The Second Miss Will Never Blow Her Cover

This novel was previously titled The Magpie Returns Late.

[A cool-headed, resolute noblewoman with an unexpectedly adorable side × a scheming, foxlike crown prince who plays the innocent]

The crown princess's elder sister has been carrying on an affair, and her pregnancy is already showing. To protect the family, her younger sister, Jiang Youning, who looks just like her, must switch places with her and assume her identity as crown princess.

Rumor has it the crown prince is frail and won't live long. Jiang Youning pities him.

Poor man. She'll be kind to him during the last few years of his life, then mourn him for three years after he passes away. That should be enough to honor the bond between a pretend husband and wife.

At their first meeting, the crown prince is polite but unmistakably distant. He says:

“I know my health is poor, and I don't want to hold the crown princess back.”

Jiang Youning immediately lets out a sigh of relief. Perfect. They can each live their own lives behind closed doors.

But if that's what he said, why is the crown prince gradually looking at her in such a strange way?

*

The eighth prince invites her to tea and a banquet. A palace servant rushes over: “Oh no, Crown Princess! His Highness is suffering from heart palpitations!” Jiang Youning politely declines the eighth prince's invitation.

Her friends invite her to watch a dance and listen to music. A palace servant rushes over: “Oh no, Crown Princess! His Highness has a splitting headache!” Jiang Youning regretfully takes her leave of her friends.

Her childhood friend confesses his feelings. A palace servant rushes over: “Oh no, Crown Princess! His Highness's old illness has flared up!”

At the end of her tether, Jiang Youning corners him in the covered walkway and demands, “Didn't we agree not to interfere in each other's lives? What is Your Highness doing this time?”

The crown prince looks aggrieved, takes her hand, and presses it to his chest. Burying his face against her neck, he murmurs, “Wanyan, feel my heart. I'm so jealous I'm going mad.”

*

Later, just as her identity is about to be exposed and she is at the end of her rope, the crown prince turns the tide and saves the Jiang family.

She casts aside every concern and stakes everything, openly revealing her true identity before kneeling to thank him for protecting her.

The hall falls utterly silent. Tears cling to her lashes as she anxiously waits. The next moment, she is pulled into arms fragrant with medicine.

Her nose rests against the longevity lock on the crown prince's chest. A soft sigh falls by her ear.

“You waited until things got this bad to come to me. You deserve to be punished.”

*

Red candles flicker as silhouettes burn bright behind the gauzy bed curtains. Jiang Youning turns her face aside, unable to bear it, her hair damp with sweat. “Your Highness, didn't you say... your health was poor...”

Xie Shu laughs softly and seals her lips with a kiss. “I'm ill, not impotent.”

*

Xie Shu knew long ago that his crown princess was an impostor.

So what?

Her identity may be fake, but his wife is real.

*

Six months into the marriage, you discover the crown princess is an impostor. What do you do?

Obviously, play dumb and take home the beauty!

[Reader's Notes]

1. The heroine is not a strong, independent type, nor is she perfect. She's very clever but soft-hearted, a teary, gentle sort, though this side of her only comes out around the hero.

2. The hero and heroine are each other's first love, both are sexually inexperienced, happy ending.

3. The hero really is frail, but details would be spoilers, so I won't say more!

4. The romance won't progress much at first because their false identities get in the way.

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Below is the blurb for an upcoming novel, a lighthearted and silly historical romantic comedy, I Never Said I Wanted to Be the Heir's Wife.

[Quirky herb-gathering girl × cool-headed, scheming heir]

Yun Yao is an orphan who makes a living gathering medicinal herbs.

One day, while gathering herbs in the mountains, she takes shelter from the rain and finds a badly wounded, barely breathing young gentleman and a big yellow dog. She brings them home.

The young man is handsome, but blind. He's bad-tempered and hardly speaks.

She cares for him every day. At last, his eyesight recovers, and when she tries to send him on his way, he says he can't remember his name or where he lives.

Yun Yao has a sudden stroke of inspiration and cautiously asks:

“I just came of age, I'm pretty, and I can earn money. Since you have nowhere to go, how about marrying into my family? I'll take care of you.”

*

Married life turns out to be quite harmonious. The young man looks slender, but he's certainly useful. In what way is he useful, exactly...

Yun Yao lies sweating in the bedding, gasping for breath. The man's hot breath brushes her neck, his voice still husky with desire as he whispers in her ear:

“Yao Yao, I want you to be my heir's wife...”

How is that a bad deal?

She mumbles and drifts off to sleep:

“It's not a bad deal... Let's get some sleep. I have to get up early tomorrow to feed the pigs...”

*

When Prince Sui rebels, Xiao Yanzhi escapes the imperial capital under the desperate protection of his hidden guards and flees south.

When he opens his eyes again, all he sees is darkness. He manages to survive for a time on food his beloved dog somehow finds, but the wounds on his body grow infected and fester. At last, a high fever takes hold, and he loses consciousness.

He thinks he's going to die.

But when he opens his eyes again, he hears a young woman say anxiously:

“Young sir, you're finally awake!”

After staying there for a while, he learns that an herb-gathering girl saved him and that he's in a remote village in Yunmeng.

He also discreetly learns that the emperor has already put down the rebellion and order has returned to the capital. But some of Prince Sui's remaining followers may have fled south. To protect himself, he decides to stay in the village a while longer.

But just as his eyesight returns, the young woman hurries to send him away. So he lies and says he has lost his memory.

The young woman props her chin in her hand and says slyly, “Why not marry into my family? I'll take care of you.”

As if possessed, he agrees.

*

The herb-gathering girl has bright eyes and lovely features, with fair skin and a beautiful face. She's very much Xiao Yanzhi's type. Perhaps because she's still young, though, she's especially delicate in bed, and he has to keep coaxing her.

After making her cry again, he is filled with tenderness. Looking at the blue and purple marks on his wife's snowy shoulders, he can no longer hold back his surging affection and kisses her neck.

“Yao Yao, I want you to be my heir's wife.”

*

Xiao Yanzhi can't understand how a woman can be so heartless.

She clearly agreed to become his heir's wife, but not long after he brought her back to the prince's estate, his bride-to-be actually ran away!

The whole city knows that Xiao Yanzhi has been dumped!

For the first time, the normally aloof and proud heir trembles with rage in public. He grits his teeth and says:

“Yun Yao! When I find you, I'll tear you to pieces!!!!”

Theme: May everyone be safe, well, and blessed with good fortune