The Eastern Palace's Favorite Concubine

Coming soon in my author’s collection. If you’re interested, please click to follow!~

1. Unmatched Beauty (a naturally alluring, stunning widow * a pure-hearted emperor devoted to Taoist cultivation)

2. A Thousand Blessings to the Commandery Princess (a bright, lovely, doted-on princess * a dashing young general)

Blurb:

A breathtaking beauty with a voluptuous figure * a cool, noble, seemingly proper man

Xie Lanruo, the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Guangning, was stunningly beautiful, radiant as the rosy dawn and brilliant as a lotus. From childhood, she was cherished by everyone and lived with carefree abandon. Who could have guessed that her father and brothers would be convicted of crimes and her betrothed would break off their engagement? With no choice, she traveled a thousand miles to Bianjing and took up residence in the household of her distant relatives, the Marquis of Linzi.

Yet the capital, though seemingly peaceful, concealed many undercurrents.

A former enemy who stabbed the Xie family in the back;

A faithless former fiancé;

Scions of noble houses coveting her beauty;

An imperial consort aunt with ulterior motives...

Xie Lanruo walked on eggshells in the capital, afraid that one careless step might bring disaster. But when she shut the front door against a tiger, a wolf came in through the back. And, just as she feared, the unexpected happened anyway.

One rainy night, with nowhere else to turn, Xie Lanruo had no choice but to seek help from the cold, taciturn Crown Prince Xiao Jingyan.

“Your Highness, please save me.”

The rain poured down, mingling with the tearstains on her face. A beauty fallen on hard times, utterly pitiful.

Xiao Jingyan looked down at the hand that first tugged at his robe, then caught hold of the jade belt at his waist. Before her pursuers could catch up, he finally took her back to the Eastern Palace.

Xiao Jingyan, Crown Prince of Great Qi, was aloof and seemed indifferent to all human feeling. Yet, against all expectations, he offered a helping hand to a fallen noblewoman. Even knowing that his imperial father had set his sights on Xie Lanruo, he still brought her into the Eastern Palace.

The fallen noblewoman rose to prominence overnight, becoming the Eastern Palace favorite known to all.

After entering the Eastern Palace, Xie Lanruo became ever more charming and dazzling, and treated Xiao Jingyan with the utmost care. It seemed that the Crown Prince was all she had in her heart and eyes.

At first

Xiao Jingyan: Though this woman is extraordinarily beautiful and attentive to me, she is scheming and has ulterior motives. She is skilled at putting on a false front, and has not the slightest sincere feeling for me.

Later

Xiao Jingyan: She must have at least a little genuine affection for me, right? Otherwise, why isn’t she so attentive to anyone else? And even if I’m being far too generous, if I can’t earn so much as a little of her affection after all this time, surely I’m not entirely blameless?

A little scene:

Xie Lanruo was telling a friend that she had always been putting on an act with Xiao Jingyan, pretending to care and feeling nothing at all. Little did she know, Xiao Jingyan overheard every word.

Her friend tactfully slipped away, leaving the guilty Xie Lanruo cornered by the Crown Prince. As she wondered how to bluff her way out of it, she heard him ask in a low voice, “A-Yuan, you once said that we should persevere in everything we do and never give up halfway. Do you remember?”

Xie Lanruo nodded. She seemed to have said that once.

Seeing her nod, the Crown Prince, who had been wearing a blank expression just moments before, suddenly smiled. He raised a hand to stroke her cheek and said, “Then if you were lying to me before, A-Yuan, keep lying to me forever, all right?”

Xie Lanruo: ?

Reading guide:

SC, 1v1, HE

Blurb archived.

Theme: Growing through adversity