Hiding My Pride

This story is complete, and my new novel is underway. Its blurb is at the bottom. If you like it, please add it to your library. Thank you!

The General Who Pacifies the Nation's first love is dead. The Crown Princess killed her with her own hands.

A cunning, unhinged empress x an ambitious regent

Fu Lingyuan woke from a nap to find a memorial on her desk. It plainly stated that Duke Jingguo and Prince Hengyang were plotting rebellion. Pressing her brow, she sighed, "I knew you wouldn't behave. So you've finally decided to make your move."

The next day, she found a flimsy excuse to execute the only daughter of Duke Jingguo, who was to marry Prince Hengyang. The edict had barely been issued when Ye Xiangyu, the general who pacified the nation, stormed into the hall and demanded to know why she had done it.

Fu Lingyuan shrugged. "No reason. I felt like killing her, so I did. If you really liked her, I'll find you someone similar later."

Winters in Jiankang were always bitterly cold. Wrapped in a fox-fur cloak, Fu Lingyuan looked at Ye Xiangyu's hands, frozen purple, and handed him her hand warmer without a second thought. "Warm your hands."

Her fingertips accidentally brushed his icy palm, making her shiver. Ye Xiangyu seized her wrist and pulled her into his arms. "Your Highness is so considerate. I might get the wrong idea."

He held her fast as she struggled, pinning her firmly with one hand. "You said you'd find me someone to make it up to me. It's time you kept your word."

The emperor abdicated, and the Crown Princess ascended the throne. Fu Lingyuan issued an edict stripping Ye Xiangyu of his title as the general who pacified the nation, causing an uproar at court. The generals pleaded for him, but to no avail.

After returning to his residence, Ye Xiangyu brought out the treasured execution sword that had been kept in the general's household for generations and stood before her. His voice rang with conviction as he thanked her for the decree. "Since childhood, when I lived in the Eastern Palace, I vowed to protect Crown Prince Huiren and Your Highness for the rest of my life. Now that Your Highness has ascended the throne, it is a blessing for the people of Northern Chu. The borders are secure, so there is no need for a general to pacify the nation at your side. Your Majesty was right to strip me of my title and authority."

"Who said I was taking away your authority?" She took the sword from him and toyed with it for a moment before speaking slowly. "Northern Chu has no precedent for a titled noble to become the emperor's consort. If you keep your title, how am I supposed to find you a wife?"

Preorder novel: A Dream of the Southern Dynasty

Zhou Zhiyi spent fifteen years in the imperial palace of Southern Qi as a gentle, obedient little princess. She could have followed her mother's plans and married a handsome, talented young nobleman in Southern Qi. But instead, she fell for Lu Lingxiao, a hostage sent from Northern Chen.

As the eldest legitimate son of Northern Chen's great general, Lu Lingxiao had none of a military man's bearing. He looked more like a delicate, frail scholar with a handsome face.

Who wouldn't love a handsome young man who was so good at sweet-talking?

On her birthday, Zhou Zhiyi accepted the family heirloom jade pendant he gave her, smiling with sparkling eyes. Her cheeks flushed with bashfulness. "When you get back to your residence, don't forget to send word home and have Northern Chen come ask for my hand."

But instead of a proposal, Zhou Zhiyi got the fall of Southern Qi. Everyone in the inner palace was taken to the Hall of State Affairs. She watched Lu Lingxiao, once so gentle and refined, appear before her in armor. Without a word, he used his sword to cut the ropes binding her. "Let's go, Ayi."

A princess had become an orphan, with both her parents dead, but Zhou Zhiyi never imagined her life could get any more difficult.

Lu Lingxiao took her back to Northern Chen, then planned to hide her in the home of one of his deputy generals, change her identity, and keep her by his side as a secondary wife.

Zhou Zhiyi pulled a silver hairpin from her hair and pressed it against her neck until it drew blood, refusing to back down. "What makes you think I'd accept such humiliation? Even if you came to ask for my hand with all the proper betrothal gifts and rites, I might still say no."

A coup broke out in Northern Chen, and the great general rebelled. Zhou Zhiyi gazed with rare interest at the Northern Chen palace, where smoke billowed from the flames, then raised her cup to Lu Lingxiao and gave him an approving look.

"Ayi, are you happy now?"

"Happy. Why wouldn't I be? I'd be even happier if Brother Lingxiao were willing to die for me."

Theme: Seeing is not always believing