The Little Concubine

[Coming soon: The Palace Maid on the Run. Blurb at the end, please add it to your reading list.]

Bao Shan was a maid in the Duke's mansion, beautiful and graceful, with a refined elegance. As soon as she arrived, she caught the attention of the young masters in every household. Only Lu Yuzhou, the heir, paid her no attention.

Bao Shan followed the rules, hoping only to save enough money to buy her freedom. Unexpectedly, one night the heir was drugged and chose her from among the maids.

When he woke the next morning, the heir asked how he could make it up to her. To his surprise, Bao Shan asked him for a sum of money.

Was she extorting him after a night of passion? The heir tossed her the money with scorn in his eyes.

After leaving the Duke's mansion, Bao Shan discovered she was pregnant...

*

Lu Yuzhou, heir to the Duke's mansion, was handsome and refined, a man of elegant taste, known as the most distinguished young gentleman in Bianjing. Cool and rational by nature, his one regrettable entanglement was Bao Shan.

Three years later, Lu Yuzhou headed south to investigate a case. Along the way, he rescued a little one who cried and begged to find their mother.

With no other choice, Lu Yuzhou put off his journey and accompanied the child in search of their mother. By the river, he unexpectedly spotted the maid who had extorted him all those years ago.

Seeing Lu Yuzhou again, Bao Shan scooped up her son and left, her slender figure reflected in the man's dark eyes.

Lu Yuzhou called after her. "Are you married?"

Bao Shan replied, "This humble woman has been married for three years. Goodbye."

But after only a few steps, the little one in her arms poked out his head and told the man in a childish voice that he didn't have a father.

Perhaps that night had been so wonderful that the memory still lingered. Lu Yuzhou's heart stirred, and he insisted on bringing Bao Shan back to his residence outside the mansion, forcing her to become his concubine.

The Duchess quietly arranged a marriage for Lu Yuzhou, but before it could be brought up, he suddenly received devastating news: Bao Shan and the little one had died in a fire. He also learned that the child was his own son.

A bitter, bloody taste surged into his throat, but it was too late for regret.

Reading notes: Both leads are sexually inexperienced, one couple, happy ending. The male lead has no other woman besides the female lead. Classic melodramatic angst; the male lead is awful at first, and has to win his wife back.

-------------------- Blurb for the new novel below --------------------

The Palace Maid on the Run, please add it to your reading list:

By day, Shuli is an official in the Bureau of Palace Attire. By night, she is a maid on duty to watch over the emperor.

Without a doubt, Shuli is favored.

But she knows full well that she is only a servant who would never dare look at her master for too long.

The new emperor, Chen Shubai, likes quiet. When Shuli is on night duty, she barely makes a sound.

They kept to their own sides and left each other alone, until Shuli's closest friend in the palace was forcibly taken away by a powerful eunuch. With no other choice, she sought help from the supreme ruler.

On the dragon bed behind gently swaying curtains, the new emperor held a book and said nothing.

Shuli knelt on the floor and begged desperately, but could not move the emperor's cold, unyielding heart. Knowing she was beautiful, she gritted her teeth and slowly stood up. "This servant will attend to Your Majesty... for the night."

Beneath her gray-green palace gown, her lovely figure caught the emperor's light brown eyes.

*

When the Empress Dowager learned her son had finally come around, she hurried to fill his harem. As emperor, having a harem was only to be expected. Chen Shubai paid it little mind, merely patting Shuli's waist. "Pay attention. Take care, or I'll punish you."

Shuli knew the royal family was fickle. She had no intention of getting tangled up in this and had already planned her escape for the future. But on the day before the selection of palace consorts, she discovered she was pregnant.

That was a grave violation of palace rules.

*

Lately, the palace staff had noticed that the emperor was in a foul mood. It seemed to have something to do with the maid who had fled.

Note: Melodramatic angst, pregnant heroine on the run, and the male lead has to win his wife back.

Theme: A relationship can last only when both sides are equal and respect each other.