When the General Enters My Dreams

The author's current historical romance, "The Cousin Who Flirted with the Wrong Man," is updating now. See the author's profile for details. Su Tingmei, the most beautiful woman in Jiangnan, suffers a sudden family disaster and becomes a cousin living under the roof of the Dingwen Marquis's residence. One day, she dreams that she's offered to Zhao Chong, Prince Su, who holds power over all under heaven, and that he keeps her confined in his manor, making love to her day and night. After waking, she dwells on the dream for a long while, then clenches her fist. No, the prince's manor doesn't have the cook she brought from Jiangnan, and she can't get used to the food in the capital! To change her fate, she decides to seduce the capital's noblewomen's shared ideal man, Xie Songtang, into marrying her. She pulls out every trick she can think of, and just as she's about to get her wish, she discovers that this "Xie Songtang" doesn't seem quite as virtuous as people say. Especially whenever they touch, his eyes look as if he wants to devour her alive... Zhao Chong, Prince Su, has spent years fighting on the battlefield. He's cold, ruthless, and decisive in killing, but he has always hidden his abnormal desires and hates anyone who uses them to get close to him. One day, a graceful beauty deliberately falls in front of him. Though he looks down on her in his heart, the collarbone peeking out from her loose neckline hooks his gaze like a crescent moon... Later, Zhao Chong is badly wounded. The woman stands by his bed with red-rimmed eyes, gives him a prayer pouch she made herself, and hides behind her back the hand covered in needle pricks. Suppressing the desire surging in his heart, he pretends to be cold and says, "Since you've been so devoted to me, I'll allow you to enter my manor as a concubine." But Zhao Chong never expected her not to be moved or thank him. Instead, she stared at him with wide eyes, as if she'd just heard something terrifying. Later, he sees Su Tingmei standing before his cousin, Xie Songtang, putting a pouch identical to his own into Xie Songtang's hand. The deep affection in her eyes is no different from the way she looks at him. She says sadly, "Meiniang has long loved you, my lord. I was misled by someone else before. I hope Third Young Master will understand my feelings." The cousin from the Dingwen Marquis's residence mysteriously disappears. Xie Songtang searches everywhere for the woman he loves but can't find her. Then one day, he's invited to a banquet at the prince's manor. As he walks to the waterside pavilion in the garden, he suddenly sees the curtains swaying... A bare leg, covered in red marks, slips out from behind the curtains, only to be seized by a hand accustomed to holding a blade. Then he hears his cousin Zhao Chong's voice, hoarse but loud enough for him to hear: "Tell him, who did you embroider that pouch for?" A flirtatious, irresistible cousin who draws everyone in vs. a regent with touch-starvation syndrome. Story blurb: Su Qingyan, daughter of the Left Chancellor, only wants to live a quiet life. She never imagined she would enter the palace one day and become empress in place of her late sister. That very night, rebels enter the capital, the emperor is kidnapped and goes missing, and General Wei Jun single-handedly slaughters the rebels and helps the five-year-old emperor ascend the throne. Rumors suddenly spread that Wei Jun is about to kill the emperor and seize the throne. Separated from the throne by a curtain, Su Qingyan looks at her imperial nephew in distress, calculating how much longer the two of them can stay alive. Just then, the imposing voice of the General Who Guards the Nation announces his audience with the Empress Dowager in the hall. Su Qingyan jolts in fright, and the half-eaten apple in her hand slips away, rolling straight onto General Wei's boot... Wei Jun peers inside through his scarred eyes. Behind the curtain, Su Qingyan bites her finger and knocks another year off the lifespan she'd just calculated. But she doesn't know that Wei Jun is thinking: This little Empress Dowager looks kind of familiar... A timid, death-fearing young Empress Dowager vs. a ferocious general. Theme: