Your Nemesis Can't Become Your Wife

Bao Yi was the most doted-on young lady in the Fengzhou Registrar's Office. She'd been proud and competitive since childhood, and in matters of clothing, food, refinement, and taste, she considered herself the equal of any young lady in Luoyang.

That was until a true Luoyang young lady came to live with her family.

Only then did Bao Yi realize that everything she'd had before was second-rate.

Even the Cui family's maids enjoyed more refined luxuries than she did, not to mention her cousin Cui Yu, whose slender waist and graceful neck were praised throughout Luojing, and whose intelligence was peerless.

As soon as Cui Yu appeared, she stole the attention of the young gentleman Bao Yi had set her heart on.

Could Bao Yi stand for that?

She immediately had her mother order her a set of head ornaments worth a fortune.

In the third month of spring, Cousin Cui went to eat fried tea.

Bao Yi tried the same, eating two bowls and spending two nights wide awake until dawn.

In the height of summer, Cousin Cui wore a white gardenia in her hair.

Bao Yi wore a red peony. The gardenia looked fresh and delicate, while the peony was garish and vulgar. Some mischievous boys rode after her, laughing all the way.

In the blazing days of autumn, Cousin Cui went moon-gazing with her friends.

Bao Yi also found a new acquaintance, Madam Zhou, to go with her. Then she overheard Madam Zhou sighing to someone that Bao Yi had insisted on dragging her up a tree to catch birds, leaving her with a hand covered in bird droppings.

On New Year's Day in winter, Bao Yi found a note arranging for Cousin Cui to go around the West Market with Commandant Wei.

She copied the note and invited Young Commandant Wei to meet her by the lake. But not long after he arrived, Commandant Wei dragged him away.

Bao Yi and Cousin Cui were left staring at each other, then secretly tearing up each other's lanterns.

*

The emperor was muddleheaded and had indulged in wine and women for years.

The words Cui Yu heard most often as a child were, "The Cui family has served His Majesty with utmost loyalty. With the young lady's beauty, she may well become an imperial consort someday."

Her parents were tormented day and night.

If they let the emperor marry a man, and the truth came out later, all 213 members of the Cui family would suffer for it.

Before the selection of palace consorts the following year, Madam Cui made the decision: she would secretly send her "adopted daughter" to the Luo family's ancestral home in Fengjun.

Cui Yu leaned against the qin table, neither agreeing nor objecting.

He didn't care where he went, as long as it didn't get in the way of his grand plan.

How had Luo Bao Yi, who was a year older than him, been spoiled into such a domineering girl?

Cui Yu found it utterly baffling to be targeted again for no reason.

He might not understand it, but he certainly wouldn't back down.

Every day, besides plotting, Cui Yu also had to make time to deal with his cousin Luo. He even forgot his usual manners, constantly upsetting the young ladies of his maternal grandfather's household. When challenged, he put on an innocent act and said, "Ji Ru has only just arrived and doesn't know the rules of the household. I hope you won't hold it against me, Cousin."

Bao Yi smiled without warmth. "You've been here three years, and you're still 'just arrived,' Ah Ru?"

*

Bao Yi and Cui Yu had been at each other's throats for years, but neither had ever gained the upper hand.

That year, the emperor fell gravely ill. An imperial decree arrived from Luoyang, ordering marriages to bring good fortune.

Cousin Cui was to marry the Ninth Prince, while Bao Yi was to marry the Crown Prince.

The Ninth Prince was born foolish and had yet to receive a title even after reaching adulthood. The Crown Prince was frail, but favored by the emperor.

Even a fool knew which one to choose.

Bao Yi had finally bested Cousin Cui, and she climbed into the wedding carriage for the Eastern Palace in high spirits, her head held high.

Spring rain poured down as enemies attacked outside the city.

A blade flashed overhead. Bao Yi tore off her phoenix crown and tried to leap from the carriage, but a hand seized her wrist and pulled her back.

Before her was an assassin who had just drawn his last breath. Behind her was a warm chest pressed against her back.

Cui Yu leaned close to her ear, leaving no space between them. "On such a fine day, why aren't you sitting in the carriage, Cousin? Where are you going?"

"Don't tell me you're still hoping Wei Shu will come save you?"

Bao Yi's gaze moved from his ceremonial robes and crown to his face. She held back, then finally lost her temper. "Your Highness, could you take the sword off my neck before saying that? You promised me."

*

The Registrar's Office had few family members, with only one beloved daughter.

But their neighbor, Commandant Wei, had two handsome sons, one older and one younger.

Luo Bao Yi had once loved the elder.

The younger had once loved Luo Bao Yi.

Cui Yu couldn't stand either of them.

Ideally, she would spend every day thinking about how to beat him, and never let anyone else take up even a moment of her attention.

That was what sixteen-year-old Cui Yu thought.

Couple: A stunning, catlike beauty who never backs down from a fight × a seemingly aloof, secretly wicked little rascal

◇ Mildly coercive elements

◇ Alternate Sui-Tang setting

Theme: Hard work brings hope