Gentle, devoted, healing beauty * Deeply calculating, thespian Crown Prince
Marriage first, love later | A true change of heart | Devoted to each other, HE | Sweet and sour
At ten years old, Jiang Qingyue did something worthy of going down in the history books.
Relying on the Empress's favor, she successfully forced the Crown Prince to marry her.
Unfortunately, the Empress died on their wedding night, and Jiang Qingyue was sent back to the Duke's estate to observe mourning.
For the next eight years, she never returned to the Eastern Palace, because Lu Yao forbade it.
Amid rumors and mockery, Jiang Qingyue remained as obedient and composed as ever, without a single complaint.
Until the ninth year, when Lu Yao found a beauty and kept her hidden in the main hall of the Eastern Palace.
In the remote courtyard of the Duke's estate, bedridden with illness, Jiang Qingyue heard the servants whispering about how the cold and desireless Crown Prince had fallen under the spell of tenderness, and how he held that young woman in the palm of his hand...
After a brief stab of pain in her heart, she smiled, both relieved and wistful.
Making amends was only wishful thinking, and a young girl's feelings were nothing but a foolish dream.
Her "husband" might no longer hate her, but he would never love her.
She held the Crown Princess's golden seal and asked to see Lu Yao, requesting that he strip her of her title.
"Do you hate me?" Lu Yao asked, finally giving her a serious look.
Jiang Qingyue shook her head, her expression gentle. "I was young and foolish. I insisted on marrying you just so I could call the Empress Mother."
Lu Yao's hand, holding the seal, faltered.
Jiang Qingyue felt as if she'd woken from a long dream at last, finally free. "After ten wasted years, I've long since come to my senses. Now that Your Highness has found true love, I can only be happy for you. From now on, let's go our separate ways and stop holding each other back..."
Before she could finish, Lu Yao, furious, kissed her fiercely.
"Come to your senses? Holding each other back?" he ground out. The flawless, godlike face finally showed a crack. "All those tears you shed day and night, all those times you said you loved me... It was all a lie to deceive me..."
Theme: Say your love out loud.
