The Young Lady and the Scholar

[Next up: The Darling in My Palm] Pei Zhi is a cannon-fodder supporting female character in a male-lead-centered novel. The male lead is her husband, Lu Hanzhou. Starting out as a mere scholar, Lu Hanzhou rises to become the Chief Grand Secretary, a man with power over all under heaven. She, meanwhile, is Lu Hanzhou's troublesome, willful first wife, who dies young by accident. Pei Zhi unexpectedly gets another chance at life, but she's still fated to die young. The only way to live a long life is to find the person destined for her and make him fall in love with her. Later, Pei Zhi unexpectedly discovers that her destined person is Lu Hanzhou. By rights, she should help him while he's still weak and cling to his coattails. That way, she'd not only extend her life, but also become the Chief Grand Secretary's wife. But after thinking it over, Pei Zhi still refuses. After all, this life is a bonus. She's got more than ten years left, and that's enough. Make her curry favor with Lu Hanzhou? Forget it. Looking at Lu Hanzhou in a faded indigo scholar's robe, Pei Zhi curled her lips into a smile. The future Lord Lu, who would hold power over all under heaven, was now just a down-and-out poor scholar. Everyone already says she's malicious and spoiled, so she might as well keep being malicious. Pei Zhi often bullies Lu Hanzhou, scribbling all over essays he's written to show his teacher and deliberately causing trouble for him. Lu Hanzhou never takes it to heart. He knows Pei Zhi has always been ill-tempered, spoiled, and unreasonable. It only gives him a slight headache. So when Pei Zhi says she likes him, he doesn't believe her either. He assumes she's trying to mess with him again. It isn't until Pei Zhi leaves and says she no longer likes him that Lu Hanzhou suddenly realizes she's the only color in his dull life. It turns out he's been in love with her for a long time. Much later, Pei Zhi realizes there's an even better way to get back at Lu Hanzhou: Make him fall in love with her, win his heart, and then abandon him. Reader's note: 1. The heroine is genuinely delicate, domineering, difficult, and a pampered young lady. She's a beautiful airhead, and she has no heart. 2. Set in an imaginary world, with lots of authorial liberties. 3. If it's not for you, don't read it. Just leave. ------Below is the blurb for the upcoming The Darling in My Palm The Darling in My Palm: Shen Fuxue has been frail and sickly since childhood, coughing up blood every so often. The doctor says she won't live past twenty. Because of this, Shen Fuxue has spent years kept inside the women's quarters. Though she has a peerless beauty, no one knows what she looks like. Later, Shen Fuxue's fiance, Lu Xian, breaks off their engagement because of her poor health and instead asks to marry her cousin. Everyone laments what a blow this must be for Shen Fuxue, and fears she won't even live to see the end of the year. Unexpectedly, Shen Fuxue not only lives just fine, but marries Lu Shihan, the minister of the Court of Judicial Review. Lu Shihan, minister of the Court of Judicial Review, is a powerful official in the emperor's good graces, one of the most influential men in the court. On top of that, he's handsome and refined, an outstanding gentleman. Many young women in the capital admire him, but he never so much as looks at them. It isn't until he meets Shen Fuxue that Lu Shihan discovers what love feels like for the first time. No one knows that Lu Shihan engineered Lu Xian's affair with Shen Fuxue's cousin coming to light, thereby ruining their engagement. Even fewer know how Lu Shihan coaxed Shen Fuxue to his side and persuaded her to become his wife. Everyone knows Lu Shihan is aloof and heartless, and never goes near women. Lu Shihan himself used to think so, too. Then Shen Fuxue appeared. The lovely young woman was shy and delicate, exactly his type. On the very night he met Shen Fuxue, Lu Shihan dreamed of her. In the dream, Shen Fuxue wept until her eyes were misty with tears, keeping him awake until the middle of the night. A little scene: Everyone thought that after Shen Fuxue married Lu Shihan, he would treat her coldly and torment her until she couldn't live out two years. But unexpectedly, at a banquet one day, everyone saw Lu Shihan personally serve Shen Fuxue food, then lean down to ask her, "Nongnong, does this dish suit your taste?" After the banquet, someone else saw the usually aloof Lu Shihan carrying Shen Fuxue himself and carefully setting his little wife into the carriage, considerate to a fault. Everyone's eyes nearly popped out: ... Theme: Every bit of special affection is long in the making. Through the long years, there will always be someone who loves you as they did at the start.