Favor and Glory

[I'll update once I've written a bit more in advance. I won't abandon this story.]

Zhou Yao's engagement was broken off when she was fifteen.

Soon afterward, her gambling-addicted father used her as a stake and lost her to a gambling den. The den then sold her on to Tongque Tower, the largest brothel in Liangzhou City.

She thought she was doomed to fall into a life of prostitution and become a harlot scorned by everyone. But then Zhao Yan suddenly appeared, casually lifting her chin as he said:

"If you behave and stay with me, I'll make sure you have everything you need for the rest of your life."

It wasn't until later that Zhou Yao discovered Zhao Yan had given her far more than a life free of want. He had given her an honor and status second only to The Outcast himself, above all others.

※

Coming soon: "Qing Nu." Here's the blurb. If you like it, you can follow the story in advance.

Zhao You had never met such a foolish assassin. She was beautiful, but empty-headed, with murderous intent written all over her face. The dagger hidden in her sleeve fell to the ground before she could find the right moment to strike, exposing her identity as an assassin.

She turned an assassination attempt into a vaudeville act.

Amused, yet suddenly moved by compassion, he not only kept her around but personally taught her how to win people's hearts, bewitch their minds, and kill without leaving a trace. In the end, he even commissioned a master craftsman to make her a pair of short swords.

But when she drew those swords, they pierced his heart.

Only then did Zhao You learn that she was the top assassin in the Qing Sect, a master strategist who had never failed to assassinate her target.

*

Qing Nu has two regrets in her life:

First, after successfully assassinating Zhao You, she revealed her true identity right in front of him.

Second, she failed to finish him off, allowing him to survive by sheer luck.

As a result, on countless nights afterward, Zhao You would appear in her room without warning, turning a short sword in his hand as he smiled nonchalantly. "Qing'er, you dared to kill the emperor, but you don't dare become my empress?"

*Scheming beauty x hot-tempered emperor

*Featuring melodramatic tropes such as love and hate, taking by force, amnesia, and the emperor's desperate pursuit of his wife

Theme: Hold fast to your beliefs and never give up