The Crown Prince Fell for Me at First Sight

*Coming soon: "The Princess Only Wants to Claim the Throne." One-line summary: "The Mad Dragon-Aotian Says He Wants to Be My Dog." The blurb is at the very bottom. I hope you'll add it to your collection.

*VIP chapter announcement: This novel will become a paid title this Friday (8/2), starting from Chapter 22. Thank you for all your support, dear readers!

*An extra who turns the tables * Young married couple * One-to-one romance

[The sharp-tongued, love-struck crown prince, dressed in finery and riding a fine horse * The frail but ambitious crown princess, never too proud or too humble]

Ever since Pei Yaoguang was betrothed to the crown prince, she began having dreams about the future.

In her first dream, she saw her second uncle's illegitimate daughter. The girl had been cautious and meek since childhood. After coming of age, she married her legitimate cousin's husband as his second wife. Only then did her talent and beauty shine through, leaving her husband's first wife and the children she'd borne utterly eclipsed.

In her second dream, she saw her second uncle's legitimate daughter. Her cousin had been given two chances at life, and she deeply resented her husband and illegitimate cousin from her previous life. So she arranged for their affair to be exposed early, then married into the imperial family under the guise of a magnanimous woman who endured humiliation for the greater good, living in unmatched splendor.

In her third dream, she saw the cousin from the fourth branch who had just been brought back to the Pei family. The girl had actually returned to life in another person's body, transmigrating from several hundred years in the future into this tale of a real and fake heiress. She would rise through the ranks and marry the Fifth Prince, who would one day ascend the throne, becoming the most envied woman under heaven.

Only then did Pei Yaoguang realize that everyone around her was either a protagonist or someone destined to rise up and become one.

She alone, Pei Yaoguang, was the unchanging extra in all these tales: the deposed crown princess, whose good days would last only a few years before she was imprisoned in the palace alongside the crown prince. How pitiful.

Pei Yaoguang rested her cheek in her hand, smiling brightly. With fate so firmly set by heaven, how could one not be terrified? Yet she was determined to become an empress, exalted and honored.

*

Whether reborn or transmigrated, hardly anyone paid any attention to Pei Yaoguang and Shen Fang, the couple destined to be deposed.

After all, everyone in the capital knew the crown prince was tyrannical: a reckless man who galloped through the imperial streets and dared use officials he disliked as archery targets. Once he had exhausted His Majesty's affection for him, born of the fact that he'd lost his mother at a young age...

Even Pei Yaoguang, no matter how talented or beautiful, would be powerless to change their fate.

So they focused all their efforts at currying favor on the Fifth Prince, who would one day take the throne. They turned against one another, nearly ruining their own dignity in the process. Then...

In the fine drizzle after the banquet, they traded snide remarks and barbs. But in the blink of an eye, they saw the crown prince, so often cursed under people's breath for his foul temper and usually so arrogant and willful, smiling gently. He bent down and softly brushed the rain from Pei Yaoguang's exquisite skirt, where it had splashed by accident.

It was as if Pei Yaoguang were the most precious pearl in the world to him.

The onlookers watched, frozen in place, their hearts suddenly a tangled mix of emotions.

*

Later, Shen Fang, who was supposed to be deposed, held Pei Yaoguang's hand tightly as they climbed the high dais, step by step, and entered the great hall.

No matter how unwilling they were, everyone could only grit their teeth and kneel, helplessly crying, "Long live the emperor!" They congratulated Shen Fang and Pei Yaoguang on becoming the most exalted and powerful people under heaven...

*This novel is also known as "Toward the Jade Steps."

A few things to note:

1. Some supporting characters transmigrate or are reborn; the male and female leads are both natives of this world.

2. Neither lead has particularly high moral standards.

3. This is a fictional setting with many original details, so please don't nitpick the historical accuracy.

"The Princess Only Wants to Claim the Throne"

Li Xuanli decided that Cui Ji was either insane or possessed.

Otherwise, she couldn't understand why Cui Ji, who had been at odds with her at yesterday's court session, would swagger into the princess's residence, repeatedly insisting he would reform himself and become her virtuous, chaste consort.

Cui Ji had been putting on an act just moments ago. Now, in front of the household retainers at the princess's residence, he was putting on the haughty airs of a principal spouse. He declared that once he became her consort, he would enforce monogamy and have all those sycophants who served her with their looks sold off.

Li Xuanli was certain of it: Cui Ji had gone mad.

*

Li Xuanli was the Qiguang Princess of the current dynasty. The emperor indulged her so much that she grew arrogant and domineering. At fourteen, she insisted on leaving the palace to establish her own residence. She kept male favorites, and all of Chang'an knew her scandalous reputation.

Most intolerable of all, relying on the emperor's favor, Li Xuanli dared openly meddle in politics.

The officials shook their heads again and again. The Qiguang Princess was a woman and should be gentle and reverent. How could she stand in the imperial court?

How could she do things meant only for men? How dared Li Xuanli be so audacious?

So at a palace banquet, when the drunken emperor swayed and said he would arrange a marriage for Li Xuanli, the civil and military officials' eyes lit up. At last, they had their chance. Every noble young man in Chang'an suddenly either had someone he loved, or, despite his ruddy complexion, suffered from a serious ailment that would flare up if he married Li Xuanli.

They thought they were humiliating Li Xuanli. But when they looked up, she was seated above them, smiling brightly and not taking them seriously at all.

Then Cui Ji stepped forward, head held high.

Li Xuanli, who had been watching the show, immediately furrowed her brows. For the first time, she agreed with all the ministers: Cui Ji had definitely gone mad.

*

The moment Cui Ji opened his eyes, he knew he had returned to the year he was seventeen.

Several lifetimes ago, he had carried the Virtuous Minister System in the womb as he transmigrated into this world. He had stood head and shoulders above his peers. By fifteen, he was already thriving in the imperial court, renowned as the Qilin son of the Boling Cui clan.

But before he could accomplish anything, he died. A mere pawn in the struggle for the throne, he was killed through Li Xuanli's schemes. What he remembered most clearly before he died was the deliberately innocent smile on Li Xuanli's face.

What a beautiful face, and what a wicked enchantress.

In his second life, Cui Ji trod carefully at every step, only to be discarded once he was no longer useful. As he lay dying, he thought of Li Xuanli again. She had been outmaneuvered, and had poisoned herself. Her eyes had been so bright, so very bright.

In his third life, Cui Ji ran around making trouble for Li Xuanli. He finally defeated all her imperial brothers and became the person she hated most.

At the final moment of the struggle for the throne, Li Xuanli, an arrow piercing her heart, stabbed Cui Ji viciously. In her eyes, there was only Cui Ji. Feeling the pain of the blade through his heart, Cui Ji couldn't help but feel triumphant.

She had killed him, and he had harmed her. They owed each other, and were fated to be entangled in this ill-starred bond for all eternity.

So Cui Ji gave it serious thought. Helping Li Xuanli fight for the throne was perfectly reasonable.

Someone kindly advised him that the Qiguang Princess was ruthless and would surely slaughter countless people once she ascended the throne. Cui Ji ought to find a way to protect himself in advance.

Cui Ji smiled faintly. His handsome face, with red lips and white teeth, looked as if an evil spirit had descended upon the world. "When Xuanli takes the throne, I'll naturally be her empress." His voice rose sweetly. "What else would I be?"

Theme: Everyone is the protagonist of their own story.