He Plans for Every Contingency

[Gentle on the surface, ruthless and obsessive underneath, powerful minister VS fiery, spoiled young girl] [A touch of coercive romance + married first, love later + she runs, he chases + he suffers while trying to win her back]

By a twist of fate, Xia Ze'an married Xu Yinzhang.

Everyone envied her good fortune.

After all, he was powerful, handsome and refined, gentle and considerate.

Tall and graceful in his dark blue robe, he wore nothing at his waist but a piece of smooth white jade. Whenever he looked at her, a gentle smile lingered in his eyes. He lavished fine clothes, jewelry, honor, and respect upon her.

Even so, Xia Ze'an was a little afraid of him.

Because he was obsessive and domineering, too.

On their wedding night, the candles flickered as layers of crimson bed curtains fell around them.

Xu Yinzhang slowly undressed her, one garment at a time, as though unwrapping a long-awaited gift. It felt too much like humiliation, too much like being tortured inch by inch. Her trembling hands clutched at him, nails nearly digging into his flesh, as she pleaded through tears, "The... the lights are still on."

He pinned her hands above her head and pulled off the jade belt at his waist with one hand. His voice was gentle, but left no room for refusal. "The wedding candles must stay lit on our wedding night."

Every time after that, he left a lamp burning in their room, and eventually stopped giving her any reason at all.

Little by little, Xia Ze'an learned his nature: gentle and considerate, yet obsessive and domineering.

She couldn't take it anymore, so she ran.

*

The first time Xu Yinzhang saw Xia Ze'an as a grown woman, he knew he had to have her.

He had her fiancé transferred away, threatened her aunt, bribed her father, and quickly brought her home as his bride.

When Xia Ze'an ran away the first time, Xu Yinzhang assumed she was simply frightened by the vile things happening in the manor.

When she ran away a second time, the usually calm, composed, imposing man laughed like a madman, his dark eyes brimming with a vicious glint.

He had been wrong. He shouldn't have given her so much freedom, and he certainly shouldn't have indulged her so much.

That night, rain poured down. Cold, slender fingers lifted her covers and turned her trembling body toward him.

"Open your eyes." He slowly stripped off her clothes, one piece at a time.

She wouldn't listen.

She still dared not listen.

"I should show you what real pain feels like."

My new novel, Please Let Me Take You as My Wife, begins November 4.

[Gentle, scheming, wolfish hero with a ruthless side VS beautiful, resilient orphan girl] [Long-laid plans + devoted love + light and sweet + happy ending]

Jiang Zhiheng's mother was the most beautiful woman in the land, but she was born in a time of chaos.

The warlords all clamored to be Jiang Zhiheng's father.

Before she could get used to calling one man Dad, he was already bloody and dead. There was no time to don mourning clothes before a new father came barging in.

The last one, and the one she got used to calling Dad fastest, was Marquis Guangping, the ruler of the Central Plains.

He came with a bonus: a "brother."

The heir, Pei Yuzhi, was poisonous, hard to kill, and impossible to deal with.

After her mother died, Jiang Zhiheng had nothing left to tie her down, and had long wanted to slip away. But Pei Yuzhi kept such a close eye on her that she couldn't get away at all.

Then a pillow landed just as she was getting sleepy.

A warlord named Meng Jinghe came from the south, declaring that he intended to marry the daughter of Marquis Guangping. Everyone knew his talk of joining the two families was a cover for his ambition to unite the land.

Jiang Zhiheng never thought of joining forces with a tiger. How could she possibly outplay the overlord of the south?

By a twist of fate, though, she kept stumbling upon his secrets.

He bribed the marquis's trusted retainers, planted spies, incited the marquis's subordinates to rebel, and even... suffered from impotence...

He didn't panic or feel embarrassed, nor did he seem inclined to silence her. Instead, he smiled warmly and said with easy courtesy, "I ask Miss Jiang to keep this confidential. In return, I can grant one of your wishes."

Her greatest wish was to escape Marquis Guangping's manor and get away from Pei Yuzhi.

He was just being polite. She couldn't take him seriously.

She'd met plenty of men, especially the sort who used both sweet words and force to coax her into bed. This one might be impotent, but he could still trick her into leaving with him and hand her over to another man to help him become king or emperor.

Jiang Zhiheng was wary, but fortune smiled on her: by chance, she got her hands on Meng Jinghe's most damning secret!

At last, her luck was changing!

She smiled and proposed a deal. "Young Master Meng, I can help you get what you want. In return, help me leave Marquis Guangping's manor."

Meng Jinghe wore a long, moon-white robe and had the refined elegance of jade. He smiled too, seeming even more certain of victory than she was.

"It's a deal. I'll pretend to marry you, and make sure you leave the Central Plains openly and with your honor intact."

But once she reached his territory in Lanling, things began to get strange.

That damning secret seemed to be... fake?

And the marriage was... real?

What?

So I'm the one caught in the hunter's snare?!!

Theme: Love means giving her not only what is good, but also what she truly wants.