The Xiao Clan's Daughter

Coming soon: "The Dragon-Blooded Hero Insists on Being My Darling Wife." Little angels, feel free to visit the author's works and bookmark it.

Xiao Jin, the third daughter of the Xiao family, was born with skin like snow and beauty like a flower. Born into a powerful family of generations of high officials, she was always smiling, gentle, and endearing. She excelled at poetry, music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and was always the most dazzling and best-liked young noblewoman in Chang'an.

But only Xiao Jin herself knew how ambitious and dark a soul lay beneath that beautiful face.

1. This is an entirely fictional setting, so please don't overanalyze the historical details.

2. The heroine is ruthless and wicked, and will stop at nothing. If that's not your thing, don't read.

"The Dragon-Blooded Hero Insists on Being My Darling Wife"

Li Xuanli thought Cui Ji was either sick in the head or possessed.

Otherwise, she couldn't understand why Cui Ji, who had been at odds with her just days ago, would swagger into the Princess's residence and insist that he wanted to reform and become her virtuous, modest consort.

Cui Ji had been putting on an act just moments ago. Now, in front of the Princess's retainers, he was making a grand display of a primary wife's arrogance. He said that once he became her consort, he would uphold monogamy and sell off all those flatterers who had won favor by their looks.

Li Xuanli was certain Cui Ji had gone mad.

*

Li Xuanli was the Qi Guang Princess of the current dynasty. The emperor had indulged her into becoming arrogant and domineering, and she kept so many male lovers that her reputation for sexual impropriety was known throughout Chang'an.

Worst of all, relying on the emperor's favor, Li Xuanli dared to interfere openly in government affairs.

The officials shook their heads again and again. As a woman, Qi Guang Princess ought to be gentle and prudent. How could she take her place in the court?

How could she dare do things that only men were supposed to do? How could Li Xuanli be so audacious?

So at the palace banquet, when the drunken emperor slurred that he would arrange a marriage for Li Xuanli, the civil and military officials eagerly seized their chance. Every nobleman's son in Chang'an either already had someone in his heart or, though his face was flushed, suffered from a serious illness that would flare up if he married Li Xuanli.

They thought they were humiliating her. But when they looked up, Li Xuanli sat smiling at the head of the hall, paying them no mind at all.

Then Cui Ji strode forward.

Li Xuanli, who had been enjoying the spectacle, immediately frowned. For the first time, she agreed with all the officials: Cui Ji had absolutely gone mad.

*

As soon as Cui Ji opened his eyes, he knew he had returned to the year he was nineteen.

Several lifetimes ago, he had transmigrated to Great Qi. By the age of fifteen, he had already made a name for himself at court, rising high like a phoenix. He was hailed as the unicorn son of the Boling Cui clan.

But at the height of his success, Li Xuanli had schemed against him and killed him, making him a pawn in the succession struggle. What he remembered most before he died was the deliberately innocent smile on Li Xuanli's face.

What a pretty face. What a wicked witch.

Reborn, Cui Ji had trodden on thin ice, only to be discarded once his usefulness was over. As he lay dying, he thought of Li Xuanli again. She had lost by a single move and poisoned herself. Her eyes had been so bright, so bright.

Reborn once more, Cui Ji did everything he could to provoke Li Xuanli. At last, he defeated all her royal brothers and became the person she hated most.

The princess and her powerful minister struggled against each other for years, until they met their end on the same day.

Seeing that at last Li Xuanli's eyes held only him, Cui Ji felt the pain of his pierced heart, yet couldn't help laughing in triumph...

She had killed him, and he had harmed her. They owed each other, bound to be entangled in a cursed fate for all eternity.

So Cui Ji thought very seriously that helping Li Xuanli claim the throne was only natural.

Someone tried to kindly warn him that Qi Guang Princess was ruthless and would surely unleash a massacre once she ascended the throne. Cui Ji should find himself a way out before it was too late.

Cui Ji gave a quiet laugh, his handsome, vivid face like that of a demon from hell. "When Xuanli takes the throne, I'll naturally be her empress. I'll make sure she has nothing to worry about." His voice was sweet. "Why would I need to find another way out?"

Theme: When will all the troubles of this world end?