The kidnapping and cliff fall are coming up. Six chapters a day after the VIP chapters begin.
Coming next: My Former Husband Was the Grand Secretary (Reborn Twice)
Blurb
Also known as Entangled in Love and I Became the Enemy Nation's Empress Dowager
Su Qingqing was born into the family of a low-ranking official in a remote frontier town. She knew she was lucky to marry Huo Shen, so she always behaved herself and fulfilled her duties as a wife. That was why Huo Shen was willing to take her away from the northwest after he reclaimed his title as a prince.
She thought that even if Huo Shen didn't love her, they had at least shared the bond of supporting each other in their frontier town.
Those days spent huddling together for warmth could never be erased.
Until he asked her to go through a political marriage in place of a young lady from the Ji family.
Whatever affection she might have felt was extinguished completely.
*
Ever since he was stripped of his title as a prince and exiled to the northwest, Huo Shen had been plotting his return to the capital.
He knew exactly what he was doing at every step. He also knew he did not love Su Qingqing. She was only a stepping stone to get out of the frontier town, a counterfeit to comfort him.
So he could coldly watch as others mocked and ridiculed her, do nothing when she was kidnapped, and even personally send her off to marry into a neighboring country.
Huo Shen thought he would never regret it. Then he seized the throne and tasted something worse than everyone's hatred and loathing: loneliness.
He regretted it.
*
In the third year of Qizhao, on the anniversary of the Qi emperor's birth, the Empress Dowager of Yuan came to offer congratulations on behalf of the young emperor.
Everyone said the emperor had grand ambitions. Now that the ruler of Yuan had died and its emperor was still a child, Qi could seize the opportunity to take Yuan.
They feared the Empress Dowager of Yuan would fail to secure peace and might even lose her life.
What they didn't know was that, in the sleeping quarters of Qianqing Palace, the emperor had trapped the young empress dowager there.
The young empress dowager held a dagger against the emperor's chest. "Your Majesty, please stop."
The emperor's eyes were dark, his expression cold. "Qingqing, are you still trying to protect the people of Yuan and the young emperor?"
The young empress dowager fell silent for a long while. Then she turned her wrist, and the dagger clattered to the ground.
In the end, Su Qingqing yielded to the emperor's coercion and bowed her head willingly.
Huo Shen held Su Qingqing tightly, longing for the warmth of her body. In the end, the five years they had shared at the beginning were what he missed most.
But he didn't know that from the moment he personally pushed her away, he had doomed himself to never having a chance to win her back.
A sinister, possessive, unhinged emperor x a cold-hearted empress dowager of an enemy nation
[Reading Guide]
1. A forced-marriage and groveling-for-forgiveness story
2. The heroine will enter a political marriage. The male lead won't change; the male lead is Huo Shen. He's a jerk, but he is very faithful to his wife.
4. Feel free to discuss the plot and characters, but personal attacks in the comments are forbidden.
5. See the author's profile for similar novels.
[Screenshot taken on May 12, 2021]
Recommended upcoming novel
Northern Liang has been buzzing lately, with everyone talking about the two of them.
One is Pei Qishi, a general with a powerful army who holds sway at court and controls the government. The other is Yue Zheng, the current empress, born into a noble family from Jizhou.
Rumor has it that they are at odds, their conflict so fierce that it could end in either of their deaths.
But no one knows that in their previous lives, they were once a devoted couple, the Grand Secretary of Northern Liang and his wife.
For fifty years of marriage, they had only each other. They supported one another and treated each other with respect, and everyone envied their deep love.
Yet it was Pei Qishi who personally shattered all the love between them.
[II]
In my previous life, Pei Qishi and I were married for fifty years.
From the dazzling young winner of the palace examination to a powerful minister surrounded by followers, I was always by his side.
When I was reborn, I thought that if I persevered, he and I would love each other as we had in our previous life.
But he said he loved my older sister.
He would cook for my sister, and risk his life to take an arrow for her. Wherever she was, she was all he could see or think about.
And me? I was only my sister's substitute.
When I learned that he wanted me to enter the palace in my sister's place, I could no longer suppress the resentment in my heart.
[III]
Pei Qishi believed he had treated Yue Zheng fairly in their previous life.
He had given her status and wealth, and protected her so she could live her life in safety as the Grand Secretary's wife.
He had wronged others, but never shortchanged Yue Zheng.
Until she looked at him with red-rimmed eyes and said, "Pei Qishi, who do you think you are? Don't assume that because I've given you a little kindness, you can take advantage of me."
She also said, "Pei Qishi, I'm entering the palace."
When he saw the hatred in her almond-shaped eyes, he suddenly felt a moment of panic.
Recommended completed novels by the author
Gentle and Kind: A melodramatic chase-and-grovel story with two stand-ins
The Emperor's Concubine: A melodramatic chase-and-grovel story
The Favorite Concubine (Transmigrated into a Book): She ran off with the baby!
The Palace Maid Ran Off with the Baby (Transmigrated into a Book): Male lead, please stay away from me. I just want to survive.
The Beauty of My Cousin Outshines the Empire: She's so adorable, how could I do anything but spoil her?
Theme: Don't hurt others in the name of love. Learn how to love.