An Apprentice in Qing Dynasty Scenes

A preview of the next novel I plan to write:

"The Emperor's Terrace, the Crane's Farewell." Blurb at the end.

Yu Rong transmigrates into the Qing dynasty. She thinks she's landed in a melodramatic TV drama, playing the cannon-fodder concubine of the pampered Ninth Prince. But to her utter surprise, this is a story about sex, not love?

She can live with that. But just when she thinks she can finally use her favor to dominate the household, she transmigrates again. ...

After countless loops, she realizes this is actually a story about falling in love with the Ninth Prince fifty times.

Sweet version: His little fairy and her old monster

[Reader's Guide]

* Purity police, please keep quiet. Fans of steadfast couples, please steer clear.

* A nostalgic, old-school, medium-length story. Pure, brainless sweetness, with heaps of creative liberties.

* The palace customs and setting have been simplified and differ greatly from historical records. Please don't nitpick.

A preview of the next novel I plan to write:

"The Emperor's Terrace, the Crane's Farewell"

Qi Wuyou hates her consort. Their marriage is a political arrangement, all pretense and performance. He was forced to lay down his arms, yet he can still humble himself before her and pretend to be devoted.

He knows she has someone she loves, but he endures what others couldn't. He jokes with feigned sincerity: "Once I'm gone, you can live happily ever after with your beloved."

Beyond his jokes, Xia He remains attentive and indulges her every whim.

When their marriage finally reaches its end, Qi Wuyou cuts off their joined lock of hair with her own hands, without the slightest hesitation:

"From now on, we are sovereign and subject, not husband and wife."

After that, she learns to be a heartless ruler.

The new ruler has her mausoleum expanded, but refuses to leave even half a space for her only husband, declaring that they will never meet again, in life or in death.

*

After ten years of campaigning on distant frontiers, Xia He hears that the ruler has grown cold-hearted. All he can say is that she got what she wanted. Ten years ago, he couldn't outdo the one she loved. Now she and her beloved have a child together. What could he possibly fight for?

Yet one short spring night later, the sun has climbed high. The alluring ruler draws the beauty at her side into her arms and mocks him:

"Hm? Isn't that General Xia? Who was it who once thought the position of imperial consort beneath him? Why are you willing to lower yourself and become my lover now?"

*

"If I must choose between the realm and the one I love, then the one I love is mine, and the realm is yours."

@Pei Jia Also Wants Three Bowls of Rice

Written for my friend Afang, and for the lovely people we once were ^-^

Theme: True love corresponds to the real self.