The Delicate Young Lady

Editing typos and sorting out the plot as I go~

Innocent, kindhearted, pampered young lady vs. a reckless, unruly carriage driver who dares to overstep his station and is hiding a secret identity

Please add my upcoming novels to your reading list: Raising a Crown Prince as My Lover, Beauty Hidden in the Deep Palace, and I Took the Heir as a Substitute [Heart]

Blurb One:

Shen Huajiao was doted on by Duke Shen for fifteen years. He was afraid she would melt if he held her in his mouth, or fall if he held her in his hands. Even if she wanted the stars in the sky, Duke Shen would find a way to bring them down for her.

Everything she used, from objects to servants, was of the finest quality. Even the coachman was extraordinarily handsome. Whenever those peach-blossom eyes swept over her, Shen Huajiao's cheeks flushed and her heart trembled.

The coachman also had a tragic background: he had no parents. Unable to bear his plight, Shen Huajiao took pity on him. Whenever she went out, she insisted on having him drive her carriage, and she would find an excuse to reward him with anything fun she came across.

But the coachman wanted more than gold and jewels. He even coveted her!

In the silent dead of night, with no one around, the coachman leaned against the doorframe and smiled roguishly. "Jiaojiao, come here."

Shen Huajiao slowly backed away in fright, her little face deathly pale. "Y-you dare!"

Blurb Two:

Rong Xie crawled out of a pile of corpses. He was the living King of Hell, whose name made the entire Great Zhou Empire tremble, and he stood second only to the emperor, above everyone else. He commanded the Northern Pacification Bureau and oversaw the Judicial Review Office. He was His Majesty the Emperor's sharpest blade.

His identity was mysterious, and he wore a blue mask with fangs year-round. Rumors about him were endless, but no one had ever glimpsed the truth.

One day, the people of the capital saw the living King of Hell ride a black horse into Duke Shen's residence, wearing his mask. He wrapped an arm around Shen Huajiao's waist and pulled her into his embrace.

The sight shocked all the neighbors.

Rumors spread in an instant. Many people sighed for the delicate Shen Huajiao. Could a young woman who fell into the hands of that living King of Hell ever make it out alive?

But then, at the Lantern Festival, someone saw the living King of Hell kneeling on the ground. He lifted his mask, revealing a face of peerless beauty. Before anyone could even marvel at it, they saw him carefully massage the ankle of the young lady, whose eyes were red from crying. His expression was utterly tender.

"Jiaojiao, don't cry."

Outsiders only knew her as fragile as a dodder vine, suited only to being kept in a gilded cage.

But no one knew that this young lady, who was afraid of pain and bitterness, had climbed the towering steps on foot and knelt devoutly on a prayer mat, chanting sutras for forty-nine days, all to beg Buddha for a bodhi branch for him.

#I live in hell, where I cannot glimpse the light of day. But for you, I am willing to climb out of the abyss and give you a sun.#

Reader's Guide:

★ One man, one woman, both devoted only to each other. No angst, and they dote on each other.

★ The young lady is just as her name suggests: a sweet, naive girl. This is not a story about a strong female lead.

★ An alternate world, with countless original worldbuilding details.

★ The plot serves the main couple.

★ No inner-courtyard or palace intrigue.

-

Upcoming novel: Beauty Hidden in the Deep Palace

A sweet-looking beauty with a dark side vs. a prince who seems dark but is actually pure-hearted

Ming Zhi was eighteen when she learned she was the legitimate daughter of Duke Anguo, and had been switched at birth.

After returning to the family, she worked hard to learn the manners of a noblewoman, as well as music, chess, calligraphy, painting, needlework, and cooking, all to win her parents' affection. But her parents only had eyes for Ming Xi, the fake daughter, and always put her first. As a result, Ming Zhi's place in the household became increasingly awkward.

At a spring banquet, she was framed into being alone in a room with Pei Qi, Ming Xi's betrothed. In the end, the legitimate daughter of Duke Anguo was carried into the Duke of Zhenguo's residence in a small sedan chair through a side gate.

Ming Xi, meanwhile, turned around and married the Sixth Prince. In less than three years, he ascended the throne, and she became the most revered empress in the Liang Dynasty, worshipped by all.

Ming Zhi became a concubine and spent ten years languishing in the most remote courtyard. As she lay on her deathbed, she accidentally learned that Ming Xi had ordered her kidnapping and sale to a widower, where she had suffered endless torment. Even her relationship with Pei Qi had been orchestrated by Ming Xi, all so she could climb to a higher position.

After dying, Ming Zhi returned to the year she was kidnapped. She had resisted with all her might and been locked in a room for three days. Tomorrow, she would be sold to a widower.

But she knew that a group of travelers would be staying in the village in a few days. Among them was the Third Prince, traveling incognito.

In this life, she would climb step by step to the summit of power, stepping over the bones of her enemies.

Ming Zhi devised a plan to escape and knelt before the noble man, begging him to take her away. She was willing to serve him as a maid.

★

Chu Yun had concealed his identity and disguised himself to investigate a bandit problem. By chance, he saved an orphan girl who said she had no family or friends and wanted to follow him.

One more maid would make little difference, so Chu Yun agreed.

But this maid was exceptionally good at looking after him. When it was cold, she urged him to dress warmly. At night, she made him a bowl of ginseng soup. When he was injured, she even tested medicine on herself for his sake. So when Ming Zhi died, he sighed for a long time.

Later, at a palace banquet, he spotted the beauty standing behind his younger brother and thought she looked somewhat familiar.

★

After faking her death, Ming Zhi managed to meet the Sixth Prince, the future emperor. She gradually won his heart, and at last coaxed him into promising to marry her.

But the tides turned. On their wedding night, the entire household of the Sixth Prince became prisoners.

No one knew that the Sixth Prince's bride, dressed in her splendid wedding robes, had been sent to the new emperor's bed.

The new emperor raised a cold hand and traced her delicate features, smiling icily. "Zhizhi, where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you."

-

Upcoming novel: Raising a Crown Prince as My Lover

Glamorous queen vs. a prince who is always getting face-slapping

Lin Fangran transmigrated into a book, becoming the mistress of a duke's household and, without any pain or effort, the mother of a ten-year-old son.

In the book, she was the wife of Chen Liheng, Duke Anguo. Chen Liheng was handsome but a notorious flirt. After Lin Fangran entered the household, he brought one concubine after another through the door, and there were more outside lovers than she could count on both hands.

The heroine of the story was one of Chen Liheng's outside lovers. After chasing and fleeing through countless hardships, the two finally ended up together. In the end, Chen Liheng married her as his principal wife and dismissed all the women in his household.

As a cannon-fodder character, Lin Fangran couldn't compete with the various concubines. She withdrew to a side courtyard and died on a bitter winter night.

Lin Fangran, remembering the entire plot, wore an impassive expression. "Wonderful!"

Lin Fangran had no desire to get involved, so she handed over control of the household and let the others fight over it. She settled in a quiet corner, spent her days worshipping Buddha and practicing calligraphy, and occasionally went to the men's pleasure house to tease the young men. What could be better?

One day, she spotted a cold beauty at the pleasure house. He was stunningly handsome, and most importantly, had an eight-pack.

Her heart stirred, and she decided to keep him as an outside lover. The beauty had a bad temper, though, and it took her a great deal of effort to win him over.

★

Li Xun'an was a man of noble bearing who held himself to the strictest standards. Later, he was named Crown Prince and devoted himself even more diligently to governing.

Then, during a campaign to suppress bandits in the south, he was betrayed. After narrowly escaping with his life and making it back to the capital, he went to work at a men's pleasure house to evade his pursuers and investigate why he was being hunted.

He never expected to meet a difficult woman there. She had a face as lovely as a hibiscus, and though she was a married woman, she was outrageously forward. All she wanted was for him to become her outside lover.

Li Xun'an wanted to quit, but his advisers repeatedly urged him to endure this small humiliation for the sake of the greater plan.

So Li Xun'an endured it again and again. Eventually, he could take no more. When Lin Fangran came over, he gritted his teeth and asked, "When are you letting me move in?"

Lin Fangran: ???

★

When the new emperor ascended the throne, everyone knew that during the years he had been The Outcast, he had kept himself pure and had no close companion by his side.

The ministers eagerly vied for a place in the imperial harem, hoping to secure the position for their daughters. But while they were busy fighting each other to the death, the new emperor personally went to Yongning Temple to bring back a divorced woman. The very next day, he issued an edict making her empress.

Rumor had it that the new empress had once been Duke Anguo's wife. When the ministers next saw Duke Anguo at court, they looked at him with meaningful expressions.

Theme: Somewhere in this world, there will always be someone who loves you just as they did at the beginning.