Sunken Pearls, Shattered Jade | Coercive Love

Before she turned twelve, Qingyuan was a noble young lady of an illustrious family, a jewel of the capital.

Overnight, her father and brothers were convicted of crimes, and she was sent to the palace service, where she became a lowly servant.

From sweeping snow from Taiye Lake and scrubbing the paving stones of long streets, to picking lice off the deranged, deposed concubines in Yongxiang, she did every filthy, exhausting job that others refused to do.

At last, in the tenth year of the Xianyao reign, a general amnesty was declared, and a hundred palace women were released.

Qingyuan spent all her savings to secure one of the places.

Xiao You, Prince of Qinghe, was a scion of a powerful and noble family, proud and distinguished. He was as handsome as a jade tree in a garden, yet his gaze was as cold as a deep pool in a mountain ravine. It never lingered on any woman.

On the day of the amnesty, spring was in full bloom. At the palace gates, a pair of eyes bright as spring stars caught Xiao You's attention and stirred his heart.

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Xiao You had never imagined that a convicted minister's daughter could make him understand what it meant to desire something he could not have. Eight years of hard labor had not made her meek. Instead, she had grown ever more unyielding, like plum blossoms defying the snow.

Those eyes, clear as autumn water, greeted everyone with a smile. Why did she look at him with nothing but hatred and coldness?

Qingyuan! Song Qingyuan!

The noble principles and proprieties he had always prided himself on came crashing down. He used every means at his disposal, choosing force over restraint.

He would break her spirit and shatter her pride.

He would wear away her nature until she could no longer speak a single cruel word.

On a misty spring night, the bathhouse was hazy with steam. At last, Qingyuan let him do as he pleased, docile as a little cat.

Xiao You gently stroked her hair and said with satisfaction, "When this is all over... we'll return to the capital, and I'll find you a respectable family to be adopted into."

After that, she would have nothing more to do with the fallen jewel of the Song family. She would simply be his favorite concubine.

With her damp hair falling over her shoulders, Qingyuan pressed her lips together and smiled, affection shimmering in her eyes.

On the day they set out, their boat was attacked. She threw herself in front of him to take a sword thrust, then lost her footing and fell into the rushing water.

They searched in vain, finding only a bloodstained green robe.

-

Several years later, in a small town on the frontier of Shuofang.

A Dai was a charming, resourceful woman, a beauty the Northern Border had never seen before.

When the hunter next door casually repaired the wall of her home, which had collapsed under the frost, she turned back with a smile, ready to thank him. Then her gaze abruptly froze in shock, as if she had seen a ghost.

The hunter looked over in confusion. A carriage had appeared at the mouth of the alley at some point, and a handsome, distinguished young man stood with his hands behind his back, watching them coolly. His presence was eerie and unfathomable.

Song Qingyuan...

I've found you.

Theme: A rugged spirit beneath a spring breeze smile.