Disguised as a Man: Escaping the Fate of a Hostage in the Warring States

Upcoming story: "The Second Marriage of a Child Bride." Blurb at the bottom.

On the day the King of Zhao surrendered, she was sent to Qin as a hostage, disguised as the Crown Prince.

At the banquet celebrating Zhao's surrender, Zhao Shu was horrified to discover that a mere criminal slave she'd once teased and clung to had transformed into the mighty Prince of Qin.

Back then, she'd been spoiled and unruly, and seemed to have done many cruel things to him.

As the banquet reached its height, Ying Wujie blocked her way. His beautiful features, bright as a spring day, revealed undisguised malice:

"Three years ago, you kept me as your male favorite and favored subject. Today, I hold your life in my hands... But rest assured, my lord, I detest men who love men most of all!"

She was sentenced to work in a quarry, served as a horse handler, and even waited on guests in a blue robe...

She was the one being tormented, yet the refined and noble Prince of Qin grew increasingly irritable and unsettled.

Until the night Zhao Shu begged him to save her cousin, then wept as she took off the rough clothes of a hostage slave in front of him.

When Ying Wujie saw her secret by candlelight, his gaze turned dark, like a beast that had found its prey.

In that moment, he suddenly understood that after all these years, his feelings for Young Master Shu were not only resentment, but perhaps also desire.

From then on, his way of humiliating her changed.

"You still look down on me? What does the Crown Prince of Zhao think of being embraced by a mayfly or a bug?" Beneath the lamplight, the man's features were so beautiful they seemed almost demonic. He smirked at her mockingly, then suddenly gripped her chin hard and murmured tenderly, "Call me big brother."

P.S.:

1. The story begins with the fall of her kingdom. Before the paywall, the heroine disguises herself as a man. The man has been straight for a thousand years, until she's bewitched his heart and he accepts a same-sex relationship... Then the heroine resumes dressing as a woman.

2. Forced possession and a man chasing his wife after mistreating her. Sour and sweet, with heartbreak along the way. Happy ending.

3. The male lead is a mixed Hu and Han strategist with a mad streak. The heroine is a fool.

4. Set in a fictional Warring States period, with a very loose take on history!

Next story: "The Second Marriage of a Child Bride"

On a stormy summer-solstice day, Ruan Ping stabbed the drunken Sun Da with a pair of scissors, fled into the mountains, and happened upon an unconscious nobleman who had fallen and injured himself.

After saving him and borrowing the fire in the cave, she suddenly realized she had seen this handsome, refined young man before. She had personally seen him handing out alms to beggars on the street.

Then she caught sight of the white jade pendant at his waist, and Ruan Ping decided to take a gamble.

She took off her wet clothes and leaned in to embrace the unconscious youth.

*

It turned out she had bet right.

As Sun Da sat there roaring that he would make her wish she were dead, the youth sent his guards over and bought her freedom with money and influence.

As she left, she couldn't understand why the Sun family looked so terrified.

*

Over the next three years, she opened an apothecary and supported herself. To repay the young man's kindness, she didn't mind that their relationship was vague and undefined.

No one had ever treated her with such tenderness before, and she had even begun to lose herself in it.

Until the young lady of the Yu family of Yunshan came to see her, brandishing a marriage contract and sharply revealing his true identity.

He was the new King of Jiangdong, who had killed his brother and taken the throne.

*

They were worlds apart. There was no reason to linger.

Just as Ruan Ping packed her belongings, ready to leave and head north to find her relatives, a group of armored soldiers surrounded her little courtyard.

Yan Haochu dismounted and faced the calm woman, shedding all his disguises for the first time. "Sister Ping, why didn't you tell me you were leaving?"

Kind and gentle were only the surface of Young Master Yan.

P.S.: A younger, scheming wolf. The male lead seems sunny, kind, and easily embarrassed, but is actually very calculating, obsessed with power, and willing to do anything. He's no good person, but he never truly harms the heroine. He admires her peaceful, gentle nature, which has survived all the darkness she's been through.

Theme: Even in an age of fierce competition, one should remain kind and avoid killing.