Before Spring Ends

For ten years as empress, Meng Shuangwan had always fulfilled her duties, managing the imperial harem and raising the princes and princesses. She held on to the emperor's words, "I trust you," for ten years. She made the emperor her whole world and gave him her heart. Meng Shuangwan thought that no matter what happened, the emperor would believe in her and protect her. Only after she was scolded, doubted, and confined because of the emperor's new favorite, and finally stripped of her authority over the harem, did she realize how foolish she had been. On the day Yun Rong died unjustly, Meng Shuangwan stood barefoot and disheveled outside Zichen Hall, laughing bitterly. "So this is what the emperor calls trust." She looked at her husband, the emperor of Great Heng, and spoke slowly. "Being married to you is exhausting." * On the night of the winter solstice, the emperor spent the night in Consort Min's chambers. When he heard that Chang'an Hall was ablaze and the empress could not be rescued, the usually composed emperor went mad. Raving, his eyes bloodshot, he screamed Meng Shuangwan's name outside Chang'an Hall. The only answer was the palace swallowed by raging flames and the bitter, howling winter wind. * At the New Year's banquet, the imperial clan and their families entered the palace to attend. On the main thoroughfare, Qin Huaijin encountered a noblewoman from outside the palace. Beneath the hazy lantern light, she turned around, and her luminous, exquisite face made the eunuch drop his lantern. Qin Huaijin's pupils contracted sharply. "My empress..." His voice trembled faintly. But she calmly curtsied in greeting. "May the emperor be well. I am the wife of Prince Wei, and I have accompanied my husband to the palace for the banquet." Seeing the stranger's gaze in her eyes, Qin Huaijin staggered back in disbelief. His empress had become a princess consort, and she no longer knew him. * Qin Huaiye had thought he would never fall in love. Then, one early spring, he met a woman in his fiefdom. She looked remarkably like his imperial sister-in-law, but her temperament was entirely different. Later, he told himself that so be it if she looked alike. His sister-in-law was dead; it was only a coincidence. So he petitioned the emperor to grant her the title of princess consort. Later still, the woman remembered her name. When he heard the words "Meng Shuangwan," Qin Huaiye felt as if lightning had struck him. That night, he sat alone in the bitterly cold wind until dawn. Early the next morning, he opened the door and entered her room. "Your name is the same as the late empress's. Don't mention it casually to anyone from now on." He drew the clear-eyed woman into his arms. His voice was tender, but a faint red gleam showed in his eyes. The late empress was gone. From now on, there would be only his Princess Consort of Wei. No one... would take her away. Reader's Guide: A melodramatic, angst-filled groveling romance. The heroine is sexually experienced, while the male lead is a virgin. The heroine has lost her memory; the second male lead takes her place, and the male lead is reduced to ashes. The second male lead starts out as a noble and elegant gentleman, but later goes mad with love and becomes an expert at lying through his teeth. There are lots of scenes later on where the male lead loves her one-sidedly. If that's not your thing, proceed with caution! --A recommendation for a neighboring ongoing novel-- "Gazing at the Bright Moon" Ye Luanying is a nobody in the Tianxin Pavilion. Mediocre in talent and taciturn, she is ignored by everyone, from the pavilion master to the outer-sect disciples. Only her junior brother Feng Ying seems different. He follows her around all day, undeterred by her lack of response. During a sect expedition, the disciples accidentally entered Tianguang Ruins and broke a century-old seal. According to legend, the demon who threw the Divine Wasteland into chaos a hundred years ago was sealed beneath the Luofu Sea in Tianguang Ruins. The seal broke, and the demon emerged. The Divine Wasteland was about to be plunged into devastation. . The day the demon army reached Tianxin Pavilion, everyone inside panicked and scattered. Only Ye Luanying remained unexpectedly calm. As the pavilion master and elders fought off the invaders, she held a longsword, its tip aimed at Feng Ying, who had always followed her. Then, amid everyone's cries of alarm, she raised her hand and brought the sword down. A wash of red spread across Feng Ying's chest. Her fellow disciples accused her of going mad, but Ye Luanying's gaze remained cool. "Ye Yaoze, I know it's you." Everyone's expression changed. Ye Yaoze: the name the demon had taken in the human world a hundred years ago. Just as everyone thought Ye Luanying was talking nonsense, Feng Ying, the usually cheerful and well-liked junior brother, chuckled softly, his eyes alight with delight. "A hundred years, and you're still as clever as ever." His voice had lost its usual vigor, turning low and sinister instead. That day, the demon spared Tianxin Pavilion, leaving only these words behind: "Senior Sister, I'll see you at the Luofu Sea in three days." . A hundred years ago, the sect leader of the Qiongyu Sect sacrificed herself to the enemy, sealing the demon beneath the Luofu Sea. A hundred years later, the Qiongyu Sect was gone from the Divine Wasteland, but Ye Luanying remained. Ye Yaoze gave her three days. In three days, Ye Luanying would enter the Luofu Sea, and the demon army would withdraw to Tianguang Ruins. Everyone thought Ye Yaoze must hate Ye Luanying for imprisoning him beneath the Luofu Sea a century ago. He had driven her to Tianguang Ruins to humiliate and torment her. Only Ye Yaoze knew that at the bottom of the Luofu Sea, as he held her in his arms, his hands trembled with excitement. "Senior Sister, I told you long ago that you would belong to me in the end..." So what if he had been imprisoned for a hundred years? Reader's Guide: A crazed, possessive demon x a cool, stunning beauty I personally think this is a sweet romance. This time, I absolutely won't write angst (I'll try). Theme: When you bloom, the breeze will come.