The Ruthless Prince's Cherished Beauty

[Story elements: Sweet, delicate heroine, devotion, indulgent romance, healing, marriage before love, succession struggles, palace intrigue, and household power struggles.]

She is the moon in the sky, while I am a despicable shadow forbidden from stepping into the light.

"Fufu, don't be afraid of me..."

As the daughter of a wealthy merchant in the capital, Lin Wanfu enjoys a reputation for bringing prosperity to her family and home. In private, her parents and elder brothers dote on her. Her first fifteen years pass smoothly and peacefully, but she doesn't know that two dreadful things await her starting the year she turns sixteen.

First, the top scholar, her childhood sweetheart, breaks off their engagement. Second, she and Song Lingshuo, the third son of the current ruler and Prince Jiang, divorce.

Back then, Lin Wanfu rises from a merchant's daughter to Princess Jiang through the imperial selection. What a prestigious match! Everyone on the streets and in the alleys of Bianjing praises her for being blessed beyond measure.

Until today...

The divorce papers Lin Wanfu wrote herself are clutched in Song Lingshuo's hand.

Prince Jiang, whom the officials praise as calm and imposing, races to the Jiang residence on horseback as if gone mad. He appears before her, panting hard. His usually unflappable face shows rare signs of panic.

Song Lingshuo kneels on one knee before Lin Wanfu and reaches out to gently touch her cheek, but she turns her face away.

"Fufu, don't be afraid of me..." Song Lingshuo's voice trembles as if he is begging for mercy. The deep affection in his eyes surges like waves, ready to swallow her whole.

"Don't be afraid of me." Since their wedding, those are the words Lin Wanfu has heard from him most often.

Before You Read:

0. Every action has consequences. Everyone who makes mistakes early on will be punished, so don't worry.

1. Both leads are each other's only ones. One couple, one-on-one.

2. A fictional setting modeled on the Song dynasty. Many people and events are based on real-life counterparts, but historical accuracy is not the goal.

4. Four-year age gap.

5. Everyone is entitled to their own preferences. If it's not for you, please don't be unkind.

--New Story Now Available--

She Really Knows How to Act Cute

[The new story is now available! Please give this little treasure a moment and add it to your reading list!]

Chun'er is bought out of a pleasure house by the regent Shen Sui while he is in Yangzhou on official business.

There, Shen Sui accidentally sees Chun'er being beaten and scolded by the madam. Her stubborn gaze reminds him of the woman he once loved.

But after Shen Sui takes Chun'er back to his estate, he realizes that she is nothing like that woman.

Chun'er knows how to flatter him to get what she wants. She knows how to soften him up, and how to gently stir his heart with her delicate fingers and clumsy seduction.

She can sit smiling in his arms and act cute, but at night she can also softly tell him no.

Those aren't things the other woman would ever do. But she is someone Shen Sui could never have, no matter what.

Later on,

Chun'er leaves, too.

-

Shen Sui sits astride his horse. Its hooves stamp restlessly, and the veins on the hand gripping the reins bulge. He looks coldly at the heir of the Marquis of Ping'an, who is cringing on the ground beneath the horse's hooves. Backlit, his towering figure looks like a fearsome asura.

Not far away, the curtain of a carriage belonging to the Duke of Wei's family lifts at one corner, revealing several slender fingers like young scallions. Inside sits the Duke of Wei's eldest daughter, whom he recently found after she had been missing for more than a decade.

Shen Sui turns his long, piercing gaze toward her, his eyes full of mockery as they settle on those rosy fingertips.

"Little Chun'er, did you leave me just to marry a man like this?"

-

A wily old fox and a young, inexperienced fox. An age gap romance. A mature man who knows how to care for and cherish a woman.

Both leads are each other's only ones.

Core theme: Hard work brings rewards.