Back Before the Tyrant Turned Dark

New update: Zhe Shu! Please add it to your reading list!

On the first day after transmigrating, Ling Chuchu sees her new body's brother about to set a dog on the young man locked in a cage.

She hurriedly stops him, preventing a disaster.

She knows that three years from now, the wretched young man before her will make a powerful return to the Great Yan and become a tyrant feared by all.

In the original novel, the person who bullied this little tyrant most viciously was none other than her, a cannon-fodder character.

Looking at the young man in his ragged clothes and the wounds from the savage beating her predecessor had given him, Ling Chuchu suddenly feels a little guilty.

That night, when no one is paying attention, she works up her courage and goes to the back courtyard to apply medicine to the little tyrant.

The Sixth Prince, Xie Yun, was despised by Emperor Hui because of his birth mother and was sent to Liang as a hostage when he was very young.

He tasted the full range of life's hardships, living like a lowly dog.

After the rain that night, someone came to apply medicine to him. He sneered inwardly: Do they want to see him die, or keep tormenting him?

He clenched his fingers tightly and pretended to be unconscious, only then managing to restrain the urge to strangle his visitor.

Later, the girl who had beaten him most brutally started visiting his courtyard whenever she could, bringing him food and warm winter clothes.

He couldn't understand it.

He was cold-hearted by nature. All he had ever known as he grew up was deception, insults, and exploitation.

He had never known what warmth was.

Until he saw the girl before him grieve when he was hurt. She cursed those who bullied him and shielded him like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

He found it amusing, and from then on, he grew more and more addicted to that warmth.

He even deliberately hurt himself, just to feel that warmth. The more it hurt, the worse his injuries became.

Then she would cry her eyes out as she bandaged his wounds. He loved her gentle hands and the warm fragrance about her.

Xie Yun didn't know that Ling Chuchu was only trying to save her own skin. She just wanted to follow the plot to the end, then lie flat.

Until the Lantern Festival, when he carried a lantern he had made with his own hands and spotted her in the crowd, smiling at someone else from afar.

At that moment, mad blood roared through his veins. If pretending to be pitiful no longer worked, there was no point in doing it anymore.

He might as well hide her away. Xie Yun thought that way, his light would belong to him alone forever.

(??ω`?)

New novel, The Palace Maid on the Run. Please add it to your reading list!

After Luo Minglan dies, she becomes the lowest-ranking little maid in the Laundry Bureau.

The System tells her that if she can find a way to raise the original male lead's corruption level to 100%, she will complete her mission and return to the modern world.

The original novel's male lead, Prince Jin, is a noble gentleman, bright and unsullied. His lack of desire for power brings him a tragic fate.

So, to keep the world of the book from falling apart, she has to make him turn evil.

The first time Minglan sees Prince Jin, Xiao Yao, she has picked flowers in the apricot garden and is being punished by Nanny Chen. Xiao Yao steps in to help her.

One rescue leads to another.

Though Minglan is a palace maid, she is exceptionally beautiful. Lai Xi, the eunuch who serves the Crown Prince, has long been interested in her. Taking advantage of the darkness, he tries to force her into sleeping with him.

Once again, Xiao Yao appears and saves her for the second time.

The System says, “Congratulations, Host. The male lead's corruption level is at 30%. Keep it up.”

The third time, the Crown Prince decides Xiao Yao will become an obstacle in his way and wants to eliminate him.

Minglan gazes at Xiao Yao with deep affection. “Your Highness, though I am no more than a lowly slave, I am willing to become the blade in your hand.”

“Please give this servant a chance. Minglan can help you deal with the Crown Prince.”

Xiao Yao looks at the kneeling girl before him. His heart, undisturbed for years, is like a stone dropped into a lake, sending ripples across the water.

The System says, “Congratulations, Host. The male lead's corruption level is at 70%.”

After that, the Crown Prince takes a liking to Minglan and directly competes with Xiao Yao for her.

Xiao Yao sees the girl who had devoted herself to him joyfully throw herself into the Crown Prince's arms.

A sharp electronic chime rings in her ears. The System says, “Congratulations, Host. You've succeeded.”

But just as Minglan thinks her mission is complete and she can go home, the System malfunctions.

Not only does she fail to return home, she ends up fleeing for her life.

Six months later, she appears in a small village. The empire has changed hands, and Xiao Yao has ascended the throne.

The Crown Prince's faction has been killed or demoted. Rumor has it the methods were extremely brutal, and the Crown Prince himself was executed by slow slicing.

Minglan is too frightened to leave the house, afraid Xiao Yao will mistake her for one of the Crown Prince's allies and drag her back to tear her limb from limb.

Content warning: In the early part, the heroine can be a bit awful because of her mission. The male lead goes from a noble gentleman to a madman, driven there by the heroine. The later parts are melodramatic and involve coercive possessiveness. If that's not your thing, please don't read.

Theme: Keep striving toward the light, and your efforts will eventually be rewarded.