Unrestrained by Love and Lust

[On hiatus while I build up a backlog, not abandoned. See the announcement for details. (Thank you!)]

[Gentle, restrained monk × the princess he spoiled rotten]

Xiyin has a secret: she loves a monk.

That monk found her after she got lost and raised her from the age of six to sixteen.

She can repay him however she wants, because she is a princess and can ask her father to give him the finest things in the world, including herself.

But he doesn't want her. Even if he gives up his vows and marries her, it would only be to comply with the emperor's irresistible command.

Only later does Xiyin learn that on the night she followed the women of the household to the capital at age six, her father had killed the former emperor in front of the palace hall and seized the throne.

That night, the former crown prince escaped with the help of his trusted retainers, shaving his head and disguising himself as a monk.

The crown prince evaded searches all along the way. But when he entered the mountains, he came upon the wheel ruts of a rebel army's wagons. Following the tracks, he looked across the snow and saw a little girl on the verge of freezing to death by the roadside.

*

Only after the monk restored his homeland and ascended the throne did Xiyin learn the truth.

As she watched the court and country thrown into turmoil, her family fall, and even the monk she loved turn into a stranger, the new emperor...

She looked helplessly at her increasingly rounded belly and resolved to escape the deception she had once accepted wholeheartedly.

"Male lead's perspective"

On their wedding night, the princess was a little tipsy. Smiling at him, she said, "Yuanjing, from now on, you're my prince consort. Hurry up and tell me you're happy, just as happy as I am."

"If Your Highness is happy, then I'm happy."

She thought he was humoring her. In truth, it was the happiest night of his life, so happy that he wanted to betray everything and take her away from this worldly life.

He thought that if she ever hated him, he would set her free and let her leave.

But when that day truly came, he went back on his word.

Even if he had to turn the imperial palace into a temple, he would make it his prison, and spend the rest of his life with her as a princess and monk inside it.

*At first the heroine pursues the hero. After the male lead restores his kingdom, he pursues her.

*Both leads are each other's first and only, bittersweet with a happy ending.

*Older man, eight-year age gap

August 19, 2023

--- Next up: The Beauty Is Not for Sale ---

#Pregnancy before love# #She runs off with the baby#

The old Duke was gravely ill, and everyone in the Duke's household had their own agenda, uncertain who would inherit the hereditary title.

That was because the old Duke had once said that the Xie family's title could not pass to a son born of a concubine. Only a legitimate son with a male child could inherit it.

The old man was so desperate for a grandson that he had gone mad. None of his three legitimate sons had a boy.

The eldest was devoted to his daughter, the second had only recently married, and the third, Xie Wenzheng, had never married at all.

Everyone assumed the next head of the family would be either the eldest or second son. Who could have expected a maid to approach Xie Wenzheng and offer to make a deal with him, trading her beautiful face for what she wanted?

Xie Wenzheng was surprised by the woman's scheming. He could see that she considered herself clever and beautiful and wanted to gain status through a child.

A year later, the maid gave birth to Xie Wenzheng's son. In the end, she took only the money and left after buying back her freedom.

*

Mingxi stayed away from the capital and worked hard for three years. Her skill at the zither made her the most mysterious female tutor in the eyes of the daughters of the prominent families.

On someone's recommendation, she entered the provincial governor's residence to teach his daughter.

That spring, an honored guest visited the governor's residence. Mingxi kept out of the way, but ran into a little boy who had gotten lost.

"Little one, where's your mother?"

"Hmph, I don't have a mother. Father says she didn't want me and ran away."

Mingxi was momentarily dazed by his answer. When she looked up, she saw that the boy's father had come looking for him.

*

It was the fourth year of Xie Wenzheng's search for Mingxi when their child found her.

She had barely changed. She was still just as calculating, bold, selfish, and heartless.

"Ruan Mingxi, so you're still alive. I thought you were dead."

"...It's been years, Third Master, and you still have such a sharp tongue."

Theme: Love can overcome fate.