A princess fallen on hard times in a foreign land × an unfeeling crown prince
Jin Yao was once a princess of a kingdom, meant to live a life of comfort and plenty.
But when turmoil engulfed the royal family, she was reduced to a despised lark trampled underfoot by everyone. She fled to a corner of a tavern and curled up there.
Just then, the powerful nobles of Great Yan passed through. Jin Yao was mistaken for a camp prostitute and sent into a nobleman's embroidered tent.
Only after a night of passion did she learn that the man before her was no ordinary master, but the crown prince of the dynasty, on a northern inspection tour.
She also heard from others that the Eastern Palace's master was ruthless and bloodthirsty, sparing not even his own brothers.
The palace servants tormented her, saying the crown prince suffered from a hidden ailment and would likely need her as a medicinal catalyst from then on, squeezing every last bit out of her before he let her go.
Jin Yao's path was fraught with difficulties. She knew that if she stayed, she could easily end up dead.
After weighing her options for a long time, she chose to run away alone.
Crown Prince Lu Chenjie encountered disaster during his northern inspection and was accidentally afflicted by a love gu.
He thought their tender night had been nothing more than a brief affair. But when he came to his senses, he realized it had all been real.
Then one day, a maid reported that Jin Yao had disappeared without a trace.
When Lu Chenjie saw her again, she had become a princess newly found by a neighboring kingdom, and was about to be sent to the Yan Kingdom for a political marriage.
·
Beneath the covered walkway of the neighboring kingdom
Lu Chenjie lowers his eyes and advances step by step. "I heard you're getting married?"
Jin Yao's smile from greeting her guests disappears. She coldly rebukes the man approaching her:
"If you've come to congratulate me on my wedding, Your Highness, there's no need to make a second visit."
She pulls a gold hairpin from her hair and holds it to his heart. "What exactly do you want, Your Highness?"
"To repay my debt."
Lu Chenjie takes her pale wrist and forces the pin through his embroidered robe and into his flesh. "Would this be a good way to repay you?"
Even if she had to become nothing more than a weapon for her brother to consolidate his power, that would still be better than getting entangled with the crown prince of Yan again.
"Your Highness, has the gu poison flared up again today?"
Jin Yao sneers and presses harder.
"What does my political marriage have to do with you?"
Look at him seated in the high hall: rotten within, no matter how fine his appearance.
1v1, happy ending, slow burn
A false replacement trope appears
(The story premise came from a wheel I spun a few months ago. I thought it was really interesting, ovo.)
Blurb started in September 2022
Theme: You are gold and jade on the outside, brocade within.
