The Emperor's Regret

The day Shaoyin returned to the capital after her husband's death, almost everyone in the city assumed she had come back for the current emperor, Xiao Heng.

Xue Shaoyin, the empress's niece, had been in love with her cousin, Crown Prince Xiao Heng, since childhood. Almost everyone knew it. They also knew that her love was unrequited: when it came to Xue Shaoyin, the crown prince had always been indifferent.

People said that when the crown prince came of age and it was time for him to marry, he personally removed Xue Shaoyin's name from the list of prospective brides. Shaoyin threw tantrums over it, eventually angering Emperor Chengzong, who ordered her to marry far away for the sake of his son, sending the clingy girl away.

Five years later, the former crown prince Xiao Heng had been emperor for several years, while Xue Shaoyin had become a widow in a distant land. When she returned to her homeland after her husband's death, everyone thought she would resume pursuing Xiao Heng as before. The noble young ladies vying for the empress's throne were all on high alert.

But almost no one knew that Shaoyin had actually asked to marry far away. When Xiao Heng removed her name in front of her, her heart had already made no room for him at all. Now, the only person in her heart was her late husband.

In truth, it was the emperor in his deep palace who had suddenly realized his mistake and regretted it night after night. Emperor Xiao Heng thought Shaoyin's return could make everything go back to the way it was. He didn't know that her heart now held an eternal moonlight that belonged to someone else.

Even an emperor, supreme beneath the heavens, has limits to his power. No one in this world can compete with a dead man.

[The male lead must win his wife back after mistreating her. His harem is only for show; the heroine's marriage to her late husband was real.]

Coming soon: Stealing His Wife

[A lofty, honorable gentleman falls and becomes a dark, obsessive other man]

[Soapy plot, includes coercive romance and a rivalry between men]

That spring, Shen Ci took a concubine at the request of his friend Lu Chengzhou.

The concubine was named Su Yunhuan. She had once been a young lady of the Su family, and she was also Lu Chengzhou's beloved.

The Su family had been implicated in a major case. The men were exiled to the frontier, and the women were sent to the state brothel.

Lu Chengzhou wanted to save the woman he loved, but his family obstructed him at every turn. He could only ask his sworn brother Shen Ci to rescue Su Yunhuan from the brothel under the pretense of taking her as a concubine, then hide and protect her in the Shen household.

Lu Chengzhou entrusted his beloved to Shen Ci because they had been friends for years. He knew Shen Ci was upright and honorable, a true gentleman who had never shown any interest in women.

Lu Chengzhou's plan was to have Brother Shen protect Su Yunhuan until the Su family was pardoned. After that, he would marry her.

But the plan went awry from the very beginning.

When Su Yunhuan was sent to the state brothel, she tried to kill herself by bashing her head against a wall rather than suffer humiliation.

She was rescued and survived, but her memories became jumbled. She truly believed she was Shen Ci's concubine.

Since she was his concubine, she thought it was only right to serve her husband devotedly. So Su Yunhuan treated Shen Ci with tenderness and consideration every day.

No matter how gently she served him, her husband remained distant and never touched her. Feeling deeply wronged, Su Yunhuan couldn't help crying as she asked him why he didn't like her.

Shen Ci gazed at Su Yunhuan's tears in silence. He wanted to lift a hand and wipe them away, but instead he silently clenched his fist tighter.

He had always thought he was uninterested in women, but in truth, he had simply never met anyone he liked.

Now he had. She was called his concubine, but in reality she was the woman his friend would marry someday.

As Shen Ci stood frozen, Su Yunhuan suddenly threw herself into his arms. She looked up at him through her tears and asked, “Husband, are you going to abandon me?”

Heat rose to Shen Ci's forehead. He felt as if he had fallen into a springtime pool, sinking inch by inch amid the intoxicating scent of flowers, clearheaded and yet in despair.

At last, he slowly placed his hand on the woman's fragrant shoulder and spoke as if possessed. “I'm not abandoning you.”

On his wedding night, the groom, Lu Chengzhou, was drinking with his guests at the wedding banquet. He had no idea that in his bridal chamber, his bride was being cornered at every turn by his friend Shen Ci.

Su Yunhuan had already regained her memories. Unable to bear thinking of the past, she tried desperately to back away, but was still forced onto the bed. She couldn't help crying out in panic. “Shen Ci, don't force me!”

The honorable gentleman, flawless in the eyes of the world, had been driven mad by day after day of torment and restraint. At that moment, it was as if a demon had possessed him.

His eyes bloodshot, he bent over her. As his shadow completely enveloped Su Yunhuan, every word he ground out seemed to carry the tang of fresh blood.

“Am I forcing you, or did you seduce me?! Su Yunhuan, it was you… you who lured me down this path where a husband is no husband, and an adulterer is no adulterer!”

Theme: Cherish the people you love.