Thorny Rose x Black-Bellied Prince
[The second male lead takes the top spot / Brothers vie for the throne]
In the throes of passion, Prince Qi Chen Jin brushed the damp strands of hair from Li Si's face. His naturally tender eyes fixed on her as he said:
"I want to keep Sisi by my side for a long time, too. But, Sisi, you are ultimately a member of the demonic sect."
"I know. Following me like this has been hard on you."
The tenderness in his eyes seemed genuine, and when she said she was leaving, he shed tears for her as well.
So she crippled her own martial arts, severed ties with the sect, and stripped away every last one of her thorns.
She became more and more like the noble young ladies raised in the capital.
-
Li Si never got to see Chen Jin marry her.
All she got was Chen Jin telling her he was going to marry the Qin family's daughter, and that later he would take Li Si as his secondary consort.
"I have no choice," he said.
"You can only blame yourself for being useless now."
That was their fifth year together. When his amorous eyes turned to her, they seemed steeped in poison.
He grabbed her arm and threw her to the ground.
"Sisi, be good."
"After all, now you can only obey me, can't you?"
Li Si looked at the man she had loved for five years, lowered her eyes, and said nothing more.
Chen Jin smiled, stroked her hair, and drew her into his arms, never noticing the cold murderous intent in her eyes.
She had lost her martial arts, but she still had her mastery of poison.
Prince Qi Chen Jin had bullied and humiliated her. Now, all she wanted was his life.
She would make him watch as he lost the throne and became a cripple. Then she would personally send him on his way.
-
The day Li Si left Prince Qi's residence, snow fell over the capital.
Alone, she knocked on the gates of Prince Zhao's residence, hoping to make a deal with Chen Jin's younger brother, Chen Xu.
She sat on a stone bench in the courtyard, thin snow settling in her hair. Chen Xu hurried over, saw how lightly she was dressed, and draped his thick outer cloak over her shoulders.
Fresh snow fell softly as Chen Xu gazed at her with gentle eyes.
No one knew how jealous he had been all these years, watching her give everything to that heartless man.
The female lead has no prior sexual experience; the male lead does.
The female lead poisoned herself to cripple her martial arts, leaving herself a way out. Her abilities will return later.
Male lead Chen Xu: secretly in love with her, steals her away and takes the top spot
Second male lead Chen Jin: faces a hellish quest to win her back, then gets ground to dust
Inspired by the extra chapter of I Think of the Skylark
Has a similar setup, but is not part of the same series
Historical romance with a partly wuxia setting
Theme: Schemes can't compare to sincerity
