Mute Darling

[Upcoming novel, Spring Beneath the Ninth Terrace: Please add it to your library! Blurb at the bottom]

Ye Chuchu was born with delicate beauty, rosy lips, fair skin, and bright, expressive eyes. But who could have guessed she was a little mute?

The villagers often teased her about it, but she never got angry. She just smiled, her eyes curving into crescents.

One rainy night, she found a poor, badly injured man.

At the time, the poor fellow was covered in blood and had a limp. Ye Chuchu took devoted care of him.

From then on, someone chopped wood and carried water during the day, and read her stories at night to coax her to sleep.

He also helped her teach the villagers who bullied her a lesson. Ye Chuchu treasured the peaceful, tranquil life they shared.

When the man's injuries had healed, she fought back her reluctance and handed him a little note: You're all better now. You don't need to repay me anymore.

But the man gently pulled her into his arms and said in a low voice, "I'm not repaying you. I'm trying to win your heart."

"Chuchu, will you be my empress?"

*

Shen Muci was an emperor, but he was weary of life and the world, with nothing in his heart but hatred.

He was ambushed during a trip and collapsed in a pool of blood, yet all he felt was the joy of knowing he would soon be free.

When he woke again, a soft, sweet little girl who couldn't speak was lying beside him.

Later, Shen Muci discovered that he could hear the little girl's thoughts.

When he had no appetite, he heard her feeling guilty that she hadn't managed to prepare food to suit his tastes.

When he was irritable, he heard her quietly plotting all sorts of ways to cheer him up.

A heart encased in solid ice seemed to be slowly thawing.

Until one day...

The little girl thought to herself that she loved him.

At that moment, Shen Muci could no longer hold himself back. He pulled her close and kissed her.

*

Ye Chuchu was a ray of light in Shen Muci's darkness.

No matter how much he despised the world, he would still lay the finest things in the world at his little girl's feet for her sake.

[Cheerful, optimistic little mute x dark, vengeful demon king]

#The little mute is doted on until she becomes a little empress#

#The demon king is healed by his little ray of sunshine#

[Reading Guide]

1. The leads are both sexually inexperienced. Happy ending, one-on-one romance.

2. The heroine is mute at first, but will recover later. She grows throughout the story.

3. The plot serves the romance. A light, sweet story set in a completely fictional world with plenty of author-invented details. Please don't nitpick the historical accuracy.

4. The hero won't be able to hear the heroine's thoughts until after a transitional part of the story. The events in the blurb take place after he can hear her thoughts. Essentially, it's a story about the hero falling hard for her.

5. The hero is a bit of a jerk early on, with a touch of groveling-redemption arc.

-------Upcoming Novel-------

Spring Beneath the Ninth Terrace

[Amnesia / White Moonlight / Growth and Redemption]

Shu Ning is a convict-slave in the palace laundry, as insignificant as a drifting leaf in the rain.

When she is brutally attacked, perhaps her desperate cry of "Your Majesty!" catches the emperor's attention from his carriage, and he saves her.

She thinks the emperor saved her on a whim, but unexpectedly, he takes an increasing interest in her.

One day, after drinking too much, he even whispers in her ear, asking if she would marry him.

Behind the heavy curtains, the emperor falls into a deep sleep.

The glow of the setting sun falls across his handsome face, and for a moment Shu Ning is lost in a daze.

Until she hears palace servants whispering beneath the covered walkway: "His Majesty is going to choose an empress. They say the new empress is a noblewoman from a distinguished family."

The flowers outside the window have fallen. Dreams, after all, must eventually end.

With a firm resolve, Shu Ning leaves the palace.

Later, on her wedding night, when the crimson bridal veil is slowly lifted, the face before her is not that of her new husband.

The young emperor leans close, smiling as he hooks a finger beneath her chin. The hem of his black-and-gold dragon robe slowly sweeps over her flowing wedding gown. "You'd rather be someone else's second wife than be my empress?"

[The Emperor's Notes]

My heart died the moment the entire Wei clan fell on the battlefield.

Years later, I saved a palace maid who had lost her memory.

She was the legitimate daughter of the Wei clan, and the white moonlight I had long yearned for.

Theme: Say what you feel out loud, and set out in pursuit of happiness