[Note: This is probably a sweet little romance with plenty of focus on the relationship. When I outlined it, I found the political intrigue barely existed, so the “Mountains and Rivers” in the title didn't fit. I've changed it back to the original story-inspired title.]
[Officially published exclusively on Jinjiang Literature City. All rights reserved.]
The Zhu family rules over a splendid empire, and its royal family is blessed with many descendants. Zhu Zhi is the least remarkable of the imperial princesses.
Yet the emperor bestows her in marriage upon Fu Guiting, the renowned young chief councilor of the court.
Fu is handsome and refined, a peerless gentleman in a fallen age. Zhu Zhi is lucky to have him, to the envy of all.
But Zhu Zhi knows this marriage is like a flimsy paper contract, ready to crumble at the slightest touch.
She is merely a pawn in the struggle for imperial power, and beneath her husband's sheepskin lies a wolf's ambition. He's rotten to the core.
Fu Guiting once used her.
That year, in the Flower Tower, moonlight mingled with blood.
The man lounged against a beauty's couch, a blade still stained with blood playing in his hand, a field of corpses at his feet.
She slumped on the floor. He lifted her chin with long, icy fingers. “Your servant is guilty. I frightened the Ninth Princess.”
When Zhu Zhi met his deep, fathomless eyes, a chill ran down her spine. She felt as if she were standing at the edge of an abyss.
After they married, Fu Guiting treated her with formal courtesy, and she kept her distance from him.
She disliked his false warmth and charm, and feared his schemes and calculating nature.
But one day, Zhu Zhi woke up having lost three years of memories.
*
Fu Guiting shows two faces: a man of virtue in public, a fiend in the shadows.
Only his wife knows what he's really like, and that proud little princess can't stand him and keeps her distance.
One day, Fu Guiting returned home, and a soft, delicate figure crashed into his arms. He froze and looked down, only to hear Zhu Zhi call him “Husband” in a sweet, shy voice.
From then on, the young lady grew dependent on him. Whenever she was by his side, she smiled with innocent sweetness, dimples showing, and clung to him more and more.
At first, Fu Guiting's dark eyes remained calm and still.
Later, she came to him with a muddy, rain-soaked dress and a wounded look, gazing up at him with wide, pleading eyes. Fu Guiting sighed, gently lifted her into his arms, and patiently coaxed her.
Later still, amid the red bed curtains, he held her tightly around the waist, his gaze tender and obsessive.
Fu Guiting had begun to fear that Zhu Zhi might remember the demon and madman hidden beneath his immaculate exterior.
He had spent his whole life scheming for power and had never cared for love. Who could have guessed he would lose his heart and soul to this young lady?
She was as brilliant as a sky full of stars, shining brilliantly in his dark eyes.
[Pure-hearted, silly little koi princess × sick, scheming chief councilor]
I thought all I wanted in life was supreme power. But after making a name for myself, I realized that my only wish was to keep you by my side.
[Reading Guide]
1. An alternate-history Ming setting, with no real-life models.
2. Sweet romance, one-on-one, both leads' first partners. The male lead has no romantic past and is devoted to his wife.
3. This is highlighted: the male lead is not a good person. He's a twisted, scheming yandere.
4. The female lead is a sweet, silly little thing, blessed with koi-like good fortune and doted on by everyone.
5. A silly beauty versus a scheming villain. This is a sweet romance about a bad man falling for a silly girl. He gradually falls for her and comes to love it.
*Blurb written on June 19, 2022, with a screenshot saved for the record.
Theme: Wherever I go all day, the scent of gardenias fills the courtyard.
