The Cousin Doesn't Want to Climb the Social Ladder

Blurb:

A young cousin from a humble background comes to stay at the Prince of Huai's estate. Liao Xiu is lowborn, delicate, and alluring.

In her previous life, with no one to depend on, she carefully tried to please the prince, hoping he would find her a good match.

Instead, someone schemed to get her into bed with the prince. A young prince of a different surname, he was the pride of the capital, tall and striking, born with an air of nobility that put him beyond reach.

In his eyes, she became a scheming woman who had ruined her reputation, a frivolous fool. She was caged like a beautiful bird and, naturally, met a miserable end.

When she returned to the night she had been set up, Liao Xiu had only one thought: Stay as far away from the Prince of Huai as possible!

Those in high positions are the most cold and heartless. She didn't want to bother him and earn his contempt again. She only wanted to live an ordinary, free life.

--

At last, Liao Xiu moved out of the prince's estate, opened a paper and ink shop, and settled into a pleasant life.

Countless men in the capital sought her hand. Blushing, she accepted a proposal from the chief minister's son, and everyone congratulated her on finding such a fine husband.

With the beautiful young cousin gone from his estate, the Prince of Huai kept thinking she wouldn't be able to endure hardship and would come back. As long as she behaved, he was willing to give her a title.

Until he visited her shop himself and saw her laughing with her fiance, little dimples appearing on her cheeks, warm light in her eyes.

But that light vanished as soon as she saw him.

Liao Xiu timidly offered the Prince of Huai an invitation to her wedding banquet.

"Thank you, Your Highness, for taking care of me all this time."

The usually composed and dignified prince suddenly tasted something sweet and bloody in his throat. A murderous aura spread, and his phoenix eyes turned icy!

1. Both leads have only ever been with each other, body and heart, in both lifetimes.

2. The heroine is reborn from the start. A beautiful, powerful, tragic, unhinged man x a gentle yet resilient innocent girl.

----"Recognizing a Parrot"----

Yao Yao grew up in the Southern Border. She accidentally fell into a ravine with a Central Plains gentleman, and they both mistakenly thought the other was their one true love.

Cao Can was innocent and passionate, and showed his affection for her in an almost clumsy way.

To give her a home, he risked his life in the black market to earn money.

He took beatings in her place, went hungry, and gathered herbs to treat her when she fell ill.

On the night they married, Cao Can's family came to fetch him.

At last, he remembered who he was: the son of a high-ranking official, dressed in white and crowned with a gold hairpiece, a gentleman whose benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, and integrity were beyond reproach.

He scrubbed his hands that had touched Yao Yao until they were red, apologized, and wished her luck finding someone else.

She had nowhere to go, so Cao Can took pity on her and brought her back to the capital.

His home in the capital was enormous!

Yao Yao's muddy trouser cuffs stained the precious carpet. She was so anxious she didn't know what to do with her hands and feet.

She was just an embarrassing footnote in the story of a noble young man fallen on hard times. Cao Can was so proper and principled. How could he marry a country girl?

When he planned to marry her off to his friend, all she could do was talk to the kittens.

The maids whispered: A poor girl, not a pampered young lady, and still she has no self-awareness!

Later, everyone mourned the death of that beautiful, capable little maid. Yao Yao faked her death on a snowy night.

The winters in the capital were too cold. She was going home.

--

Yao Yao lived carefree for a while.

She was still that heartless girl from the Southern Border, but she heard that he was no longer a spotless gentleman.

To turn against the world for the sake of marrying a memorial tablet, what else could that be but madness?

Yao Yao put up New Year prints in her new home and laughed with her neighbor. "What a ridiculous rumor."

Theme: Finding the courage to face life again