A Wife's Longing

[Radiant, dazzling heiress * cold, restrained hypocrite] Marriage before love + rekindled romance / a battlefield of romantic rivals everywhere

After New Year's Eve, explosive news spread through Yunjing.

His Majesty had actually betrothed the free-spirited Princess Su Yunli, notorious for her endless romantic adventures, to Xie Suizhou, an Imperial Censor who kept his distance from women.

Su Yunli had never thought much of Xie Suizhou.

Born into a poor family, he neither took bribes nor lined his pockets. He was noble, arrogant, and an incorruptible official. But the man seemed to be her nemesis, always stumbling upon secrets she couldn't let outsiders know...

She thought angrily that her notorious reputation for wanton behavior in Yunjing must have come from him.

After marrying by imperial decree, she and Xie Suizhou treated each other with icy courtesy, like strangers, except in bed.

Once the lamps were out and the curtains drawn, she was powerless to resist. Su Yunli glared furiously at the fierce, domineering man with her dark eyes. Hadn't he said he kept his distance from women?

No, she couldn't take it anymore. She had to find a way to ditch this annoying man.

*

After their divorce, Su Yunli lived a comfortable, carefree life.

But sometimes, when she woke in the middle of the night, lonely and restless, her ex-husband Xie Suizhou would keep appearing in her dreams, where he was insatiable.

Su Yunli had never imagined she could get pregnant after being abstinent for so long!

How could this be!? Wouldn't people take it as an ill omen?

The servants in the manor whispered among themselves. The princess's former fiancé, General He, had come to admire the moon at her manor last week, and had stubbornly refused to leave when he got drunk...

And then there was Young Master He, who had often shared drinks and laughter with the princess during the years her brother's fate was unknown. It seemed there was something between them, too...

And that night, someone had seen a mysterious carriage at the rear gate of the princess's manor. The corner of a sleeve visible inside was embroidered with a lifelike python-dragon.

Su Yunli: "What nonsense!"

But with three people repeating a rumor, it becomes the truth. Even she was growing less certain: had she spent a night with someone after getting drunk?

After thinking it over, Su Yunli went to her ex-husband, Xie Suizhou. He was a true gentleman, upright and honorable, and also the most suitable person to be a father.

"Please help me. Let's get back together..."

She thought he would coldly mock her or lecture her about propriety and shame. Instead, he gently touched her still-flat belly and asked, unhurriedly, "If I don't help, what will you do, Li'er? Keep the child and get rid of the father?"

Su Yunli: ???!!!

- Both leads are faithful; happy ending.

- The heroine is universally adored, and there will be male supporting characters with one-sided feelings for her!

- In public, the hero is an upright, stuffy censor-in-chief. In private, he's a gloomy, insecure husband.

Next book: "A Vicious Match"

[Clingy, pampered beauty * blind, gloomy Crown Prince]

"That shadow really didn't sneak into the Crown Princess's room last night?"

"I retired early last night, Your Highness. I slept soundly all night."

After a long pause, a teasing laugh came from behind the screen. Crown Princess Li Nanying felt a little guilty.

As the eldest legitimate daughter of the Longxi Li clan, Li Nanying was elegant and refined, gentle and composed. She was betrothed to the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince, Wen Chu, was rumored to have murdered his elder brother to seize the throne. He was said to be cold-blooded and ruthless.

The Li clan feared the Crown Prince's fearsome reputation and worried that this imperial marriage would be a vicious match.

Li Nanying was afraid of her own secret.

She had a strange illness: her skin would sometimes become unbearably dry.

Three years ago, while studying at Zijin Academy deep in Fanshan, a handsome, blind young attendant had helped ease her symptoms. He couldn't see who she was, so she dared to act as she pleased.

Those stolen moments of leisure were secret and joyful. She thought she'd been cured.

After marriage, Li Nanying tried her best to be an impeccable Crown Princess. But at night, her old ailment grew worse.

Where could she find another blind attendant who didn't know her identity and would let her do as she pleased? She could only endure it night after night.

Until one night, as moonlight streamed through the window, a palm damp with moisture pressed against hers. It moved neither hurriedly nor slowly, lacing their fingers together. Its knuckles tightened inch by inch, like a lock, like shackles, like a restraint finally closing after barely containing its impatience.

There was a scar on his palm, left by the ruler she had struck him with years ago.

"A Lan?" Thinking she was dreaming, she murmured, "A Lan..."

That night, she slept sweeter than ever, as if something had swallowed her whole.

The rumors were true. Crown Prince Wen Chu was moody and unpredictable. Even though the illustrious Longxi Li clan stood behind her, he rarely showed himself. Now the two of them were separated by a screen, and probably couldn't even recognize each other.

Li Nanying lifted her eyes and made out a delicate bite mark on the Crown Prince's thumb...

She felt miserable. Even if this was an arranged marriage with no romance involved, he shouldn't be so indulgent...

Wait. Li Nanying's delicate brows drew tighter and tighter. Why did that bite mark look so familiar?

*

Because strange omens had appeared in the sky when he was born, Crown Prince Wen Chu had been raised in an ancient Buddhist temple from childhood.

The solitude of the mountains and the clear sound of reading were alluring. Zijin Academy in Fanshan was merely a white piece on the board in his game of concealment.

That highborn lady had disturbed his heart. She used him, depended on him, and became addicted to him.

Once it was over, she abandoned him cleanly and decisively, naively believing that the pitiful blind A Lan would never learn who she was.

He knew.

He knew everything.

What made her smile, what temperature made her furrow her brows: he knew it all.

In the Eastern Palace, the night was quiet and rain pattered outside the window.

Wen Chu sat on the edge of the bed, gazing at her in a lovesick trance, a smile on his face as his fingertips wandered inch by inch over her delicate cheek.

His touch was feather-light, as if he were handling a lost-and-found treasure, and as if he were making sure... she couldn't get away.

After a while, he leaned closer. His cold, hurried breath brushed her red lips. "Now that A Lan is gone, what will the Crown Princess do?"

Theme: Cherish virtue and uphold noble conduct