A Blade in the Young Master's Arms

[Cool, aloof nobleman × gorgeous courtesan assassin]

An angsty romance. The male lead is a bit of a jerk at first (he cares, but not much), then turns into a lovesick puppy later (he really is head over heels).

Qi Gongzi, Yu Rong, is cold and aloof, with an incomparable bearing.

The year he fled into exile, he picked up a stray dog from a pile of corpses.

Her eyes were sharp, her nature proud and solitary, and she reminded him strongly of someone from his past.

On impulse, he sent her to a brothel, shattering her innocence for good.

By day, she wielded a bloodied blade; by night, she gave herself over to pleasure.

Perhaps it was better to keep her.

Later, he became crown prince and took up residence in Huantai. He allowed her to be nothing more than a lowly concubine, which was not exactly treating her badly.

That is, until she traded her life for freedom, leaving not even a body behind.

He personally led people to search for her, day and night for several days, until he collapsed. Only then would he believe what the others told him: the mountains were full of wild beasts, and they had devoured her long ago.

One day, he discovered she was still alive. He swallowed his pride and clung to her like a madman.

But she said, "Let me go."

He agreed.

Ten years of fruitless longing, a dream of yellow millet.

But ten years was nothing.

He watched her marry another man. They loved each other dearly and lived in perfect harmony.

Meanwhile, he remained alone in the desolate Qi Palace, tormented every day by remorse that cut to the bone.

That night, the cold wind howled.

He knelt beneath her skirt and, nearly begging, demanded to know:

"I've done so much. Why can't I measure up to a dead man?"

The blade in her hand pierced his flesh.

In that moment, he knew that only by dying could he claim even the smallest place in her heart.

"Promise me."

"Kill me, and you'll have to forget him."

His voice choked with tears, every word steeped in blood.

"Suqi, be good. Close your eyes."

"When I'm dead, remember only me, all right?"

She was a blade he had forged with his own hands, its edge turned inward to pierce his chest.

He taught her how to survive by any means necessary, and she taught him what it meant to lose, and to love someone he could never have.

A few notes:

1. This novel is also titled Qi Ji. It is a serious historical drama set in an alternate Spring and Autumn period. Some broad elements are borrowed from history, but I've added fictional details to serve the plot, so please don't nitpick the historical accuracy.

2. The main focus is the female lead's growth, against the backdrop of a turbulent era. She is not ruled by romance. There are two main romantic storylines, including competing male suitors, and the male lead has to win her back later. This is his punishment alone.

3. There are four male characters in total, including the male lead and the supporting male characters. No reverse harem. Happy ending. There is only one male lead.

[My next upcoming novel, Are You the Eighth Prince? (transmigration into a book), is open for follows!]

Dai Mao, a veteran web-novel critic, stumbles into an old-school melodramatic novel she's recently started reading.

In the book, the eighth prince, Li Jing, a supporting male character, is a good-for-nothing playboy who spends his days fishing, birding, and carousing in the pleasure quarters, committing every sort of misdeed.

The powerful nobles of Chang'an are all waiting for the old emperor to die, knowing that this young wastrel's good days will be over soon.

Sure enough, after the late emperor's death, the male lead, Li Yao, takes the throne and makes Bai Sang, the only daughter of the Minister Secretary, his empress. Soon enough, he has a loving wife and children, and enjoys every domestic blessing.

Meanwhile, the eighth prince, the new emperor's own younger brother, is mysteriously convicted, thrown into prison, stripped of his title, and executed.

Faced with this ridiculous turn of events, Dai Mao beats her chest in frustration and resolves to save the eighth prince, who was supposed to die young.

But she transmigrates into the book as a servant girl who tends the turtles in the eighth prince's household. Not only is her position lowly, she doesn't even have a complete line of dialogue in the original novel.

Still, she refuses to lie flat. She works hard, determined to somehow prop up that useless wreck.

And so...

She encourages the prince to study, but he gives up.

She urges him to practice martial arts, but he slacks off.

She guides him toward a career in government, but he simply doesn't show up for work.

One day, at the end of her tether, she picks up the spirit turtle, Yan Nian, kicks open the eighth prince's door, and shouts, "Li Jing, I've had enough of raising you, you turtle!"

At the time, the eighth prince is lounging on a low couch, teasing a caged bird with a pine nut between his long, slender fingers.

He raises an eyebrow lazily. "You've grown rather bold lately. How dare you address this prince by name?"

Dai Mao tosses the spirit turtle into his arms and glares at him. "You'd better deal with it, or I'll make turtle soup out of it."

The eighth prince doesn't get angry. He slowly sits up, sets the spirit turtle aside, walks over to her, and bends down to look at her.

"Dai Mao, you've got it wrong. You aren't raising a turtle. You're raising the Eighth Prince."

[My next contemporary romance, Flirting for Beginners, is coming soon. Please follow!]

When Shen Jing arrives at the long-distance bus station with all her belongings, she resolves to escape her rundown family.

She takes every odd job and gig she can find, going wherever the money is.

A banquet is hiring greeters. She can earn 800 yuan by standing at the entrance all day in eight-centimeter heels, so she takes the job without a second thought.

At the banquet, someone mistakes her for a server and asks her to bring drinks to the guests. She's never done it before, but for the 800 yuan, she grits her teeth and gives it a go.

Her stiletto heel catches in the soft carpet, and she stumbles, spilling the red wine on a man's crisp suit trousers.

The man looks every bit the privileged gentleman. He arches a brow and asks, "New at this?"

She doesn't dare speak. She lowers her eyes and nods.

He puts out the spark at his fingertips, exhales a wisp of smoke, then points at his damp trouser leg. His face is perfectly calm.

"These are new too. Thirty-eight thousand yuan. Not a fen less."

There's one kind of woman Qin Yi hates most: women who use clumsy, clichéd tricks to hit on him and give him a headache. Pretending to feel faint, falling over... oh, and spilling drinks.

He has to deal with it every few days. Every time, he makes sure to teach them a lesson, without going easy on them, until he meets a beginner at flirting.

He asks her to pay for the damage, and she agrees right away. But asking her to have dinner with him is harder than asking her to give up her life.

He gets it. It's playing hard to get. He plans to give her a taste of her own medicine and ignore her for a while.

On the first day he doesn't reply, he sees her show up at a nightclub in heavy makeup.

On the second day he doesn't reply, he sees her leaving a hotel, looking exhausted.

On the third day he doesn't reply, he sees her, dressed to the nines, getting into an old man's car.

On the... never mind. Three strikes is enough.

It's not like he absolutely needs that thirty-eight thousand yuan.

So he rushes over to her in the middle of the night and says shamelessly, "Do me a favor, and we'll call it even on the thirty-eight thousand."

The girl blinks at him in confusion.

"What did you say?"

He impatiently loosens his tie, looking exasperated.

"I said, kiss me."

To pay off the unexpected debt of thirty-eight thousand yuan, Shen Jing has no choice but to tutor Qin Yi's younger brother, who is still in high school.

She hasn't even taught three lessons when the brat, who hasn't even grown all his hair yet, slips her a note: "I like you. Please be my girlfriend."

Terrified, she immediately takes a picture and sends it to his guardian, who is also her creditor, saying she'll quit to avoid any awkwardness.

To her surprise, her creditor replies with just two words:

"Not a big deal."

Shen Jing: "???"

Creditor: [Image quoted] "Think about it."

Shen Jing's fingers fly as she prepares to curse him out.

Her phone chimes again.

"He wouldn't dare make a move on his sister-in-law."

A few notes:

1. Both are each other's first. Happy ending.

2. Five-year age gap.

3. The male lead is the one who falls hard.

Theme: Self-awakening