maid for him, Cui Lang lazily surveys the girls and picks the kitchen maid who has repeatedly avoided him.

He never expected the girl to be as stubborn as the fire poker she uses. After countless times beneath him, she still dreams of leaving the estate to marry.

For a moment, Cui Lang cannot tell whether she is playing hard to get or truly unwilling.

After his anger passes, he decides to punish her by taking great pleasure in wearing down that obstinate, uncooperative streak. But gradually, he grows addicted to her, craving her soft body and the occasional smile that makes her eyes curve.

After much deliberation, Cui Lang decides to raise her to the rank of concubine and give her a bright future. But she runs away for the sake of some crude outsider, treating his sincerity like worthless trash.

For the first time in his life, Cui Lang has his dignity trampled underfoot by a servant girl.

In an instant, his heart twists with pain, and jealousy consumes him.

-

Baosheng risks her life swimming across the freezing river and finally makes it to Jiangnan. She has only just met her cousin and has not even had a chance to speak when the courtyard gate is smashed open.

Several black-clad guards rush in. A tall figure emerges at an unhurried pace, dressed in a dark cloak and jade crown, his face cold as frost.

Cui Lang, who should be celebrating a splendid wedding in the capital, advances step by step. He forcefully pries apart the hands of the two who are clasping each other, then locks the terrified Baosheng tightly in his arms.

"Come back with me, and I'll leave him intact."

Baosheng's legs give way. Terror tears through her to the core.

Tip:

The male lead will go against the female lead's wishes. He is a typical proud, powerful man, a domineering patriarch with authority in a feudal society. The female lead is resilient, honest, and from humble roots. She is rather conventional and stubbornly sticks to her principles, though she will gradually awaken, little by little. There will be a child.

Theme: Do not go against your own heart.