Don't Pick Up Strangers by the Roadside

New story: Let Me Handle It (Love by Force). Full blurb below.

Love by force | Orphan girl vs. arrogant nobleman

A-Jiao decided that today was the day she would die.

After finishing her noodles, she went up the mountain. There was a pit up there, the carefully chosen place where she would be buried.

When she got there, lo and behold, there was already a dead man in the pit.

She dragged him out, trembling all the while, only for a knife to be pressed to her throat halfway through.

“Save me, or I’ll kill you.” The man was gravely wounded.

A-Jiao thought this was just what she wanted. She leaned her neck forward, trembling. “G-go on, then.”

The man flew into a rage. How dare a country girl provoke him? His temper flared, and he promptly passed out.

A-Jiao pouted in disappointment, then noticed that the man looked a lot like her childhood sweetheart, who had died.

A line from today’s almanac suddenly flashed through her mind.

Today is auspicious for offerings and burials, and for reuniting with old friends.

She sat there for a while, watching white clouds and birds in flight. Beside her, the man’s blood poured out in a steady stream, like a brook.

The sun was warm, the breeze gentle. She got up and dusted herself off.

A-Jiao decided to take the man down the mountain.

-

The Pei clan of Dongdu had been a family of nobility for generations. Their eldest young master was the crown jewel at the very top of the noble Pei clan. Unfortunately, that jewel went and fell into trouble.

The eldest young master was convinced A-Jiao had fallen deeply in love with him. Just as he was about to take her back to the capital, the shameless girl ran away.

Hardship breeds rogues. The eldest young master resorted to ruthless measures, and returned to the capital with a rogue in tow.

The rogue was a beauty with a face like a flower and skin as white as a rabbit’s. Lord Pei kept her hidden away in a golden house and doted on her day and night.

When the Third Prince heard about it, he went to the Pei residence for a drink. By chance, he overheard a rather vulgar, sordid scene through the wall.

“I... I’d rather die than stay here!”

“Even if you become a ghost, you won’t take one step away from here!”

When the Third Prince saw the eldest young master come out, he advised him, “You shouldn’t force her. You ought to sweet-talk her.”

Lord Pei straightened his collar a little. “When have I ever forced her? A-Jiao has feelings for me. I’m just being a little more proactive.”

As fate would have it, A-Jiao died unexpectedly, and Lord Pei returned to Qingyun Mountain alone.

The old courtyard was still there, but its door would no longer open for him.

Rain fell in sheets. Heartbroken, Lord Pei sat alone outside the threshold, remembering how A-Jiao once said she hadn’t really wanted to die. She had only wanted a little love.

He couldn’t understand. He wanted to go inside and ask her.

“Xu Tianbai’s love counts as love, but mine doesn’t?”

Notes:

1. Happy ending, sexually inexperienced leads, heroine fakes her death but survives, one-on-one romance.

2. Not a historically authentic period piece. Old-school melodramatic angst, a forceful and domineering man (emphasis added). If you dislike this trope, please read with caution. The heroine has a brief stand-in, used for strategic purposes. If you can’t accept that, stop here.

3. The text is revised frequently. False rumors and insulting comments will be deleted. If you’re reading pirated copies, don’t comment. Let’s all keep things civil.

The title and main blurb were written on 2025/12/20; screenshot saved.

[Please add my new story to your collection!]

Cui Heng fought the enemy for five years, was made a Great General Who Guards the Nation, and became a close confidant of the emperor. For a time, he was at the height of his power.

There was more good news, too: his younger sister was about to get married. But then she was seduced by a bewitching maid, and became so lovesick over that temptress she talked about killing herself.

His sister could never be at fault. She was young and couldn’t resist temptation. But he was different.

He was strong-willed and had seen countless battles. There was no way he could be bewitched by some mere seductress of a maid.

Let me handle it.

-

Lu Wan was sold to the Cui household at the age of six. She served as a maid obediently for more than ten years, single-mindedly saving money to buy her freedom and leave.

Everything was going smoothly.

Just as she was about to leave, she got into a small entanglement with the eldest son of the Cui family.

The young master said she had saved his life. Lu Wan didn’t see it that way.

The young master asked what she wanted as a reward. Lu Wan refused again and again, but he insisted, so she finally asked for a small fortune.

“One hundred taels of silver will do.”

The young master’s smile froze on his lips. Then he gently tried to lead her on. “Why not cast a longer line and catch a bigger fish?”

Lu Wan said softly, “I’m afraid of fish bones.”

The young master laughed in exasperation. He couldn’t tell if she was genuinely foolish or pretending. He kept her tied to his side, insisting she eat fish, but Lu Wan proved to be no pushover and kept insisting he give her money.

The young master couldn’t bear to part with her, convinced they were deeply in love.

Lu Wan was trapped in misery, struggling to breathe.

“How can you repay my kindness with betrayal?”

“I saved your life, so of course you should give yourself to me. What, are you trying to welch on the deal?”

-

The night before Lu Wan’s wedding, Cui Heng spent the whole night at her bedside. His eyes were bloodshot as he watched the sky grow light, then kissed his unconscious darling.

“Even if heaven strikes me down and I’m doomed to eternal damnation, I’ll never regret it.”

#Lots of love by force, a little pseudo-incest tension#

Theme: Just stay alive. Even living blindly is fine