Synopsis
Sickly, down-and-out beauty x obsessive crown prince who takes what he wants
The Mu family was sentenced to exile three thousand li away and two additional years of hard labor for stealing from the very coffers they were meant to guard and taking bribes to pervert the law. As the Mu family's daughter-in-law, Qiao Suining was the first to be implicated.
Qiao Suining had always been frail and knew she would not live long, but she had a five-year-old son who could not be left alone.
Her husband doted on his concubines and neglected his wife as a matter of course. If she died, her son would not survive until the next day.
Qiao Suining tried everything she could, just hoping to stay alive a few more days.
But before the exile could begin, she was abducted.
The man who took her was none other than the Fourth Prince, whom she had thoroughly deceived six years ago, now the Crown Prince.
Qiao Suining was terrified. She knew full well that there would be no good ending for her in Yan Jiangyun's hands.
After all these years apart, the first thing he said made her tremble.
"After leaving me, you married a creature worse than a pig or a dog?" Yan Jiangyun smiled without warmth, each word striking at her heart.
"Be my concubine."
Qiao Suining naturally refused. Though fallen on hard times, she still had her pride. After all, back then she had chosen the flourishing Mu family over a down-and-out prince.
She would sooner be sent into exile or die than become a concubine...
But she had underestimated the lengths Yan Jiangyun would go to for revenge.
"Qiao Suining, if you agree to enter my residence, I can bring that child back too."
"If you refuse, I'll throw that little beast into the slave camp this instant and have him tortured until he's unrecognizable."
Qiao Suining panicked. Weeping uncontrollably, she could only nod again and again.
She meant to play along until she could find a chance to escape...
Yan Jiangyun had crawled through heaps of corpses. After Qiao Suining deceived him, he swallowed his anger and fought his way to the throne.
When the Mu family was exiled, he could barely contain his excitement.
Qiao Suining... She would never escape him in this lifetime.
As for the child who carried her blood... He would get rid of him sooner or later.
He would never let anyone come between them again...
Then one day, he discovered that she had disappeared again!
After being caught and brought back once more, Qiao Suining realized Yan Jiangyun had grown even more deranged.
He not only restricted her movements, but chained her inside a room. Yan Jiangyun personally took care of everything for her.
Getting dressed, washing up, eating, undressing, sleeping. He was never away from her for even a moment.
Even when they slept together, he kept asking her again and again, "I love you... You ought to love me too, shouldn't you?"
"What have I not given you? Why run away? Where could you possibly go?"
2026.3.14
Content warnings:
1. The heroine is not an all-powerful female lead, but she is not subjected to abuse.
2. The heroine was born into this world from the womb, but has mostly been assimilated.
3. The heroine has had previous partners; the hero has not. The heroine has a five-year-old son.
Theme: Freedom above all