After Being Sacrificed to the Mad Grand Princess as a Good-Luck Charm

In her previous life, Yu Nanqing disguised herself as a man, passed the imperial examinations, and became the top scholar. After choosing the wrong master, she was left exposed in a deserted garden. Reborn before the exams, Yu Nanqing accepted without hesitation the imperial decree ordering her to bring good fortune through marriage to the disgraced crown prince. Rumor had it that Crown Prince Xiao Qiling had been poisoned years ago and driven mad. Whenever the poison flared up, he lost all awareness and could only ease it by killing and drinking blood. On their wedding night, the sound of blades rang out. Yu Nanqing was just about to run for her life when she saw the courtyard littered with corpses. Xiao Qiling let down her long hair and calmly untied her cloak, revealing a slender, graceful figure. The disgraced crown prince was a woman?! Before Yu Nanqing could even be surprised, those peach-blossom eyes, which should have been full of affection, turned sharply toward her, cold with the hauteur of someone passing judgment from on high. Thinking fast, Yu Nanqing let the wind redden her eyes as she fled, lending them the watery glow of spring. Stumbling forward with every step, she threw herself trembling into Xiao Qiling's arms. "I'm afraid of pain. Could you bite me gently?" Xiao Qiling: ...? * From that day on, Yu Nanqing used every bit of her talent to provide Xiao Qiling with end-of-life care. Today she acted like someone deeply in love; tomorrow she would say she could never love anyone but her. Counting on Xiao Qiling not having long to live, she even dared to climb into her sickbed in a thin, gauzy robe and tenderly vow to spend the rest of her life mourning her. Yu Nanqing just hadn't expected that Xiao Qiling's asceticism was an act, and her days being numbered was an even bigger lie. And so... After Xiao Qiling faked her death to escape, a new strategist joined the army. She was brilliant with words and a master at planning troop deployments. Delighted, Xiao Qiling decided to meet her in person. But when the curtain was lifted, the person seated below looked eight-tenths like the little wife back at the residence, who did nothing but follow her around and was too frail to take care of herself. No, she didn't just look similar. It was the very same person! As Xiao Qiling listened to Yu Nanqing say "I've admired you for a long time" and "I could never love anyone but you" in that familiar voice, she remembered all those sweet nothings from the disgraced crown prince's residence and pulled off her mask with a cold laugh. Yu Nanqing's voice abruptly died away, and she tried to flee at once. Too late. That night, Yu Nanqing was blindfolded. The person behind her coaxed, "Be good, Qingqing. Let me bite you once more." Xiao Qiling (gong) x Yu Nanqing (shou) Note: 1. One-on-one, both leads are chaste. They have been chaste in both their past and present lives, with no emotional or physical contact with men. 2. In ancient times, women came of age at fifteen. The shou is seventeen and the gong is twenty-one from the start, so both are adults. 3. The setting is a fictional ancient patriarchal society. The emperor and court officials are all men. The author personally likes stories about seizing power from men, so there are more male supporting characters early on, but the major villains and standout characters are women, and women ultimately take power. 4. The setting blends elements from the Han, Song, and Ming dynasties, but is entirely fictional. Please don't associate it with any particular dynasty or historical figure. Here's a preview of my next historical girls' love novel, After Being Doted on by a Ruthless Princess, I Couldn't Escape. Feel free to add it to your collection: Su Jinxue passed the provincial examination at fourteen and became famous throughout the capital. But when trouble broke out in the north, the pampered young lady of a noble family became the daughter of a disgraced official. Her maternal relatives drugged her and sent her to the princess's residence. Princess Zhaoyuan, Xiao Mingyu, was the late emperor's legitimate daughter. She had injured her leg in the north years ago and was so violent-tempered that even the current emperor had to defer to her. On her first night at the residence, Su Jinxue met a woman dressed in pale robes, with dark hair and features as lovely as a painting, like an immortal who had descended from the moon. After taking a second look, she suddenly realized: this must be another poor, disfavored woman in the princess's household. The woman was in poor health, so Su Jinxue prepared medicine for her every day. When the woman said she was cold at night, Su Jinxue moved in to share her warm bed. By the time she came to her senses, she had already given her entire heart away. Su Jinxue secretly vowed: once I pass the highest examinations and turn my fortunes around, I'll buy our freedom from the princess. Later, she earned the highest honors in the examinations and knelt beneath the palace steps. She heard the eunuch announce, "The Princess," and looked up, frozen stiff. The notorious princess before her was the very same frail, delicate woman from the princess's residence, kept there as a plaything! That very night, she ran away without even daring to pack. * Xiao Mingyu had spent years lying low, with a grand plan in motion. She shouldn't have let anyone distract her. But one little girl barged into her life, and pity turned to indulgence, then to an attachment she couldn't let go. She taught the girl military strategy and the arts, taught her to hit a target from a hundred paces, and watched her grow more capable each day. Just as Xiao Mingyu was about to reveal her identity and give her a title, the girl ran off without so much as a goodbye. Later, the fugitive was caught and knelt before her, gazing up at her as pitifully as she had on her first day at the residence. Xiao Mingyu suddenly didn't know where to direct all her anger. * Kept at Xiao Mingyu's side, Su Jinxue was cautious every day. By daylight, she risked her life carrying out Xiao Mingyu's orders and commanding her troops. By night, Xiao Mingyu washed her clean and brought her to bed. Whenever Su Jinxue tried to speak, Xiao Mingyu covered her lips and kissed the same spot again and again until she forgot what she had wanted to ask. On the eve of the coronation, everyone believed Xiao Mingyu would ascend the throne. Instead, she placed the crown she had prepared on Su Jinxue's head. Her fingers brushed her ear, then held the back of her neck and drew her into an embrace. "My Jinjing deserves everything most precious in the world." Su Jinxue stumbled, forced into the crook of Xiao Mingyu's shoulder, and heard a soft, slow laugh above her. "Make me your empress, then." Su Jinxue's pupils trembled. "You..." Xiao Mingyu pressed a finger to her lips, then traced each vertebra down her spine. "Don't shout. Save your strength for crying later." Theme: Overcome every obstacle, even in the face of despair