The Crown Prince's Bride: Married Life

Please add my upcoming novel, "The First Secretary's Moonlight Cousin," to your reading list. Here is the blurb for this novel:

The third daughter of Magistrate Fu is beautiful and well-educated, but after her mother dies and her father raises his concubine to the status of his new wife, her fiance's family breaks off their engagement.

Meng Heng, the younger son of the Prince of Dongchang, spends his days idling about, with no interest in studying or making something of himself. He only knows how to frequent taverns and pleasure houses, hunt, and play with birds. The common folk call him a spoiled wastrel, and everyone laments that such a handsome young man should have turned out this way.

His reputation precedes him, and it affects his prospects.

For example, the first woman he was engaged to considered her options, then eloped with her lover while awaiting the wedding...

The second woman, hoping to protect her reputation, jumped into a lake. She was luckily rescued, but swore she would never marry him.

Meng Heng didn't care about any of this, but his father and mother were frantic.

The Prince of Dongchang discussed a match with Master Fu, shedding tears and cursing his son to high heaven. Master Fu saw no way to refuse and had to agree to the marriage. But his new wife, a former concubine, couldn't bear to marry her own daughter off to a wastrel, and the eldest daughter said she'd kill herself if she were made to marry Meng Heng.

The heartless couple came up with a plan. They still had a third daughter, didn't they? Why not have her take her sister's place?

Fu Zhiwan had no other choice and no one to rely on, so she had to marry in her sister's stead.

Before the wedding:

"Miss, do you know that the heir is a notorious wastrel?"

"I know. Aren't all smelly men the same?"

"They say he spends every day at taverns and pleasure houses and hardly ever goes home."

"Perfect. That'll give me some peace and quiet."

At a banquet hosted by Grand Tutor Ni, Fu Zhiwan mistakenly thought Meng Heng was chasing women and tried to break off their engagement. Furious, Meng Heng cornered her by the rockery in the Grand Tutor's garden and used every trick in the book until he managed to bring his bride home.

After the wedding:

Fu Zhiwan: Didn't they say this man was never home? Now he's following me around every day. It's driving me crazy...

Meng Heng: My lady, slow down and wait for me!

When it comes to winning his wife's favor, the heir is willing to bend over backward.

While rumors spread that the head of the immensely wealthy Han family still can't forget the heir's wife, everyone wonders what the heir of Dongchang will do.

In the bedroom of the main residence at Qianyuan Garden, a warm, heady fragrance fills the bedchamber. Their temples brush, and a jade hairpin sways.

Meng Heng catches Fu Zhiwan's hand and pulls her into his arms. "You are not allowed to leave me."

Fu Zhiwan doesn't quite hear him, so she doesn't answer.

Panic flashes in Meng Heng's lacquer-black eyes. He bends to whisper against Fu Zhiwan's ear, his voice gentle and plaintive. "Zhiwan, I will only ever be good to you. Don't leave me."

Note: 1. Exclusive couple, both each other's first. A slow start.

2. A little angst, with forced possession and a groveling chase to win her back.

3. The setting is entirely author-created, so don't overanalyze it. Plot comes first, and there are new locations.

4. Everyone is a native of this world and has never received a modern education.

Upcoming novel, "The First Secretary's Moonlight Cousin." Here is the blurb:

The Jiang family of Fuyang has fallen on hard times and is struggling to make ends meet. They rely on the occasional help of Madam Jiang, a second-branch relative in the Marquis of Xiangyang's household in the capital. Since Madam Jiang has no daughter of her own, the Jiang family sends Jiang Pingting to the capital to stay by her side.

Xie Minglang, the second son of the Marquis of Xiangyang's eldest branch, is as noble and untroubled as moonlight, exceptionally handsome and aristocratic. After placing first in the imperial examinations, he rises rapidly through the ranks thanks to his outstanding record, eventually becoming First Secretary and wielding power across the court with effortless ease. Every unmarried woman in the capital dreams of marrying him.

Living under someone else's roof, Jiang Pingting is careful at every step. She is gentle and mild-tempered, treating people with kindness and courtesy, so everyone in the Xie family, from the old madam to the servants, likes this cousin. But Jiang Pingting has no idea how she offended Second Young Master Xie. He never speaks to her more than necessary and keeps his distance. Could it be that he can't stand seeing her live in the Xie household and use the family's food, clothes, and other comforts? But it's Xie eldest son who will inherit the title, so surely none of it comes out of his pocket...

Later, the Jiang family tries to marry Jiang Pingting off to the dissolute, unruly son of a count's household in exchange for two thousand taels of silver. The old madam of the Xie family feels sorry for Pingting and wants to find her a better match, suggesting the sixth son of the newly prominent Yan family in the capital.

That very day, Xie Minglang kneels in the old madam's room and says with utmost solemnity, "I beg you, Grandmother, to let me marry our cousin from the Jiang family. I have long held her in my heart. I will pay the silver the Jiang family wants out of my private funds, deal with the count's household in Fuyang, and persuade the Yan family myself. I only ask that you agree."

His plea astonishes the old madam, shocks the entire Xie household, and terrifies Jiang Pingting.

Jiang Pingting: Second Young Master, when did you fall for me? You can't be serious.

Xie Minglang: It was love at first sight. May the man who lies to you become a mud turtle in that pond.

Mud turtle: ...

While the other young women in the capital are still racking their brains over how to marry Second Young Master Xie, at the Xie residence, Xie Minglang wraps his arms tightly around Jiang Pingting's slender waist and murmurs by her ear, "Pingting, you're mine. Don't even think of running away."

Note: 1. Exclusive couple, both each other's first, with a melodramatic groveling chase.

2. The setting is entirely author-created, so don't overanalyze it. Plot comes first.

3. Everyone is a native of this world and has never received a modern education.

Theme: Human will can triumph over fate.