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Delicate, resilient beauty X Black-lotus scion of a noble family
Coercive romance / Melodrama / The aloof beauty falls from her pedestal
When Cui Zhuo first met Qinglian, she was weeping like a pear blossom in the rain, holding a gold hairpin to her throat. Gritting her teeth, she said she already had someone in her heart and would rather die than give herself to him.
Cui Zhuo had no interest in women and thought little of the Liu family's offering. But his mind shifted in an instant, and he snatched the gold hairpin from her hand.
After a night of passion, the young master was sated and pleased. Qinglian, grief-stricken and furious, gathered her rumpled clothes around herself and trembled as she cursed him for being shameless.
Cui Zhuo didn't care. He thought that a woman sent to please him couldn't expect him to treat her with any particular kindness.
Her family, the Lius, needed his protection. She was bound to pay some price for it.
*
After crossing the Yangtze southward, the days in the new capital grew long and dull. Aside from his official duties, Cui Zhuo's only pleasure was keeping Qinglian.
He gave her pretty clothes, exquisite jewelry, and the finest rouge, dressing her up in the way he liked before holding her in his arms to tease and toy with her.
He kept her under strict control, allowing her no respite day after day. Only once in a while would he let her see the sunlight in the garden, as a reward.
Seeing her overwhelmed, curling up in fear and weeping, gave Cui Zhuo the greatest pleasure.
So he treated her even more cruelly, forcing her to submit until she could only obediently kneel at his feet, trembling as she sought his protection.
Day after day, Cui Zhuo grew addicted to this game. He couldn't bear to be away from Qinglian for even a moment.
He began to feel tenderness for her, thinking that when he eventually tired of her, he'd find her a good husband as compensation.
But then, in a sudden reversal of fortune, his army was defeated and all was lost. The once-peerless young master of the Cui family became a prisoner in chains, scorned by everyone, with none of his former glory left.
*
Unable to bear the humiliation, Cui Zhuo bit through the tendons in his wrist in prison, trying to kill himself.
Blood mixed with mud and spread across the floor. As his consciousness faded, he seemed to glimpse a familiar face in the dark, rotting dungeon.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a luxurious palace chamber, its lamps blazing. The familiar face slowly came into focus.
Bound hand and foot, he knelt on the floor and watched as that person sat before him, calmly raised a foot, and pressed it onto his shoulder. With a cool expression, they said:
"Young Master Cui, if you don't fear death, why fear serving this palace as a slave?"
Reading guide and warnings:
1. The hero permanently damaged his own hand. It will not recover later.
2. The hero is romantically inexperienced, but the heroine is not. She really does have someone in her heart, and later she will keep male lovers.
3. A melodramatic coercive romance. The leads get a happy ending. Some elements are inspired by the Wei and Jin dynasties, but the setting is otherwise fictional.
Theme: The softest can be the strongest.
