The Golden Sparrow in Chains

Next up in the same forced-possession genre: "Jiaojiao'er", a fragile little white flower vs. a patriarchal tyrant. Please add it to your reading list~

Blurb: At the Flower Festival, just one sentence from Qi Wuyu, "A beauty such as this deserves a golden cage, so I alone may admire her," doomed Shen Yun to descend into an endless hell.

She was forced to become his mistress, and later entered the prince's manor as his concubine.

A beauty of peerless grace, a taste he couldn't get enough of.

"If Yunyun is obedient enough, I might even raise you to the rank of secondary consort someday." A smile played on his lips, his gaze seeming to offer charity.

Everyone thought that someone of her lowly station, the illegitimate daughter of a minor county magistrate, was unworthy even to be his concubine, let alone his secondary consort.

After all, the current Prince Ling was not only powerful enough to dominate the court, but also a refined and elegant young gentleman, as graceful as a tree of jade.

Prince Ling was devoted to love, and had long ago chosen the legitimate daughter of the current chancellor as his sole principal consort. For years, while waiting for the precious daughter of the Chancellor's residence, he had kept away from women. His manor had not even a bedchamber attendant, much less a concubine.

Then one day, word spread that Prince Ling had brought home a concubine from outside.

The man merely smiled, unconcerned, his expression scornful: "She's just a little toy to amuse me. She's not fit to be seen in public."

Later, Qi Wuyu stared at the empty golden cage. The little bird inside had long since escaped. The man, usually so composed and unflappable, lost control, his face twisted with savagery. "You dare run? I'll make you wish you were dead."

Shen Yun knew that beneath Qi Wuyu's gentle facade lay a truly violent, cruel, and heartless man. He could order the murder of an innocent person without so much as blinking, making her lose the person she loved forever.

As for what people said about his devotion and his keeping away from women? That was even more ridiculous.

[In the spring of the tenth year of Yongli, during the Flower Festival in Huai'an, he abducted me and said he would make me his beloved concubine.

Later, gripping the chain at the other end, he asked me in a sinister voice: Yunyun, will you dare run away again?]

No matter how lavish and magnificent the golden cage, a little bird will risk everything for freedom, just to break its shackles.

The first to fall in love is the loser. It turned out that the very first glance had been love at first sight.

Even the coldest, cruelest man can be tempered into tenderness:

"Yunyun, I'll make you my principal consort. Don't leave me!"

A deranged, cruel, and vicious prince vs. a stubborn, hapless beauty

The prince really is a bastard, and the beauty really is unlucky.

Defiance, passion, and plenty of melodrama.

Both leads are each other's only partners. Groveling-for-forgiveness arc. Fictional setting, so please don't nitpick the history.

Content warning: This is genuine forced possession. Proceed with caution if that's not for you.

Cover art authorized by the artist Xiao Niba.

Theme: Love cannot be forced.