The Darkened Male Side Character Kneels and Begs Me

Lu Congshuang transmigrates into an imperial-examination novel as the vicious proprietress of a crooked inn. In the book, the original owner drugs a scholar traveling to the capital to sit the exams... and ends up having her limbs chopped off by him and being turned into a human pig, confined in a jar. Looking at the clothes and shoes strewn all over the room... and the frail scholar lying there with his eyes closed and cheeks flushed... Lu Congshuang's legs tremble. What a brutal start!!! Even worse, she goes downstairs for a drink of water, and when she comes back, the scholar is gone!!! She panics so badly her voice cracks. "Men! Go after him! A hundred taels of silver to whoever finds him!" - To save her life, Lu Congshuang moves from the southwestern frontier to the far north. At a newly opened specialty inn in the far north, her employees arrange for her to spend a night of passion with a young male courtesan wearing a pink rabbit mask. Afterward, he takes off the mask, and she is so scared she nearly dies on the spot. The scholar lounges against the bed, using the mask as a fan to cool himself. He curls his lips into a wicked smile. "I heard you'd give a hundred taels of silver to whoever found me." - In his previous life, Shen Qingzhou was the eldest son of a wealthy family in Jiangnan, a notorious playboy in Lin'an and the leader of all the city's young wastrels. He was murdered, and not a single member of his family survived. After his death, he was reborn in the body of a poor scholar with no parents. The moment he opened his eyes, he realized that a woman like a fierce tiger was doing all sorts of things to him... After repeated attempts to resist failed, Shen Qingzhou gave in... Afterward, Shen Qingzhou fled on trembling legs. Facing a boundless grove of banana trees, he swore that one day he would smash up that crooked inn and have his way with its proprietress! Later, the inn was smashed up, and he was the one who was had, willingly. Next book: Spring Breeze Is Hard to Cross Blurb: The first time Du Jinyu saw Lu Zongyao, it was in a portrait. Her family was arranging a marriage for her, and portraits of scions from prestigious families arrived at her home in stacks. She couldn't be bothered to give them more than a glance, until the wind blew Lu Zongyao's portrait to her feet. His face was proud and fierce, with a high nose, deep-set eyes, and brows sharp as if carved by a blade. He looked like a keen sword that pierced straight into her heart. "I'll have him." Her slender, pale fingertip came to rest on the portrait. But he turned her down, saying, "The noble young ladies of the capital are stiff and dull." The second time was when she traveled to the frontier with her maternal grandfather. He sat astride his horse before the city gate, holding a blade. Broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted, his figure was as straight as a pine tree in winter. She looked up and saw that he was looking at her too, his phoenix eyes sharp and frosted over. Everyone said that Liangzhou was bitterly cold and spring breezes could barely reach it, just like Lu Zongyao, a cold and heartless man who was no decent person. She smiled. Is that so? Then she would make sure the spring breeze reached him. "I heard General Lu swore never to marry a woman from one of Chang'an's great families?" Lu Zongyao: "I did." Her smile grew more radiant. "What a coincidence. I made a vow too." She rose onto her toes and leaned by his neck, her soft breath grazing him. "I vowed to marry only a real man like you, General." Political turmoil erupted, and she hurried back to the capital. The next time they met was on a Chang'an street, with icicles hanging from every eave. His eyes dark with fury, he pressed her against the wall, his thumb brushing her dewy lips. "You stirred me up and then left?" Her father and uncles were demoted one after another, and the Du family was caught up in the fallout. She entered the palace as a court lady, and from then on they were separated, north and south. Two years later, she returned to Liangzhou under a secret imperial order to investigate him. "Du Jinyu, how dare you?" He lifted his head from her neck, his eyes seeming to bleed. After ten years of political turmoil, she was no longer the naive girl who had wanted to save face in front of him. He, too, had become a powerful regional governor with a great army at his command. On the eve of a palace coup, he cornered her by the city wall and pressed close to her as he asked, "Du Jinyu, I'll ask you just one thing. Have you ever had me in your heart? If you say yes, I'll help you rise to the top." * A fictional Tang dynasty setting with a mountain of original worldbuilding. No historical nitpicking, and no picking fights. At heart, this is a sweet romance, focused on the relationship with a little political scheming and just a tiny bit of angst mixed in with the sweetness. Please don't criticize if it's not your thing. Let's all enjoy the story in peace. Many thanks. Theme: You should still take your studies seriously.