Did the Crown Princess Catch a Glimpse Today?

--- Updates will continue until the ending. The complete manuscript is in progress. I won't abandon it. ---

[Clear-headed, wooden heroine x flirtatious, arrogant hero] @ A Couple on the Opposing Side

Everyone says the Crown Prince of Beiliang is sinister, suspicious, and ruthless.

No one dares marry him, but Yan Ying, a woman from the martial world, agreed to the match.

She had her own reasons.

As soon as she arrived in Beiliang, she was attacked by bandits.

When she woke, she found that a handsome man had saved her.

She was grateful, until she realized he'd stolen her jade pendant.

That pendant was more precious to her than her own life. She absolutely couldn't lose it.

Yan Ying launched a nighttime ambush, took back the pendant, and left. The two became enemies.

But she thought, the world is vast, and she probably wouldn't see him again.

On her wedding night, she discovered that the man who'd stolen her jade

was none other than Pei Yuanche, Crown Prince of Beiliang!

This was bad.

Before leaving, she'd received a secret decree from the emperor,

ordering her to find a chance to confirm whether he had a birthmark on his thigh.

Unless he'd gone mad, who would show an enemy their own thigh?

-

Pei Yuanche needed a Crown Princess in name only.

The political situation was complicated, and too many people wanted to put their own allies in that position.

A woman from a foreign country, with no roots in his homeland, would be easiest to control.

Only on their wedding night did he discover that the woman he'd married

was the same one who looked gentle on the surface but was steady and ruthless in a fight,

and had knocked him flat with a single move.

Very well. Now they could settle their score properly.

After a clash, the two made three rules and signed a contract.

They'd expected to stay out of each other's way, but Pei Yuanche noticed Yan Ying always found excuses to spy on him.

She watched him bathe, watched him sleep, and even when drunk, clung to him and tried to take off his clothes.

Could it be... that she was trying to seduce him?

Later, he confirmed that Yan Ying really was trying to seduce him.

Otherwise, why would he suddenly want to kiss her every single day?

She panicked and slapped him across the face, but that only made him more excited.

Pei Yuanche: She must have feelings for me. Otherwise, why didn't she slap anyone else?

-

She'd planned to finish her assignment and divorce him, but under his temptation,

she didn't see his thigh, but she did see something she shouldn't have.

Yan Ying regretted it. Is he going to make me take responsibility for him?

Pei Yuanche pouted. A Ying, you know I've never had a Crown Princess since I was a child.

Yan Ying: ...

At first, they treated marriage as a transaction, testing and clashing with each other, each eager to get rid of the other.

Later, they joined forces to investigate corruption, root out treacherous officials, abolish political marriages, and establish trade markets, together creating a new order.

At the height of their power, the red thread binding them grew ever tighter, until they could no longer be separated, in life or death.

--- Reading Notes ---

1. Both are each other's only partner, one-on-one, happy ending, and they start out at odds. The heroine is skilled in martial arts and loves a fight. The hero can handle her just fine. She's strong, but he's even stronger.

2. Includes a difference in build and height.

3. The heroine has a backstory and flaws; she's not perfect. She isn't constrained by feudal etiquette and isn't a ladylike woman shaped by convention. She puts her own feelings first in everything. She won't be mistreated, and she doesn't take part in palace intrigue.

4. An imagined setting, entirely based on the author's own ideas. No historical research needed.

5. The plot serves the romance. Mostly sweet moments, a little political intrigue, and an easygoing tone without angst.

Synopsis written on August 21, 2026.

Theme: Husband and wife united in heart