The Seductive Minister

The Kingdom of Qiyue surrenders, and Chi Yu sees Su Jin, the Great General of Wei, for the first time. His bearing is cold and aloof, and the icy light in his gaze is so intimidating that she stumbles backward again and again.

Chi Yu doesn't want to marry an emperor who devotes himself to worshipping the gods and seeking immortality. To protect the people of her homeland, she decides to win the general's favor.

But after more than a month of trying, Su Jin remains unmoved, like an iceberg that will never melt.

She enters the palace without hesitation and, with her beauty and intelligence, rises to become the empress.

On the journey back to the capital with Chi Yu, the princess of Qiyue, Su Jin, who has always been cold-hearted, often suffers from vivid dreams.

In the daytime, Chi Yu's delicate hands respectfully offer him tea. In his dreams, they clutch the front of his robe. Her pearly white teeth lightly hold a purple-red grape as she approaches him, her lashes trembling.

In the daytime, she wears simple accessories. In his dreams, a peony adorns her hair, making her more beautiful than the flower as she throws a tantrum and refuses to take her medicine.

They're only dreams. He wouldn't even furrow his brow over them.

But on the night she enters the palace, he tosses and turns, unable to sleep. He throws on his robe, stands awake in the middle of the night, and drinks cold wine for half the night beneath the chilly moonlight.

When he enters the palace as regent, she is already the empress. Separated by a beaded curtain, she holds a pill in her mouth and braces a slender hand against the emperor's Daoist robe, feeding him the elixir at his command.

In a flash, Su Jin remembers the scenes from his dreams and clenches his knuckles.

Please note:

1. This is a completely fictional setting, with a happy ending. The female lead is not a virgin, while the male lead is. If that bothers you, don't read.

2. The male lead has precognitive dreams.

Please add my upcoming novel, The Cousin Who Is Determined to Marry Well, to your collection. Here's the blurb:

After working through two all-nighters, office worker Su Ying closes her eyes and opens them to find herself in an unknown era of chaos!

Fortunately, she's not alone. She's fleeing with her family in this world. Unfortunately, she soon gets "separated" from them.

When she's captured by rebel soldiers and taken to their camp, she has no power to defend herself and prepares to die fighting. Fortunately, Marquis Wu'an Pei Zhao rescues her, and she escapes.

Marquis Wu'an Pei Zhao is handsome and imposing, quiet and cool, and always compassionate toward the poor and weak.

The war is still raging. When he learns that the lonely, unprotected woman before him can technically be called his cousin, Pei Zhao writes a letter and sends her to the Marquis of Wu'an's residence in the capital.

Two years later, Su Ying has recovered and is almost a different person, alluring and beautiful.

Her aunt sees how lovely she is, and that her second cousin is infatuated with her, so she asks the Madam to take Su Ying in as her second cousin's concubine.

Become someone's concubine? Never!

Su Ying hides the ambition in her eyes and kneels before Pei Zhao, who has just returned victorious, looking delicate and pitiful. "Elder Cousin, you saved my life. I have no way to repay you, so I'm willing to serve you as a maid. Please let me stay."

Pei Zhao looks at the beautiful woman with skin like ice and jade, and dimly recalls the day he saved her. His heart softens, and he agrees.

But this distant cousin of his is far too diligent. She takes over nearly every task the servants used to do.

When he writes, she grinds his ink and washes his brushes.

When he bathes, she adds water and hands him his clothes.

She's diligent, but clumsy, always causing trouble, and not nearly proper enough.

And before he can criticize her, her eyes are already red. "Cousin, don't send me away. I'll learn to do better."

One day, Pei Zhao, who rarely shows his emotions, finally lifts her chin and looks straight into her alluring eyes. "You're too young to be acting like this. You may as well go back to my second brother's residence and be his concubine."

With tears in her eyes, Su Ying gazes at him as if he has broken her heart. "I may love you, but you don't love me. You don't have to like me, Cousin, but please don't humiliate me. I came from your household, and I don't want to become a concubine. Please choose a suitable husband for me. I would be deeply grateful."

Later, she uses the same tricks she used on Pei Zhao to tempt other noble young men. Does she look like a heartbroken woman at all?

Pei Zhao has always hated deception. He stares at her as she gazes at another man with tender affection, his expression unreadable.

On the eve of her engagement to her fiancé, Su Ying sees another side of Pei Zhao. She runs in a panic, losing one of her embroidered shoes, but still can't escape his grasp.

Sweat beads at Pei Zhao's temples, and his voice is low and fierce. "Didn't Ying'er say she liked Cousin best? You should have used all those tricks on Cousin first."

The next day, on the day of the engagement, Pei Zhao unexpectedly appears in the flower hall. He watches coldly as Su Ying wears a high-collared short jacket, waiting for her to find a way to refuse the match. To his surprise, she gracefully curtsies in front of him and agrees to marry someone else.

1. Completely fictional setting, one-on-one romance.

2. Age gap and size difference.

Theme: Sincere hearts deserve sincere hearts