A Marriage for the Empire

A neighboring historical romance is up for preorder: The Little Shopkeeper of Love and the Moonlight~

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Blurb:

The Princess Consort's special skill: arguing in sign language

The Prince's special skill: a cold, aloof human-shaped furnace

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Ruan Tingyan grew up cultivating herself at a nunnery, her nature as serene as a chrysanthemum and her heart as plain as a simple book.

One day, her uncle, whom she had not seen for many years, suddenly came to visit, hoping to rekindle their uncle-niece relationship.

But she never imagined that the way to restore their family ties would be for her to marry in her cousin's place!

Her husband, Duan Qixiang, was the emperor's most beloved seventh younger brother. Though he was of exalted status, he could neither hear nor speak, and his temperament was eccentric and perverse. Everyone in court feared and despised him.

Ruan Tingyan only hoped he would soon realize how dull and tedious their marriage was. Better yet, he could take a secondary wife and a few concubines, so she could return to a life of Buddhist prayers by the lamplight.

However, she underestimated just how strange and unpredictable her husband was:

Knowing she had stomach pains, he deliberately came to watch the spectacle, but left a prescription for stomach trouble before he went;

He let her return to her parents' home alone, then gave her uncle's family a tremendous shock in the middle of the night;

He mocked her faith, yet built her a quiet room and tended flowers and plants so she could copy sutras, meditate, and soothe her heart.

Gradually, guilt arose in Ruan Tingyan's heart: guilt over her wavering faith in Buddha, and guilt over misunderstanding Duan Qixiang.

Until one day, she heard him clearly call her clan's sworn enemy "Grandfather." Her guilt instantly turned to resentment.

After faking her death and escaping, Ruan Tingyan watched indifferently from the shadows as her former husband, despite overturning an entire dynasty, remained heartbroken beyond consolation. She sneered: He made me break my vows. Making him cry for ten or eight years is no more than he deserves.

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Content notes:

◎ Both leads are each other's only one. No rebirth. The heroine fakes her death.

◎ Zhen is a character with multiple pronunciations. When read as tian, it means the jade pendants hanging from either side of a crown to cover the ears. The hero's title is read as zhen, meaning jade worn on the earlobes. The emperor bestowed this title on him as a double entendre.

◎ The heroine only fakes her death later in the story, so readers looking for a fast-paced, satisfying groveling arc may find the pacing a little slow. Feel free to drop it if it's not for you (sob, don't leave me~), but please don't curse the author!

◎ A fictional setting with many original details, all in service of the plot!

◎ Cover art by the artist Tang Jiuxi~

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Upcoming historical romance, The Little Shopkeeper of Love and the Moonlight. Blurb:

Passionate little entrepreneur x upright, principled straight man

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Amidst flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, Jing Tao had a prophetic dream:

Dream voice: This is what you'll look like three years from now.

Jing Tao: In three years, will I move out of my theater and into a kiln?

Dream voice: That's not a kiln. It's a grave.

Jing Tao: ...

To stay alive, she had no choice but to throw herself into building a business.

But it was difficult for a young woman to run a theater. She needed a big tree to shelter under.

One day, bandits bold enough to defy the heavens robbed the government office and set it on fire.

Jing Tao eyed her dignified yet troubled magistrate with an unabashedly lecherous gaze. "Lord Fu, the first floor of Fengle Tower is spacious enough to serve as a government office for now. But you can either rent the place or marry into my family. Pick one!"

Fu Qingchou thought of the storehouse, burned black and emptied of everything. "...Do I even have a choice?"

Before long, Fengle Tower enjoyed a second spring.

Upstairs, a group of boys and girls sang, danced, laughed, and played;

Downstairs, constables bellowed, "Silence!" while Lord Fu roared, "Bring in the accused!"

The common folk kept the words "What a farce" to themselves and praised the magistrate and his wife for being the perfect couple.

Not long afterward, things finally grew quiet, but Fu Qingchou always felt countless pairs of eyes burning into the top of his head.

Jing Tao: "My admirers, pay up and take your numbered seats. My husband is about to start court!"

At first, Fu Qingchou fought Jing Tao's "mischief" with silence;

Later, whenever something went wrong, he couldn't help saying, "Forget it. Leave the rest to me";

Gradually, his catchphrase became, "Madam, are you hurt? Has anyone upset you?";

And finally, he made a habit of buying Jing Tao's favorite cloud-slice pastries early, then waiting at the second-floor stairs as soon as court adjourned, ready to walk his wife home from work.

One night, Jing Tao had another prophetic dream:

A group of eunuchs and palace maids ran up to Fu Qingchou to complain: "Prince Consort, please do something about the princess and the commandery princess! They've nearly climbed every peach tree in the palace bare!"

Jing Tao jolted awake and kicked the person beside her out of bed. "You scoundrel, Fu Shimei! You actually abandoned your long-suffering wife!"

Fu Qingchou rubbed his backside. "My dear, is it possible that you're the princess?"

Theme: Great love lives in the heart