The Sweet Wife

[The story next door has already started updating! The blurb for Competing with Moonlight for His Favor is at the bottom.]

Li Hongqing was named Crown Prince at the age of ten. At fifteen, he was poisoned by assassins. The Empress Dowager tried every folk remedy she could find and managed to save his life, but he was left with a madness that never went away. His elder brother, the First Prince Li Honglan, took his place as Crown Prince, ascended the throne, and became Emperor Sizhen.

Li Hongqing survived the ordeal and was made Prince Rong. From then on, he also became Emperor Sizhen's greatest worry.

More than ten years later, an imperial decree made Han Ruijiao, the chancellor's youngest daughter, the cherished young wife of Prince Rong Li Hongqing, who commanded a powerful army.

People said the chancellor's youngest daughter had been foolish since childhood. Giving a girl like her the title of princess consort could only mean that Emperor Sizhen had finally run out of patience and was about to move against Prince Rong.

But only Li Hongqing knew that Jiaojiao was a gift in his weary life, and his only reason to keep living.

From then on, he had a reason to keep living, whether at court or on the battlefield.

[Short Scene]

Jiaojiao asked, "You're going to war. Aren't you afraid?"

Li Hongqing answered earnestly, "When I had no one to care about, I wasn't."

Jiaojiao didn't quite understand what he meant. She saw what seemed to be moonlight shining in Li Hongqing's eyes, and curiosity got the better of her. She leaned closer, so close that their breaths seemed to mingle.

"What do you mean?"

Looking into Jiaojiao's clear, lake-like eyes, Li Hongqing answered each word with complete seriousness. "Now I am afraid."

Turning her face aside, she pouted. "So you have someone to care about now? Who is it?"

One look at her expression told Li Hongqing that Jiaojiao was jealous. He pulled her into his arms and bent down, his hands gently tightening around her back as he whispered in her ear, "My future wife."

Putting Competing with My White Moonlight for Favor on my reading list

[Preview]

When a letter from Xu Qingru's distant aunt, a noble consort in the palace, arrived at her home, Xu Qingru was summoned to the palace.

Only after entering the palace did she learn that she had been brought there to compete with the empress's "white moonlight" for the emperor's favor.

She lost her way in the imperial gardens, but luckily a handsome eunuch showed her the way. Only on the day she was presented to the emperor did Xu Qingru learn that the man had actually been the emperor. That night, she had thanked him as "Chief Eunuch" over and over again...

Xu Qingru: I'm probably not going to survive this.

Sure enough, the white moonlight smiled sweetly at the emperor and was given the title of Second-Rank Zhaoyi.

Xu Qingru tried to do the same, but the moment she looked up, the emperor's stern gaze made her shudder. She received only the title of Fifth-Rank Cairen.

After the white moonlight entered the palace, she rose steadily through the ranks. Xu Qingru, meanwhile, couldn't even get a glimpse of the emperor.

She had to endure the empress's faction humiliating her from time to time, while the noble consort scolded her for being useless. Xu Qingru's life in the palace was like walking on thin ice.

But things gradually began to get strange. First, the consorts who had bullied Xu Qingru were punished for all sorts of bizarre reasons. Then the white moonlight gradually lost the emperor's favor. Xu Qingru, meanwhile, claimed to everyone that she had never shared the emperor's bed, yet thrived and rose steadily through the ranks.

Everyone in the harem was baffled. Only Xu Qingru knew what was going on. The usually stern and cold emperor would always sneak into her chambers late at night.

By the dim candlelight, Xu Qingru leaned against the chest of a tall figure.

She nuzzled the man's neck and said in a timid, coy voice, "Your Majesty, Consort Wang said my eyes are big but lifeless, and that I look scary."

Emperor Li Chen kissed her bright, clear eyes and murmured, "Ru'er, don't worry about it. I'll send her to the Cold Palace tomorrow."

Xu Qingru buried her face in Li Chen's arms, smiling like a sly little fox.

Before You Read:

1. The male lead never had a white moonlight. The so-called white moonlight in the blurb is what people imagine the emperor likes. The male lead only plays along because the circumstances leave him no choice.

2. The female lead has no prior relationships, while the male lead has had relationships before. Once he meets the female lead, he devotes himself to loving only her.

3. The setting is fictional, with some original worldbuilding.

4. There is an age gap between the leads. He is 26, and she is 16.

5. If anything makes you uncomfortable while reading, please feel free to drop the story. Please don't make personal attacks.

Theme: You are the only warmth in my desperate life