My Lord Is No Lover

Her birth mother died young, and her father made his mistress his legal wife. Her own older brother was sent away for several years because of her illness, and grew distant from her. He cares more about her half-sister instead.

Qi Shangyi has always thought of herself as someone nobody notices. Even when her sister deliberately boasts that she is marrying Prince Qin, Qi Shangyi remains unmoved.

She has barely met Prince Qin and only knows that he is famous.

Whenever he visits their home, though, he does look her way a few extra times. That is all.

She had thought she would drift through life without much direction, perhaps eventually marrying into a good family as a young woman from a prominent clan.

Then one day, her father and stepmother demanded that she become Prince Qin's woman. It turned out her sister couldn't keep him in line, and he had long wanted to dismiss the two concubines he had taken for the sake of the political alliance. Her sister was one of them.

Her father didn't want to give up the powerful connection Prince Qin represented. Everyone said the prince was interested in her.

Qi Shangyi didn't believe them. She thought they'd all gone mad.

But Prince Qin said nothing in response, and readily accepted her.

-

The branches outside swayed in the wind. Inside, the bedchamber was anything but quiet.

Qi Shangyi was pressed against the desk. The man ran his fingers through her damp hair and whispered in her ear,