The Possessive Crown Prince Slaughters Every Man in My Harem

[Rivalry for the heroine + brothers turn against each other + long-laid plans + stealing someone's love]

[Smart, ruthless, beautiful noblewoman vs. scheming, vicious, unhinged crown prince]

Ming Zhi was born to be the Crown Princess of Yonghui. As for whom she would marry, she had never cared.

That is, until a secret letter suddenly fell into her hands, tying the Ming family firmly to the charge of harboring remnants of the previous dynasty. Every clue pointed to the Third Prince, who had always been so attentive to her.

All their past warmth turned to ashes overnight.

She no longer hesitated. She turned her gaze to someone else: Zha Yuan, the sickly, weak, and useless Crown Prince.

Short-lived and easy to manipulate: a perfect choice.

In her eyes, he was nothing more than a stepping-stone. With nothing to his name, he was meant to be used, directed, and squeezed dry by her. She did not consider herself heartless. As long as he was obedient enough, she did not mind giving him that lofty position.

Since she had decided he was one of her own, she spoke candidly: once it was done, they would go their separate ways.

But before she had even finished speaking, his expression changed.

By the time she realized something was wrong and tried to withdraw, he had already shed every disguise.

His frailty was an act; his martial skills were real. He had engineered the rift between her and the Third Prince. He had plotted at every turn, cutting away all the friends and family at her side and leaving her utterly alone.

Zha Yuan had never cared about the cold, lofty throne of the Crown Prince.

The emperor had made him Crown Prince only to balance the court. He had never wanted to compete for power.

But Ming Zhi was destined to stand at the top, and so he had no choice but to fight for it.

Everything went as he wished. The person he had silently admired for years finally saw him. Though every encounter between them was marked by distance and calculation, he accepted it gladly, wishing only that these days could last forever.

Until one day, she casually told him she wanted them to call it even, then unreservedly told him that she had long loved someone else and wished she could spend her life with that person, never parting.

Then what was he to her?

A blade she used to clear away obstacles? A piece on the board to protect her family?

How could she?

If that was how it was, then he would kill everyone she cared about, so that in this life and the next, she could be with him alone!

Content warnings:

1. Both leads have flawed personalities.

2. The heroine has feelings only for the second male lead, but has no intention of taking responsibility for them.

3. The hero loves the heroine without realizing it. He is relatively self-centered early on, and will not repent later either. His obsessive love is the kind that says, "I've got nothing left to lose."

4. The male characters' feelings are complicated. None of them loves with complete selflessness or without regard for the consequences.

5. The main characters are all sexually inexperienced.

6. The ending is true to the characters and their personalities, and is not exactly a happy ending.

7. Most characters in the story are self-interested.

8. The heroine gets a lot of focus. This is not a conventional wish-fulfillment story: every gain comes with a loss. There will absolutely be no scenes of physical abuse.

9. The story is controversial. Different people respond to the same problem in different ways, according to their fundamental personalities.

Theme: Love is the salvation of human nature.