The Kingdom as My Hairpin

[Next up: Her Highness Speaks, and the Man Follows Her Words] A goofy, sweet historical romance

Blurb

A fallen princess obsessed with her career X a love-struck traitor

"I hated her for three years, but the instant we met again, I was already ready to forgive her."

Mu Yun was a princess of the Great Jing Dynasty, breathtakingly beautiful, greedy for money and lustful. In her seventeen years of life, she had done only one earth-shaking thing:

She personally killed her fiancé for the sake of the empire.

Who would have thought that four years later, rebels would rise up, and Mu Yun would be appointed princess regent in a time of crisis? To stabilize the situation, she decided to marry into a foreign state.

The moment her bridal sedan crossed the border, a fierce rebel force surrounded the wedding procession. She was dragged out of the sedan and shoved to the ground.

The man who should have been dead appeared once more. His once handsome, open features were now filled with ferocity. The emotion hidden in his eyes flashed for an instant, and when he looked at her, only mockery and indifference remained.

"Your Highness, so you do remember me."

After their reunion, Gu An'nan and Mu Yun had no choice but to present themselves as husband and wife. But whenever they were alone, Gu An'nan would let go of her hand and repeatedly insist, "We're only married in name. To me, you're nothing but a tool. You hold no special meaning for me anymore."

And yet...

He still couldn't stand to see other men wooing her;

He still couldn't bear to see her suffer even the slightest grievance;

He still couldn't bear to hear her say, "Back then, I was only using you."

Until that final day, when Gu An'nan unexpectedly discovered over a thousand prayer plaques at the Temple of National Protection, each one written in her own hand, every word cutting like a knife: "May I die a wrongful death in this life in exchange for Gu An'nan's peace and happiness in his next life."

He took the prayer plaques and cornered her against the wall, his handsome eyes bloodshot, as if furious, as if pleading. "Mu Yun, please explain this to me... no, I beg you."

A beautiful, vengeful, unhinged yandere X a blackened, loyal dog who says one thing and means another

1v1, both first-time partners, childhood sweethearts and reunited lovers (neither was with anyone else during their separation) (there was more to the heroine stabbing the hero back then); they reunite at the start, mostly sweet (almost no angst, with a little angst for the hero);

The heroine's main career arc is saving the country and taking revenge. She is a master strategist who moves with ease among the political powers. The hero is clear-headed as long as he's not up against the heroine. Both are strong characters.

Fictional setting, very fictional. If that bothers you, don't read!

"All he wanted was a single ray of light. If Mu Yun stood within that light, it would be the greatest wish of his first half of life."

Theme: We all need to understand what it is we truly love.