After Failing to Marry Up, I Became a Powerful Man's Beloved

Please add my upcoming novels Tea Isn't Green and The Tyrant's Frail Beauty (Reborn) to your reading list. Their blurbs are below this story's blurb~

[This story's blurb]

Everyone says that Tan Siqi, the young master of the Chancellor's household, is mild-mannered, courteous, and refined.

Li Qingyue says anyone who believes that is an idiot.

She doesn't care what Tan Siqi is like. All she wants is to win over Xie Zhiheng, the man her father insisted she secure.

So why does that lofty young master from the Chancellor's household keep ruining her plans?

And why is he threatening her not to set her sights on anyone else?

"Young Master Xie... isn't just anyone."

Tan Siqi's lips curled slightly, but there wasn't a trace of amusement in his expression.

Li Qingyue blushed, looking shy and embarrassed. "He's my benefactor."

The man before her finally drew his brows together. He nearly reached out to grip her slender, delicate neck, but in the end, he was afraid of frightening her.

He caught her small, elegant chin and sneered coldly. "Why are you so short-sighted?"

If you want to climb the social ladder, you won't find anyone higher than me. Why go to all that trouble to win someone else's favor?

[Little scene]

It was Xie Zhiheng's birthday, and Li Qingyue brought a purse to give him.

But in the middle of the night, someone carried her, bedding and all, into his arms. She woke groggily and opened her eyes to see a handsome face full of barely restrained anger. She was so frightened she could hardly breathe, and didn't dare move.

Tan Siqi stroked the soft cheek in his arms, rubbing it gently. His voice was low and bewitching. "Where's the purse?"

"W-what purse?"

Moonlight streamed in through the window. Tan Siqi's eyes were dark and deep, his face half in shadow, and there was a touch of obsessive madness about him.

Li Qingyue jolted and hurriedly took the purse, still warm from being tucked beside her pillow, out of a small wooden box and shakily handed it to him.

Tan Siqi didn't take it. His gaze merely softened a little. He pulled her closer and bent down toward her, coaxing in a quiet voice, "Put it on me."

Original title: Vermilion Mark

[Content warning]

Shameless and clingy, with an overly doting male lead;

Imperfect characters;

Entirely fictional setting.

[Upcoming contemporary romance] Tea Isn't Green (I'll write this one next)

[Sweet-looking first-love-face tea master x arrogant, unruly, top-tier scumbag-face]

Bai Cha has a sweet, innocent face that makes her look like everyone's first love, but she has a peculiar secret hobby: scumbags.

The first time she saw Jiang Chen, he had a bold, unruly look. Beneath the blazing sun, he seemed utterly wild, like a spoiled young master.

Before she confessed, more than one person jokingly warned Bai Cha: He's a real scumbag. You should stay away.

But Bai Cha, determined to go after every unfaithful man in the world, saw the crème de la crème of scumbags and immediately pursued him.

Beneath the sweet osmanthus trees, the young woman's ears turned red. Her little hands gripped his clothes, leaving a string of heart-stopping creases.

Jiang Chen's Adam's apple bobbed, but his voice stayed cool. "You like me?"

The girl nodded, shy and bashful, her lashes trembling.

His lips curled into a seductive smile. He leaned down and tempted her. "Then tell me, how much do you like me?"

-

They hadn't been together for even a month when her ex's puppy-dog younger boyfriend showed up. "Cha Cha, did you dump me for him?"

Later, her ex's devastatingly gentle first boyfriend showed up too. "Xiao Cha, if you're willing to come back to me, I don't mind sharing you with him."

Jiang Chen: "?"

"Care to explain?"

Later still, Bai Cha discovered that this top-tier scumbag-face wasn't a scumbag at all. He was also her first love?!!

She decided to cut things off quickly, right away! Immediately! A peaceful breakup!

But this arrogant fake scumbag held her close, his voice trembling. "Go ahead, try cheating on me."

-

They met again when Bai Cha went to a private dental clinic to have her wisdom teeth removed.

The tall man wore a white coat, every button done up neatly. Silver-rimmed glasses rested on his straight nose, veiling the swagger in his youthful features behind a hazy air.

He actually looks like a decent person now, Bai Cha thought to herself.

But as she lay back in the dental chair and the anesthetic was about to be injected, the man's arrogant, unruly face from school suddenly flashed through her mind. She nervously opened her eyes and asked, "C-can you do this?"

The man's hand paused. He raised an eyebrow and gave a mocking smile. "Don't you already know what I can do?"

After the extraction, while waiting for someone to pick her up, she was sending a message to confirm the location when someone raised a hand and firmly blocked her against the car.

"Your current boyfriend?"

Bai Cha turned her face away and said nothing.

Jiang Chen's expression darkened. He leaned in and forced her chin back toward him, asking absurdly, "How are you planning to dump this one?"

"Or should I help you cheat on him?"

--

[Upcoming historical romance] The Tyrant's Frail Beauty (Reborn)

Tang Mianxia is the only little princess of the Great Chu royal family, but she was born sickly and frail.

She was cherished and pampered from childhood, raised like a princess in the clouds.

Over time, she grew soft and sheltered, unable to withstand even the slightest hardship.

When her kingdom fell, the little princess was cast adrift and sent to the distant state of Wei.

The ruler of Wei was a notorious tyrant, decisive and ruthless.

Rumor had it that every woman sent before him became a headless corpse, tossed into a mass grave.

Everyone lamented that the beautiful, frail little princess wouldn't live through the winter with her ailing body.

But no one knew that, as snow fell outside the palace, the little princess who hated the cold was curled up in the tyrant's arms. He held her chilly little feet in his palms, gently breathing on them to warm her.

When the little princess shivered and curled her toes, the tyrant softened his voice and coaxed her. "Mianmian, be good. I'll warm you up."

Later, the little princess became the little empress. The tyrant still held her in his arms every day, and she became even more spoiled than before.

Only he knew that she was the beloved he had never forgotten, the one he had longed for but could never have in his previous life.

Theme: Strive to realize your own worth and live for yourself.