Has the Heir Apparent Finally Come Around Today?

Coming soon: "Climbing to the Top" and "Stolen Delights". Blurbs below. Please add them to your collection!

A cold-faced young duke who says one thing but means another x a teary-eyed, soft-hearted yet resilient beauty

Sang Sang was as graceful as a willow and as lovely as a flower, with skin as fair as jade. She was famous for her beauty throughout the region, and so many men sought her hand that they nearly broke down the door.

She had thought she would only marry after finding a husband to her liking.

She never expected a group of servants to show up at her home and declare that her father had saved a nobleman on a rainy night. The kindhearted nobleman, grateful for the favor, had arranged a good marriage for Sang Sang.

After entering the household, Sang Sang knew her lowly status made her unworthy of the duke's heir, a noble scion of the imperial family. So she was careful and cautious, always watching people's expressions and doing her best not to upset the noble family.

The noble ladies and wives mocked and excluded Sang Sang behind her back. Even the maids in the household loudly remarked, "The heir's wife is just a country girl. The heir has really been wronged."

She could only bite her lip, her lashes damp with tears, and swallow her grievances, hoping only that her husband would treat her a little kindly.

But the heir disliked her, and he rarely smiled at her.

After hitting a wall several times, Sang Sang's heart grew cold, and she settled down to live her own life.

Duan Shu, the heir of the Duke's residence, was arrogant and unruly, and never lowered his head easily. When he was twenty, he heard that he had a fiancée from some rural village. He raised an eyebrow. "Fine, it makes no difference who I marry! Am I supposed to be afraid of her?"

Spending day and night together, Sang Sang was gentle and charming. Duan Shu showed nothing on his face, but secretly swallowed hard.

If he had one regret, it was that stupid mouth of his!

He watched Sang Sang sit on the edge of the bed with red eyes, tears falling one drop at a time. Each one landed in his heart, too.

The lovely woman who used to gaze at him so eagerly no longer looked at him with warmth. On nights deep with mist, no one would rub sleep from her eyes and softly say, "Husband, you're back."

A piece of his heart was missing. Duan Shu was consumed with regret!

Later, he knelt beside the footstool and held her little hand. "My darling, I was wrong. Please don't cry, okay? I'll do anything you ask."

Little scene: Duan Shu gently tapped her jade-white leg and fawned, "Sang Sang, could you look at me a little more today?" Sang Sang kicked him in the shoulder and said, "You have plenty of beauties to admire, Husband. What does that have to do with me?"

After begging all night, he finally wrapped his arms around the slender waist he'd long desired. Duan Shu smacked his lips. Delicious!

Reading guide: 1v1, both leads have no prior romantic or sexual partners

Overall, sweet with a touch of angst

Sang Sang's family owns a thousand mu of fertile land

-----Next up: the forceful-marriage romance "Climbing to the Top". Please add it to your collection!

Nan Qi lost her mother when she was young. Her opportunistic father promoted his concubine to his wife, turning her half-sister into the legitimate daughter.

She had to live by her sister's good graces, wearing what her sister didn't want and using what she had left over.

Though she was the legitimate daughter, her life was worse than a servant's.

As the days passed, dark thoughts grew and flourished, hidden beneath her innocent, pitiful appearance.

She grew up into a stunning beauty, her enchanting looks impossible to hide. After a few words whispered in his ear by his wife, her opportunistic father decided to send her to the capital.

His intention was to put her in the bed of a third-rank official. The man was bald, over fifty, fat, and had peculiar tastes.

Nan Qi smiled and clenched her fists. If she was going to climb to the top, why not aim for the kind of heights that would make everyone kneel at her feet?

Taking advantage of her stay in the household, she set her sights on the second son of the Xiao family of Lanling, a man who held great power and had a face that made countless young women swoon.

With each soft, frail call of "Cousin," her tear-filled eyes and reddened lashes, and the delicate sway of her waist as she danced beneath the moon, Xiao Yan knew that this woman loved him so much she'd risk her life for him. She even went into the water to save him.

If that was the case, then there was no harm in marrying her.

Later, he learned that she loved his money and power so much she would gladly risk her life for them.

The jade hairpin that symbolized their love shattered in Xiao Yan's hand. Her lies still rang in his ears. Whenever he closed his eyes, he saw Nan Qi's tearful, pear-blossom face: "Brother Yan, Nan Qi... Nan Qi loves you."

He placed a hand on her cheek, his gentle face twisting into a dark smile. What she didn't know was that every time she came to him, weeping and pleading, he had been setting a trap to lure her into his arms.

-----Next up: "The Concubine Wants to Escape". Please add it to your collection!

Song Jianing was soft and lovely as a flower, a peerless beauty, but fate had dealt her a cruel hand. One day, her parents sold her to the Pei household, deceiving her into believing that the nobleman had chosen her as his wife.

Sitting in an unfamiliar carriage, A Ning was anxious and uneasy.

A bride chosen through proper betrothal becomes a wife; one who elopes becomes a concubine. She knew nothing of this, and always thought the young master truly loved her. All she could see was the handsome, pale line of his jaw and the inscrutable look in his eyes.

She asked when he would marry her. "A Ning, be good," he said, evading the question and simply repeating that she should behave.

They spent day and night together, but in the end, a bowl of poisoned wine took her life. Her organs throbbed with pain. Terrified, she opened her eyes. Everything in the dream had felt so real. She climbed out of bed, only to find the young master right beside her.

A Ning was at a loss for words.

She was simple-minded and could only think of gently coaxing the young master into letting her go. The more silver he gave her, the more she sweet-talked him. The young master really was taken in, but he only drew closer and closer to her.

A Ning gritted her teeth, summoned her courage, straightened her back, and slapped the silver he'd given her onto the table in front of him. "I want to buy my freedom!" The peerless young master crushed the writing brush in his hand. His eyes were dark and unreadable as he ground out, "In your dreams."

Pei Shaoxuan had been given a lovely woman. He hadn't been interested, but thought it might be nice to keep someone so obedient by his side.

Seeing her come up with new ways every day to coax him, he thought that this little woman must really be in love with him. Perhaps he should treat her a little better.

But one day, the rabbit showed her claws. She conspired with a maid to run off with the poor scholar living at the east end of the village. She even exchanged all the gifts he'd given her for silver so she could buy her freedom.

He laughed in anger. So all that gentleness had been an act.

Reading guide: 1. The male lead did not cause the female lead's death in her dream.

2. The female lead is a soft, delicate beauty. The male lead is a bit of a jerk at first.

3. Overall, satisfying and refreshing. A little spoiler: A Ning is not a farm girl.

Theme: Even the hardest steel can be softened into a tender coil. Sincere love will be rewarded