After Bullying My Cold-Faced Childhood Friend

[Reckless, spoiled princess x aloof beauty who desperately restrains his possessiveness, a resentful husband]

[Rose tames tiger / childhood friends secretly in love / age gap / size difference / unconventional heroine]

The curtains were warm as spring, and the last of the dragon's-breath incense was burning out. Leaning against his shoulder, she suddenly said, "Imperial Brother wants me to marry again."

The young man stiffened, staring ahead as he calmly replied, "I'll find a way."

"But I don't want things to go on like this anymore," she said softly.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and he finally smiled, gently coaxing her. "You're right, we can't go on like this forever. So, Your Highness, what do you think we should do next?"

She was silent for a moment, then said casually, "Make me emperor."

*

Later,

The emperor fell gravely ill, and the eldest princess was appointed regent in his time of need.

The Crown Prince's Junior Tutor, a scion of a great clan and the emperor's most trusted courtier, frequently clashed with the eldest princess over their differences in political opinion.

Every time she issued an order, he studied it deep into the night, then submitted a lengthy memorial the next day, refuting it point by point in cutting prose.

As the lights in the cabinet's offices shone through the night, the courtiers privately wondered if this was a struggle over the transfer of imperial power, or the great clans' final resistance...

They also marveled at how diligently Tutor Lu performed his duties, working day and night. It was truly admirable.

But the truth was...

Behind a screen in the cabinet's offices, the dignified, imperious eldest princess was at that moment held in his arms, her dark hair spilling over her shoulders.

The tutor, so cool and noble as he crossed swords with her in court, held a vermilion brush in one hand as he reviewed memorials. With the other, he held her tightly around the waist, chatting casually without even looking up.

"The great clans have been curbed, and power has been reclaimed. I'll take the blame."

"I've done everything Your Highness asked of me."

Feeling the person in his arms tremble, he finally put down his brush and lifted the young woman's chin, asking softly, "What else do you want from me after this?"

"Does it have anything to do with me?"

*

When Luo Huai was eight, she pulled Lu Yanting out of the water after he nearly drowned in Taiye Lake. From then on, he never left her sight.

He owed her his life, so she felt perfectly justified in ordering him around. She had him teach her to read and paint, and make him give her a priceless zither.

She wanted him to use the entire Lu family's influence to help her own brother ascend the throne,

and she also wanted him to help her plot every step of the way until she could replace her brother.

He would merely glance at her and carry out every order without a hint of emotion.

With power in her hands and their old affection still intact,

Luo Huai was quite satisfied with this arrangement.

But it had never occurred to her

that when someone willingly obeys another person in everything, it's usually because...

They still haven't gotten what they want.

*1v1, both leads are virgins. Neither the heroine nor the hero is perfect. The heroine tries to get every last bit of use out of the hero, while the hero desperately crawls around in the shadows, all for the sake of a proper title.

*Set in an imagined dynasty with a mountain of original worldbuilding. Political intrigue is secondary. This isn't a tale of a great heroine; it's mainly about childhood friends bickering as they go about their lives.

Theme: Stubborn people need a lover who can't be driven away