Spring Grass Never Falls

[Clever, play-dumb heroine x scheming, sharp-tongued madman hero]

Less than a year after marrying the Crown Prince, Fu Yin's father was falsely accused of betraying the country and defecting to the enemy. The Fu family had finally reached the moment when the rabbit was dead and the hunting dog was discarded. As the Fu family's Crown Princess, Fu Yin naturally could not be allowed to live.

So, as soon as the decree deposing the Crown Princess was issued and Lady Zhan took up residence in the Eastern Palace, Fu Yin immediately returned the favor by sending Li Tianyi a letter of divorce. Then she set fire to the place she loathed, burning it to the ground, changed her name, and personally set out to investigate the truth about her father and brothers.

The misty rains of Jiangnan, the vast yellow sands beyond the northern frontier, and the deep chime of camel bells in the Western Regions... These were all lands she had never seen.

The Crown Prince of the Central Plains came to the Lunu tribe in the Western Regions on the Son of Heaven's orders. Though he had no imperial entourage displaying the emperor's might, a small number of people knew of his visit, mostly high-ranking officials at the Lunu royal court.

Unfortunately, Fu Yin was merely a storyteller, one of those who knew nothing. She was in the middle of spinning a fantastical tale and was just about to pause for tea when she suddenly spotted an old acquaintance not far away.

Should they let go of old love and grudges, or settle the score?

When will one act of revenge ever end? Fu Yin considered herself a very magnanimous person, and was willing to choose the first option.

But clearly, His Highness the Crown Prince was not so magnanimous. He chose the second.

Fu Yin: I don't like you. Stop pestering me.

Li Tianyi: I despise myself too. We're alike.

Fu Yin: My entire family is guilty, my bloodline is in question, and I've faked my death to deceive the emperor. Nothing good will come of you being with me.

Li Tianyi: I've betrayed myself too, which counts as deceiving the emperor. So I suppose we're accomplices.

Fu Yin: ??? Crown Prince, stop going crazy!

The heroine fakes her death and escapes in the first few chapters. Most of the story takes place in the Western Regions after the reunion.

Yinyin will continue to grow.

[Reader's Guide]

1. SC, and the hero and heroine are both each other's first and only love, in body and heart.

2. Please note this potential landmine! The Lady Zhan character was an immature early plot device the author added to break up the leads' marriage alliance. She has no romantic feelings for the hero, whether one-sided or mutual (in practice, they share almost no scenes). Her entry into the palace is purely political, and she has her own romance.

3. No rivalry between women, a little rivalry between men.

4. Melodramatic fake death, reunion after a long separation, rekindled romance, and a hero who has to win back his wife.

5. HE.

6. A straightforward, open-minded story: no female virtue rules, no gender segregation, and no rigid "rules."

The financial framing case in the story and all its terminology were researched online. The logic is also far from rigorous. I'm not a professional, so please don't scrutinize it too closely.

Coming soon: Suitable for Both Light and Heavy Makeup

[Airheaded, money-loving heroine x sharp-tongued, secretly passionate young lord]

Xu Yingfeng found a badly wounded man in the mountains, and she knew he was a powerful man of high rank.

So she decided to pretend she didn't know who he really was. She would carefully treat him, look after him, and win him over, then receive a generous reward...

Xie Juzhi, a heaven-blessed prodigy, was badly wounded, and a country girl made things even worse by repeatedly tormenting him. What's more, she was an out-and-out money-grubber.

So he decided to pretend to be a kind, pitiful patient. He would carefully enlighten her, keep her in line, and use her, then treat her as a worthless pawn and discard her like a worn-out shoe...

-

Until one day, Xu Yingfeng suddenly realized that the man was nothing but a poor scholar. He was neither rich nor noble, and had been freeloading off her.

The gentle young lady revealed her fierce side and began squeezing her patient for all he was worth. She even thought that if she couldn't get her money back, taking the handsome man's virtue would do just as well.

But before he agreed to her invitation to spend the night together, he vanished into thin air.

Xu Yingfeng ground her teeth in fury, and couldn't help harboring a deep grudge.

Times changed, and the world was transformed. With no other choice, Xu Yingfeng went to the capital with a friend and began seeing patients at a clinic, listening to their pulses each day from behind a curtain.

On a sunny day, a slender hand with clearly defined knuckles reached toward her. Xu Yingfeng took its pulse through the curtain, but the more she looked at the hand, the more familiar it seemed. Her heart began to pound.

When she finally recognized it and turned to run, the hand caught her as she tried to pull back. The curtain was abruptly swept aside.

His jade-like face was dark with displeasure. Xie Juzhi, a peerless nobleman of striking grace, whose exceptional gifts had captivated countless young women in the capital, gave a cool smile. "I haven't offered myself to you yet. Why are you leaving, my benefactor?"

Xu Yingfeng twisted her hands, at a loss. She had saved more than just him. She had also saved court ministers, noble families, and members of the imperial clan... She had already made a fortune this way and didn't need him.

Xie Juzhi: ??? Is public safety really this bad in Great Zhen?

-

[Bonus Scene]

On the rooftop

Guard A: "We've been watching Miss Xu for ages. What have you figured out?"

Guard B: "Who's that man? The young lord has it so rough, cooking for her and everything, while Miss Xu actually has another handsome man on the hook."

Guard A: "..."

-

The heroine is barely literate and often says outrageous things. She's first in the business of annoying people.

The hero gets so angry his liver hurts, yet still manages to keep convincing himself he's in love. He's got a liver of iron.

[Reader's Guide]

1. SC, both pure and devoted, need I say more? A sweet, fun romance centered on the couple.

2. The heroine is a genuine commoner, with no secret twist to her background. Her mother has no noble status whatsoever.

3. Short story, virtually no political intrigue. Everything else serves the romance between the leads.

Theme: The fierce hawk does not descend in spring. You are Yin, and you are the hawk too.