The Beloved Substitute

New novel, The Mute Concubine (The Ex's Regret), now online

[Blurb]

[Fake naive little rabbit, a false substitute and true moonlight x a noble and gentle yet domineering, ruthless crown prince]

Ji Rong, crown prince of Dali, has the elegant bearing of a jade tree in the wind, yet is famed for his merciless cruelty. Ever since the woman he held in his heart, whose name he could not bear to speak, passed away, no one had seen even the faintest smile on his face.

Until someone who looked just like her appeared before him...

Shen Liyin woke after an accident with no memory.

At a banquet, she caught sight of the crown prince. One distant glance was enough to make her think of him constantly. When an imperial decree of marriage arrived, she entered the Eastern Palace with both nervousness and joy.

On their wedding night.

"Your name is... Liyin?"

The clear, pleasant voice sounded before her, and a faint disappointment crossed Shen Liyin's heart.

So he still didn't know her name?

"Yes." She still curved her lips into a smile, though her red veil had yet to be lifted.

That night, Ji Rong sat beside the bed and silently watched her fall asleep. He didn't touch her.

Shen Liyin understood that the crown prince still thought of the woman who came before her. She put away the affection no one knew about and only wanted to be a good crown princess.

Yet Ji Rong seemed to be laying a meticulous game of chess, patiently and tenderly drawing her heart into his grasp, one step at a time.

When the empress dowager set a trap for her, Ji Rong arrived in time to take her away.

When she came down with a strange illness and was bedridden, Ji Rong went up the mountain himself to pray for a safety charm for her.

Later, at her birthday banquet, Ji Rong vowed to protect her for the rest of her life.

Shen Liyin thought that by now, Ji Rong must have made room for her in half his heart. But then one day, a woman calling herself Qin Yin appeared.

Qin Yin, A Yin: the person buried deepest in Crown Prince Ji Rong's heart.

[A little scene]

"Qin Yin" had returned. A few days later, Shen Liyin discovered she was pregnant.

That night, in the crown prince's chambers.

"Yinyin."

Shen Liyin stiffened as she lay on her side and didn't respond.

The next moment, a familiar arm circled her waist, and a warm, broad palm covered her lower abdomen.

"Has the baby been good today?"

Shen Liyin, who had been silent until then, finally spoke. "I'm not keeping this child."

"You dare!"

Ji Rong's face darkened. He sat up and turned her over. At a glance, he saw her stubborn eyes, red-rimmed with tears.

His harsh tone softened at once, though it remained domineering and carried a hint of panic he could barely hide. "I want the child, and I will never let you go."

#The moonlight and the substitute are both me#

#First she suffers, then he does#

#The groveling ex gets his regrets#

Reader's guide:

1. Old-school melodramatic angst, a mix of sweet and painful. A little angst is fun; too much hurts.

2. Shen Liyin and Qin Yin are the same person. The heroine grows throughout the story.

3. Set in an imaginary world, with a huge number of original details.

4. More to come.

Pre-release: The Mute Concubine (The Ex's Regret)

In her previous life, Qing Ge mistook the person who saved her and gave all her gratitude and affection to Chu Yu, her savior's younger brother.

Chu Yu was a man of wealth and status who excelled at manipulating people's hearts. He treated Qing Ge as his possession, forbidding her from imagining that he might love her, yet keeping her trapped and refusing to let her leave his side for even a moment.

He once laughed and said, "Qing Ge, you're mute. What could you possibly do without me?"

His obsession and domineering ways tormented Qing Ge again and again. Hatred and love gnawed at her heart day after day, until one day she saw a portrait in his secret chamber. The person in it was the benefactor she had longed for day and night.

That man's name was not Chu Yu, but Chu Xi.

He was Chu Yu's deceased elder brother.

Qing Ge finally understood that she had mistaken the wrong man. Clutching the portrait, she leapt from a high cliff in front of Chu Yu.

When she lived again, she returned to the year before her benefactor died of illness.

This time, she had only one wish: for Chu Xi to live a long life.

A little scene:

Chu Xi's illness grew worse. Qing Ge neglected food and sleep as she searched for medicine and prepared remedies for him, until one day she collapsed beside the medicine furnace.

When she woke again, Chu Yu sat at the bedside with a cold expression.

He said, "You can't save him. Stop wasting your time."

Qing Ge looked at him as if he were a stranger and moved her fingers: "Everything I have belongs to him. It can't be called a waste."

Chu Yu's face darkened further, his voice icy. "I can give you anything, as long as you give up trying to save him."

Qing Ge gave a cold laugh and signed again: "I want Chu Xi to live a long life. Can you give me that?"

"What if I can?" he said through gritted teeth.

"How?"

"A life for a life. I'll trade mine for his."

Chu Yu was testing her, and gambling, silently waiting for the answer of the woman before him, usually gentle and obedient.

"All right. Trade your life for his." Qing Ge's lips curled into a smile.

Strong, kind mute girl x domineering, obsessive powerful minister

Theme: What you see before you may not be real. The heart is the best pair of eyes.