A Caged Beauty

[Resilient, airheaded beauty x black-hearted, aloof nobleman]

When Prince Qi fell, many prominent families in the capital were implicated. The Rong family lost the emperor's favor; the men were sent to the army, and the women were reduced to low-status commoners.

Rong Xuezhao was born breathtakingly beautiful, with the looks of a seductress. After she was forced into prostitution, she was surrounded by predators.

While being groomed, she caught sight of a handsome young nobleman from an aristocratic family. She wanted to tempt him, not to make him fall for her, but simply to use his influence to pull herself out of the mire.

Xuezhao stopped resisting the drug's effects and looked at the cool, aloof gentleman with tearful eyes. "Please, sir, take pity on me..."

Only after she had succeeded did she learn that he was her fiancé, a man she had never met, and that he had come to rescue her from the brothel.

The red candles burned down. The room was in disarray. The man stood with his robe half open, broad-shouldered and slim-waisted, smiling at her in the candlelight with an air of easy elegance. Xuezhao's heart raced. Embarrassed and furious, she cried, "You!..."

Fortunately, Fu Shaojun was a man of his word and had a gentle disposition. He took her home and cared for her, promising her the lavish wedding procession she had been promised before.

Xuezhao stayed in a side courtyard of the residence. Fu Shaojun was busy during the day. She heard he was a retainer to a beautiful commandery princess, and also heard that he had never had a say in his own marriage.

At night, she cautiously questioned him, only to find him growing ever more passionate and demanding in bed...

Until one day, she overheard nobles at a banquet. Hidden in the shadows, Xuezhao stared at the man who had once been so tender and considerate. His expression was cold and distant, his tone careless and dismissive. "Rong Xuezhao? A woman of low status can't be a wife! Giving her a life of luxury is already good fortune. Once the principal wife enters the household, just drive her out."

A sudden dizzy spell cleared the fog in her mind. Her lost memories came flooding back. Rong Xuezhao touched her still-flat belly, her eyes filling with tears as she ground her teeth.

*

Fu Shaojun was born into a distinguished family. He was a model gentleman, refined and noble, and had served in office for years with unimpeachable integrity. He was a peerless gentleman, revered throughout the capital.

No one knew the wicked intentions he harbored toward Rong Xuezhao.

She was the beloved of a former friend of his. But this friend was also his sworn enemy, a man with whom he had an unspeakable feud. When his former friend was sent to prison, he had even dared to dream of rescuing his fiancée from the mire.

If that was so, then Fu Shaojun absolutely could not let them have their way.

He invented a false identity and deceived her with feigned affection. He lured her with the title of the Fu family's principal wife, embraced her slender waist, and promised her that they would be together for life, with no one else between them.

But as the days passed, he grew more and more disgusted with his own body for responding to her slightest provocation. He hated the possessiveness he felt for her, which grew day by day. And the tender "Ling Ling" that slipped from his lips when passion overwhelmed him frightened even himself.

What he hated most... was the way Rong Xuezhao looked at him, as if, as if he truly loved and cherished her...

At first, he had most looked forward to seeing the expression on her face when she remembered everything.

Later, he feared that his Ling Ling might even begin to suspect the truth.

* The male lead is a man of ancient times, and a black-hearted soft-centered villain: a scoundrel who means it when he falls in love.

* The heroine's fiancé becomes emperor later on. The male lead becomes a despairing widower and minister who steals the emperor's wife.

* Both leads are sexually inexperienced. Happy ending.

Theme: This love could have become a fond memory, but even then, we were already lost.