The Mute Concubine Refuses His Favor (Reborn)

The story is complete.

Coming soon: Fragrance in the Breeze. Please check it out in my profile.

-Story blurb-

In her previous life, Qingge mistook the wrong person for her savior and gave all her gratitude and love to Chu Yu, her savior's younger brother.

Chu Yu was powerful and privileged, and exceptionally skilled at manipulating people. He treated Qingge as his possession. He wouldn't let her hope for his love, yet kept her trapped, not allowing her to leave his side for even a moment.

He once laughed and said, "Qingge, you're a mute. What could you possibly do without me?"

His obsession and domineering nature tormented Qingge again and again. Hatred and love gnawed at her heart day after day, until one day, she saw a portrait in his secret chamber. The person in it was the savior she had thought about day and night.

That person's name wasn't Chu Yu. It was Chu Xi.

He was Chu Yu's late older brother.

Qingge finally understood that she had mistaken one man for another. Clutching the portrait, she jumped from a high cliff right in front of Chu Yu.

Reborn, she returned to the year before her savior died of illness.

This time, she had just one wish: for Chu Xi to live a long life.

A short scene:

Chu Xi's illness grew worse. Qingge forgot to eat and sleep as she searched for medicine and made remedies for him, until one day she collapsed beside the medicine stove.

When she woke up, Chu Yu was sitting on the edge of the bed, his face cold.

He said, "You can't save him. Stop wasting your time."

Qingge looked at him as if he were a stranger and moved her fingers: "Everything I have belongs to him. This isn't a waste."

Chu Yu's expression darkened further. His voice was icy. "I'll give you anything, as long as you give up trying to save him."

Qingge gave a cold laugh and gestured again: "I want Chu Xi to live a long life. Can you give me that?"

"What if I can?" he said through clenched teeth.

"How?"

"A life for a life. I'll trade mine for his."

Chu Yu was testing her, and taking a gamble. In silence, he waited for the answer of the woman before him, who had always been gentle and obedient.

"Fine. Trade your life for his." Qingge's lips curled into a smile.

Chu Yu had thought Qingge was a doddering vine that could only survive by clinging to him. It wasn't until later that he realized she was more like a lone fairy herb growing beside a sheer cliff: dazzling without being showy, tenacious and beautiful.

[Strong and kind mute heroine x obsessive, cruel official]

Before you read:

1. Both leads are reborn, and the male lead gradually regains his memories.

2. An alternate universe with lots of original worldbuilding.

3. The heroine is not mute from birth, and will recover later.

4. As usual, the heroine suffers first, then the hero. He'll have to win her back.

Coming soon: A Hasty Marriage. Please check it out in my profile.

Blurb:

Fu Yinxi had been in love with Pei Yanzhi for years. Though many people around her tried to talk her out of it, she never gave up hope, since Pei Yanzhi had never married.

During the spring hunt, the emperor was attacked. Fu Yinxi took an arrow for him, earning the chance to ask for a reward.

When she had recovered and it was time for the emperor to grant her a reward, she knelt and bowed her head. Her voice was soft but firm. "Your Majesty, I would like to ask you to grant me a marriage decree."

The old emperor's shrewd eyes flickered. "Oh? Who is it?"

"It's... Prince Yi."

The unfavored son he even despised.

Afterward, Pei Yanzhi asked her, "Was it worth it?"

Fu Yinxi looked up and smiled. "Yes. As long as I can stay by your side, it's worth it."

She had always understood his ambitions and desires. He wanted the throne and the empire, so she would help him and stay by his side.

She thought that with a whole lifetime ahead of them, sooner or later he would be moved by her.

Until the day the palace gates were breached one after another, and Pei Yanzhi stood outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony with the old emperor's handwritten decree in his hand.

Dressed as a soldier, she hid among the crowd. Before she could step forward to congratulate him, she saw a palace consort rush toward him and throw her arms around him.

Only then did she realize how tender his eyes could be. Only then did she realize he wasn't incapable of love.

Feeling pain in her heart, Fu Yinxi turned away and fought her way out of the crowd.

She had put on this uniform and followed him, prepared to share his fate whether they won or lost. But now she had become a joke, just like her marriage.

That night, Pei Yanzhi removed his armor and casually asked his attendant, "Where is the princess consort? Hasn't she been brought back from the residence yet?"

Before the attendant could answer, a hidden guard hurried in from outside the hall and said, "Your Majesty, the residence caught fire. The princess consort... she didn't make it out..."

Everyone believed Fu Yinxi was dead. Only Pei Yanzhi refused to believe it. He couldn't believe that at the very moment he had conquered the empire, Fu Yinxi wasn't by his side.

"Find her! Keep searching! Turn the whole place upside down if you have to, but bring her back to me!"

Theme: You are responsible for every step you take in life