Beauty and Bandit

[Next book: Beauty and the Assassin]

Blurb: The Wen family is one of the wealthiest in Yangzhou, and Wen Yutang is the only daughter of its main branch.

Her father has no sons, and originally planned to bring in a son-in-law to inherit the family business. But before he could find one, he fell ill, while a pack of wolves eyed the Wen family's fortune.

So her father hastily found someone who could keep everyone in line and made him her husband.

To protect the family business, Yutang agreed to marry the man her father had chosen.

She had imagined all sorts of possibilities, but never expected that her future husband had once been a bandit chief!

She planned to buy him off with a hefty sum and have him go through a fake marriage with her.

But when the man heard this, he set his saber on the table, raised an eyebrow, and asked in a low voice, "A fake marriage?"

As soon as he finished speaking, his men all drew the sabers at their waists.

Wen Yutang caved and hurriedly changed her tune: "A real marriage! A real marriage!"

How was this man reformed? He was still a vicious bandit!

Yun Zhen had been having the same dream for several years.

In the dream, he married a woman. On their wedding night, she called him her husband from behind the red curtains.

After waking, Yun Zhen could never forget the dream, having gotten a taste of something he craved.

Later, when he went to Yangzhou to break off the marriage his father had arranged, he discovered that his future bride was the woman from his dream.

[Coming next: Beauty and the Assassin]

Blurb: Princess Qingyang is peerlessly beautiful and has been spoiled since childhood. While in the capital to discuss marriage prospects, she accidentally fell with a cold-blooded assassin into a deserted ravine.

The young princess was afraid the stern-faced assassin would leave her alone in the ravine and go on his way, so she mustered her courage and clung to the tall, muscular man.

In the end, she even lied and told the assassin she was in love with him and wanted to be his wife.

The assassin was taciturn, but not a fool. He knew what she was after, so at first he paid her little attention.

But every time, she looked at him with red-rimmed eyes, as if he had done something terrible to her.

He thought life in the ravine was boring, so he decided to keep her as a pet.

He gave her food so she wouldn't starve. He let her follow him so wild beasts wouldn't carry her off. He gave her animal hides to keep warm so she wouldn't freeze to death.

But after she'd worn him down for so long, he simply gave in to her wishes. A killer with no moral scruples took her as his lover.

He thought that once they left the valley, she would keep her distance. Then he could go back to a life with blood on his hands, and she could return to her life of luxury. They would never cross paths again.

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Theme: With hard work and the courage to take the first step, women in ancient times can hold up half the sky.