My Princess Consort Is a Scumbag

(Ahhh! So many people saw the title and blurb and thought my consort really is a scumbag. My consort isn't a scumbag, okay! There's a huge twist in the story! He really isn't one! I'm terrible at writing blurbs, and to keep the story fresh for readers, I only picked a few snippets for this one. If you're okay with first-person narration, please add it to your library! If you don't like it, come hit me. I promise I won't dodge!)

[Male lead: innocent consort who turns into a scheming prince x Female lead: too complicated to explain, you'll have to read carefully]

Jiang Yu woke up in the body of Yuan Shuang, the eldest princess of Great Wei.

According to the Book of Destiny, if she could just hang on until she was twenty-six and die by her consort's sword, she would enjoy a life of wealth and privilege for generations to come.

For the sake of this generational fortune, she tried every way she could to offend her consort, hoping for a truly miserable death.

She doted on eunuchs and kept handsome lovers, bullying and humiliating him, and committing every kind of misdeed.

Later, the Song army laid siege to the capital, and the southerners stormed Luojing. That day, she had just turned twenty-six.

As Liu Qi held a long sword to her throat, she remained unruffled.

"What a crafty man you are, Consort. You're truly a scoundrel."

Liu Qi sneered. "May I ask Her Highness the Eldest Princess, in what way am I a scoundrel?"

She had heard that after returning to the Southern Song, he spent his days among high officials and noblewomen, charming everyone and living the good life.

She mocked him. "Naturally, you cozied up to the powerful and sold your looks to gain command of the army."

The long sword in Liu Qi's hand immediately fell to the ground with a ringing clang.

He clamped her pointed chin in his palm, as though she were a magnolia blossom he could pluck whenever he pleased.

Forced to arch her neck, she took his ragged breath against her skin.

Their endless kisses were both a test and an answer.

There was a little tenderness in them, but far more sharpness and force.

Even in hardship, he never stopped whispering her name.

"Yulan, in this life, I will serve only you."

A few notes:

1. This story is set in a fictionalized Northern and Southern Dynasties period. The broad setting takes some inspiration from history, but I've added fictional elements as needed for the plot. Please don't nitpick the historical details.

2. It has an old-fashioned style, first-person narration, and was written for the love of it.

3. It uses a "deception-style" writing technique. There are clues in the early chapters, and the initial characterizations and plot are not what they seem.

[Coming soon: The Blade in the Young Master's Arms, a historical romance. Please add it to your library!]

She was a prostitute from the state of Ju. At ten, she escaped the brothel where women lived in misery, only to encounter a young lord from the state of Qi in a heavy snowfall in Jufu.

Spring comes slowly, while flowers and trees flourish.

That was the name the young lord gave her.

From then on, she became his concubine and a tool in his quest to conquer the realm.

Born into an age of chaos, she willingly became the young lord's dog, risking her life for him.

Wars began to spread, and the great powers contended for supremacy.

Wu Ji from Jin, Chang Qing from Qi, and Zi Yan from Chu.

Like her, they were all trapped by their circumstances.

But the young lord was different.

He was the future ruler of Qi, a hegemon burdened with the fate of the realm.

Yet in the end, she saw him clearly.

Beneath the red silk curtains night after night, he gazed past the scar on her shoulder, always thinking of another apricot blossom in his heart.

The young lord was snow on a winter's night; Zi Yan was the light of spring.

Since the winter snow could not melt, she would seek the spring sunshine that warmed her.

She had thought the young lord heartless, but in the end, he regretted it.

That night, the cold wind whistled.

He knelt beneath her skirts, heedless of everything, and demanded almost pleadingly, "I've done so much. Why can't I outweigh a dead man in your heart?"

The man was dead. What could even the young lord do about it?

Just as before, no matter how many times she risked her life for him, she could never compare to the half a sprig of apricot blossom rooted in his heart.

She was the young lord's most beautiful concubine, and his sharpest blade.

Only when the dagger in her hand pierced his flesh, and his scalding blood splashed across her face, did she see the first tear in his eyes.

"Promise me."

"If you kill me, you must forget him."

She did not waver. Her brows lowered and her gaze turned cold, but then she heard the young lord's voice catch in his throat.

"Suqi, be good. Close your eyes."

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

The blood on his chest overlapped with the rushing waves of Ju in her memory, and the past of their youth came flooding back.

Yes, it was all the young lord's fault.

He had taught her how to survive in a chaotic age by any means necessary, but he had never taught her how to love someone in such a world.

Theme: Without love, there can be no hate