One-line pitch: A monk turned into a royal bedmate becomes an obsessive madman, returns to secular life, and ascends the throne...
Princess Li Le has long adored the top scholar, Shen Qu. She pretends to be gentle and virtuous, hiding the true nature of the Li Tang clan, all so she can make this dreamboat of the capital's young ladies fall at her feet.
Capital Girl A: "If Lord Shen falls into Li Le's hands, it'll be like watching a peony get chewed up by an ox!"
Capital Girl B: "It's not that we're jealous. It's just that none of the princesses of this dynasty go without taking lovers. Poor Lord Shen."
Li Le refuses to believe it. She thinks it's easy for a woman to win over a man, but Shen Qu still turns her down. Heartbroken, she downs drink after drink until she blacks out.
When she wakes, she gets two pieces of news, one good and one bad.
The good news: Shen Qu has asked her father, the emperor, for her hand in marriage!
The bad news: There's a little monk in her bed! And she can't remember a thing!
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Li Yi is the product of a passionate night between the Prince of Changsha and a courtesan. Abandoned at a temple to become a monk as a child, he has tasted every kind of hardship life can offer.
Beneath his self-righteous facade lies a vicious, blood-soaked nature. But people are always fooled by his beautiful looks, mistaking him for a paragon of Buddhist virtue.
Then the emperor dies without an heir, and the Prince of Changsha takes the throne. Li Yi remains the prince's only child, and everyone rushes to marry their daughters off to the newly secularized crown prince.
Yet the crown prince fixes his eyes on Shen Qu and his wife, the capital's most celebrated couple, his lips curling with mockery and cruelty.
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When Li Le first meets the new crown prince, Li Yi, she senses his hostility toward her and can't make sense of it.
Li Yi has long heard that Madam Shen was devoted to the top scholar, Shen Qu, and that their love had finally borne fruit. Now that he has met her, he sees that the stories hardly do her justice.
Li Yi pins Li Le against the wall, but doesn't kiss her. "Have you forgotten me, Princess?"
Does it count as incest if they're relatives more than three generations removed? If it does, I'll change it.
Theme: A melodramatic, ridiculous romance
After Dumping the Yandere, I Was Sacrificed
Your Majesty, the Heavenly Emperor, Please Look at Me (Ashes of Love)
Men and Women in the Victorian Era
Reborn as Empress Dowager Yuanzhen
Saving the Women and Children of Water Margin
A Good Wife Like You
The Legend of Qin: Extra Chapter for Zhao Ya
The Legend of Qin: Zhao Ya
Transmigrating to the Ming Palace: Moonlight Through the West Window