The Frail and Helpless Cousin

[Updates at 11:30 p.m. Please support the official release. Thank you.] Yu Wan’s previous life ended badly. She died in pain and humiliation. After being reborn, she had two aims: to live well and never be bullied again. To achieve them, Yu Wan used the most shallow schemes, manipulating people with tears and using every trick in the inner household. She would get even with anyone who bullied her. Even so, as she stumbled through those days, she still got hurt again and again. Then, on the Winter Solstice, a commotion broke out in the streets during the lantern festival in the capital. Yu Wan was shoved down by the crowd, landing at someone’s feet, and nearly trampled to death. As terror and despair seized her, someone bent down to shield her. She moved her hands aside and looked up into a pair of calm, peaceful eyes. Only later did she learn that the person who had protected her that night, taken her to get treated, and bought her a lantern, soothing her like a child, was the Great Zhou’s God of War who had defeated the Xiongnu, and the only prince of a different surname in the court, Huo Ye! Yu Wan loved him with humility and despair. Knowing that their statuses were worlds apart, she crept into his room one night. Huo Ye held her hand and asked, “Do you know what you’re doing?” Yu Wan: “I do.” Huo Ye sighed and stroked the top of her head, his voice gentle and slow. “Silly girl, don’t casually entrust your innocence to someone else.” Yu Wan was stubborn. “You’re not someone else. I... I like you. I know you can’t marry me. I understand all that.” Huo Ye: “Why do you think I wouldn’t marry you?” Yu Wan: “I... I’m lowborn and scheming. How could you like me?” Yu Wan spoke with humility and despair. Huo Ye gently wiped away the tears she hadn’t even noticed falling, and said softly, “You’re beautiful and gentle, sincere and full of feeling, lovable and endearing. How could I not like you, not love you?” Mu Shan always believed that his master had first fallen for the young woman on the Winter Solstice, at the lantern festival, when he secretly watched her from a teahouse. That was how his master had gone from believing in Buddha and keeping his distance from women to marrying a young princess into his household. But he kept this secret very carefully and didn’t dare let a single word slip. He was afraid that if the princess found out, his master would have to sleep in the study again. (Note: The young woman is the heroine.) Content warnings: 1. The heroine is a delicate, scheming beauty, sensitive, insecure, and fragile. She often uses coy, manipulative speech and is not a good person. 2. The hero is steady and gentle, very, very gentle (only with the heroine). 3. There is a twelve-year age gap between the leads. 4. The heroine grows over the course of the story. I hope you enjoy it. 5. A fictional setting with many authorial liberties. Please don’t overthink the details. 6. Both leads are sexually inexperienced. Theme: Wherever you are, never give up hope. Live well.