Also titled "A Sigh in the Spring Breeze"
The Crown Prince has returned to the capital!
That's right, the Crown Prince who's a master of both letters and arms, whose looks are said to be unmatched, and whom countless women in the capital dream of marrying!
What a surprise! The Crown Prince went to the border five years ago and was never heard from again. There wasn't even any word when the late emperor passed away. We thought the Crown Prince had already...
No! The Crown Prince is in perfect health, and looks almost exactly as she did five years ago!
What wonderful news! Hey, why does your face look so strange?
Ahem... There is one difference.
What difference?
The Crown Prince is dressed as a woman. She was a woman all along!
The Serious Version
Zhou Ruopu was the Crown Prince, revered by all from a young age.
No one knew how much effort the radiant Crown Prince had put in to reach her position.
But it didn't matter much to her.
To her, most people were just insignificant passersby.
Looking back over her twenty-three years, Zhou Ruopu could think of a few people who had left an impression on her, aside from her blood relatives and those who had been close to her since childhood.
One was the son of the Xie family, whom she'd fallen for when she was young and foolish. She really had been taken in, only to have the tables turned on her. She would certainly settle that score with him.
And speaking of him, there was also the only son of the Xue family, the richest family in Huazhou.
Zhou Ruopu hadn't spent much time with him, but she still remembered him because Xue Xi was the first person she'd tried to befriend, only to be rejected.
She'd met plenty of young masters, but never one with such a temper.
She never expected that when she returned to the capital, at the end of her road, she would become entangled with him.
He said, “Your Highness, I have feelings for you.”
Zhou Ruopu nodded impassively and said, “I know.”
Many people had feelings for her. If she had to respond to every one of them, she wouldn't have time for anything important.
Xue Xi smiled and said, “All right.” In fact, he never once crossed the line, right up until she ascended the throne and all was at peace.
Leaning against the garden railing, Zhou Ruopu called him over on a whim.
“Your Majesty?” He bent down, waiting for her instructions.
“Lord Xue.” She propped her head on one hand and studied him. “I think the position of Chancellor alone may not be enough for you.”
Xue Xi smiled. “Then what does Your Majesty have in mind?”
Zhou Ruopu grabbed his lapel and pulled him closer, meeting his smiling gray eyes.
“Would you like to be Empress?”
-
The male lead's perspective:
Xue Xi was a genius.
Only son of the richest family, the Chancellor's star pupil, top scorer in all three imperial exams: he was sure he was destined for greatness.
The only thing that bothered him was that dazzling Crown Prince.
His family was wealthy, and Zhou Ruopu was the Crown Prince, with all of Huazhou at her feet.
He was a gifted writer, yet his mentor skipped over his poems to praise Zhou Ruopu's schoolwork.
He was skilled in martial arts, yet Zhou Ruopu shot an arrow through the bullseye and smiled at him, saying, “You win.”
Because Zhou Ruopu was around, he could only accept the indignity of sharing second place among the capital's most talented young men with the son of the Xie family.
Raised in luxury, he had never endured such humiliation. As a teenager, he took advantage of his family's status as the richest in Huazhou and spoke sarcastically whenever he met Zhou Ruopu, until even the kindness she put on for show was impossible to maintain.
Yet when she really stopped appearing in front of him and instead chatted happily with that Xie boy, he got angry again.
The young master hadn't yet figured out how to get along with her when the Empress passed away. To ease her grief, the Crown Prince went to the border to defend the country.
She left for five years, without a word.
Five years later, he stared in shock at the familiar face before him. His thoughts churned, but in the end, only one sentence came out:
“Your Highness.”
“Your Highness, you are the Crown Prince. When the new emperor ascends the throne, you will be the ruler of all under heaven.”
Whatever you've been through, whether you're a man or a woman, you are the Son of Heaven.
I will do everything in my power to help you ascend the throne.
[Brilliant Crown Prince × Proud Young Master, Only Son of the Richest Family]
[Shrewd Empress × Devoted, Sincere Chancellor]
* No angst, all cannon fodder, straight to the throne
* The female lead is not a virgin, and she had a relationship with the second male lead
* Under 70,000 words, updated regularly
Theme: The strength and confidence of women
