The Delicate Princess Strikes Back (Reborn)

Lu Qiguang is the most doted-on princess of the Great Liang, with a peach-blossom face and countless admirers.

But those who claim to love her either covet her wealth, desire her beauty, or plot to steal her throne. She trusts the wrong people and fails to distinguish friend from foe, ending up with her kingdom destroyed, her family gone, and her own life snuffed out like a fading flower.

When the city falls, everyone abandons Lu Qiguang. One figure in snowy white fights through the siege: Mu Huaizhi, the aloof general she has never paid attention to, holding her tightly as she teeters on the brink of death.

He says, “Your servant will be with Your Highness. In this life, the next, and every life after.”

But this love comes too late. She dies in his arms, and he takes his own life with his sword.

Reborn at the very beginning of it all, Lu Qiguang resolves to punish the villains from her past life. The only person in her eyes is Mu Huaizhi, with his unwavering heart:

He's clearly so cold and indifferent, barely giving her the time of day. How can he possibly like her so much?

*

General Mu Huaizhi is as graceful as a crane and steadfast as a pine, aloof and sparing with words. Everyone knows his title, “Jade-Faced Rakshasa.”

The world knows only that he is brilliant in both looks and talent, and keeps his distance from women. No one knows that his heart has long been filled by the lovely girl in the palace. Unfortunately, she is surrounded by admirers and has never noticed him. Still, he loves her madly and is willing to be no more than unnoticed dust beneath her feet.

One day, his little princess finally looks his way, curiosity and curiosity's companion, suspicion, in her eyes, along with a secret.

Mu Huaizhi longs to request permission to marry her at once, but keeps up a restrained, composed front. He tells himself to hold out a little longer: what comes too easily won't be treasured.

He knows exactly what she's planning. If it's what she wants, he'll help her crush her enemies beneath her feet.

*

A little scene:

Mu Huaizhi has been to Liangzhou. Lu Qiguang asks him, “Is the moon in Liangzhou as bright as the one in the capital?”

Mu Huaizhi thinks for a moment, then shakes his head. “The moon in Liangzhou is prettier than the one in the capital, but it can't shine on you, and I can't see you.”

“You're so silly,” Lu Qiguang teases him. “There's only one moon in the sky. It doesn't belong to Liangzhou or the capital.”

“I know.” Mu Huaizhi sounds a little aggrieved. “Just like how I only love you.”

*

Reading guide:

1. One-on-one romance, both leads' first love, happy ending, entirely fictional setting. The plot features three revenge arcs, with equal focus on plot and romance. Please don't overanalyze the details.

2. A sweet on the outside, calculating on the inside little princess x a seemingly aloof, lovesick, loyal puppy of a young general. The heroine is soft only with the hero, and the hero loves only her, in both lives. The heroine never fell for anyone in her previous life. The hero appears in Chapter 3.

[Coming next: Tangling Vines, a proud, nasty mad dog x an innocent, resilient white flower]

On Xin Luo's eighteenth birthday, a man rolled into her courtyard.

His clothes were in tatters, and one leg was broken, but he still had an air of noble beauty. The moment Xin Luo approached, he clamped a hand around her throat, his gaze as venomous as a snake's, nearly choking the life out of her.

Xin Luo cared for him and treated his broken leg. He rarely smiled, his brows shadowed with gloom, and he only occasionally deigned to answer her. But she was happy: he came from the outside world. She had never been outside, nor had she ever spoken to anyone from beyond it.

She sat beside him, eyes full of hope, and asked, “Is the world a big place?”

He toyed with her green snake and glanced at her. “It's nothing special.”

One night, soldiers surrounded the courtyard. The man donned a black-and-gold python robe and looked down at her, ordering her to go with him to the capital. Only then did she learn he was Wei Qi, the second prince of Great Yue and Prince Su, more highly esteemed than even the king of Wujang.

Xin Luo didn't dare take a step. She was a calamity kept under guard, forbidden from leaving.

Wei Qi sneered, seized her wrist, and walked past the kneeling crowd. “I want to take her with me. Who dares stop me?”

*

Xin Luo returned with Wei Qi to Prince Su's residence. The household was envious and resentful, saying that this lowly woman from Wujang had put a spell on Prince Su, making him bestow on her the wealth and luxuries everyone dreamed of, and even plan to take her as a concubine.

But Xin Luo didn't like Prince Su's residence, and she didn't want to marry Wei Qi. She had thought he would take her out to see the world. She never imagined he wanted to keep her in the palm of his hand.

On her wedding day, Xin Luo ran away in her bridal dress. A kind stranger found her on the road and took her in for the night. In the middle of the night, she suddenly woke to see Wei Qi standing tall, his gaze dark and burning, his sword gleaming with icy light.

He stepped toward her, his bloodstained fingers gripping her cheek. “Little witch, where did you think you were going without telling me?”

*

At first, the whole world was within his grasp.

In the end, the whole world meant less to him than the space in her heart.

Theme: I decide my own fate.