After the Young Marquis Identified a Fierce Flower

[My Exile Made Me a Tycoon is now updating. Coming soon: This Fairy Isn't Proper / Madam Lingluo. Scroll down for the blurbs!]

Xu Mengge, the young marquis of the Jinwei Marquis Household, had seen the concubines in his home fight for favor and watched his mother shed countless tears. He hated innocent-looking damsels and manipulative green-tea girls more than anything.

In the capital, he was nicknamed the Sharp-Tongued Pan An. None of the alluring temptresses who threw themselves at him ever got the better of him.

Before long, no matter how handsome he was, young ladies would run the moment they saw him.

*

Jiang Yunruo was the legitimate daughter of the second branch of the Liangqing Earl's Household, though her branch was a concubine-born one. Her mother was dead, her father was often ill, and her little brother was a wolf cub of a boy whose leg had been broken.

She had no choice but to fend for herself. Drawing on her old trade from her previous life, she opened a mercenary-run Curio Pavilion in the capital.

To keep her family from finding out, Jiang Yunruo had to go out frequently. So she played the part of a pitiful, delicate flower, constantly finding chances to be "bullied," then spending a while "recovering from poor health" so she could slip out and do business.

*

One day, at a banquet held by the Jinwei Marquis Household,

Jiang Yunruo was bullied until tears streamed down her face. She was just about to be successfully shoved into the lake when she accidentally bumped into Xu Mengge.

Xu Mengge stopped the people trying to explain. "I don't talk to idiots. The last person you pushed into the lake ended up marrying into the Third Prince's household. You think you're picking on her, but she might turn around and become the marquis's wife. In the end, she'll have you to thank for making it happen."

The bullies: ...

Jiang Yunruo, who had nearly managed to fake an illness and leave the capital to audit the accounts: ...

*

Another day, at the imperial hunting grounds,

Jiang Yunruo was successfully bullied into the hunting grounds again, where she looked as if she had nearly been killed by a beast's claws and fangs.

Xu Mengge charged into the encirclement, hauled the young lady onto his horse, and took her back to camp.

At Jiang Yunruo's gritted-teeth thanks, Xu Mengge scoffed. "Next time you want to play the damsel in distress and marry yourself off with a hero's rescue, think first about whether a tiger will fall for your act."

Jiang Yunruo, who had been just about to hunt the white tiger whiskers a customer had offered a fortune for, was furious. "You son of a, "

Her maid hurriedly whispered, "Mistress, mistress, he's the buyer."

Jiang Yunruo took a deep breath and smiled. "...You look so handsome when you come charging in like that."

Xu Mengge backed away several steps. "I do a good deed every day. Don't repay kindness with spite!"

Jiang Yunruo: ...

Damn it!

No one knew whether she'd turn around and become the marquis's wife, but one thing was certain: she'd turn around and sell Xu Mengge the white tiger whiskers for ten times the price.

Jiang Yunruo: "I'm making a painful sacrifice here, so don't you dare refuse to appreciate it."

Xu Mengge: ???

Reading notes:

A delicate-looking tough girl VS a young marquis who can spot fake sweethearts, bickering their way into love

The heroine's previous life was a disaster. The hero is a virgin. Set in a fictional world.

Madam Lingluo

Fu Lingluo's father was a personal guard to Prince Dingjiang. A mission gone wrong killed him in the peach grove ten miles outside Dingjiang City, staining the ground beneath the peach blossoms with blood.

The day after seeing the bloodstained blossoms, her vine-like, dependent mother drank a cup of poisoned wine and followed her father to the grave.

Twelve-year-old Fu Lingluo was taken into the prince's manor and raised at Prince Dingjiang's side.

There would be no secret lover kept in a golden house, no noble girl raised from childhood, no secret or open crushes and household intrigues.

Prince Dingjiang was of royal blood, cold and detached, decisive and ruthless. Women were no more than optional decorations to him.

From the time she could remember, Fu Lingluo had been cool-headed and unsentimental. She understood human nature and knew exactly where she stood.

So she worked hard to become the most capable steward at Prince Dingjiang's side.

The sort who would be outside urging the servants to heat more water while the prince's bed curtains fluttered inside his bedroom.

She was content with the position she'd earned through hard work. She only planned to wait until Prince Dingjiang took a princess consort, then use her accumulated salary and rewards to buy a house, hire a few young men to look after her, and retire to the countryside in comfort.

She'd planned it all out, except she never expected Prince Dingjiang to tire of the scent of cosmetics in his household before he even married.

And she certainly never expected the prince, who despised the chaotic fragrance of the women's quarters, to turn his thoughtful gaze on her.

Selfish, aloof beauty × scheming, possessive powerhouse

This Fairy Isn't Proper

After Yu Shanshan, a powerhouse in the apocalypse, died alongside the zombie emperor, she crossed into the cultivation world and became an ordinary outer sect disciple of the Yaoguang Sect, one of the cultivation continent's sects.

She figured she'd lived too conspicuously in her previous life, pushed to the top until there was no way down, and paid for it with her life.

Since her spiritual roots weren't good in this life anyway, she would cultivate casually, keep a low profile, and stay alive. Once she reached Foundation Establishment, she'd apply to return to the mortal world and enjoy two hundred years of freedom. That would be a win.

*

Who knew her supernatural ability would come with her? The first time it erupted was during the outer sect tournament, drawing everyone's attention

[Damn, my eyes hurt! What is that bright thing?]

[Couldn't you give us a warning before turning on the lights? Is that any way to treat people?!]

[What the heck is flashing? Am I blind now???]

[Waaah, I don't want to cry, but the light is making my head hurt!]

As Yu Shanshan felt the light-based power surging within her, a System voice sounded in her ear: Congratulations, Host, you've successfully activated the Brightest Kid System. As long as you become the brightest kid in everyone's eyes, ascension is just around the corner!

Her: …

Later, whenever people brought up Yu Shanshan, they had a whole bellyful of grievances to compare.

Her fellow disciples: "She loves using cheap tricks like 'blinding you with light'!"

A friendly sect: "Closing your eyes doesn't help. She even used some transparent thing to burn my clothes... and my hair, right there in the arena in front of everyone!"

Her enemies: "You should count yourself lucky. I was prepared and dodged early, but then she started glowing all over, and suddenly there was lightning and thunder. She wiped out half my men."

*

Anyone who heard these stories would draw a sharp breath. "Hiss... This fairy is truly formidable... and a little improper."

Yu Shanshan: "...I'm too good at physics. Is that my fault?"

Theme: Love isn't about making sacrifices for one another, but walking forward hand in hand