Eunuchs and Officials

Ever since entering the palace after being castrated, Qiao Qingyun has always been cautious and kept strictly to his duties while serving his masters. He had no ambitions and never fought for anything. All he wanted was three square meals a day and to live out his life in peace. But his fate changed completely the moment he met her. For her sake, he crossed his own lines again and again, framing people, setting them up, and stopping at nothing. In the end, he became the cold-blooded, venomous villain everyone accused of manipulating power and scheming for influence.

In a humble cottage in the mountains, she slowly leaned against his chest and told him she wanted to marry him. He thought it was a gift from heaven, and that her feelings were genuine. He swore he would treat her well for the rest of his life. But one day, a great fire burned away every beautiful illusion he had ever cherished. Only then did he understand that, to her, the time they had spent together was merely a way to repay a debt. She had no place for him in her heart, only thoughts of revenge.

He wanted to find her and demand an explanation, but when he saw her again, she had become the star performer at the Drunken Dream Immortal House...

"You look unfamiliar, sir. Is this your first time here?"

Through a veil of gauze, her features were hazy yet somehow perfectly clear. Memories of the past rushed back, and the sorrow between his brows could not be concealed.

"Do I really look unfamiliar to you, miss?"

A tender warmth filled the bed curtains. As he bent over her, he looked up and saw tears at the corner of her eye. The marks he had bitten into her neck and shoulders were nearly bloody. The pain had made her cry.

When he saw the marks, he panicked. He tore open the curtains and stumbled out of bed, only to collapse helplessly onto the floor.

He had once heard people in the palace talk about how eunuchs treated the women in their households: biting, whipping, pricking them with needles, and using every kind of unspeakably cruel method to vent desires they could not satisfy in the usual way.

He had thought he was different from the others. Now he saw that he was no different at all.

Afraid and terrified, he could not face the shameful thoughts in his heart.

He leaned against the bed and wept behind his hands...

Inside the curtains, she watched his back with a pained expression. Slowly, she reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, gently wiping away his tears as she said softly, "Sir, it doesn't hurt."

Reader's Guide:

The male lead is a real eunuch.

Happy ending.

(There are similar upcoming works in my collection. If you're interested, please add them to your favorites. Sending love!)

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My next book, "The Twin Sisters' Swapped Lives," is open for follows. Please add it to your favorites.

Twin sisters were separated when they were young. One grew up in a merchant family, while the other was raised by a secret organization to become an assassin. Years later, when they meet again, one is about to be forced to marry the spoiled son of Meiling's richest family, while the other must travel north to the regional military commander's residence to gather evidence of his crimes.

Both are unhappy with their lives. After learning about each other's troubles, they decide to switch identities...

Luo Yu, the commander of Beijiang Town, is ruthless, cruel, and suspicious. To foreign enemies, he is the toughest foe to deal with. To the imperial court, he is a menace who has long occupied a strategic position and amassed troops for his own ends. Many want him dead, but no one has ever succeeded.

One day, he receives a tip and realizes that the young page at his side looks exactly like the assassin in a portrait. But the page is so delicate and soft that she doesn't seem like an assassin at all. He tests her in every way, then finally tears off her disguise and forces her onto the bed. "If you're not an assassin, then from now on, you'll be my woman!"...

Zuo Zongbao, the only son of Meiling's richest family, is over twenty and has never applied himself to anything. He has a handsome face but a terrible reputation. No respectable family would let their daughter marry him, and his grandmother has gone to great lengths, sending countless women into his household, but none of them has won his favor.

Later, when she hears that the adopted daughter of the Wu family is peerless in looks, temperament, and talent, Madam Zuo pays a fortune to bring her home as her grandson's bride. But after the wedding, the family discovers that the bride is nothing like the rumors. She knows nothing of music, chess, calligraphy, or painting. Instead, she is a skilled martial artist who keeps the rebellious Zuo heir thoroughly in line.

One day, a servant reports that the young madam met a handsome man outside under the pretense of sparring, and that the two even got physically intimate. Zuo Zongbao is furious and shouts toward the room in a cracking voice, "You're a married woman, yet you sneak around with another man! Do you even care that I'm your husband? You shameless..."

Before he can finish, Wu Xiyue steps out of the room, one hand clenched in a fist and the other on her hip. She stands in the courtyard. "I'm what?"

Zuo Zongbao's voice immediately drops several octaves. He backs away with one hand against the wall, sweat on his forehead. "You're... you're not, not, not... not..."

Dual romance: scheming, domineering grand marshal / delicate, soft darling

Jealous, henpecked playboy / ruthless, fierce tigress

Theme: Even when mired in the mud, keep your heart turned toward the light.