Slaying the Wolf’s Beauty

The Crown Prince was in danger abroad, shattering Yun Yao's dream of becoming Crown Princess. Her father, the Grand Secretary, forced her to marry, and the groom was the very man whose proposal she had turned down.

On their wedding night, convinced her life was doomed, Yun Yao cried until she was a mess. She shut her eyes and was about to faint.

Xie Xun pinched her philtrum. “Don't rush to faint. I only married you as a temporary measure. Once we have a child, you can do whatever you like.”

With something to look forward to, Yun Yao came back to life. But the process of making a baby was so embarrassing that she suffered in silence. To her sisters-in-law, though, she was simply ungrateful for her blessings, like someone with a full stomach who couldn't understand a hungry person's plight.

In the blink of an eye, the eldest sister-in-law was expecting her third child, the second sister-in-law gave birth to twins, and even the youngest sister-in-law, who had married into the family less than half a year ago, was pregnant. Only Yun Yao, supposedly the most blessed of them all, had nothing to show for it.

*

The household began to sneer that Yun Yao was a pretty vase, the most beautiful of them all, but the least useful.

Yun Yao nestled against her husband's chest and sobbed. “There are three forms of unfilial conduct, and having no heir is the worst. My lord, you should choose another worthy wife.”

Then she could be free. Someone else could take on the exhausting task of carrying on the family line.

Xie Xun gently wiped away her tears. “Don't worry. If the child isn't yours, we don't need one.”

He sold off every servant who gossiped, then offended every elder in the clan. The gentle, refined young gentleman turned into a thorn in everyone's side, and only then did the gossip finally stop.

Yun Yao found her husband much more agreeable after that.

*

From then on, the couple grew ever more affectionate, and their marriage blossomed. Yun Yao also discovered a new hobby: dressing up as all manner of mountain spirits and fairy maidens, then repeatedly staging chance encounters with her husband. She didn't mind that her vanity left her unable to get out of bed for days.

One day, Yun Yao dressed as a peach blossom spirit and hid in her husband's study. After a long while, someone finally came in.

“My lord, it seems the Crown Prince is about to wake. Should we keep him, or...”

“Your subordinate will handle it so no one will ever know, and Madam won't find out.”

Not wanting to be discovered, Yun Yao held her breath. Suddenly, her stomach churned, and she couldn't stop herself from retching.

“Who's there? Get out here!” A servant shouted. Yun Yao was so startled that her vision went black and she fainted.

*

When she woke, Xie Xun had her held tightly in his arms. “I won't explain. If you want to leave, then we don't need this child either.”

Yun Yao blinked. “All right.”

You're the only one who gets to put on an act. At least loosen your grip, we're about to split up and you're still holding me so tightly.

Sure enough, the man dropped his pretense in an instant. His warmth vanished, replaced by a tender yet sinister look in his eyes. “Go on, try leaving.”

That little peach blossom spirit he met by chance when they were young had lit up his once-dim life. He was so consumed by her that he would never let go, not for the rest of his life.

Coming soon: Reborn as the Treacherous Minister's Younger Sister. Please support it.

Bai Sheng had a terrible dream.

Her brother, who had left home as a child, hadn't gone to the capital to sell goods. He had entered the palace as a eunuch and committed all kinds of wicked deeds. His minions were everywhere, and everyone called him the Nine-Thousand-Year-Old, though in truth they hated him to the core.

For his countless crimes, he was tortured with a thousand cuts and died without a whole body.

Bai Sheng secretly gave her brother a proper burial, but her in-laws discovered her. They divorced her, and she froze to death on the street.

The dream was so vivid that the young woman was still shaken. She went to the quiet, taciturn, and seemingly dependable handsome young man next door for advice. “My brother might turn bad someday. What should I do?”

The young man's eyes grew complicated. “Where did you get a brother?”

The young woman answered earnestly, “My brother hasn't been home in ten years. He changed his name to Wei Chong.”

Oh. The eunuch who would track him down three years later and try to assassinate him in every way imaginable.

Wei Chong had been having a run of bad luck. His plot to frame an old minister had fallen through for lack of evidence, and the flaws in the birthday gift he'd presented to the Empress had earned him her displeasure. With everything going against him, he had no choice but to use the ten years' worth of home leave he'd saved up and leave the capital early to find the Emperor's eldest grandson, whom the Empress had feared for years.

Passing through his hometown, Wei Chong decided on a whim to visit his little sister first. As he reached the door, he heard a young woman cry out in pain. His expression changed, and he rushed inside.

A young man was crouched beside the bed, holding the girl's delicate white foot as he applied ointment and massaged it, his voice gentle despite his helpless tone.

“I told you it would hurt. Bear with it.”

Bai Sheng stared blankly for a moment, then recognized her brother. Seeing him glare murderously at Huai Zhen, she hurriedly stepped in front of him.

“Brother, don't kill him, or I'll cry my eyes out just to show you.”

Huai Zhen, standing behind the girl as she shielded him, smiled faintly.

“Brother-in-law, long time no see.”

You bastard. If you make my life miserable, your sister will make yours miserable too.

Theme: Women should treat themselves well