Synopsis
Voluptuous, gorgeous, and lustful princess × cold-faced, sinister, chaste chancellor
Both virgins, one-on-one / Everyone's favorite / Marriage first, love later / A game of black eating black
Her father, the emperor, suddenly dies. Her younger brother ascends the throne, but the Empress Dowager controls the government. The regent ministers wash their hands of the matter and watch from the sidelines. Locust plagues and floods ravage the land, and loyal officials and worthy generals await the clearing of their names...
The realm lies before Shangguan Zao like a mess waiting to be sorted out.
Unfortunately, she is a woman, with nothing but a stunningly beautiful face. She has the dubious honor of being the most beautiful woman in the Great Liang.
Looking across the court and the imperial harem, there is only one person she can count on to bring down the Empress Dowager, secure her brother's throne, and then relieve the disasters and redress the injustices: Xiao Ren, the young chancellor who holds immense power, was entrusted with the emperor's affairs by the late emperor in his final hour, and yet nobody knows what he's up to.
So she discusses it with her brother and proposes marriage as a pretext for winning Xiao Ren over! She can also find out what he's really doing while she's at it!
The world thinks she's debauched, the Empress Dowager thinks she's stupid, and Xiao Ren is proud and aloof, with a sinister reputation. She figures he wouldn't dare lay a finger on her.
But on their wedding day, he actually...
Aaaaaah! What happened to being cold, sinister, and chaste? Why is the chancellor acting like that?!!!
-
Xiao Ren never imagined that Princess Liyi would lay down three rules before their wedding.
First, she would let him keep a mistress, and he could not stop her from keeping male lovers in return.
Second, they could not share a bed at night.
Third, officially, he would not be marrying into the imperial family. It would be considered her marrying down, and she would live with him at the Xiao residence.
What was all that supposed to mean???
It's true that the rumors said she was nothing but a pretty face, crude, debauched, and entangled in an ambiguous relationship with the heir of a prince of another surname. But so what? His own reputation was hardly clean. Weren't they a perfect match?
Besides, only wolves and tigers could last together forever.
But he couldn't tolerate those three rules.
On their wedding day, before they could take to the bed, beneath the red gauze curtains.
Following the nuptial wine cup, he slowly took her slender, soft hand. With a smile that was almost a smirk, he said, "Your Highness is said to be so fond of the pleasures of the bedchamber. Would you care to try mine?"
But the princess, who was said to have been with countless people, now seemed like an unripe melon, awkwardly pushing him away.
"N-no... I... I'm not available today."
His fingers slipped into her scarlet sleeve and caressed her smooth, jade-like skin. He breathed against her ear. "Not available? Very well. Then let me serve Your Highness."
She blushed and said, "Wait, wait, wait!!! We agreed we wouldn't share a bed at night..."
Xiao Ren's smile deepened. He had known she would use that rule against him, so he had asked the emperor's permission well in advance to change the auspicious wedding hour. Now he could refute her fair and square.
"Has Your Highness forgotten? It is daytime now."
So doing that thing in the daytime is okay?!
"Reading Guide"
1. Both leads are virgins, one-on-one, pure in body and heart. The heroine and the heir have a secret between them, but revealing it now would be a spoiler. The hero is the heroine's only partner, and even her first kiss.
2. The heroine only acts dumb and easy to manipulate in front of others. In reality, she's clever and has maximum intelligence.
3. The setting is fictional. Customs, clothing, etiquette, and so on are modeled on the Tang dynasty, with some original elements.
4. Blurb written on 2026.5.17
Theme: Beauty can be a sharp sword
