Imprisoning the Lord for Pleasure

[This novel will be published for paid readers on April 24, with a 10,000-word update that day. Little angels, please show it lots of support~ (Wink~)]

"Please support my other novel, Is Governing a Nation Through Literature Possible? It has a coming-of-age story, demon-slaying, and defying fate. The blurb is below."

"Recommending my friend's modern romance, Silken Threads into a Hairpin. It's a sweet age-gap story, complete and ready to binge."

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Originally titled A Thousand Gold Coins as a Prisoner

Blurb:

[An extravagant, capricious heiress x a reserved, noble Taoist with a warm heart]

#You conquer the land, I'll handle the money#

#Whichever of you pleases me most gets my support#

#We were never meant to be, but luckily, I'm rich#

The Xie clan of Yingchuan was one of the Four Great Houses. It had been around for centuries and possessed a fortune beyond counting.

Xie Ling, the clan's current head, was once imprisoned in a gilded cage for three years. Many years later, she had unimaginable wealth at her fingertips... and had imprisoned someone, too.

She had won him over by throwing money at him, but still, she believed it was love.

-

It all began the day the impoverished and taciturn governor of Bingzhou sent a Taoist priest to call on her.

The priest wore a Changhong sword at his waist and had nothing but the breeze in his sleeves. He told her, "The ruler is profligate, the lords are at war with one another. My lord sees the people suffering throughout the realm and wishes to carve out a place for them. But he lacks provisions and soldiers..."

At the time, Xie Ling was amusing herself by smashing jade. She gave him a casual glance. "War? You want money?"

The stern, dignified priest nodded in silence, embarrassed.

Xie Ling glanced over at him again, looked him up and down several times, and toyed with her bone fan as she smiled. "Then get on your knees and beg me."

*

Xie Ling: I'm ruthless, devious, and unpredictable. But I possess riches beyond measure, and countless people still flock to me. Since you need something from me, you ought to do as I please.

The priest: I knew you were ruthless, devious, and unpredictable. Yet with one temptation after another and schemes at every turn, you made me cast aside old grudges and betray my convictions. In the end, I willingly trapped myself by your side.

[Reader's Guide (Content Warnings)]

1. The heroine is a yandere. In this story, that means obsessive, extreme, and possessive.

2. It's probably a gender-swapped heartthrob who deceives people, then takes what she wants by force.

3. I don't think there's much else to warn you about. Anyway, the heroine won't suffer.

-

Blurb for Is Governing a Nation Through Literature Possible?

[A celestial official comes down to the mortal world on a mission, then accidentally starts raising a child]

#The emperor sits in the great hall, while I am the top scholar#

#I thought I was saving the nation, but it turns out I'm slaying demons#

On the day Kong Xi placed first in all three imperial examinations, phoenixes sang in the heavens and the sun and moon shimmered.

The people of Shuntian Prefecture ran around spreading the news: "That person is the Star of Literature descended to earth!"

The emperor was overjoyed, telling everyone he met, "The Star of Literature has descended! Heaven means for my dynasty to last a thousand generations, hahaha!"

Ten years of hard study, rewarded with a place at court overnight. That was a good thing.

Ten years among men, showing her chest and legs without anyone realizing she was a woman... Well, it just meant everyone was blind.

Then, on the night before the top scholar's procession, Kong Xi wandered in a dream to the celestial capital, where the gods welcomed her.

The Star Lord Siming told her, "The Emperor Wenchang is above. The Great Ming dynasty will fall in ten years. You must extend its reign by another fifteen years. No more, no less. Exactly fifteen."

When she awoke, Kong Xi first thought, So I'm a celestial being who came down to earth. Did anyone ask me before they made my gender ambiguous?

Then she thought, I possess the talent to govern the world. Surely I'm the great stateswoman of this age. And you only expect me to extend the dynasty by fifteen years? Do you think so little of me?

That was until she saw the mortal emperor take a fox demon as his consort, the chief eunuch with his blue-green face and fangs, the court officials all in league with one another, and the demonic aura filling Shuntian Prefecture.

With demons and monsters roaming everywhere, would a celestial being like her, who could write but not fight, just end up as a demon's dinner?

At last, Kong Xi gazed at the sky and wept. "I was wrong, I was wrong! Zhong Kui should have been the one sent down!"

-

[Male Lead's Perspective]

The Crown Prince met a celestial being as a boy.

She arrived in an age of prosperity. After she left, the dynasty began to crumble.

The celestial being liked to tell the Crown Prince, "It's all fate. It's just a shame about you..."

Later, the Crown Prince of a realm whose dragon energy was fading worked himself sick through countless days and nights. When he shed his last drop of blood and sweat into the annals of history, the dynasty's fall and the transfer of power were sealed in blood-soaked records as one era gave way to the next.

With his last breath, he smiled and asked the celestial being, "You say my dynasty's fall is fate. But does fate belong to man, or to the gods?"

All the gods of the heavens watched coldly. She lowered her eyes to look at him and, just as she had when he was a child, patted his head.

She said, "I'll help you..."

Shape the land with literature, and judge the gods' fate with the stroke of a pen.

I will make sure the gods of the heavens can never again rule the mortal realm.

Theme: In an age of great upheaval, a beautiful yandere fights for justice and ultimately gets what she desires.