Calamity

Possessive Love: A Scheming, Ruthless Emperor x an Innocent, Peerlessly Beautiful Woman Qiao Chu had skin like snow, a willowy waist, and hair like a cascading waterfall. She was born with beauty capable of bringing a kingdom to its knees. Yet her looks brought her disaster. Powerful nobles coveted her, and a young lord from a prominent family lost his life because of her. In the end, a foolish emperor took her into his harem. On the night she was sent into the palace, the Hedong army happened to storm the imperial city. Dressed in her phoenix crown and wedding robes, she sat on the bridal bed, waiting. But the man who arrived was not the emperor, already advanced in years. He was a young general. Clad in armor, he used his bloodstained sword to tear away her red veil. Then he lifted her chin with its tip and said coldly, "Such beauty truly is a calamity." In that moment, Qiao Chu knew that all he felt for her was disdain and disgust. * * * The old dynasty fell, and a new one was established. The founding emperor of Great Zhou died after ruling for just half a year. His second son, Zhao Chunfang, had both military victories and popular support, and ascended the throne. The new emperor cared for the people and rewarded and punished fairly. Court officials and commoners alike hailed him as a wise ruler. The only thing that worried his ministers was that he had taken no one into his harem. Every night, he merely recited scriptures and prayed for blessings in the Buddhist hall. But no one knew that in the dead of night, before the ancient Buddha and the lone green lamp, Qiao Chu, once branded a "calamity," knelt before the cold, dignified new emperor in a nun's robes, begging him to save her family, who were trapped in the hands of the former dynasty's rebels. The new emperor lifted her chin, brushed his thumb over her lips, and asked in a husky voice, "Why should I save them? And what can you give me?" Her very life was in his hands. What else could she give him? The only thing she could offer... Was this body of hers. * * * Qiao Chu had once thought that even if Zhao Chunfang felt only disdain and disgust for her, he was still an honorable gentleman. Little had she known that it was all a facade. She had become a pawn on his path to imperial power. Now he had won the throne, yet he still wanted to humiliate her. So she ran. Fortunately, the young lord who had once been betrothed to her did not mind that she was no longer a virgin. Qiao Chu was grateful to escape the imperial city and spend the rest of her life as an ordinary village woman, far from that man who stood high above all others. But on the day of her wedding, the Imperial Guards poured in and surrounded the thatched cottage. A dignified, resplendent man strode up to her. Her unwed husband had already been seized. The man tore off her red veil once more, and the eyes that were usually composed darkened with malice. "Do you know how much trouble I went through to find you? You truly are a calamity." But he would never allow another man to touch a calamity like her. He was the Son of Heaven, and he deserved to possess all under heaven, including this woman who bewitched the world. ◆ Reader Advisory ◆ 1. A gritty, angsty tale: possessive love and a groveling pursuit after losing her, not a sweet romance. 2. The heroine is wildly irresistible to everyone. The hero is ambitious and a real bastard in the early chapters. 3. Anti-piracy measures are in place. If you don't meet the required reading ratio, you can read again after 72 hours. Highly recommended upcoming novel: Bewitching the Buddha Jialian was only eighteen, yet already the universally acclaimed holy monk of the Great Zhou dynasty. The day he entered the palace to preach to the emperor and empress, many princesses blushed and their hearts raced at the sight of him, for the holy monk was peerlessly handsome. "A man like him must have room in his heart only for the Buddha. No mortal woman could ever find a place there," the princesses sighed. Zhao Ruyi sipped her wine with a soft laugh, her autumn eyes gleaming. Before long, news arrived that the holy monk Jialian had become a guest in Princess Zhao Ruyi's bedchamber. Everyone sighed again: Even a holy monk with the Buddha in his heart could not resist the most beautiful woman under heaven, with her thousand charms. * * * * No one knew how Jialian had ended up in the princess's residence. He had fallen into an unexpected trap. Even as a holy monk, he was still a man. A love potion could be cured, but a debt of love was hard to repay. The bewitching princess waited outside his meditation room day after day, gazing at him with tender longing, hoping only that he would turn back and look at her. Every time, Jialian pressed his palms together and admonished her: Love in this world is nothing but a flower in a mirror, or the moon reflected in water. But later, when the truth was finally revealed, the noble, alluring princess looked down at him from her lofty position and said with a teasing smile, "It was only a game. Goodbye, my Buddha." In that moment, Jialian realized that he had already sunk into hell, never to be reborn. * * * * The coup failed, and Princess Zhao Ruyi became a prisoner. The holy monk she had once cast aside like a worn shoe now stood before her, his long hair bound beneath a crown, his whole body radiating bloodlust. Zhao Ruyi knew how deeply he hated her. She asked only, "Why don't you kill me?" All traces of his former detachment had vanished from the man's eyes, replaced by obsession and possessiveness. He leaned close to her ear and said in a husky voice, "Your Highness, our game... has only just begun." Theme: Strive for your ideals in the face of adversity.