Tempting My Childhood Friend

A strikingly refined, aloof, and dignified young man had just arrived at Nanming Academy. Luo Zhaozhao had hoped to befriend him, but he thought far too highly of himself to give her the time of day.

Luo Zhaozhao: Hmph, as if I care about being friends with him.

Later, it turned out he was talented at painting and calligraphy, and his skill at chess was just as impressive. Their teacher even compared her chicken-scratch drawings to He Linyou's paintings, prompting her classmates to laugh at her.

Luo Zhaozhao: Oh, now I hate him even more.

A few days later, someone bet Luo Zhaozhao that if she could become friends with He Linyou, she would get an unlimited supply of storybooks and a year's worth of candied hawthorns.

Luo Zhaozhao: How hard can that be?

It really wasn't hard. All it took was practicing calligraphy with him until her hand nearly fell off, reading with him until she was nodding off, and playing chess with him until the dead of night.

Whenever Luo Zhaozhao wanted to give up, leave He Linyou behind, and go play, the young man would say, "Go ahead. If you fail next month's exam, you'll only have to copy a book a hundred times. It's no big deal."

Luo Zhaozhao, on the verge of tears: I was wrong...

*

Later on, everyone at the academy knew that He Linyou favored Luo Zhaozhao. He only helped her review her lessons, only brought candied hawthorns for her, and even pleaded with their teacher to get back the storybooks that had been confiscated from her.

He stayed up with Luo Zhaozhao night after night to help her study, all because he hoped she would pass the annual exam and advance to the next year with him.

But their happy days didn't last. The truth finally came out: Luo Zhaozhao had deliberately gotten close to He Linyou because of the bet.

The young man wasn't angry. With a calm expression, he said, "Congratulations, Miss Luo. You won the bet."

*

After that day, He Linyou disappeared. Luo Zhaozhao didn't even get the chance to apologize to him, and in the blink of an eye, three years had passed.

The once peerlessly handsome young man at the academy had become the exalted Crown Prince. Amid the bustling crowd, he sat proudly and arrogantly atop his horse, without once noticing Luo Zhaozhao secretly watching him.

Luo Zhaozhao was both sad and relieved. She thought to herself, I'll save this damn apology for my next life.

Three days later, the Empress held a grand banquet to choose a consort for the Crown Prince. Luo Zhaozhao was among the guests, but someone secretly pushed her into a lake.

As she was suffocating and on the verge of death, she opened her eyes in a daze and saw the young man she had missed so desperately. She pinched his cheek and asked, "Am I dead?"

The young man's starry eyes curved, and his thin lips parted. "Have your hand cut off, or become the Crown Princess. Pick one."

* Male lead is insecure at first, then becomes scheming; female lead is adorable

* The male lead had no choice but to leave

* 1v1, both leads' first time, happy ending, sweet romance. Pure-love fans, come on in

* Lots of fictional liberties, limited writing skills. Historical accuracy enthusiasts, beware

* Updates daily after signing, according to the rankings before signing

Ongoing novel: My Husband Is an Impostor

Although Lin Qingluo was a concubine's daughter, she married into Prince Sheng's residence and became the heir's wife.

People envied her for marrying into a princely household and rising to success overnight, yet pitied her for marrying a man whose face was ruined and whose legs were paralyzed. Some even said she had only been sent there to bring him good luck.

She didn't want to marry him either, but her aunt and younger brother were still in her legal mother's clutches, so she had no choice.

On their wedding night, red candles flickered. The man removed his exquisite mask, revealing a scar that stretched across his entire face and a pair of dark, expressionless eyes, deep and oppressive as a starless night sky.

He sat in a wooden chair, and his face was scarred. The rumors were true.

He said he didn't want to share a bed with a woman he'd just met, so they slept separately.

He was fussy and always spoke harshly to her. She endured it and soothed him.

Gradually, he lowered his defenses and accepted her as his wife. At last, the screen between them was removed, and at night he would hold her close and whisper in her ear, "Sleep well, my lady."

*

With a husband like him, Lin Qingluo was perfectly content, until she accidentally wandered into a courtyard in the southwest and all her hopes for the future were shattered.

A man sat there in a wooden chair, emaciated and gaunt. He looked very much like her husband, but he wasn't her husband.

When he saw her enter, the man sneered. "Has my half-brother been treating you well?"

Lin Qingluo was stunned.

It turned out she was nothing but a tool for Prince Sheng's household to produce an heir. Her so-called husband was merely a concubine's son pretending to be the heir.

*

That night, as usual, the man clung to her, lingering at her neck.

While he wasn't paying attention, she pulled out the hairpin she had hidden beneath her pillow and drove it toward his neck with all her strength.

The hairpin sank into flesh, piercing his palm. Warm blood dripped onto the side of her neck, making her body tremble.

"Who are you, really?!" she demanded, trying to keep her anger in check.

The man let out a low laugh. He stroked her neck and whispered in her ear, "Call me husband one more time, and I'll tell you."

Content warnings:

The female lead only ever has dealings with the male lead. The heir is just a plot device.

1v1, both leads' first time, happy ending

The male lead is a sharp-tongued, sly fox of a man. He'll pursue his wife later.

Revised November 20, 2023

Coming soon 2: Whoever Asks for a Divorce Is a Dog, a face-slapping story.

Shangguan Lingnian and Guan Cong are childhood friends in other people's eyes, but sworn enemies in each other's.

They grew up together, and when they came of age, their families arranged a marriage to unite the two households.

On their wedding day, before the groom even entered the bridal chamber, he led his troops to war and was gone for two years.

During that time, he never sent a single letter home.

When the Guan family couldn't wait any longer for their son to return, they could only send the bride to the northwest, hoping the two would live together in harmony and support each other.

But the Guan family didn't know that their good son had left a divorce agreement on their wedding night.

That night, he told Shangguan Lingnian, "I know you have no feelings for me, and our marriage was forced on us by our families. So I'm leaving you a divorce agreement. Once our elders stop insisting that we stay together, you can leave whenever you like."

*

Shangguan Lingnian took the divorce agreement and obediently went to the northwest.

Yellow sand swirled across the desert. The man came galloping over on a black horse, his silver saddle gleaming, his handsome, cold features full of impatience. "Go back. This isn't a place for you."

Shangguan Lingnian sneered. "As if I wanted to come."

A servant suddenly appeared from the back of the group. "Young Master, Madam ordered me to record every detail of your daily life with the Young Madam. She also said that if you mistreat the Young Madam, you needn't come home again. Please mind your conduct."

Meeting Guan Cong's cold, angry gaze, Shangguan Lingnian smiled provocatively.

She really hadn't wanted to come, but she couldn't swallow the insult of being divorced on her wedding night.

He had made her the laughingstock of the capital. How could she let him get away with it?

*

A year later, Shangguan Lingnian took the divorce agreement and headed home, but Guan Cong intercepted her along the way.

Shangguan Lingnian: A real man doesn't go back on his word. Are you trying to be a scoundrel?

The man sneered as he approached, forcing her into a corner of the carriage. "So what if I am? I've already been a lecher, a bastard, and a bandit. What's wrong with being a scoundrel too?"

First draft: July 6. Screenshots saved

Theme: Good deeds should start small.