The Sickly Beauty Is Everyone's Darling

Coming soon: Willingly Become the Sword in Her Hand (Mad, ruthless orphan heroine x lovesick young general). Please add to your reading list.

During the years A Yi spent recovering at her maternal grandparents' home in Jiangnan, they would have gladly plucked the moon from the sky for her. All the family wanted was for A Yi to grow up safe and well.

But A Yi had been frail since childhood, and when she was eight, she fell gravely ill and nearly died.

After waking, A Yi nestled in her eldest aunt's arms and looked at the people gathered around the room, her eyes brimming with tears. "Why hasn't Fifth Brother come to see me?"

Her words left everyone completely bewildered.

Oh, little darling, you have four male cousins and three female cousins. Where did this Fifth Brother come from?

But seeing how certain A Yi was, her maternal family feared she might upset herself and worsen her health, so in their haste they borrowed the young master from the neighboring household.

The young master had cool, refined features and stood by the doorway, out of place among the others. But A Yi's eyes curved with delight. "Fifth Brother, why did you only come now?"

A Yi called the young master Fifth Brother for several years, but then he left without a word. A Yi was so heartbroken that she cried until her eyes were red.

A year later, A Yi returned to the capital for a temporary stay to celebrate her grandmother's birthday. At a palace banquet, she saw a familiar pair of eyes. People told her the young man was Crown Prince Yan Zhao.

After returning home, A Yi angrily ate an entire box of ice cakes. That night, her stomach began to hurt. Her grandmother and stepmother were making snide remarks about how spoiled she was when the Crown Prince hurried over from the palace with a physician.

Yan Zhao held A Yi, his forehead beaded with sweat. "A Yi, don't be afraid. Fifth Brother will stay with you."

A Yi gave a cold laugh. "I have four male cousins and three female cousins. Where did this Fifth Brother come from?"

No matter how much she struggled, Yan Zhao still refused to let her go.

He had never told her that back then, he had only wanted to go watch a play. But when she called him Fifth Brother, his heart softened.

Notes:

1. Childhood sweethearts, sweet romance

2. The hero is a little sweet on the outside, dark underneath, but not too much

3. No one disappears without a word. It's a misunderstanding

Coming soon: Willingly Become the Sword in Her Hand

[An orphan who seems frail but has a touch of madness, Pei Zheng x a young general who seems unruly but is upright to the core, Qi Ran]

Pei Zheng died in her previous life by the sword of her cousin, Xie Chaoning.

One thrust through the heart, her sleeping robe stained with blood. Xie Chaoning lifted her chin, his eyes full of regret.

"A Zheng, why couldn't you learn to bend?"

Pei Zheng wanted to sneer at him, but in the end she had no strength left. Her life ended in resentment.

At fourteen, she was found by the Xie family and spent three years as their pawn. At seventeen, she learned that the Xie family had killed both her mother and elder brother. At eighteen, she poisoned the Xie family banquet, but only managed to kill Old Madam Xie...

Pei Zheng never expected that when she opened her eyes again, she would return to the age of fourteen.

At the time, she was still alone, looking after the tofu shop her mother and brother had left her.

This time, she wouldn't wait for the Xie family to find her. She would go to them herself.

Qi Ran was the youngest son of General Qi. He could be a little unruly, but he was still a good young man at heart.

But after meeting Pei Zheng, he went astray.

At first, he accidentally caught her urging someone to commit murder and wanted to send her to prison.

Later, all he wanted was to cover her eyes, ask no questions about right or wrong, and ignore any punishment. Whatever she wanted to do, he would do for her.

As long as she was willing to smile once.

He couldn't bear to see her cry. Even when he knew she was faking it, he couldn't stand it. When she cried, he felt like he couldn't breathe either.

He had fallen completely for her.

That was what Qi Ran thought.

*Bonus scene

On the day Xie Chaoning, the Xie family's brilliant young heir, was ambushed and left on the brink of death, he woke to see Pei Zheng's tear-streaked face and immediately endured his pain to comfort her. "A Zheng, don't be afraid."

He didn't know that as soon as the A Zheng he spoke of stepped outside, someone pulled her behind a curtain.

In the dark, Qi Ran's lips trembled against the tracks of her tears.

Again and again, he begged,

"Zhengzheng, please stop looking at him, all right?"

"All right, General Qi. Go in and kill him, and I won't look at him anymore. Do you dare?"

How could he not dare?

Qi Ran went straight in, sword in hand...

Reader's notes:

(1) The romance does not put the heroine through angst

(2) The hero is somewhat of a lovesick fool

(3) The heroine is no innocent little flower

(4) The heroine has never loved her cousin

Theme: Accepting love is a kind of ability.