The Crane Is Hard to Break (Disguised as a Man)

[Yielding and resilient, pampered and gentle young empress x aloof as a mountain peak, coldly feudal, obsessive minister] The powerful one bows his head | The chase-after-her crematorium | Savoring sweetness on the edge of a knife | Mutual salvation (identity revealed!)

Su Jin, the chief grand secretary of the current dynasty, held power over the court and was ruthless in his executions. He was a brutal official feared by the entire court.

He was aloof and proud, and had never been interested in women. As the regent's attack dog, he used the Son of Heaven to command the officials.

Everyone at court said a man with such a cold, hard heart was bound to spend his life alone.

No one knew that he often woke in the middle of the night, haunted by tender dreams of the same woman.

She was the late emperor's only daughter, Princess Chenliu, whom he cherished and loved to the depths of his soul, yet could never have: his moonlight, his beloved little sister.

This obsession drove him to the brink of madness, with nowhere to put it.

Then he was ordered to tutor the crown prince, and spent day after day in his company.

The prince was Princess Chenliu's twin brother, born of the same mother, but he was unruly and useless, shamelessly wanton, and nothing like the woman Su Jin remembered.

He was also intimate with the Hanlin scholar who had once been betrothed to the princess, the top candidate in the palace examinations. Their behavior was ambiguous, as if they were lovers.

To Su Jin, such outrageous conduct was simply unbearable and infuriating.

*

One night,

The crown prince got drunk and threw himself into his arms, behaving indecently.

He shoved him away with a sharp reprimand. Only after the prince had passed out did he reluctantly change his clothes for him.

The python robe fell away, and the sash came loose. The vermilion mole on his chest, belonging solely to Princess Chenliu, came clearly into view.

*

Later, the crown prince claimed to be ill and often skipped the lectures at Wenhua Hall.

At first, the top-ranking Hanlin scholar paid it no mind. But as time went by, he began to sense that something was wrong.

Dew gathered heavily in the deep palace.

In the courtyard beyond a single window, the top scholar anxiously searched for traces of his betrothed, the princess.

Inside the hall, candlelight flickered red. Su Jin's lips curved into a smile, and his eyes held an almost insane possessiveness. His expression was dark and terrifying.

He bent close to her ear and said hoarsely, "Why didn't you call me your husband today, little brother?"

"Have you stopped liking me?"

*

1. Both leads are each other's one and only. Happy ending. They are not registered under the same household.

2. An alternate, fictionalized Ming setting. No historical research needed.

3. The heroine grows over the course of the story and has a strong youthful feel. The hero is a patriarchal, feudal old-school man, pure in mind and body, and intensely possessive. The age gap is nine years.

4. The story has a serious tone. Court intrigue is background scenery, and everything serves the romance.

Theme: Mutual salvation