Married to a Charming Oriole

★ Coming soon: Drunk on Blossoming Boughs and A Beauty Hidden by My Pillow. A groveling romance. Scroll down to read the blurbs.

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Jiang Jiao is the legitimate daughter of the prime minister, famous throughout the capital, and betrothed to the heir of the Cui family's marquis residence.

But her younger sister ruins this splendid match. As Jiang Jiao searches for a way out, she dreams of another man.

Shen Suiyan, the current emperor's fifth prince, is cold, gloomy, and indifferent to others.

Yet in her dreams, he helps her resolve her predicament.

When Jiang Jiao wakes, she hardens her heart and decides to turn to the fifth prince for help.

As time goes by, she keeps dreaming of him as a proper, self-restrained man with trouble walking, utterly different from the man in reality.

Each morning, she wakes in a state of alarm.

She reassures herself that it is only a dream. Once she is married, the fifth prince, who is ascetic and short-lived, will surely stop acting the way he does in her dreams.

On their wedding night, everything happens just as Jiang Jiao expected.

Shen Suiyan's expression is cool and detached. "I'm in poor health. I'm afraid I can't live up to what you had in mind, my lady."

Wait, she hadn't had anything in mind!

Jiang Jiao enjoys her married life, buying fine silks one day and exquisite jewelry the next.

But everything changes when Shen Suiyan sees her laughing and chatting with her cousin.

That night, tears glisten in Jiang Jiao's autumn eyes, and a conspicuous ribbon circles her fair wrist.

"Did you truly think I was short-lived, my princess? Did you really think I was incapable of pleasing you?"

Shen Suiyan's gaze grows darker, frightening her into soft sobs.

-

Shen Suiyan is the current emperor's neglected fifth prince, restrained and aloof, with a cold and proud nature.

After marrying Jiang Jiao, he realizes something seems amiss.

His princess appears to be having a dream.

And somehow, he can catch glimpses of it, too.

Every morning from then on, Jiang Jiao's unusual behavior after waking makes it impossible to fool him.

The more she acts that way, the more a mischievous urge stirs inside him.

When he sees her talking to her cousin, Shen Suiyan finally understands: she is nothing but a practiced heart-stealer.

"My princess, do you think I'm any different from the man in your dreams?"

= Drunk on Blossoming Boughs =

As the illegitimate daughter of an earl's household, Xie Wanling knows perfectly well that her marriage to He Langjin is nothing more than a transaction between their families.

He Langjin is the most refined and dignified heir in the capital, from the loyal and respected Duke of Zhongning's household.

He treats everyone with courtesy, except Xie Wanling.

Xie Wanling knows her status is low and never expects anything more.

She serves her parents-in-law, is gentle and accommodating, and tries to please everyone in the household, but she never manages to win a smile from He Langjin.

On a snowy night, the wind outside is bitterly cold.

Xie Wanling takes a bad fall, and, pregnant, goes into premature labor.

As she struggles through labor, tears well in her eyes and pain breaks from her lips.

But all she hears is a maid saying, "The heir has business tonight. He's still at the military camp."

So he really never cared about her.

A single tear rolls down her cheek. Hearing the cries of those in the room, Xie Wanling slowly loses consciousness.

When she opens her eyes again, she has returned to the year she came of age.

When she sees He Langjin at the residence again, she lowers her eyes and says, "Your daughter is neither talented nor virtuous enough to become the Duke's wife. Please choose someone else, Father."

Her younger sisters perk up when they hear Xie Wanling's words.

But then they see the heir's gaze turn increasingly sharp as it falls on their elder sister.

Even the teacup in his long fingers slips and crashes to the floor.

= The Blind Concubine's Broken Promise =

The day Yinyin sells herself to pay for her father's burial, a wealthy lord gives her ten taels of silver and takes her back to his residence.

Knowing she is blind, she only wants to repay her benefactor's kindness.

But that night, she loses her senses. When she wakes the next day, there is a man beside her.

She cannot see him, but she can feel the icy chill radiating from him.

Yinyin has no idea how this happened and tries to explain, but the man leaves without a word.

When someone returns to the room, the man asks her in a voice as cold as ice, "Will you come with me to the capital? I'll keep you safe and give you a proper status."

Only then does Yinyin learn that the man before her is Prince Jing, Pei Lanzhen.

The previous night, her master had schemed to force the two of them to consummate their marriage.

After a long hesitation, Yinyin turns her unfocused eyes toward Pei Lanzhen and nods.

Once in the capital, Yinyin is only a concubine in Prince Jing's residence.

She lives in its most remote courtyard, yet still hopes that one day she will be able to see Pei Lanzhen with her own eyes.

Pei Lanzhen is ambushed during a military campaign. But when he sees that the person before him is a blind woman, he suddenly cannot bring himself to kill her.

They have already been intimate, and Pei Lanzhen only wants her to stay in the residence.

He will find someone to cure her eyes and give her a good life. He just doesn't want to see her again, or let his strange feelings show.

But one day, there is a letter on his desk.

A letter of farewell.

Theme: Be yourself and love others, and your marriage can last