The Emperor's Favor

The Eastern Palace has been in an uproar lately. The second daughter of the Yu family, that coquettish, flirtatious girl who looked like trouble from the moment you laid eyes on her, actually took a blade for the Crown Prince. Consort Yu, who knew the truth but could not speak of it, bit through her handkerchief. The Heir Rong, who had assumed he and the second young lady were in love, could not believe it. Only the Crown Prince, who treated women as if they were nothing, brushed a hand over the colorless lips of the unconscious young woman. "The second young lady truly has deep feelings for me." No, you've got it wrong... So exalted was the Crown Prince that he seemed to see through everything, yet took her rejection for a coy little game of playing hard to get. Yu Chu: ...Your Highness, as long as you're happy. Afterward, everyone thought the second Yu daughter would seize this golden opportunity to take her place in the Eastern Palace. The Crown Prince watched as the girl turned her gaze toward him, the corners of his lips lifting. She said shyly, "Actually, I have long had someone in my heart. Sadly, he is already married. From now on, I will think of no one else. I only wish to become a woman free of worldly attachments and pray devoutly for our dynasty." Silence fell all around them. Everyone held their breath. The Crown Prince's lips slowly flattened, and a long, soft chuckle escaped through his teeth. "Second young lady, what lofty ambitions you have." For some reason, everyone felt a chill run down their spines. And no one knew that the new emperor, driven half-mad by her teasing, had caught the Jiayi County Princess as she tried to leave the capital and live freely on her own. He was determined to make her think carefully about who was in her heart, and who she ought to be thinking about... Once her heart was at peace, he would set it racing again... P.S. The heroine only loves herself in this life. The hero wants both the empire and the beauty. This is just a casual story, so feel free to read it however you like. New upcoming novel: Reborn: The Plight of a Noblewoman. Please show your support! Everyone says that Grand Marshal Jin Qing has rendered tremendous service to the empire, but harbors the ambition of a wolf, scheming to control the lords by holding the young ruler hostage. Only the woman at his side knows that her cousin is a man of great talent and vision. He truly has ambition, but he is just as truly determined to quell the turmoil between north and south and restore the dynasty. Thus, marrying into the Jin family destined Sang Rou for a lifetime spent alone in an empty chamber, constantly anxious and afraid. On their wedding day, her cousin rode a light cavalry force a thousand miles to escort the young ruler home. On the day she gave birth, her cousin was far away in Liangzhou, fighting off eighty thousand northern Rong troops with just eight thousand elite soldiers. When their son grew up, he was even harder to manage. With a bow on his back and a saber at his waist, he slipped out in the middle of the night to search for the father who never came home. Only when she was nearing the end of her life did Sang Rou finally see the man who had given her a life of splendor and a lifetime of loneliness. His right eye was ruined, a terrifying red. His left eye, however, held boundless tenderness. The arms that had withstood countless armies trembled slightly as they held her. "A Rou, I..." "Cousin, I understand. Don't say it." He had his country and his family to care for. Her heart, however, was small. When she opened her eyes again, it was a fine season of falling blossoms. The most handsome and distinguished man in the eighteen provinces of the realm plucked the loveliest crabapple blossom from a branch and tucked it into the young woman's hair. "A Rou, I..." "Cousin, the third young master of the Xie family in Jiangdong is a learned and upright gentleman. Please arrange this marriage for me." After a long silence, the man softly said one word: "All right." At her next wedding, Sang Rou felt neither joy nor sorrow. She wanted only a peaceful life. But when the wedding veil was lifted, there stood the same man who had disturbed her life. He did not leave again. He did everything a newlywed husband was supposed to do, then locked a silver collar around her neck and carried her away while she slept soundly. "Jin Qing, you're insane." She had accepted her fate and expected another lonely lifetime, but he refused to accept it. Another recommendation: My Springtime Knows No Bounds Bai Sheng was a joke even before she was born. Her father was unknown, and her mother was a simple-minded woman. As soon as Bai Sheng was born, the Xie family sent her far away. Only many years later, when her maternal grandmother cultivated virtue through Buddhist devotion, was she allowed to return. Raised wild and free, Bai Sheng had grown into her own kind of person. While her cousins' hearts fluttered over the Crown Prince's visit and they fretted over whether they dared approach him, Bai Sheng went straight to his residence and gently tapped on his window. "Your Highness, do you think I'm beautiful?" In the soft moonlight, the young woman had snow-white skin and rosebud lips, with a crabapple blossom red against her hair. Her beauty was dazzling. "Shameless." That night, the hot-blooded young man dreamed until morning. Another day, just before he went to sleep, Bai Sheng appeared at his window again. With a floral ornament on her forehead, she was lively and spirited. Her bright eyes turned, and she looked as lovely as a fairy. "Your Highness, would you marry me?" "Shameless." Yet it was the Crown Prince himself who tossed and turned all night. The next day, she was bathed in moonlight, with no makeup on, and only a gardenia tucked beside the window. "Your Highness, I'm leaving." With that, she turned and truly walked away. The Crown Prince stared as her graceful figure vanished into the moonlight. For some reason, his heart ached faintly. Another spring came. The Prince of Yingchuan was taking a second wife and holding a grand wedding banquet. The young emperor attended in person, wandered into the rear courtyard by mistake, and came upon a beautiful bride who had slipped away in her wedding dress. Under the moonlight, she wore red, her skin white as snow, as beautiful as a painting. She looked at him for a long while, then asked, "Who are you?" The eyes that had once looked at him with tender affection were now cold and distant. The exalted emperor, who could have anything he wanted and never cared about a thing, tasted for the first time the heart-rending, soul-devouring agony of wanting something he could not have. Theme: Stand on your own feet and build a fulfilling life.