[Previews: The Princess's Substitute Consort, After the Palace Maid Escaped, and After Falling Out with the Scheming Emperor. Blurbs below. Please add them to your reading list!]
Before she turned sixteen, Yan Yan always thought that the people who treated her best in the world were her mother, whose face she had long forgotten, and Gu Yuanzhao.
When Yan Yan was eight, she was kidnapped by human traffickers on the street and kept in a dark chamber for five years. Every day, she was fed poison. They said that once the poison had permeated her body, a single drop of blood from her heart would make the finest medicinal catalyst.
All of this was done to save someone who had nothing to do with her.
When she was thirteen, Gu Yuanzhao tracked down the chamber with his people and rescued the dozen or so women still alive inside. She was one of them.
She had taken so much poison that she could no longer remember who her father and brothers were or where her home was, so Gu Yuanzhao kept her by his side.
Before Yan Yan even knew what it meant to like someone, she already thought Gu Yuanzhao was the most important person in her life after her mother. So when the Marquis's household fell from power and Gu Yuanzhao was trampled underfoot, she was like a wolf, fiercely protecting him, even after both his legs had been broken.
She thought they shared at least some affection.
But on her sixteenth birthday, Gu Yuanzhao's people held her down while a dagger was pressed to her heart and driven in, inch by inch. As the world spun around her, she saw a sea of crimson and Gu Yuanzhao's eyes, so calm they were terrifying.
Only then did she understand: he had regarded her as nothing more than a medicinal ingredient.
He was no different from the others.
She gave a faint smile and gently grasped the dagger. As Gu Yuanzhao's eyes finally filled with panic, she summoned all her strength and drove it through her own body.
This time, she didn't feel any pain. She only felt utterly liberated.
He said I wouldn't die, but this time, I refuse to give him what he wants.
Notes:
1. A melodramatic revenge story, with the heroine suffering first and the hero suffering later.
2. Both leads are devoted to each other, but the ending has not been decided.
3. My writing skills are limited, so please bear with me.
4. A fictional setting, very fictional.
5. Feel free to discuss the plot or criticize the characters, but please don't make it personal toward the author. Readers, there's no need to tell me if you're dropping the story.
**************Preview 1****************
After the Palace Maid Escaped
Changxing was a little palace maid who stuttered. Because she wasn't quick enough at her work, she was assigned to the Cold Palace.
The palace matrons thought her stupid and clumsy, so they often bullied her. Then one day, she was punished for no reason. A matron beat her with a stick until she was covered in blood. Just as she thought she was going to die there, someone shielded her from the blows for the first time.
That person was the seventh son of the Emperor, Zhou Jinghe.
His mother had been lowborn, so the Emperor had never favored him. He had never even seen the Emperor's face.
People in the palace were the most fickle and status-conscious. A master without the Emperor's favor was worth less than a servant. Zhou Jinghe endured constant bullying, which only made him more determined to claw his way up.
During her time in the palace, Changxing gave him her whole heart. She saved her meager monthly wages to buy him the books he wanted, mended his torn clothes, and even stole food from the kitchen so that he could eat his fill while he was growing.
Once, she tried to find out about the Emperor for him and caught the attention of a consort. The consort suspected Changxing of harboring improper feelings for Zhou Jinghe and had her tied up in a sack and beaten.
When Zhou Jinghe saw the bruises covering her body, his eyes reddened. He held her and swore that he would make something of himself.
Later, he did rise to power. But the night he was named Crown Prince was also the night he married someone else.
When she went to him, unable to accept it, he coldly told her that he had always regarded her as nothing more than a lowly servant.
But when Changxing gave up all her hopes and begged him, holding a guard's hand, to let her leave the palace, he held her tightly in his arms and whispered, "Do you want him to live?"
**************Preview 2****************
The Princess's Substitute Consort
Chen Yuezhi fell in love with someone she could never have, so she found herself a substitute.
The substitute was Xu Chengyan, the newly appointed top scholar. They said he wrote brilliantly and had keen insight into the court's political situation. At their first audience, even Chen Yuezhi's fussy older brother had approved of him.
But Chen Yuezhi didn't care about any of that. All she cared about was how much Xu Chengyan's face resembled that person's.
At first, Chen Yuezhi would have rare treasures piled up in his courtyard just so she could admire the moon with him. When he was injured, she searched everywhere for imperial physicians and tended to him with care. She was even willing to set aside her dignity and cook for him herself.
Later, even when she heard he was going to marry someone else, Chen Yuezhi remained unconcerned. "He's only a substitute. If this one won't behave, I'll find another. The third young master of the Shen family seems quite nice..."
But the next day, Chen Yuezhi heard that the third young master of the Su family, who was known for his skill at riding and archery, had fallen from his horse and had his face slashed by a sharp rock.
That night, Chen Yuezhi heard the black-clad man standing before her murmur again and again, "Even if I'm only a substitute, I must be the only one."
**************Preview 3****************
After Falling Out with the Scheming Emperor
From the moment Shen Qinglong pulled Wei Zhao out of a pile of corpses when she was twelve, she swore that she would obey him for the rest of her life.
Until she was fourteen, she was A-Qi, the most capable hidden guard at Shen Qinglong's side.
After she turned fourteen, she became Wei Zhao, the valiant young general of Xilong.
Wei Zhao thought she had hidden her love for Shen Qinglong so well that no one would ever find out, not in this lifetime.
Until she was sent away in a prison cart as a gift in exchange for the woman he loved. Only then did she understand.
Shen Qinglong knew everything.
Her feelings had merely been a bargaining chip he used for years to control her and seize military power.
Wei Zhao had spent years at war. In Xilong, everyone praised her as the young general Wei. In Nanqi, she was an enemy they hated enough to devour alive.
She accepted the imperial decree and stood stunned for a moment. Then she smiled faintly, dressed in plain clothes with her hair loose, and climbed into the prison cart Nanqi had specially prepared.
*
Ink slowly gathered at the tip of the brush before dripping onto the rice paper, leaving an ugly black spot. Shen Qinglong sat in silence for a long time, then finally asked, "Before she left, did she say anything?"
The eunuch who had delivered the decree hesitated. "Miss Wei said... If Your Majesty has something for her to do, he should just say so."
"She has always obeyed Your Majesty."
Shen Qinglong felt a sudden pang in his heart. Yes, she had always obeyed him.
*
Later, Shen Qinglong led his army to destroy Nanqi. When he saw Wei Zhao again, she had already set a wedding date with someone else.
The general was gone, leaving only a slender woman with old wounds that had yet to heal.
With white cloth covering her eyes, she asked, "Has Doctor Wen returned?"
Shen Qinglong breathed softly, ignoring the dull ache in his heart, and replied,
"I came to take you home."
Theme: Seeing is believing
I really can't imagine how the heroine will live with such a development. She will have a lifelong heartache, be unable to have children, and have a broken leg! That's it?? The male protagonist is still trash! If you can't protect the heroine, let her go! All the misfortune of the heroine comes from the hero! How will it develop after this?
It's better to be BE! Either the male lead will die, or the female lead will die, or neither of them will die but will be separated forever~~
If the heroine's physical condition cannot be fully recovered, then the ending of this article is still the best BE~~
How does this end? That's it, wouldn't the heroine still choose Gu Yuanzhao? That would be too mean. What's the difference between this and a woman who is domestically abused but doesn't get divorced in reality?
If the male protagonist is really good for the female protagonist, he should let the female protagonist stay with his parents. He has been away from his relatives for so many years. It is not easy to find them again, and it is a lifetime of separation... I really like the female protagonist. He will marry to Xilong, and he will be able to be different hahahaha
The male protagonist is so useless. This kind of woman should have been directly assassinated and tortured to death. She is actually jumping around like this. See vomiting
This male protagonist is useless and self-righteous... He forced the heroine to return to Liang Kingdom. If nothing else, since he has his own people in the palace, he at least protects the safety of the heroine.
If this can still be HE, then I will definitely give this novel a negative score -_-||
The male protagonist was tortured to death. The male protagonist and his family have harmed Yan Yan and other girls like this. How can they have the face to pester the female protagonist again? The stinky man should really go away. And that Meng Yao family paid such a huge price to save you, and didn't even say a word of thanks to compensate you. He is selfish and doesn't look like a wise king. Sooner or later someone will rebel. The male protagonist's side is all evil, and I'm afraid that the female protagonist will be tortured to death in the end. Also, does He Lianjing like the female lead? Is he the second male lead? I support the second male lead, so hurry up and escape with the female lead.
If this were he, I would be so angry that I would torture the male protagonist to death!!