Springtime Charm

In the third year of the Zhaoyuan era, Su Mulang, the second son of the Prince of Zhennan, was carried back from the battlefield gravely wounded.

Ding Ruoxi was brought in as a bride to bring good fortune to her new husband. With skin like ice and jade, she was gentle and dignified, and people called her one of the few virtuous wives in Great Qi.

But after six months in the household, this lovely young woman still showed no sign of pregnancy.

Her mother-in-law disliked her, her sister-in-law made life difficult for her, and they called her a useless hen who could not lay eggs.

Her husband even tacitly approved of their behavior.

Unable to bear the humiliation, Ding Ruoxi voluntarily left the household with a divorce agreement.

Unexpectedly, someone drugged her in a secret plot. To save her own life, she steeled herself and staggered into the room of her elder brother-in-law, Su Hui, known as the "Jade-Faced Asura."

The man, elegant as a jade tree, sat calmly with a military manual in hand. He did not even raise his eyes when he saw her.

Ding Ruoxi rested her head on his knee and looked up at him, her gaze alluring and pitiful. "Elder Brother, please take pity on me."

Not long afterward, Su Mulang died despite treatment.

By then, Ding Ruoxi had happened to become pregnant.

Yet she grew thinner by the day, and her bright eyes were full of unease and anxiety. A few days later, a small sedan chair slipped out of the imperial capital under cover of night.

That night, the man who seemed like an immortal descended to the mortal world held Ding Ruoxi around her slender waist, narrow enough to encircle with one hand, and pulled her against him. His voice was low and beguiling. "Zhaozhao, you're carrying my child. Where do you think you can run?"

"You were the one who seduced me first. Without my permission, do you think you can just end things because you feel like it?"

Afterward, Ding Ruoxi regretted it countless times, day and night.

If she could live it all over again, she would rather have her reputation ruined, be thrown out of the house, and starve to death than get involved with that madman, Su Hui.

★★★★★★★★★

Please add my upcoming historical romance, Spring Thoughts in Disarray, to your collection.

Blurb:

Shen Lingwei died on her wedding night.

Looking back on her life

The childhood sweetheart she had admired for years had someone else in his heart all along. He married her only because he coveted the military power in her father's hands and wanted to take it for himself, then set his sights on the throne.

Her long-held hopes ended in such a tragic way.

Shen Lingwei regretted everything and bitterly blamed herself for trusting the wrong person.

Perhaps her resentment was too deep, because after she died, she became a ghost. With nowhere else to go, she followed him day and night, cursing him and waiting to see what fate awaited the heartless scoundrel who had betrayed her.

Three years later, the lords rebelled and the throne changed hands. Prince Qi, Xie Jing, whom she had never met, led his rebel troops straight to the imperial palace.

Deep in the night, the dew heavy in the darkness,

Xie Jing, covered in blood, entered with the head of Siyi Chen, who had by then become emperor, in his hand, walking across a floor slick with blood. He gently touched her memorial tablet and murmured like a lover, "Weiwei, I'm sorry. I'm too late."

Shen Lingwei: ...

When she opened her eyes again, Shen Lingwei had been reborn before her wedding to Siyi Chen.

At the time, friends and relatives had gathered at her residence to congratulate her on her wedding. As they raised their cups, Shen Lingwei looked up by chance and saw Xie Jing in the courtyard, arriving with the old Prince Qi to offer his congratulations. Her gaze turned dazed.

Xie Jing was nobly born. Though still young, he commanded the Imperial Guard and wielded power across the court, drawing noblewomen from every lordly house like moths to a flame. But to him, these were only political marriages, nothing to be happy about, and he cared for none of them.

Until one day, he accompanied his father to congratulate a friend on a happy occasion.

The spring breeze brushed their faces as ripples danced across the jade-green lake. Young ladies rowed across the water, their clear, lilting laughter coming from afar.

As they raised their cups, a guest got drunk and began teasing him, quietly asking which of the young ladies he liked.

He glanced over casually.

Among the young noblewomen, Shen Lingwei was as lovely as fine jade. Her usually cool expression softened when she met his gaze. She blinked in surprise, then smiled brightly and greeted him gently. "Young Lord Xie."

The breeze swept over the lake, sending ripples across its jade-green surface.

Xie Jing's large hand slowly tightened around his wine cup. His face remained impassive as he nodded in reply, but inside, a gale and storm had already thrown his springtime longing into chaos.

After that, through countless nights and days, he lost himself in her again and again. He even shattered his pride and crawled before her, all to chase her gaze.

Theme: Even love separated by mountains and seas can overcome them.