General, the Enchantress Summons You Tonight

[Mad, possessive demon consort x upright, practical, battle-hardened general]

Kang Ti hid in the shadows and saw her elder brother cover his face with her skirt and inhale its scent. Nausea churned through her.

She knew the King of Xikang was a violent madman, but she didn't dare expose him.

Because he was family. Kang Ti hated him, and loved him, too.

All she could do to vent her anger was what she always did: act crazy.

She burned the ancestral temple, smashed memorial tablets, cut off her brother's hair, and rode her horse into the princess consort...

No matter what she did, her brother couldn't bring himself to punish her.

The little madwoman couldn't possibly win against him.

Until the royal family of Li Yong in the Central Plains sent someone to escort her to her wedding.

To humiliate her brother, Kang Ti deliberately made a scene, smashing her golden crown and scattering its ornaments across the floor.

This time, her brother was enraged and raised a hand to slap her.

Kang Ti smiled. At last, she had a reason to sever all ties with him.

But the blow never fell.

Yan Xiuming, an envoy from the Great Yong, stepped in front of her, his voice carrying authority. "Princess Kang Ti is the new consort of Great Yong. How dare you, ministers of a vassal state, treat her with such disrespect?"

The King of Xikang was arrogant and feared no one, but he was wary of the Yan family's generals. In the end, he lowered his hand.

Yan Xiuming turned and placed a pearl before Kang Ti.

It had fallen from her golden crown.

After setting it down, he glanced at her disheveled clothes, said nothing, and left.

Kang Ti picked up the pearl. Her heart tightened, and she could never forget his sorrowful, compassionate gaze.

She thought of Yan Xiuming and wanted to see him. She sent a message through her maid, along with the pearl.

But he never came.

Kang Ti waited alone until dawn, ate every pastry on the table, drank an entire jar of wine, and vomited until she passed out.

"He pitied me once. Why can't he pity me a second time?"

If she couldn't do anything about a bastard, surely she could do something about a good man.

Kang Ti had all the patience in the world to torment Yan Xiuming.

Later, escorted by Yan Xiuming, Kang Ti traveled all the way to Great Yong. In her wedding robes, she stood beside Emperor Yong.

Below them, the court officials formed a sea of black.

Deep among the crowd, Yan Xiuming gazed at her from afar, a pearl clenched tightly in his hand.

For the first time, he desperately wanted someone.

Madness is a plague. Kang Ti passed the disease on to him.

He knew he would never recover.

Reading guide:

1. Includes an aloof beauty falling from her pedestal, a groveling pursuit of love, intimacy before love, a love-hate relationship, forbidden love and betrayal.

2. The female lead begins as a caged bird and later becomes the ruler of a dynasty, with a clear arc of growth.

3. Dark tone, all the characters are obsessive, clear-eyed yet corrupted, high angst and sweetness, slow burn, happy ending.

Theme: Hold on to your anger and stay alert to attempts to tame you