After Deceiving the Ice Queen

* Female lead, non-virgin male lead / Wei-Jin era aesthetic / A sage and gentleman turns dark and unhinged

* Mild-mannered, affectionate young widow vs. saintly power player who secretly covets her

* Bittersweet romance, forced possession

--Blurb--

So Wang Guanling hated her.

Xuxu only realized it long after the fact.

Wang Guanling was the eldest son of the Langya Wang clan, peerlessly noble. Wherever he went, the people made way for him, and members of the aristocracy greeted him with the respect owed to an elder.

She had no family backing or inherited title, and made her living by preparing the dead for burial. When she saw a nobleman like him, she had to kneel by the road and cover her face with her sleeve, only daring to look up after his carriage had passed.

And yet someone like her had rescued him when he was gravely injured and suffering from amnesia, then deceived him for an entire year.

It was a stormy night when Wang Guanling collapsed at her doorstep.

The gentleman was as beautiful as spring blossoms, with the cool bearing of frost and moonlight. He was distinguished, but his expenses were staggering. A single robe was worth a hundred taels of gold.

She had meant to get rid of this hot potato, but then he spoke. His voice was clear and cool, so much like someone from her past.

He said he had lost his memory and had nowhere to go.

So she told the most outrageous lie of her life: “We are husband and wife.”

Whenever they made love, she covered her eyes with a strip of cloth, greedy only for his voice, clear as fresh snow.

And he would always breathe against her ear, whispering again and again that he loved her.

-

After Wang Guanling returned home, rumors spread all around them.

The eldest son of the Langya Wang clan, once skilled in power plays and scheming, now carried an aloofness that seemed to come from deep within his bones.

She brought him tea, and he took it and set it aside without looking at her hand. She spoke, and he answered with a single “Mm,” then said no more.

Now and then their eyes met. What she saw in his gaze was not tenderness, but a cold, appraising look, as if he were examining a stranger.

“I'm afraid the eldest young master has tired of that woman from a common family,” everyone said.

At first, she refused to believe it.

Until one night, when she made the first move and he silently pushed her away.

He stood beneath the lamplight, his face illuminated by the candle. Handsome, aloof,

with not a trace of his former passion in his eyes.

He said only, “I, Wang Guanling, would never fall for someone like you.”

-

The Wang clan discovered that she had used witchcraft to bewitch their master and tamper with his memories. They wanted to beat her to death.

Xuxu's hands and feet were shackled as she knelt before the hall.

All around her, the members of the Langya Wang clan seethed with anger. Blades flashed, and the air was bitterly cold.

Wang Guanling sat in the seat of honor, looking down at everything with neither sorrow nor joy, like a god or Buddha.

Only when an elder asked how he would deal with her did he speak, his voice utterly flat:

“Since she had no intention of harming me, there is no need to torture her. Give her a residence and fine clothes and food. We mustn't let outsiders say the Wang clan is cruel.”

Everyone said the eldest young master was benevolent and impartial.

But it was precisely that bone-deep indifference that let her see him clearly for the first time.

She realized she could no longer feel the same possessive desire she once had.

Xuxu left a letter of apology and quietly departed.

-

War broke out in Zhongzhou, and Xuxu fled with a large group of refugees.

On the road, she met a man.

He resembled her dead husband even more than Wang Guanling did.

His appearance, voice, and mannerisms were all identical.

She dared not make another mistake.

But this time, he recognized her first and called out through his tears, “Xuxu, I've missed you so much.”

Reunited as husband and wife, it felt as if a lifetime had passed.

Overjoyed, she wept, grateful that Heaven had not treated her unfairly.

They planned to return and revisit their old home.

But halfway there, clouds of dust rose up ahead. The Wang clan's banners snapped in the wind, and a procession of carriages blocked the road.

The cold, formidable, unapproachable nobleman, elegant in loose robes and fine furs, stepped out of the carriage and walked toward them.

-

From then on, Wang Guanling was behind her every night.

This cold-hearted sage slipped his long, jade-smooth hands inside her clothes and toyed with her without giving her a choice.

Afterward, he gently coaxed her into drawing his portrait, feature by feature: his brows, eyes, nose, and lips. Not a single detail could be wrong.

For every mistake, he added an hour to her punishment.

When the punishment was over, he held the flushed woman in his arms and spoke in a low, tender voice:

“Xuxu, deceive me one more time. Tell me you're my wife.”

-

To Wang Guanling, hatred was the most potent aphrodisiac, and Xuxu was the only catalyst he needed.

Theme: Love must be fought for with all your heart.