Tender Cries

[Complete] [An extra-short sweet treat, just 3 yuan. Fully edited, please support the official release.] Shen Qingzhi, the second legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Huaiyin, had suffered from a heart condition since childhood and been raised in the countryside. On coming of age, she returned to the capital. She should have been eager to reunite with her family, but she found little affection waiting for her at home. Cast aside by her clan, she was promised in marriage to a man whose reputation terrified everyone. He was the legitimate son of the emperor's aunt, the Grand Princess Danyang, and came from a powerful, distinguished family. But he had been abandoned as a child and raised in a country temple. He despised women, was violent by nature, and was said to be cursed, having caused the deaths of several fiancées. Everyone in the capital knew that marrying him meant either waiting to die or being a widow in all but name. When Shen Qingzhi heard the news, she was so terrified she couldn't sleep. She secretly sent a note to the Grand Princess's residence: "I would rather die than marry him." But the next day, He Yun cornered her in his arms, anger barely concealed on his face. "You'd rather die than marry me? Am I not to your liking?" Shen Qingzhi looked at his refined face, like cool jade veined with gold, not the least bit like a country bumpkin, and broke into a cold sweat. "Y-yes, you are..." Later, Lord He doted on his wife without limit. Not only did every official in the capital treat Shen Qingzhi with respect, even the new emperor respectfully addressed her as Auntie. A wedding-night extra: At last, the notorious Lord He, the subject of so many rumors in the capital, had taken a wife. His bride was stunning and elegant, the very picture of beauty, and the most beautiful woman in the capital. The morning after the wedding, Lord He rose early. A hint of red marked his neck, and his eyes were tender as he looked at the shy woman in his arms, the woman he had longed for across two lifetimes. The man's gaze was dark and provocative. His supposedly violent nature and curse were all part of a long, carefully laid plan... P.S. 1. He pursues her; sweet romance. 2. Content warning: Lord He is older, practices Zen and keeps his vows, then breaks them after marriage. 3. Fictional historical setting. Please don't attack the author or start arguments. Enjoy the story in peace. 4. Weibo: Lu Shiming Coming next: Marrying the Ailing Crown Prince After Divorce. You can add it to your reading list on the author's page. The second male lead gets the girl. Mu Shiyi, the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Yong'an, had skin like jade, breathtaking beauty, and was praised as the most exquisite peony in the Great Yan Kingdom. Fang Yanru, heir to the Duke of Fuguo, had loved her devotedly for years. He finally married her when she came of age, but the couple had no children in their three years of marriage. One day, Fang Yanru cautiously brought home a pregnant woman from outside the residence, claiming she was the orphaned child of a former classmate and that he was taking her in. Everyone urged her to forgive her worthless husband and raise the child. Mu Shiyi casually took out the divorce papers she had prepared three years earlier and tossed them to Fang Yanru, kneeling at her feet. "Either you leave, or she dies!" Fang Yanru gritted his teeth and stood up. "Divorce! I'll never kneel to you again for the rest of my life!" Years later, at a palace banquet, Fang Yanru, now Duke of Fuguo, looked at his former wife seated at the top of the golden hall, wearing a phoenix crown and breathtakingly beautiful. Not only did he regret it so much he could have torn out his guts and kneel to her, he had to kneel alongside his entire family. * When Mu Shiyi, the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Yong'an, returned to her family after her divorce, everyone pitied her. Her peerless beauty had come at the cost of her health, and she was unable to bear children. They thought she would have to spend the rest of her life as a pampered mistress. Who could have imagined that the chancellor's only son would send her a letter, the eldest grandson of the Duke of Zhenguo would break his leg for her, the heir to a prince's title would chase after her calling her sister-in-law, and the Grand Princess would eagerly try to find her a match? Even the Crown Prince, Hua Heyu, who avoided women and had a refined beauty fit to rival the immortals, a face rarely seen in this mortal world, dragged his frail body through a snowy winter night and knelt in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony for three days and nights, coughing up blood, just to marry Mu Shiyi. No one knew that Hua Heyu had a ray of moonlight hidden in his heart. He had thought she was forever beyond his reach, and that he would love her until death, but in the end, fate smiled on him. Extra scene 1: Ten years ago, after the empress died suddenly, Hua Heyu was sent to the borderlands to fight. But he was ambushed by villains and poisoned, falling from the clouds into the dust. In his delirium, a little girl took his hand and said in a childish voice, "I overheard Father say that the generals at the border will be executed if you don't survive. So I prayed to the Bodhisattva and secretly asked to share half my life with you." "Your Highness, you have to live to be a hundred." P.S. * A beautiful, strong but tragic second male lead gets the girl; the scoundrel regrets losing his wife and suffers for it. * Fictional historical setting, mutual healing, one-on-one romance, happy ending, both leads are virgins. Theme: In hardship, look after yourself; in prosperity, help the world.