Gathering Spring Dew

[See the author's column for Springtime Longing, a novel in the same style as this one]

The young Princess of Jin was widowed early. The emperor, her brother-in-law, took pity on her and paid her a visit at the prince's residence late one night.

The Empress Dowager sent a carriage to bring the Princess of Jin into the palace, saying that she pitied her for being widowed and alone, and would keep her by her side and personally look after her.

"You're still so young, Sister-in-law. You should make plans for your future," the emperor told Xiang Xuelu.

But Xiang Xuelu only wanted to keep vigil beside her late husband's memorial tablet and live out the rest of her life.

Unfortunately, things did not go as she wished. Her belly began to grow larger by the day...

**

In Xiang Xuelu's eyes, Murong Yao might be emperor, but he treated his elder brother's wife with courtesy and respect. On her wedding day, he had even offered her a toast with a smile and his best wishes.

She never imagined that he was the one who had killed her husband.

"Why are you so surprised, Sister-in-law? If he hadn't died, how could I have had a chance to have you?"

The young emperor's handsome face wore a gentle smile. His tone was so matter-of-fact, as if killing his elder brother had been no more than crushing an ant.

**

Several years into the current emperor's reign, the six palaces remained empty. The world lamented that the emperor was cold and unfeeling.

But nobody knew that deep inside the forbidden palace, the Son of Heaven pressed against the woman's back and whispered tenderly, "If you don't behave, I'll take you to his grave just like this..."

"And let him see who his former wife belongs to now."

(No angst)

One-on-one, both leads' first relationship

(The male lead did not force himself on the female lead. The foreshadowing and truth behind earlier events will gradually be revealed in the extras after the ending in Chapter 86. Both leads are single at the start of the story, and they do nothing improper before the male supporting character dies. They violate no moral standards, and in the era the female lead lives in, widows are allowed to remarry.)

Thanks to Qiong Shen for the cover art: @Zi Qiong Shenxian

The author's completed novel, The Moonlight Is Actually Me, is an extra-sweet treat with no angst at all. It turns out she is the aloof emperor's long-yearned-for moonlight.

**

The completed novel Springtime Slow is also looking for readers! Here's the blurb. The series' other novel is in the author's column as well, so please check it out.

Song Qiumi and the Crown Prince grew up together, and everyone in the capital knew she had loved him for years.

After waiting so long to come of age, she could finally become his Crown Princess in name and deed. Song Qiumi was overjoyed every day.

But on their wedding day, the Crown Prince broke his promise and married two secondary consorts as well. One of them was Song Qiumi's cousin.

On their wedding night, the Crown Prince went to her cousin's room, leaving Song Qiumi alone by a solitary lamp all night. At dawn, she destroyed the token he had given her and severed the years-old ties of affection.

To make sure her cousin's family, who had seized her family's wealth, wouldn't get off easily, Song Qiumi secretly stayed behind when she went to pay her respects to the emperor the next day.

"The Song family is too powerful, and the Crown Prince is disloyal. I am willing to serve as Your Majesty's eyes and ears. I only ask that Your Majesty protect me." Song Qiumi clenched her palm and knelt to plead.

The cold-hearted emperor had already deposed three Crown Princes. His cool gaze lingered on this audacious fourth Crown Princess, and he replied inscrutably, "I grant your request."

After the Crown Prince finished with his secondary consort, he asked his attendant, "Is the Crown Princess upset?"

The attendant replied, "Not at all. The Crown Princess is in excellent spirits. She was just playing chess with His Majesty!"

The Crown Prince: "I want to see Father."

The attendant: "His Majesty says your conduct is unbecoming and has ordered you to return to your residence and reflect on your mistakes under house arrest."

The Crown Prince: "???"

Later, the Song family fell into misfortune, the Crown Prince was finished, and the whole capital waited to laugh at Song Qiumi and watch her become the fourth deposed Crown Princess.

But as they waited, Song Qiumi rose higher and higher, until she became the first empress of the Great Yong.

From then on, her brilliance shone alongside the empire, and she shared the sovereign's glory.

[About the male lead] #The most heartless imperial father, and the most tender husband#

The scum man's ashes will be scattered. No further explanation needed.

A cold emperor x a young, beautiful Crown Princess. A lifelong bachelor meets a little seductress. The male lead deposes Crown Princes as easily as a game. He's an iron-fisted emperor who always keeps his word. Both leads' first relationship. Maximum melodrama, over-the-top romance, satisfying sweetness.

The novel was previously titled The Imperial Father. (Both leads are each other's first relationship. The male lead and the Crown Prince are not related by blood, and their nominal father-son relationship hardly counts either. The Crown Prince doesn't even call the male lead Father. "Imperial Father" means the sovereign of all under heaven, the ruler who loves his people like his children, the "ruler" in the phrase "heaven, earth, ruler, parents, teachers," the people's provider, or the father of the nation. The female lead's relationship with her former husband ends before she develops a relationship with the male lead, so there is no breach of morality.)

**

A recommendation for a friend's novel: the hilarious and incredibly satisfying The Little Senior Sister Plays the Background Character Every Day by Zi Qiong.

Senior Brother: "I'm the destined hero."

Second Senior Brother: "I have a golden finger."

Third Senior Sister: "I was reborn."

X: "Can't mess with any of you. You're all big shots. What about you, Junior Brother?"

Little Junior Brother: "...I've only ever been jilted once."

X: "Good grief! This guy is terrifying!"

That's the state of the Seven Stars Sect. It's full of talented people, all of them big shots. They crush their enemies and level up, fall into passionate romances, wreak havoc in the sect, and make the cannon fodder cry.

As the Seven Stars Sect's Little Senior Sister, Ye Fu is also cannon fodder. To stay alive, she came up with a set of survival principles.

1. If you see injustice... absolutely do not step in to help!

2. Do your best to play the role of a random passerby or background character, and avoid being killed off by the plot!

3. Don't talk to good-looking people. It brings bad luck!

Ye Fu kept her head down and practiced cultivation. As she did, she discovered she seemed to be getting stronger and stronger.

So should she use her newfound strength to slaughter her way across the world?

No! There's always a sky beyond the sky, and people beyond people.

Ye Fu's goal was to become invincible!

In everyone's eyes, the Seven Stars Sect's Little Senior Sister was famously ordinary and completely forgettable.

But later, everyone learned the truth.

The one who defeated the Senior Brother with a single sword strike in the secret realm was the Little Senior Sister.

The one who guided the Second Senior Brother in the alchemy competition was the Little Senior Sister.

The mysterious expert whom the Third Senior Sister mentioned and praised time and again was also the Little Senior Sister.

Even the all-around idol the Little Junior Brother was always talking about turned out to be the Little Senior Sister!

Little Senior Sister: "I'm not! I didn't! Don't make things up!"

TAT I'm just an ordinary passerby, Ye Xiaofu!!

Pei Qingrang became the disciple of the Third Elder of the Xuantian Palace in childhood and cultivated the Path of Ruthlessness.

His sect placed great hopes in him, and his fellow disciples looked up to him.

But no one knew that he had always kept a secret moonlight in his heart, someone he couldn't bring himself to mention.

Ye Fu: "Who?"

Pei Qingrang: "Are you an idiot?"

Ye Fu x Pei Qingrang

#Too timid to do anything but become invincible#

#This female lead is obviously powerful, yet insists on pretending to be a random passerby#

The female lead is an all-around powerhouse, a well-rounded fighter, and has a System. A satisfying leveling-up story, with a warning that it's a long, everyday-life-focused novel.

Goofy cowardly queen x aloof beauty

Ye Fu x Pei Qingrang

Cover art: k

Theme: Stay committed to your goal and never give up