A Beautiful Beginning, a Bitter End

Also known as The Princess Consort Drops the Act. Rebirth and revenge, a strong female lead, political intrigue

Blurb

The day Shen Lanyin was reborn was the night before her wedding.

Her half-sister, Shen Mingzhu, knelt before the family, weeping pitifully as she begged Shen Lanyin to give up her engagement.

Everyone in the household turned their eyes to her, waiting for her to put the family's interests first.

In her previous life, she did.

In return, she received a marriage contract to wed into the prince's household as a sacrificial bride, only to become a widow. Then Second Young Master Xie took her as his concubine. After a lifetime of torment, she died alone in the depths of her husband's home, without even a simple coffin.

This time, she smiled and helped her sister to her feet, her voice gentle.

"The Xie family's marriage is yours."

Then she turned around, put on her own wedding dress, and climbed into the sedan chair bound for the Prince Regent's residence, to bring good fortune to the sickly prince whom all of the capital believed would not survive the winter.

Everyone laughed that she'd escaped one wolf's den only to enter a tiger's lair.

No one knew that on their wedding night, the sick prince lifted her veil, his features cold and severe.

"Why do you look so much like the woman who was poisoned to death in my dream?"

She handed him the nuptial wine, her fingers steady and her voice even steadier.

"Your illness is caused by a slow-acting poison. But whoever made you suffer for ten years, I'll make them repay those ten years."

Beneath his frail appearance lay the unyielding spirit of a man who had spent nine years secretly investigating an old case.

Beneath her demure appearance lay the icy resolve of a woman who had died once and returned with a blade in her hand.

He taught her the currents of court politics, while she helped him untangle twenty years of the prince's household's rotten accounts.

Two people with secrets of their own gradually learned to trust each other with their backs beneath the glow of a single lamp.

Reader's Guide

1. One-to-one romance, happy ending.

2. A strong female lead is reborn for revenge. Two capable leads join forces in political intrigue, with marriage before love.

3. The male lead's illness is half real, half an act. The female lead's obedience is entirely an act.

4. Two ruthless people build a life together. The more real their relationship becomes, the more ruthless they get.

Theme: Though surrounded by darkness, keep your heart turned toward the light.