Deep Spring in the Imperial Court

[New fic "Huai Sheng" is currently updating. Click through to the author's page to read it~]

Blurb

[Complete! The whole book costs about as much as a single ice cream. Thank you, my dears, for supporting the official release. The author's Weibo is @Yi Ding Guo Bao Te Gong. Come say hi!]

When Zhu Wenyu was still the high-and-mighty Princess of Changning, she once described Xie Yanci this way: "A poor man's son, and rather handsome. He might do as my personal guard, but he isn't fit to be my husband."

Less than two years after she said this, Xie Yanci staged a rebellion and became emperor.

Overnight, Zhu Wenyu became a remnant of the former dynasty marked for a thorough purge.

Her mother was beaten in public and thrown into prison, her life hanging by a thread.

Her former enemy schemed against her, forcing her to marry a wastrel who spent every day in brothels and suffered from venereal disease.

With nowhere else to turn, she remembered Xie Yanci. Now he was the supreme ruler, whose word was law. Since they had known each other, surely he wouldn't stand by and let her die.

So she knelt outside the new emperor's tent all night, begging for the chance to see him.

*

When Xie Yanci fell in love with Zhu Wenyu, his greatest wish was to marry her and grow old by her side.

He had asked for her hand twice and been rejected twice. The second time, Zhu Wenyu mocked him in front of everyone, saying they were worlds apart and telling him to stop deluding himself.

Later.

The new emperor, Xie Yanci, sat on the dragon throne, gazing down lazily at the beauty kneeling before him. He said indifferently, "Doesn't the princess always look down on a poor man like me? And now you come begging?"

Zhu Wenyu bowed and knocked her head against the floor three times, casting aside her pride. Her voice trembled, nearly pleading. "As long as Your Majesty pardons my mother, I will submit to you. Whatever you want from me, I won't complain."

"Are you offering yourself to me, Princess?"

Xie Yanci leaned over, lightly stroking her cheek with his fingertips. He gripped Zhu Wenyu's chin and forced her to meet his eyes, smiling mockingly:

"Stop deluding yourself."

[Content warnings:]

① One-on-one romance, both leads' first and only partners, happy ending. The male lead has only ever been with the female lead.

② Romance-focused, with the plot in a supporting role. A tragic love story full of resentment and longing. The heroine is genuinely spoiled; the hero is genuinely a mad dog. There is a groveling arc and forced possession. The author loves old-school melodrama. The heroine has a natural harem heroine aura, so proceed with caution if that's not your thing.

③ I write these novels to add some enjoyment to life, so I'm sorry if my writing upsets you. QAQ Let's part on good terms, and please don't harass me. No need to tell me if you're dropping the book.

④ Set in a fictional world with many original details. Please don't overanalyze the historical setting.

[Early previews of the blurbs for upcoming novels "The Phoenix Above," "Rampant Malice," and "Rules for Raising a Villainous Male Lead" are now available~ Please add them to your favorites!]

[Upcoming novel ①] "The Phoenix Above"

(I)

When Chen Qingqing was still Crown Princess, Yan Chen once told her with a smile that when she became empress, he would conquer the twelve cities of Yedu and offer them to her as a bride price.

In the forty-sixth year of Nanling, the late emperor passed away, and Crown Princess Chen Qingqing ascended the throne.

On the day of her coronation, a messenger from the border arrived with the surrender documents for Yedu's twelve cities. Two letters came with them.

One was the marriage contract Yan Chen hadn't had the chance to give Chen Qingqing.

The other was news of his death.

(II)

There was a rumor in the capital that after General Yan died in battle, the empress's temperament changed dramatically. In the year after her ascension, she punished dozens of people in succession, leaving every official in court on edge.

Then Rong Zhan appeared. Everyone said the new top scholar was lucky: he looked seven parts like the late General Yan, and in just a few years he had risen to the highest rank and become the Imperial Preceptor personally appointed by the empress.

Only Rong Zhan knew that Chen Qingqing never called him by his given name. The burning gaze she turned on him was always fixed on someone else.

One night later, in the Golden Chime Hall beneath red wedding curtains, Chen Qingqing stroked his face almost obsessively and laughed softly. "As long as you take good care of that face, my dear minister, I'll grant you any wish you have."

But she didn't expect that when the night was deep, Rong Zhan would gaze at the sleeping Chen Qingqing beside him, his eyes filled with an almost frenzied longing and tenderness.

"My wish, Your Majesty, is to hear you call me by my name."

[Upcoming novel ②] "Rampant Malice"

Years after leaving Jinghua High School, Yu Sheng came across another one of Jiang Yinghuai's social media posts.

In the photo, the young man leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window of a mansion, looking just as he always had: elegant, arrogant, and carefree.

More eye-catching than his devastatingly beautiful face was the price of apartments in the same neighborhood, shown in the related posts:

380,000 yuan per square meter.

It was hard to imagine that property prices could be so expensive.

Harder still to imagine that, among the one-in-a-million chances of breaking through class barriers, she and Jiang Yinghuai had once truly loved each other.

[Upcoming novel ③] "Rules for Raising a Villain"

Bai Yuan first met Zhu Yanchen while fleeing an arranged marriage. By mistake, she ended up in the royal sanctuary on Mount Yunqing.

The young man wore plain robes, his breathtaking features veiled in curling incense smoke. A string of white jade prayer beads circled his wrist, and his bearing was as cold as frost.

He took her in, helped her evade her pursuers, and even used his own blood to draw out her poison. Bai Yuan thought no man in the world could be kinder than Zhu Yanchen.

The day she was caught and dragged back from her escape, Bai Yuan was bound and sent to the imperial bed. The moment the bridal veil was lifted, she shut her eyes, devastated, and wept as if her heart had died.

When she looked up, she saw the young man standing with a sword in hand. His prayer beads were stained with blood, his sharply defined fingers resting on the back of her neck, and his peach-blossom eyes filled with dark, frenzied madness.

"Yuan Yuan, did I ever say you could marry someone else...?"

Before he could finish, she threw herself into his arms, sobbing. His movements froze.

"What took you so long?"

She mistook the fierce ghost from hell for a god. So he became what she imagined, sheathed his sharp fangs, washed away his bloodlust, and willingly bowed his head.

Theme: Never bow to fate. Women should be self-reliant.