Plaything

Hua Rong is as beautiful as her name suggests. At first, Xiao Rujin thought she was a spy sent by the First Prince. His trusted aide urged him to keep her: Since he already knew her identity, he could keep her and use her to control what the First Prince learned and what he didn't.

That was better than keeping someone whose loyalties he didn't know.

So Xiao Rujin took her that very night. She was not only stunning, but had a beautiful body too, truly a rare prize.

Later, he learned that Hua Rong belonged to the Seventh Prince's household. The Seventh Prince was young and had no powerful allies, so his birth mother had hoped to curry favor with Xiao Rujin by presenting him with a beauty.

She posed no threat, so Xiao Rujin enjoyed her without a care and grew ever more attached to her.

His trusted aide advised him not to devote so much thought to a woman. Xiao Rujin only smiled. "She's just a plaything. I'm not about to lose myself in one."

Hidden behind the screen, Hua Rong merely pressed her lips together and quietly walked away.

How could a nobleman have a heart? Hua Rong smiled bitterly and began plotting her escape from the palace.

At last, on the day Xiao Rujin married, she found a chance to leave the palace. The woman Xiao Rujin was marrying could help him achieve his ambitions, and Hua Rong wished him all the success in the world.

But later, she heard that the Third Prince, Xiao Rujin, had gone mad on his wedding day. It seemed he had lost someone, and he refused to go through with the wedding.

Blurb screenshot posted on Weibo. Note added 2022.1.16.

Theme: Take things in stride.