Washed in Grace

[Complete. Currently being revised. The official Jinjiang version is error-free. Check out my upcoming stories and add them to your reading list!]

On the day the new emperor ascended the throne, Princess Yao Zhen presided behind the curtain.

The princess was the empress's legitimate daughter, peerlessly beautiful and talented. When the late emperor was alive, he doted on her more than on any of the princes, and she was the most celebrated woman in the capital.

Beneath the beaded curtain, a slender jade hand slowly picked up a memorial.

Grand Secretary Song Zhuo kept his eyes forward. As handsome as a jade tree, he calmly presented his report.

That evening, an inconspicuous sedan chair left the princess's residence and headed for the Song estate.

Under the hazy moonlight, the once untouchable princess had, one day, bowed her proud head. Her slender waist bent low, and tears glistened in her eyes.

Song Zhuo turned a porcelain cup in his hand. "I was the one who brought down the Prince Regent, and I was the one who captured the rebellious princes and threw them in prison. If you want Qin Song to live, and your Yao family's dynasty to endure, do you understand what you need to do?"

Yao Zhen's lashes fluttered. She bit her lower lip and said nothing.

Song Zhuo lifted her chin and smiled faintly.

"Your Highness has always been so good at pleasing people."

*

At first, Song Zhuo had acted on a whim. Resenting the way Yao Zhen had once used and deceived him, he wanted to see her look miserable when she had no one to rely on.

But as the candlelight flickered, she softly called his name again and again. He forgot his gentlemanly restraint and tore her flimsy sleeves to shreds.

That temporary sedan chair soon began making daily trips to the Song estate.

He knew Yao Zhen had no genuine feelings for him. She had given herself to him only for the sake of the man she loved.

But later, when passion took hold and she sobbed softly, he would press close to her ear and say fiercely, over and over, "Look closely. Who am I?"

*

In her life, Yao Zhen had only three regrets, all because of Song Zhuo.

First, she had used Song Zhuo for the sake of the man she once loved.

Second, she had fallen in love with Song Zhuo.

Third, she hadn't gotten rid of Song Zhuo sooner.

[Reading guide]

1. One-on-one romance, both leads sexually inexperienced, happy ending.

2. Includes a forced-possession plotline.

3. Set in a fictional world, so please don't nitpick historical details.

Blurb revised on February 22, 2022, and again in April 2022.

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Completed story >>> "When the Moon Is Snowy." Please add it to your reading list!

[An aloof, chaste, and dangerously obsessive male lead × a beautiful, calculating heroine of low birth]

[Here's an upcoming story. Please add it to your reading list!]

[Title: "Green Waist"]

After being struck by a love spell, her former nemesis forces her into a relationship | 18+

As the imperial court descended into turmoil and her maternal grandfather was imprisoned, Shu Hengyu went from a dazzling, peerlessly beautiful noblewoman to someone anyone could bully, all in a single night.

Her stepmother intended to marry her off to a notorious wastrel in the capital, so she arranged an elaborate flower-viewing banquet.

The hall was filled with high-ranking nobles, but Shu Hengyu's eyes went straight to the peerless Lu Xuanji.

He was like a clear gleam of snow, elegant and dignified, completely out of place amid the noisy banquet.

With everyone watching, she bent the slender waist she had once been so proud of, took a graceful step, and fell into the man's arms.

Lu Xuanji raised an eyebrow. His normally cool gaze suddenly turned intriguing.

Shu Hengyu wrapped her arms around his lean waist, her beautiful eyes brimming with tears.

She barely knew him, and the two of them had long been at odds.

If she hadn't been set up and poisoned with a love potion, she would never have willingly gone anywhere near him.

But danger was closing in, and she had no choice. She parted her red lips and leaned close to his ear, calling softly, "Lu Xuanji..."

"Actually, I've been in love with you for a long time."

*

At his younger brother's request, Lu Xuanji saved a woman.

She had nothing but beauty, and was spoiled, willful, and unruly.

Their casual acquaintance had never endeared her to him.

Their night together had been purely to save her life.

Later, their intimacy in bed was nothing more than a way to break the love spell.

He was the descendant of a celebrated official, noble and flawless, with great expectations placed upon him. Why would he lose himself in love and let his feelings waver for the daughter of a disgraced minister who had opposed him at every turn?

Had he fallen for her scheme?

Ridiculous.

*

On the day she heard that Lu Xuanji was about to discuss marriage, Shu Hengyu's plan succeeded. She shed a couple of insincere tears, then tried to flee that very night.

Instead, she ran straight into the grim-faced man waiting in the shadows...

Inside the secret chamber, their shadows shifted.

Lu Xuanji's figure blocked most of the candlelight as he lowered his eyes to Shu Hengyu's damp, graceful neck.

Just as he had long wanted to do, he gripped her slender waist and wound a lock of her hair around his finger.

"Where are you going tonight, A-Yu? To run away with Lu Shuyuan? Don't forget, I'm the brother he trusts most. If I want something, he can only hand it over to me."

His voice was low and hoarse. The usually composed look in his eyes had filled with menace, and his gaze held a shocking, feverish obsession.

"A-Yu, you were the one who approached me first when we were young. And later, you were the one who lowered your head and begged me for help."

"You can forget about leaving me."

A taste of pleasure, and he slowly went mad.

Theme: A fine sword is forged through hardship, and plum blossoms are fragrant after enduring the bitter cold