Claiming You

When Chu Hengwu first fell in love, it was with a man of humble origins, brilliant and exceptionally talented, handsome, and the top scorer in all three imperial examinations.

She wanted to make him her consort, but he turned her down coolly.

"I already have a wife at home. We grew up together, and we live in perfect harmony. I beg Your Highness to withdraw your decree."

Chu Hengwu didn't believe him, thinking it was merely an excuse. Then Xiao Yan was transferred back to Jingzhou for three months. A colleague traveling with him sent word that Xiao Yan really did have a wife and intended to bring her back to the home where she was waiting.

The man she loved already had a wife, so Chu Hengwu decisively let him go and turned around to marry the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo.

On her wedding day, the streets were so packed that not a soul could be seen at home. The capital was decked out with lanterns and decorations, but no one knew that on the official road from Jingzhou to the capital, Xiao Yan had ridden through the rain for a thousand miles, only to arrive one step too late.

*

They met again at a banquet.

Chu Hengwu's skin was as smooth as jade, her beauty radiant. She sat beside her consort, whispering with him in a picture of tender intimacy.

For the first time, Xiao Yan understood jealousy. He stared at her and crushed the cup in his hand without realizing it. Blood ran down his wrist, and the people around him cried out in alarm. Chu Hengwu merely glanced at him and then nestled into her consort's arms.

On the way back, Xiao Yan deliberately collided with the princess's carriage. But when he saw her emerge with her clothes disheveled and her lipstick smudged at the corners of her mouth, he...

That night, he stormed into the princess's residence, pointed his sword at her consort, and pulled her into his arms without a word. His voice choked with emotion. "A Wu, look at me."

Chu Hengwu broke free of his embrace, her gaze distant. "Lord Xiao, I already have a consort."

-

At first, to Xiao Yan, Chu Hengwu was nothing more than a stepping stone to a successful career in government. Once their brief association ended, they would be strangers. So he used her and deceived her, telling so many lies that he almost convinced himself.

It wasn't until he saw her nestled in someone else's arms, with no trace of him left in her eyes, that he finally woke up. She was no stepping stone to success. She was a priceless treasure.

Xiao Yan: "There are thirty-three heavens above and nine layers of the netherworld below. From the highest heavens to the deepest hell, Chu Hengwu, I will search for you everywhere."

[I am snow on the eaves, and you are the blazing sun]

**Reader's guide: One couple, one true pairing**

1. Alternate history, many original settings, and the male lead will not change.

2. The male lead is Xiao Yan, a terrible man who must grovel to win his wife back. He was once the female lead's consort.

3. The female lead has truly given up on him.

4. The male lead really did marry, but the marriage was in name only, and there were reasons he couldn't explain. They had no feelings for each other, the woman loved someone else, and they divorced.

5. The female lead only gets involved with the male lead after her divorce. No cheating.

6. Lots of dramatic love-triangle scenes.

[Blurb screenshot uploaded on 2023.01.01]

Coming soon: Vast Expanse

In the twenty-eighth year of Chengping, Shen Jishi was defeated in battle and died.

When the news reached Chang'an, people remarked on how lucky Qiao Yaozhi was. She had broken off her engagement before he went to war, so she wouldn't have to become a widow in the Shen family.

But no one knew that a secret fragrance rose every night from the Qiao family's rear courtyard. She waited only for the Ghost Festival on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, hoping her beloved would remember the way back.

-

What Qiao Yaozhi regretted most was having a terrible argument with Shen Jishi and breaking off their engagement before he went to war. After he died, she couldn't even enter the mourning hall where his coffin lay.

Later, she heard that in the South Sea there was a fragrance called Qingnv. Burning it could summon the spirits of the departed.

Qiao Yaozhi lit the incense, but amidst the rising clouds of fragrant smoke, she seemed to have summoned the wrong ghost...

-

On the first Ghost Festival after Shen Jishi's death, the only things by Qiao Yaozhi's side were the jade pendant he had given her and a vengeful ghost who looked almost exactly like him and couldn't be sent away.

The vengeful ghost urged her to let go. Qiao Yaozhi burned letter after letter, soaking her sleeves with tears as the flames flickered.

The scent of Qingnv incense lingered on her for years, and from then on, Qiao Yaozhi became an ordinary person who could see ghosts. Hoping to exorcise the vengeful ghost so she could see Shen Jishi again, she began helping the dead find peace and release their lingering obsessions, diligently accumulating merit.

At last, on the day she was able to send the vengeful ghost away, Qiao Yaozhi happened to see the more than eighty letters she had burned for Shen Jishi.

The seals had been removed by the vengeful ghost and strung together into a heart.

Qiao Yaozhi: …

Shen Jishi: My love, let me explain.

-

Shen Jishi was granted a title of nobility at seventeen. He wanted only two things: peace throughout the land and to return home in glory to marry his beloved.

Unfortunately, he saw neither peace throughout the land nor his beloved again in life.

On the day of the Ghost Festival, his lonely soul drifted across the battlefield, only to be forcibly dragged back to his homeland in Chang'an.

Fragrant smoke billowed around him. Concealing his face, he smiled faintly. "Miss, you've summoned the wrong person."

Reader's guide:

1. The story focuses on romance and has many original settings.

2. The female lead summoned the right person. It's the male lead, haha!

3. There are lots of nonhuman beings, along with storylines for the supporting characters!

4. The female lead can see ghosts, so there will be episodic stories, though they won't take up much of the book.

[Blurb written on 2023.09.08]

Coming soon: Offering Up My Wife

A heroine who only wants to survive in troubled times vs. a hero who becomes emperor so he can marry his wife

Song Chuhe was famous in Jiankang for being a virtuous wife. She not only took the initiative to find her husband several concubines, but also managed the entire Cui household with perfect efficiency. Everyone in Jiankang praised her as the finest wife in the land. People even coined the saying, "If you marry, marry a daughter of the Song family."

But no one knew that everything she did was for herself. She put the family estate in order to set aside money to save her own life. She found her husband concubines because she thought he was disgusting. Even when she gave porridge to the refugees, it was only to build a good reputation.

Later, the Southern Xia dynasty fell, and a new emperor ascended the throne.

On the day the great families were purged, Cui Chen tried to save his life by offering his wife to the new emperor in front of everyone.

The new emperor still held a three-foot sword dripping with blood. He merely glanced at Song Chuhe, then pulled the beautiful woman into his arms and carried her into his bedchamber in front of everyone.

*

Born in a time of chaos, Song Chuhe spent sixteen years pretending to be a respectable young woman from a great family.

Then, on the day she learned she was to marry into the Cui family, she saw her fiancé stagger out of the pleasure district, drunk and holding a beautiful woman.

Unwilling to accept the loss, she turned around and saved a handsome man. Later, learning of his pitiful circumstances, she asked her older brother to find him a job guarding the city gates. She also secretly spent a night of passion with him.

When the time came, Song Chuhe cruelly left him and returned to the life that had been arranged for her.

On the day she married Cui Chen, refugees rioted outside Jiankang. The news reached the city, and she learned that all the soldiers guarding the gates had been killed, their bodies never found.

The red wedding candles burned down that night. She sat in a daze for a long time, and after that, she never spoke of the incident again.

Years passed. The Cui family offered her to the new emperor as a gift. To stay alive, she accepted willingly, only to meet a familiar pair of eyes behind the red bridal curtains.

The new emperor, his clothes in disarray, pinned her to the bed, his gaze sinister. "Miss Song, long time no see."

"When you sent someone to kill me and cover your tracks, did you ever imagine this day would come?"

Song Chuhe: ?

When did she ever send someone to kill him?

Please note!!!

1. The female lead is a dark, selfish person in a chaotic world. She only wants to survive.

2. The male lead is hopelessly in love: "Why would she kill me and not anyone else? It can only be because I'm important to her."

3. Alternate history with many original settings. No one is perfect!!!

4. Personal attacks are prohibited.

[Blurb screenshot uploaded on 2023.05.18]

Theme: Cherish the people you have now.