The Black Lotus Beauty

Complete.

Coming soon: The Commandery Princess Finally Divorces. Starts March 3. Please add it to your favorites. (Its blurb is below.)

- A wife mistreated is a thrill for a moment, but winning her back is a long, hard road.

Shen Qianzhi is a rising star at court. Still young, he has already taken on the important post of Minister of Revenue, and the emperor has personally arranged his marriage. He is deeply favored.

After three years of marriage, Meng Zhao has lived in constant fear, as if treading on thin ice.

Everyone says she must have earned this blessing in a past life: a husband as fine as him. Only she knows that she begged for that marriage contract, and Shen Qianzhi was forced to marry her.

When the woman he has always cherished returns, everything Meng Zhao ever did becomes a scheme in his eyes. He even hurls cruel insults at her in bed. No matter how meekly she acts or how hard she tries to please him, she cannot win the slightest tenderness from him.

At last, the divorce letter arrives.

She sheds her former submissive manner, takes the letter, then turns and slaps the woman he loves.

“I couldn't hit you before, but I'm no longer Madam Shen. This commandery princess can certainly slap a commoner like you.”

*

A few days later, Shen Qianzhi runs into Meng Zhao at a tavern, enjoying herself among a crowd of performers.

He suddenly grabs her out of the crowd of men, pins her against a wall, and says in a low voice, “Come home with me, all right?”

Meng Zhao's rosy lips curl into a smile. She replies coldly, “No.”

His eyes slowly redden, and his voice turns hoarse. “Am I really not as good as those actors?”

Meng Zhao pushes him by the shoulder and smiles. “My lord is most perceptive.”

-------------------- Blurb for the upcoming novel

Zhen Yun is only fifteen or sixteen, yet she has already blossomed into a bewitching beauty. Every eligible man on Changning Street wants to take her as a concubine and enjoy her night and day.

But because her adoptive father is addicted to gambling, this beauty is sold to the Huai Xiang Pavilion on the street. As soon as the news spreads, the sons of the great families prepare ample silver, each determined to claim her.

That day, a breeze brushed past, and she never got a clear look at the man's face. When she awoke, all that remained beside her pillow was a thousand taels in banknotes.

With her ruined body, she feels as if she has fallen into a mire.

Just as everyone is waiting to laugh at her, a small sedan chair carries her to the capital.

A lost pearl returns to its case. She becomes the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo's household, and a marriage contract comes with her. That very night, she kneels before the duke and begs, “Father, please help Yun'er break off the engagement.”

She has heard that her betrothed is unruly, spoiled, and overbearing. Yet he unexpectedly agrees to end the engagement, even saying that a concubine-born daughter of the duke's household can marry in her place.

But when he happens to pass by her, he smiles and whispers a few words to her, leaving her utterly pale with shock.

- Both leads are sexually inexperienced. Younger man. A stunning beauty who seems innocent but is secretly ruthless x a seemingly carefree, inwardly insecure, clingy puppy-like rogue. Happy ending.

Theme: Don't lose yourself to hatred. Have the courage to find the beautiful side of life.