After the Frail Beauty Was Kidnapped

[My new novel, Beloved and Spoiled, is now open for follows!] Everyone says that Xiao Qiniang of the impoverished Marquis's household has skin as white as snow, a gentle and lovely face, and a clear, perceptive heart like crystal. It's a pity she's sickly, unloved, and seems to have been abducted by bandits in the past, losing her chastity. Xiao Xiyan really was once abducted to a bandits' mountain, but the man treated her very well. He seemed cold, yet he would hold her as they watched apricot blossoms and the sunrise, stew chicken soup for her, and carve her wooden hairpins. Those were the most vivid memories of her pale life. But unfortunately, she forgot them all. After Xiao Xiyan returned with amnesia, her childhood friend, Xie Tinglan, as graceful as jade and orchids, told her to wait for him and promised to marry her. So Xiao Xiyan waited for several years, only to see her childhood friend embrace the legitimate princess beneath the lanterns on the night he topped the imperial examination. After she died, Shen Yue, the cold and peerlessly beautiful regent known as the God of Death, claimed her memorial tablet as his wife and slaughtered everyone who had wronged her. - The day Xiao Xiyan was reborn was once again the spring of the twenty-fourth year of Jingtai. This time, no one abducted her. The Fourth Prince, Shen Yue, returned to Chang'an after supposedly suppressing bandits. Deeply favored by the emperor, he was granted the title of Prince of Qin. Later, he assisted the new emperor and took power as regent. He commanded his subordinates and crushed his enemies, feared by both ghosts and gods, and came to be known as the Jade-Faced Asura. Yet whenever midnight came and he awoke from his dreams, Shen Yue would see a young woman. In his dreams, he strolled with her through the mountains and forests, held her hand, carried her on his back, and sometimes held her in his arms. Later, he gazed at her sleeping beneath the moon and went to war to win medicine for her. He never saw her face clearly, yet his obsession with her only grew deeper. Until one day, the God of Death, who cared about nothing else, happened to stay at Guanyin Temple. Beneath an ancient bodhi tree, he saw a gentle young woman with slender jade-like fingers kneeling on a prayer mat. Her soft, tender voice sounded just like the one in his dreams: "I pray that the Regent may enjoy good health, peace year after year, and freedom from all worries..." [Bonus Scene] In the Regent's residence, apricot blossom petals rested in the dark hair of a beauty reclining on a bamboo couch beneath a tree. A man reached out and plucked one away. Held in his arms, Xiao Xiyan was like a white rabbit dozing in the sunshine. She murmured, "If I had lived until now in my previous life, would I..." Back then, she and her childhood friend were already engaged. If not for that accident, she would probably have been married by now. Before she could finish, Shen Yue silenced her with a kiss. The beauty trembled, breathless from his kisses, her eyes misty with spring. Shen Yue's voice was husky as he said, "If that were the case, I would have stolen what belonged to another and played the part of a real bandit for once." She was his little bodhisattva. In this life, she would save him, and only him. #A cold, ruthless regent with the power of life and death x a gentle, resilient, beautiful woman# [Reading Guide] 1. One-on-one romance, both leads sexually inexperienced, happy ending. I think it's a sweet story. 2. An atypical rebirth story. The first-life portion takes up about 30 percent, and she is reborn in chapter 25. 3. The heroine regains all her memories after death. The hero and second male lead regain memories of their previous lives later on. The second male lead gets a painful comeuppance. [My new novel, The Phoenix Perches in the Paulownia Tree, is now open. Please follow it! OVO!!] #Gentle, possessive crown prince x pampered beauty born into wealth# The noblewoman Yu Miao is the granddaughter of one of the Eight Pillars of State. Born into a distinguished family, she is as beautiful as a flower capable of captivating a kingdom. Yet she was willing to spend three years by Ji Ce's side, supporting him from an unknown son of a concubine until he became the Prince of Yan, whose fame resounded throughout the realm. Her fiancé was exceptionally handsome and indulged her in every way, as if he wished to hold her in the palm of his hand. Everyone envied Yu Miao for her noble birth, her beauty, and her discerning eye. Her life seemed to go smoothly in every way. Then gossip suddenly spread through Luoyang. Those who had once been jealous of her secretly mocked her. It turned out that Ji Ce had suddenly brought a frail young woman back to his residence. Ji Ce also often fell silent, as if he had become a different person. Yu Miao did not want to believe it, until at the Qiongtai banquet hosted by the Qiu family, she and that woman both accidentally tumbled from a height, and Ji Ce rushed to save the other woman first. Later, at dawn, Yu Miao saw Ji Ce emerge from that woman's room with his clothes in disarray. The two of them were embracing... How had everything changed? - Yu Miao, distraught and alone, made her way to a mountain temple. The ground was slippery after the rain, and she nearly lost her footing, only to fall into the arms of a man who smelled of cool fragrance. The moment she looked up, she was dazzled. The man was so handsome he seemed otherworldly, like a lofty jade mountain gleaming in the moonlight. He lowered his eyes, his deep gaze seeming to hold a familiar warmth. "Careful." The Crown Prince, Ji Yunyan, was renowned throughout the realm for his beauty. Three years ago, he took a poisoned arrow meant for Emperor Hui and fell into a coma. Everyone mourned the loss of such a flawless heir to the dynasty. But no one expected him to wake up three years later. Later, no one could have imagined that the new emperor, who had never been interested in women, would lift the skirts of Lady Yu, who had broken off her engagement to the Prince of Yan, help her onto her horse, sing to soothe her to sleep, and even ask her to become his empress. He would choose her alone from among three thousand beauties, once again raising her to the highest heights. At the time, Yu Miao could only feel her heart pounding with alarm. Because the Crown Prince, in his likes and habits, his words and actions, and every little detail, was exactly like her former fiancé had once been... #My fiancé was actually the Crown Prince all along. The other man was just his temporary secret identity# [Reading Guide] 1. One-on-one romance, both leads sexually inexperienced, sweet story, set in a fictional world. 2. The hero is Ji Yunyan. At the beginning, his soul inhabits the second male lead's body. He has no memories during that time, and suffers amnesia for a while after returning to his own body. 3. The second male lead is Ji Ce. He returns to his own body after chapter 10 and takes the hero's place, deceiving the heroine's affections for a while. He falls for her, but eventually gets his comeuppance and fails to win her. The second male lead and the hero are cousins, so expect a love triangle. Theme: Life may not be a smooth road, but there is always hope.