The First Year After the Divorce

[Signed for publication in simplified Chinese. See Weibo @Dear Caodeng Daren for updates]

Both virgins | Powerful man humbled | Strong male lead, weak female lead

Honest country girl wife x twisted, rotten rich young master

The year Yun Ni met Shen Tinglan, she was of marriageable age but had yet to understand the ways of men and women.

Shen Tinglan did not mind that his wife had a lame leg, and Yun Ni did not mind that her husband came from a poor family. So they married.

A year after their wedding, they were deeply devoted to each other, living in harmony and love.

Only when the cold sword in Shen Tinglan's hand pressed against Yun Ni's neck did she understand: all the affection between them had been an illusion.

It was only that Shen Tinglan was tormented by a love gu, and only intimacy with her could ease the pain in his heart.

Every kindness he had shown Yun Ni was merely a bit of amusement for him in his spare time.

She was just a lame, orphaned girl. How could he possibly care about her?

Yun Ni accepted reality. She stopped yearning for Shen Tinglan's tenderness and made an agreement with him.

"In six months, the mother gu inside me will die, and you'll no longer be tormented by the love gu. Then you can be the lord of your great house, and I'll return to my hometown in Xuzhou. Let's call it even."

-

Shen Tinglan was a regent and marquis of the empire, always lofty and looking down on everyone beneath him.

If not for the love gu weighing on him, why would he care about a country girl?

She was no more than a filthy speck of mud on his clothes. He only had to wipe it away.

-

Six months later, Shen Tinglan's love gu was cured, and Yun Ni left him behind to seek her freedom.

On the few occasions he looked back, Shen Tinglan would gaze at the empty bed and lose himself in thought...

As if he had lost something.

-

After leaving Shen Tinglan, Yun Ni's life gradually improved.

She led a little horse and carried a bow and arrows, surveying the long-abandoned mountain cottage.

She could put a chicken coop here, build a sheep pen over there, and perhaps keep a little watchdog, too.

She imagined so many things, but none of those futures included Shen Tinglan anymore.

Yun Ni had not enjoyed her good days for long when Shen Tinglan, whom she should never have seen again, suddenly came to her door.

Shen Tinglan still held his cold sword. He raised his icy eyes slightly and gently stroked Yun Ni's cheek.

Meeting his wife's terrified gaze, he coaxed her in a low voice.

"Yun Ni, this heart ailment is hard to cure... I'll need a few more nights of passion to stop the pain."

[Reader's Guide]

Evidence of all pirated reposts and copyright infringements will be collected and used to file lawsuits. If you don't like the story, you can stop reading, but I despise all forms of theft.

Please respect the author's hard work. Thank you!

1. Honest country girl x twisted, rotten rich young master. Both are virgins. The male lead is 26, the female lead is 18, and they have an eight-year age gap.

2. The love gu in this story is inspired by the Miaojiang love gu. Here is some background: A gu is made by putting hundreds of poisonous creatures together to kill one another. The one that survives is the gu.

The most poisonous gu is called the love gu. When someone infected with it thinks of the person they love, the gu gnaws at their heart and makes it ache. The pain only stops when they see their beloved. Legend has it that as long as a love gu exists, it can keep two people together for their whole lives, never to part. (Quoted from Baidu)

The love gu in this story is inspired by Miaojiang lore, but some details are fictional and made up by the author. This gu comes in a male-female pair and does not make people fall in love. It only causes both people to feel heartache when they are far apart.

3. All place names in the novel are fictional and have no connection to the real world. Xuzhou is not the real Xuzhou, so please don't argue about it.

4. Comments containing rumors, insults, or personal attacks will be screenshotted and kept as evidence, and legal action will be taken. Please communicate amicably and respect one another. Thank you very much.

Please add The Maid in the Master's Bed Loses Favor to your reading list!

Female lead not a virgin | Uncle takes over | Old flames reignited

Long-neglected bedchamber maid x aloof, twisted marquis

The seventh son of the Xiao family, Xiao Ming, passed the imperial examinations at a young age and had a brilliant official career ahead of him.

Before he had even turned twenty, he had already risen to the rank of third-grade Vice Minister of Revenue.

Xiao Ming was handsome and refined, a man of fine appearance and talent.

He had everything going for him, except that his conduct in the inner household was often criticized.

Three years ago, Xiao Ming had wanted to promote a lowborn bedchamber maid.

He had lost his head and insisted on breaking off the high-born marriage alliance arranged by his family.

The matter gave the Old Madam Xiao such worry that blisters sprang up on her lips. Leaning on her cane, she scolded him:

"A home-wrecker like that must never be brought into the family. At most, give her a side courtyard and send her far away."

-

The bedchamber maid Jiang Lian was the home-wrecker in Old Madam Xiao's eyes.

But rumors were misleading. It was not that she had set her sights on Xiao Ming and forced him to dote on a concubine while neglecting his wife.

Rather, Xiao Ming had fallen deeply in love with her, using every means at his disposal to take her by force and refusing to let her buy her freedom and leave the estate.

Three years later, Jiang Lian had long since fallen out of favor, discarded by Xiao Ming like a worn-out shoe.

From a pearl once held in the palm of his hand, Jiang Lian had become a worthless fish eye.

Xiao Ming no longer visited Jiang Lian's courtyard.

Even the maids and matrons who fawned on the powerful and trampled the weak now dared to cut back on Jiang Lian's allowances and bully her at every turn, openly and behind her back.

One day, a beauty newly taken in by Xiao Ming heard about Jiang Lian's past.

Thinking of how her own face bore some resemblance to Jiang Lian's, she grew jealous and plotted to harm her.

Just then, the Marquis of Jingnan, Xiao Huaiyu, returned in triumph and came to visit his ancestral home.

The beauty deliberately drugged Jiang Lian and sent her to Xiao Huaiyu's courtyard.

She meant to frame this "aging, faded" bedchamber maid, accusing her of being unable to bear the loneliness and trying to cuckold her master!

The beauty waited outside with a group of matrons, ready to catch them in the act.

She expected Xiao Huaiyu to fly into a rage and throw Jiang Lian out of the courtyard.

But the night passed, and all was quiet in Xiao Huaiyu's quarters.

-

In the luxurious bedroom, sandalwood incense curled through the air, and the bed was damp and disheveled.

Jiang Lian had been exhausted all night. When she woke, the sun was already high in the sky.

She looked at the red marks covering her neck.

Then she glanced at the coldly beautiful and dignified Marquis of Jingnan, Xiao Huaiyu, lying on the bed, and felt utterly hopeless.

Can someone tell her... what punishment does she deserve for accidentally sleeping with her master's uncle?

[Reader Advisory]

1. The female lead, Jiang Lian, is not a virgin. The second male lead, Xiao Ming, is not a virgin. The male lead, Xiao Huaiyu, is a virgin.

The female lead and the second male lead have no marital or concubine relationship. She is a bedchamber maid, and their relationship is strictly master and servant.

2. Jiang Lian is 19, Xiao Ming is 21, and Xiao Huaiyu is 27.

3. This story is on the sweet side and includes elements of coercive possession.

Theme: Self-reliance and independence