A Captive Bird in the Wisteria Tent

A scheming, deranged family head X a timid, beautiful concubine

The Huo family had flourished for a century. Its family head, Huo Yuan, was violent, cruel, and ruthless. After taking power, he ruled with an iron fist and a heavy hand, driving the clan’s businesses to ever greater prosperity, but also making countless enemies. Ambushed and hunted, he fled into the mountains, where he finally collapsed from exhaustion.

A woman in plain clothes walked by. Her face was gentle and kind, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. But she walked straight past him, with no intention of helping.

His hearing was excellent. He could faintly hear her muttering to herself.

“I didn’t see anything. I didn’t see anything. I didn’t see him.”

…

He forced her to treat him by threatening and bribing her. While recovering, he was terribly bored, so he frightened and teased the gentle, timid woman until she was afraid to sleep alone. Clutching a pillow, she timidly asked if she could spend the night in his room.

The woman truly wanted him to get better. She cared for him diligently, gathering herbs and tending his wounds with great devotion. On the day Huo Yuan said he was leaving, he could even see her visibly sigh with relief.

Afraid of getting dragged into trouble because of him. Huo Yuan sneered. What a coward.

Back at the Huo estate, he killed his enemies with his own hands, but still felt no satisfaction. He thought of that timid woman and gradually found himself unable to sleep.

His mother then sent him a beautiful concubine, ordering him to produce an heir.

“Get out.”

Huo Yuan threw the woman out of the room. But when she landed, he caught sight of that familiar, frightened face and gently gathered her into his arms.

“My hand slipped. Don’t be angry, Lianlian.”

That night, he coaxed her with one sweet word after another, but refused to treat her gently, truly making her cry until tears streamed down her face.

Song Lian was timid, entertaining, and very easy to fool. He could keep her at his side and tease her like a pet rabbit. What was the harm?

So he told her that once he had a wife, he would let her go.

He was lying. Even after he had a wife, he would treat her well.

Later, he wanted her to become his wife.

But Lianlian, his timid little Lianlian, dared to run away from him.

Song Lian valued her life above all else. Since childhood, she had understood two things.

First: Don’t get involved in other people’s business.

Stick your nose where it doesn’t belong, and you’ll inherit someone else’s trouble. One wrong move and you could lose your life.

Second: Stay away from the houses of the rich and powerful.

Those estates look splendid from the outside, but who knows how much filth and corruption they conceal? Get caught up in it, and your whole family could be doomed.

After sending off the man she had rescued, she let out a genuine sigh of relief. She never expected to run into human traffickers. When she opened her eyes, she found herself surrounded by embroidered curtains and fine silk, with the man she had rescued standing beside the bed.

She had been sold as a concubine to a wealthy household.

Fortunately, she had done him a favor, so she asked him to let her go.

He smiled and agreed, but said he would free her once she bore him a child, or when his principal wife entered the household.

The man’s moods were unpredictable, and she was terrified of him. Luckily, when he wasn’t angry, he was fairly easy to serve. He gave her plenty of gold and jewelry, which she saved piece by piece to protect her life.

Song Lian worked diligently at serving him, and at last the news came that he was about to welcome his principal wife into the household.

She hadn’t enjoyed her relief for more than a few days when she heard from someone else that the principal wife was none other than herself.

So she took the money and ran.

She hadn’t even made it out of the city gate when someone stopped her. The man smiled at her, but his eerie tone made her feel as if she’d fallen into hell. He praised her.

“Lianlian, you’ve really made something of yourself.”

1. The male lead is a mad dog, a completely devoted simp.

2. Neither lead is quite right in the head. They’ll save each other and grow together.

3. Sweet romance, sweet romance, sweet romance.

Coming soon: Riding the Golden Bough, a clever but clueless beauty X an aloof emperor

Emperor Xie Xuan of the Guangren era hated people who ingratiated themselves with the powerful, and even more so after taking the throne.

Nan Zhu was exactly the sort of person he hated most.

It couldn’t be helped. She wasn’t some fairy who lived on dew. People need clothes and food to survive.

Nan Zhu had known poverty as a child. She was cold while others wore padded coats, stuck in a threadbare jacket; she was hungry while others ate sweet cakes, forced to chew on grass roots.

Even after she became a noblewoman, she couldn’t shake her deep-rooted longing for material comforts. The adoptive mother who had brought her home told her on her deathbed that in these chaotic times, Nan Zhu had to look out for herself and marry into a good family.

She had once been a weed in the mud, and now she was a pearl in the clouds. Nan Zhu knew all too well that beyond the splendid houses around her lay mountains of corpses.

A pretty young woman who thought herself a master schemer but couldn’t scheme her way out of a paper bag arrived at the century-old Xie clan of Chen Commandery.

Her intentions were obvious, and her acting was terrible.

Fortunately, she was stunningly beautiful.

Watching her charm a group of young men in the clan before coming to ingratiate herself with him, Xie Xuan felt disgusted. He would never fall for someone like her.

Later, on the Golden Terrace, admiring the mountain scenery, Emperor Guangren held Nan Zhu’s face and dropped increasingly obvious hints.

“The mountains and forests are all beneath my feet right now.”

Xie Xuan resented Nan Zhu for not climbing to the highest branch.

She only needed to climb this highest branch, the one he was perched on.

How could she climb this one and still look toward another?

Xie Xuan: Nan Zhu never competes for anything. She’s adorable and so pitiable.

Eunuch: What? You’ve given her the empress’s seal, jewels, fine clothes, and delicious food. What is she supposed to compete for? There’s only one woman in the harem. Who could she compete with?

Xie Xuan: Clearly Nan Zhu loves me and is considerate of me, so she doesn’t want to give me more to worry about. She hasn’t paid any attention to those flirty women outside for three whole days. How could she not love me?

Theme: Don’t be afraid. Keep moving forward.