Synopsis
[Warm on the outside, cold on the inside fallen princess x domineering, unhinged crown prince. This is a romance-focused writing exercise that downplays the plot and focuses solely on the emotional entanglements between the leads. The story is short, but complete. Thanks for reading!]
[My other novel, The Demon Venerable's Heart Leans Toward the Righteous Path, is now updating. My upcoming novel, Your Lord Is Your Support (Reborn), is at the bottom. Please add it to your collection!]
When they first met in the northern frontier, Duan Xu said he was a wanderer roaming the martial world.
Yuan Qinghe believed him. To repay him for saving her life, she, a princess of a fallen kingdom, willingly went to the new dynasty's chancellor's manor and became the dowry maid of the crown prince, the son of the traitor who had killed her father.
Later, Duan Xu said he was the crown prince, regent of the country, a man of immense power whose word was law.
Yuan Qinghe believed him again and threatened to take her own life, demanding to leave the palace.
Much later, Duan Xu told her he wasn't any kind of crown prince. He was just an ordinary man who had fallen madly in love with her.
But Yuan Qinghe no longer believed him.
The day she left, she wore a gown of pale blue-green and stood at the edge of a cliff, letting the mountain wind whip her skirts around her.
Duan Xu gazed at her and remembered the Canglang banner he'd seen as a child while with the army. It, too, had fluttered in the wilderness, proud and alone.
He suddenly felt that a solitary figure like her was someone he could spend a lifetime looking at and never tire of.
Lighter blurb:
To find a medicinal ingredient for Duan Xu, a friend she'd met in the martial world, Yuan Qinghe went alone to the chancellor's manor and became a maid to the young lady.
She planned to leave as soon as she got the ingredient. But because she was so unruly, the young lady, who didn't want to marry, deliberately chose her as a dowry maid, hoping she'd give the crown prince a hard time after entering the palace.
Her wedding was fast approaching. If she didn't run now, when would she?
Escape by swimming! No, no, she couldn't swim.
Climb over the wall! Why were all the guards at the chancellor's manor martial arts experts?
Fake her death! Now that was a perfect plan.
But just as Yuan Qinghe swallowed the fake death pill, someone appeared at once and struck her back with a palm, knocking the pill right out.
Wait, Duan Xu, why are you the one saving me? How did you get into the chancellor's manor?
What? You're saying you're not a wanderer of the martial world, but the crown prince of the Eastern Palace?
Both leads are chaste, one-to-one, happy ending. Enjoy!
[Upcoming novel: Your Lord Is Your Support (Reborn), revenge and putting scumbags in their place, second male lead wins, a resilient, sweet-on-the-outside-but-dark-on-the-inside general's daughter x a refined, roguish, supposedly debauched imperial uncle]
Plot version:
In her previous life, Fang Ruyi, the only daughter of a general defending the border, obeyed the emperor's decree and her father's orders and married Prince Liang, Yuan Shi. But He Ling, a merchant's daughter who wanted to become Prince Liang's wife, secretly poisoned her.
She thought Yuan Shi knew nothing about it, only to discover that he and He Ling had been involved for a long time.
When she refused to rebel, Yuan Shi kept directing He Ling to poison her, leaving her to cling to life as the beauty once famous throughout the capital withered away.
After Yuan Shi ascended the throne, he framed her entire family for colluding with the enemy, causing her father and brothers, stationed far away on the border, to die when the enemy breached the city.
When she was reborn, she was once again a young woman in her chambers, just about to be granted a marriage by imperial decree.
In this life, she swore to take revenge, settle accounts with everyone who had destroyed her family, and protect her father and brothers before Yuan Shi could strike.
She stayed in the capital, using schemes to pave the way for open plans, and open plans to shape the broader situation, all so that if a storm ever came, she could become someone her family could rely on.
Romance version:
Having lived a second life, Fang Ruyi knew her marriage had to be part of a plan.
She needed the backing of a powerful, prestigious family to stand a chance against Prince Liang.
When she first met Jiang Yuchen, she thought he was merely the son of a wealthy family in the capital. No matter how much affection she felt, she kept it all hidden.
Later, she learned that he was a noble imperial uncle, and wavered between liking him and using him.
Only when Jiang Yuchen told her to her face, "I hate the He family, too, and look down on that hypocritical Prince Liang. I heard you're breaking off your engagement with Prince Liang, so you must be on the same side as me. I came to see the excitement for myself," did she realize that what he felt for her was only friendship, nothing romantic.
Once she reined in her feelings, she found it much easier to be around him when they met again.
But one day, Jiang Yuchen said to her with a stern expression, "I heard my grand-nephew is interested in you. The He family is still standing. How can you let yourself get caught up in romance?"
She replied helplessly, "Your grand-nephew is the one who won't leave me alone..."
"How about we pretend to be engaged and make him give up?"
#He never believed in fate's arrangements. He only knew that if you wanted a bond with someone, you had to fight for it. #
1. Both leads are chaste, happy ending.
2. The plot takes a serious turn, but the writing style is lighthearted. Romance and plot get equal attention.
Theme: Love is wholehearted devotion
