A Journey of Ten Thousand Miles

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Marriage first, love later; two equally strong leads; fictional setting; primarily a story of military strategy.

Zhong Ningxue married into Prince Rui's household because Prince Rui, Chen Qianrun, asked the Emperor to arrange their marriage. He claimed that he had fallen in love with Zhong Ningxue, the only daughter of Marquis Zhong, at first sight, that their feelings were mutual, and that he wished to spend the rest of his life with her. He begged the Emperor to make their match, promising eternal gratitude.

In the eyes of the people of Chu, they were a perfect match, deeply in love, joined in marriage and devoted to one another.

Only the two of them knew they had made an alliance. Their marriage was merely a cover, allowing them to plot together to seize the capital and kill the Emperor.

She sought revenge for her father's murder. He sought the throne.

From their fiefdom in Lingge, they began a long campaign of conquest, crossing the Ying River, passing Qiling, and advancing step by step toward the capital in Guanzhong.

The road was arduous, soaked in blood and suffering, and their tangled feelings only grew more complicated as they went. Along the way, they lost the child they had yet to bring into the world.

They had once agreed that the moment they entered Shangyuan, the capital, their marriage would be over.

But after achieving his ambitions, Chen Qianrun refused to let her go.

"If I become Emperor, you will be my Empress."

He said, "Tonight, ten thousand homes are lit. I want to take your hand and climb a tower, so we can see all of Shangyuan and look down on the realm we conquered together, in all its prosperous glory."

Only after joining the battlefield and learning the art of strategy did Zhong Ningxue realize that Chen Qianrun had commanded armies and planned campaigns not for the throne, which he was entitled to inherit as the late Emperor's legitimate son, but for her, for the territory of Great Chu, and for its countless people.

A scheming man with a gentle facade X a cool beauty, Chen Qianrun X Zhong Ningxue

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Research source:

The Geographical Hubs of Ancient Chinese Warfare

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A tale about how, before winning glory and power, he tried to discreetly hide the fact that he had long been plotting to seduce the wife he was ordered to marry, for fear she'd throw a fit and walk away; how he also tried not to cross any lines (not those kinds of lines!) and get stabbed by her, while conscientiously fighting alongside her and keeping their pact. (The hero's thoughts, though, he didn't manage to hide it for long...

Coming soon, please add it to your collection: Bright, Bright Moon

Marriage alliance, marriage first, love later, devoted to each other

Scheming X proud and haughty, Yang Mingzhou X Cheng Ye

In the age of new media, print media was in decline, and the magazine Bright, Bright Moon was seeing its revenue fall year after year. Editor-in-chief Cheng Ye stayed up all night, racking her brain for a way to save the magazine.

One night, struck by a sudden idea, she rolled over to face Yang Mingzhou, who was sharing her bed, and said, "What if we got someone famous to promote our magazine?"

It was an unprecedented idea, and Yang Mingzhou couldn't agree.

Cheng Ye had a head full of ideas and was eloquent, persuasive, and relentless, laying out every possible benefit for him.

Yang Mingzhou: I can't win this argument.

So he immediately changed his mind, agreed, and handed the matter to his assistant. Yang Mingzhou specifically told him to just put on a show, and that once she calmed down, the whole thing would blow over.

The assistant understood perfectly, but did his job all too well. As luck would have it, the person he invited was Cheng Ye's ex-boyfriend, with whom she'd dated for just three days n+1 years ago.

A chaotic, madcap tale about saving a magazine.

Theme: Use strategy in place of battle; one can stand against ten thousand.