The Prime of Life Is Worth Coveting

Shen Heng, daughter of the Earl of Anxin, was breathtakingly beautiful. Many young noblemen admired her and had already prepared betrothal gifts, waiting only for her coming-of-age ceremony. But who could have guessed that a single imperial edict would make her the Princess Shaohua, to be sent off to a foreign land in a political marriage? The Shen family was plunged into despair. Shen Heng remembered that she had once helped the Prince of Chennan when they were children. After much thought, she set aside her pride and went to plead with him. To her surprise, the mild-mannered boy she had known had grown into a formidable man with a volatile temper. He slowly came to stand beside her, casually twirling a lock of her hair around his finger... A hint of orchid fragrance immediately filled his nostrils, just as it had when they were children. He knew she loved orchids above all else. Her scented balms and incense were always infused with their fragrance. "Everyone says orchids are pure and refined, but few know their vulgar nickname: the seducer of the world." His roguish gaze fell on her cherry-red lips. "I wonder if that aged emperor of our allied nation, whose life is nearly spent, will like them." Shen Heng's breath caught. Tears streamed down her face. "Everyone at court knows... only Your Highness can persuade His Majesty to change his mind. Please, for the sake of our childhood bond..." "Our childhood bond?" He echoed her words, sounding faintly regretful. "Did nobody tell you that it was I who recommended you for this political marriage?" On the day she departed beyond the frontier, Shen Heng calmly put on her phoenix crown, her tears long since dried. Meanwhile, the Prince of Chennan, who had come in person to see her off, was overcome with complicated feelings. The satisfaction of having avenged himself, which should have come at last, never arrived. Instead, somewhere in his heart, he felt a pain like a knife twisting inside him... It seemed this marriage could not go ahead. Or perhaps it could, if they changed the groom. ※ Happy ending. The male lead is a bit of a jerk at first, but later he chases his wife. ※ My upcoming novel, Bound by Longing, is open for follows. Here's the blurb: Ning Songwan, a merchant's daughter, has been having a run of good luck lately: Her childhood friend placed third in the imperial examinations, yet gave up better prospects to stay in Wangjing as a local magistrate, giving her a little corner of the world to call her own. Her mother was cast off by her cheating father, but reunited with her true love and became the wife of a duke. The duke treated Ning Songwan as his own daughter, and she gained an older stepbrother, a nobleman's son adored by countless young ladies in the capital. This aloof beauty became a doting brother who spoiled his little sister. She picked up a little beggar. After a bath, he turned out to be a handsome and refined young gentleman who obeyed her and was utterly loyal. But the truly shocking thing was that the beggar was of noble birth: he was a crown prince! But soon, all this good luck was shattered and turned into misfortune: Her childhood friend, the county magistrate, was stolen away from her. The aloof beauty turned out to be a poisonous black lotus. His doting affection for her was merely a ploy to ward off his many admirers, but it drew countless rivals to her instead. The prince she'd picked up wasn't from the current dynasty, but the previous one. She had no merit for saving him, and was accused of harboring a remnant of the former dynasty... Theme: Youth may be cherished but never betrayed. Love is like wine, and also like poison.