Scandal at the Imperial College

Mischievous girl in disguise, scheming little ray of sunshine X gentle and refined, aloof beauty, a long-dormant passion catching fire

"Capital City Newsflash"

Two students at the Imperial College, Zhang and Zheng,

are unusually close, and suspected of being lovers.

But Zhang is Pei's favorite pupil.

Their teacher-student bond is deep, and they often share a bed,

which makes Zheng unhappy.

One day after class, Zheng attacked Pei,

with the outcome still unknown...

This shocking rumor, first revealed by the Imperial College, the nation's highest institution of learning,

sent shockwaves through the capital's gossip circles,

driving melon prices sky-high and leaving demand unsatisfied.

When a busybody showed up to ask for confirmation, the replies were:

Zhang rolled his eyes: "What the hell does it have to do with me?"

Zheng snorted: "What's it to you?"

Pei smiled: "What, that happened?"

Yao Yue, a girl of mysterious origins, enters the Imperial College disguised as a boy. While muddling her way through school, she accidentally gets on the wrong side of Pei Zhuo, the most untouchable teacher of them all.

From then on, Yao Yue's daily routine includes not only eating, sleeping, and fishing for the big one, Zheng Xiu, but also matching wits with Teacher Pei Zhuo.

Pei Zhuo, a distinguished Hanlin scholar who placed first in the imperial examinations, gave up his official career to teach at the Imperial College and keep a low profile. Then he happened to meet Yao Yue, an unexpected troublemaker who always manages to unsettle him.

From then on, Pei Zhuo's daily pleasures include not only reading, compiling histories, and perfecting his tea-making, but also finding out what kind of trouble Yao Yue has gotten into this time.

[Little Scene]

Yao Yue chewed on her pen. "What exactly does Pei Zhuo want from me? My youthful beauty, or my prestigious family background?"

A chuckle drifted from behind her. "Finished reviewing your lessons? Excellent. Copy the first poem in the Book of Songs a hundred times."

Yao Yue grimaced. "Teacher, I was sleep-talking just now. Please be the bigger person and forgive me..."

Pei Zhuo set the Book of Songs in front of Yao Yue and thoughtfully replaced her pen. "Two hundred times."

With no luck begging for mercy, Yao Yue could only open the book with a resentful sigh. But when she saw the first line, she smiled: "Guan guan cry the ospreys, on the river islet. The graceful, lovely maiden is a fitting mate for the gentleman."

[Reading Guide]

1. Set in a fictional world, with no historical research; many details are invented. Sources will be cited for quotations.

2. The heroine appears in men's clothing during the early story, but the hero discovers her identity quite early.

3. Not a female-led story. The hero is ten years older than the heroine.

4. Both are virgins, one-on-one romance, happy ending.

Coming Soon

☆ Coming Soon 1: Reborn and Married to My Ex's Archenemy: They were uncle and sister-in-law in their past life; this time, it's a marriage that turns into love

Cui Mingying came from a prestigious family and was peerless in both beauty and talent. When the emperor arranged her marriage, she married the eldest prince, Wei Ke, beneath the envious gaze of everyone around her.

Wei Ke treated her well, loving, doting on, and protecting her. She naively thought she had found the right man, unaware that it was all an act.

It wasn't until Wei Ke's archenemy, the second prince Wei Xun, a famed war hero, suddenly died of illness, and the emperor fell gravely ill, leaving Wei Ke in sole control of the government, that Wei Ke's true nature came to light.

To win over the court and consolidate his power, Wei Ke gathered more and more women around him. He coldly watched, and even encouraged, as they bullied Cui Mingying without restraint.

Cui Mingying turned to her family for help, only to learn that Wei Ke was about to marry her younger sister. She had already been cast aside.

Heartbroken, Cui Mingying hanged herself in the newlyweds' chamber on the day Wei Ke married her sister.

Heaven took pity on her, and Cui Mingying was reborn at the palace banquet where her marriage had been arranged.

When the emperor asked whether she had someone in her heart, Cui Mingying did not shyly shake her head as she had in her previous life. Instead, she said clearly, "The Second Prince is a peerless warrior. Your humble daughter has admired him for a long time."

Nearby, Wei Ke smiled and congratulated his younger brother Wei Xun. Behind his back, his hand crushed his wine cup, leaving it slick with blood.

After Cui Mingying married Wei Xun as she had wished, she thought it wouldn't be long before she could enjoy the comfortable life of a wealthy widow with no husband around.

But the husband she married in this life was nothing like the second prince Wei Xun she remembered: indifferent to women, taciturn, and dead in the prime of his life.

The curtains were warm with spring, and the night was all too short.

Wei Xun's eyes were unusually bright as he gazed without looking away at Cui Mingying, her face flushed with passion. The tenderness in his eyes threatened to swallow her whole.

"A Ying, do you... like this?"

"A Ying, look at me. Say my name."

"A Ying... A Ying... my wife..."

Wei Xun loved having Cui Mingying sleep with her head on his chest, lulled by the sound of his heartbeat.

Every beat of his heart was an unabashed declaration of love for her.

Wei Xun's inner thoughts: I've wanted her for two lifetimes, and it took everything to finally marry her. I haven't even laid the best of the world at her feet yet. How could I bear to die young?

☆ Coming Soon 2: The Marquis's Childhood Sweetheart: 108 Ways to Make Your Childhood Sweetheart Fall for Someone Else

In her previous life, the kingdom fell, enemy forces invaded the capital, and the palace gates were on the verge of being breached.

When Empress Dowager Xia Huiyu was about to die for her country with the young emperor in her arms, an unfamiliar general arrived to save her.

In the storm of blood and battle, she couldn't make out the face of the man who saved her. She only heard him say, "Your servant He Guang was too late to save you."

In the years that followed, the only thing that gave Xia Huiyu hope in the deep palace was the memorials He Guang sent from a thousand miles away.

After ten long years, He Guang, who had recovered all the lost territory, wrote that he was returning to the capital.

Sadly, Xia Huiyu never saw him. He died on the road back to the capital.

Overcome with grief, she soon followed him in death.

When Xia Huiyu opened her eyes again, she had been reborn at the age of thirteen.

She was on a carriage headed for Xi Prefecture, on her way to fulfill her engagement to the heir of the Marquis of Jingbei.

This time, Xia Huiyu did not accept the broken engagement as she had in her previous life. Instead, she stayed in Xi Prefecture and searched for He Guang in secret.

But she had no idea how hard He Guang would be to find, or how impossible her fiance Qi Zhan would be to deal with.

Everyone knew that Qi Zhan, heir to the Marquis of Jingbei, was a born military genius. He led troops into battle at fourteen and had never lost. The enemy quaked at his name and called him "Qi the Grim Reaper."

What no one knew was why Qi Zhan, despite hating everything about the capital, refused to break off his engagement to Xia Huiyu, who came from one of its most prominent families, and even treated her as the future mistress of the marquis's estate.

In fact, whenever he heard anything about Xia Huiyu, his face, adored by countless young ladies, would break into a smile that was worth less than a penny.

Only Qi Zhan knew how he had counted the days, wishing on every star and moon, for 1,307 days, until his beloved fiancee finally arrived, even though she had already forgotten him.

But the ever-victorious Young Marquis Qi wasn't discouraged. He remained confident: She's still young, and there's plenty of time. Just watch me win her over, step by step!

As for the person Xia Huiyu had been searching for...

In public, Qi Zhan acted magnanimous and even helped her look.

In private, the vinegar jar incarnate sneered: Even if you dug up every inch of Xi Prefecture, you wouldn't find that person in this lifetime or the next!

☆ Coming Soon 3: Reborn, the Crown Princess Quits: A Chronicle of the Crown Prince's Road to Redemption

The second year after Liu Mingyan became crown princess, rebels invaded the capital.

She was abandoned on the run, suffered terribly, and died with regrets.

As Liu Mingyan died, the Crown Prince Li Jingheng's confident promise echoed in her ears: "Mingyan, wait for me."

Liar.

Heaven took pity on her, and Liu Mingyan was reborn one year before her wedding.

Her family and country were safe, and she was still the carefree eldest daughter of the Liu family.

Liu Mingyan knew that if she were not the crown princess, the rebels would not slaughter her parents and brothers, and she would not be cast aside and die with hatred in her heart.

So Liu Mingyan decided to strike at the root of the problem. She would marry someone else and make it impossible for her to become crown princess.

While Liu Mingyan went boating with the newly appointed top scholar one day, went hiking with the heir of a marquis the next, and attended one match-making banquet after another, Li Jingheng, who should have been a thousand miles away, rode up before her in cold armor, carrying a bloodstained saber.

Liu Mingyan's eyelids twitched violently. She turned and ran.

Li Jingheng galloped after her, hauled the struggling Liu Mingyan onto his horse, and held her tight against his chest.

When the voice engraved in her bones sounded beside her ear, Liu Mingyan's whole heart trembled. "Mingyan, I'm back."

Theme: As long as you keep pursuing a dream, one day it will come true.