After the Chaste General Took a Concubine

[Full novel complete]

[Please check out my next novels, "Huai Qing" or "The Villain's Daily Life of Raising a Spoiled Darling." They're historical romances of the same type as this one!]

Jiang Qingyue was Princess Roujia of the previous dynasty. She was as beautiful as a lotus, radiant and clear-eyed. To evade the current emperor's search, she went to great lengths to escape, but was still captured and brought back to the palace.

Her days in captivity were dull and uneventful. The only thing she often heard whispered around her was the name Gu Yunceng, Marquis of Dingbei, a handsome, refined man praised by everyone from the palace maids to the emperor's consorts.

Thanks to him, she had been rescued by chance many times, though she had never once met him.

In the end, she refused to become one of the emperor's consorts, so she seized an opportunity to become a princess sent away for a political marriage. Her journey north had gone smoothly, until she suddenly heard that the proud, aloof Marquis of Dingbei had personally requested to leave the capital and guard the northern border days earlier, all for the sake of a woman.

Before she could sort out her thoughts, a landslide sent her back to the moment she had left the palace in her previous life. Given another chance, she ran into a man's arms while escaping. It was none other than the powerful, ascetic general. Before she could speak, his dark phoenix eyes fixed on her. "Would you be willing to enter the Marquis of Dingbei's residence?"

It seemed... she had figured something out.

/

Gu Yunceng was the Marquis of Dingbei, a nobleman of the current dynasty, elegant and refined, and naturally distant. To repay a debt of gratitude, he devoted himself to supporting the new emperor, taking charge of the court's affairs and even volunteering to shield his sovereign from the troubles left behind by the previous dynasty.

At first, all he wanted was to keep her in his residence until the time was right, then send her far away from Bianjing.

Who could have guessed that one careless night, he would pin the young lady beneath him? Her skin was as pale as ice and her bones as delicate as jade, marked with blossoms from head to toe. Her peaches and pears swayed temptingly before his eyes, yet she still spoke to him in a soft, sweet voice: "If you want to, Qingyue... I'm willing."

After that, night after night, the cries of nightingales rang out from Tongju. The brows that had been veiled in frost and snow grew touched with worldly desire. He willingly entrusted all his wealth to the young lady, and even... turned his blade toward the man on the imperial throne.

*

At first, all she wanted was to escape, but she could never break free of the fate she had shared in her previous life.

Later, after spending years at Tongju, she recognized the man who had cherished her in her previous life, and wanted only to repay him in this one.

"General, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

/

At first, he was proud and aloof, intent only on shielding his sovereign from the troubles left behind by the previous dynasty.

Later, though frost still lingered between his brows, worldly desire took hold of him. He willingly surrendered to the beauty in his arms and turned his blade toward the man on the imperial throne.

"I can't help it. He took the young lady's home from her, so I have to take it back for her."

Sweet, delicate princess of the previous dynasty × powerful, ascetic general

Reader's Guide:

1. Both leads are pure, one-on-one romance, happy ending, possessive courtship, sweet romance, relationship-focused.

2. Inspired by Tang and Song dynasty structures, in a fictional setting.

3. The heroine is reborn; the hero is not. The heroine gradually realizes what the hero did for her in her previous life.

Synopsis first drafted on May 16, 2022

Coming soon: "Huai Qing"

[Adult couple: aloof, dangerous power-hungry minister × tragic, flirtatious beauty. A little steamy, and the same type as this novel's secondary couple.]

Su Lanqing is the proprietress of Xieyue Studio, and the most renowned courtesan in all of Jinling.

Born with a bewitching beauty, she is charming and graceful, inspiring tenderness in everyone who sees her. Her face is as fair as snow, her skin as smooth as a lychee, and a sweep of her peach-blossom eyes across the banquet hall can steal seven-tenths of every onlooker's soul.

The officials in charge of the entertainment quarters treasure her, indulging her every wish and fearing they might disappoint her in any way. There is only one exception: though she is now over twenty, they still refuse to free her from her courtesan status.

On her birthday once again, the banquet hall was packed with guests, its splendor unmatched. Every guest was a powerful noble or a celebrated official of the court.

One man wore a white robe and a jade crown. Though she couldn't make out his features, his dignified, refined bearing set him apart from the vulgar men around him.

Lanqing's peach-blossom eyes narrowed slightly as an idea took shape.

That night, she pretended to be drunk and, along the route everyone had to take to leave, staggered gracefully into the man's arms.

Lanqing slowly climbed onto him. Beneath her gauzy, wide sleeves, her soft, ample curves were exposed. Her slender waist trembled as she swayed, radiating seduction.

Her peach-blossom eyes glimmered like stars as she gazed at him, blinking slowly. "Lanqing has admired you for a long time, my lord. Please... be kind to me."

The man stopped in his tracks, his expression suddenly unreadable.

*

No one knew that the courtesan who had become the toast of Jinling had once been a noblewoman of respectable birth.

No one, except Xie Ning.

That night, he gripped the woman's slender waist. Shadows stirred in his eyes, and every frown and smile of hers echoed the woman beneath him as they tangled together without end.

He pressed a fingertip beneath her chin and asked coldly, "Look carefully. Who am I?"

Lanqing's long lashes fluttered. Breathing unevenly, she gave him a confused smile and replied, "You are... my lord."

Of course she knew.

The lord who had personally sent her to the Entertainment Bureau on that snowy night.

But now, hadn't he become her captive too?

Reader's Guide:

1. Happy ending, both leads pure, adult couple.

2. Possessive courtship, groveling pursuit after the heroine leaves.

3. Inspired by the Ming dynasty.

Synopsis first drafted on May 16, 2022

Coming soon: "The Villain's Daily Life of Raising a Spoiled Darling"

[Mad regent × innocent, delicate princess, the same type as this novel's main couple.]

Jiang Lingjun was the thirteenth princess of Great Yan. Born frail, with a mother of low status, she had been raised in a detached palace since childhood, forgotten by everyone.

In the third year of the Jianyuan era, disaster struck the imperial palace. The emperor, empress, and princes were slaughtered in a single night. Only the thirteenth princess, far away in the detached palace, escaped the massacre.

That day, Jiang Lingjun was chasing butterflies beneath the wall when she turned and ran into a boy. His eyes were as cold as ice, his face bloodless, and the blade at his side gleamed with a cold light.

The boy frowned, then looked down and saw her watery eyes blinking at him. "Did Father send you to play with me?"

"No."

"Then can you take me away?" Her voice was soft and sweet, and the new little teeth that had yet to fully grow gleamed in the sunlight.

His throat moved. A strange smile played on his lips as he drawled, "I can, but you have to promise me one thing."

The little girl stared at him blankly, then slowly nodded.

*

Only after Jiang Lingjun was taken from the detached palace did she learn that he had gone there that day to kill her. He had lived only to slaughter every member of the Great Yan imperial family.

But when he saw her, he changed his mind. Instead of killing her for revenge, he could have some fun with her.

He dressed her in robes embroidered with dragon claws, taught her to put on an act in front of the ministers, and held her even when he ate and slept. He wouldn't let her tell anyone about it, either...

*

That night, Jiang Lingjun rubbed her thighs and glanced at the mountain of memorials on the desk. She asked him seriously, "Why don't you just kill me?"

The boy, now grown to a man's height, held her in his arms and silently took the brush from her hand. "I can't bear to."

Reader's Guide:

1. Happy ending, both leads pure, mutual healing, sweet romance.

2. Includes possessive courtship.

3. Fictional history, inspired by the Wei and Jin dynasties.

Synopsis drafted on August 11, 2022

Theme: Strive to escape the fate laid out for you and pursue freedom and independence