Spring Rests in the Golden Palace

[Fake incest] [1v3] [Love and hate] [Rivalry between men] [A long pursuit of love]

Jiang Yuning is the daughter of a princess from a fallen kingdom. When she was young, her mother was killed by the empress, and she lived in seclusion with her half-brother in Chaohua Palace.

Jiang Yuning only hopes to spend her life in peace with her brother in the deep palace. But fate has other plans. In the spring of the nineteenth year of Yuanhe, just after her coming-of-age ceremony, Jiang Yuning encounters the crown prince, Jiang Yu'an, in the imperial palace.

Seeing his features, so much like the empress's, she turns and flees. But that fleeting glimpse is enough to make Jiang Yu'an fall in love with her at first sight.

Later, at the spring outing banquet at Chenhu, Jiang Yu'an sees Jiang Yuning again.

She has been startled into the water, and it is Ning Yanzhao, her cousin and the son of Princess Yongyang, who rescues her.

On the carriage ride back to the palace, Jiang Yu'an watches Jiang Yuning's panicked expression and calls her "Imperial Sister" in a dark voice.

Jiang Yuning finds this imperial brother terrifying and decides she must stay away from him from now on.

But the farther she stays away, the more Jiang Yu'an pursues her.

She avoids him again and again, until her brother, who should have been sinister and inscrutable, can no longer keep his composure and corners her at every turn.

Jiang Yuning has feelings for a man, but unfortunately, it is not Jiang Yu'an.

On the eve of her wedding to the heir of Marquis Changping, Jiang Yuning gazes at the bright red wedding dress hanging on the rack, her eyes filled with sorrow.

She thinks that she should have spent her life with that radiant young man.

But her fate is nothing more than a chess piece in other people's hands. She has never been free to choose for herself.

Jiang Yu'an had wanted to be a good older brother, until Ning Yanzhao sought Jiang Yuning's hand in marriage in exchange for his military service.

The young man smiles gently. "If I defeat Yan and return victorious, I will ask His Majesty for the princess's hand in marriage."

Jiang Yu'an hates everyone Jiang Yuning cares about, and hates himself even more.

She should be his empress, not his sister.

Rumor has it that the heir of Marquis Changping and Princess Yuanling are perfectly matched and deeply in love.

In the imperial palace, Jiang Yu'an sweeps the books from his desk with one hand, his gaze dark and sinister. "Yuning, you can only stay by my side."

It is only at the very end that Jiang Yuning realizes her imperial brother has truly gone mad.

Reading guide:

1. The heroine is a beautiful, delicate little princess with an irresistible charm.

2. The heroine has romantic storylines with three powerful men, but she loves only one person from beginning to end.

3. Each of the three male leads has his own appeal and personality. Their characterizations serve the plot.

4. Set in an alternate Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, before the Qin dynasty. The surnames are all archaic.

Theme: May the one I love live forever, safe and sound