A Mistaken Flirtation with a Scholar

My Next Novel: The General's Ordeal. Please add it to your reading list. Blurb at the very end.

After her family falls into ruin, Lu Yao Ke plunges into an abyss. She ruthlessly abandons the poor scholar who once vowed to live and die with her, and marries into the Marquis of Anqing's household as a concubine.

For several years, Lu Yao Ke stays by the marquis's side as he lies ill in bed, never leaving the residence.

Outsiders say that though she is still young, her heart has already died.

Lu Yao Ke couldn't agree more.

Even on the day the marquis passed away, she simply sat quietly through the night. She felt not the slightest joy at having regained her freedom.

Then, during the funeral rites at the residence, the poor scholar she had abandoned suddenly appeared

Qi Xun stood at a distance, chatting easily among the crowd. He was tall and upright, with distinguished manners. Not a trace of the hardship he had once endured remained.

People congratulated him on his promotion and couldn't help praising his gentle, courteous nature.

But Lu Yao Ke clearly saw it: when Qi Xun looked at her, deep hatred lay hidden in his eyes.

*

They had not seen each other for years. Lu Yao Ke had long since moved on, and she assumed their chance meeting at the funeral was just a coincidence.

Yet it wasn't long before Qi Xun appeared at the marquis's residence again.

In a secluded room,

Qi Xun's eyes darkened. His jade-like knuckles brushed Lu Yao Ke's cheek, and his voice was as cold as a blade. "You owe me. Don't think you can escape even a single bit of it."

Note: The female lead has previous experience, the male lead doesn't. Happy ending.

My next novel, The General's Ordeal:

She crossed mountains and rivers to come here, for her husband.

Xu Qing was deeply captivated the first time he saw Shen Yu.

She was the wife of a fallen subordinate of his.

In the corner of the military tent, Shen Yu stood dressed in white. When she lifted her head, her red, swollen eyes were heartbreakingly beautiful. She was as delicate as a gardenia that might snap at the slightest touch. Then, each step she took toward him sank deeper into his heart.

Xu Qing closed his eyes and sighed. Keeping himself free of worldly desire would probably be impossible for the rest of his life.

*

Shen Yu was gentle and meek. Following her elders' arrangements, she married into a once-prominent family in the capital that had long since fallen into decline.

It was a marriage that could be considered a social climb.

But her husband was a gentle, refined man who treated her with the utmost consideration. Not long after their wedding, he became the sole support in her lonely life. Then war broke out on the border, and her husband resolutely set down his brush and enlisted.

Shen Yu spent two lonely years waiting at home, only to receive a brief letter of divorce.

Her despair broke her heart and left her with no tears to shed. Then Shen Yu made the boldest decision of her life

She would go alone to the military camp and demand an explanation from him face to face.

On the night she arrived at the garrison, Shen Yu fainted. When she woke, she had lost her memories and could only vaguely recall that her husband wanted a divorce.

Looking at the utterly unfamiliar man who claimed to be her husband, Shen Yu nervously shrank back. "Didn't you want to divorce me?"

Xu Qing paused, his eyes darkening in an instant. "Not anymore."

Blurb written on 2022/08/03, revised on 09/16

Theme: The world is an abyss. Hatred is hard to cast aside, love is hard to find, so learn to cherish it.