The Rugged General's Sickly Beauty

Coming Soon: Scheming to Be Your Husband, Please Add to Your Reading List:

A gentle, well-mannered beauty from a scholarly family x a calculating, secretly lovesick younger uncle with a bit of a mad streak (the heroine is not a virgin, the hero is; the younger brother has plotted for his chance to rise)

Blurb:

To avoid the fate of seeing her country fall, Princess Muyuchan of Anyang is forced into a political marriage with Xiao Yichuan, an enemy general who has slaughtered countless people.

Muyuchan is peerlessly beautiful, with a slender willow waist that has captivated countless people. Unfortunately, she was born frail, panting after three steps and coughing after five. She's a sickly beauty who seems to live in a medicine jar.

Everyone knows that a pampered princess married off to an enemy general who towers over her and could snap her waist with one hand has been delivered straight into the tiger's jaws, and will never have a happy ending.

But unexpectedly, after the ailing princess marries him, not only does her health improve, she also becomes more radiant than ever.

Though doctors had said her frail body would never bear a child, she later appears with a rounded belly, her coquettish beauty like a dazzling peony carefully tended to in full bloom.

·

Xiao Yichuan is the youngest general in Daxing. His influence reaches across the court and his power spans the land. Even the emperor treats him with respect, yet somehow he can't get the better of the ailing princess in his own household.

Though the princess is frail, her tongue is sharp. He was already a man of few words, so he never manages to win an argument with her.

Unable to talk her around, Xiao Yichuan looks toward the warm couch behind the red curtains and decides to try a different approach.

But Muyuchan is far too delicate. Her skin turns purple at the slightest pinch, and whenever she coughs, his heart trembles along with her.

Xiao Yichuan can't bring himself to use his strength.

This is an illness. It needs to be treated.

What else can he do? He married her, so he might as well spoil her.

The man carries over a bowl of medicine. His rough fingertips caress the porcelain-white arch of her foot as he gazes at her intently and says in a hoarse voice, "Yuchan, drink your medicine."

Muyuchan feels the heat spreading across her foot. She puts all her strength into pulling away, but can't free it from his firm grip, so she glares at him. "Just the medicine? You're not tricking me?"

[Image saved to Weibo on 2023.01.17. A romance that begins with marriage. The heroine knows right from wrong and only acts up a little with the hero. It's just a bit of married-couple fun.]

Coming Soon: Scheming to Be Your Husband, Blurb:

A gentle, well-mannered beauty from a scholarly family x a calculating, secretly lovesick younger uncle x a jade-like gentleman, her deceased husband and first love

Beneath a flowering tree, Shen Rong'an lets out a light cough as he tucks a begonia behind his beloved wife's ear.

"My Wan Ning is so beautiful that even the western mansion's begonias pale beside you."

Mu Wanning lowers her eyes with a smile, as shy and lovely as the moon. Then a sudden crack of a broken branch makes her shiver.

The begonia falls to the ground. Shen Rong'an turns his head, but sees only darkness.

He calmly brushes a hand over the woman's hair and says gently, "Don't be afraid. There's no one here."

Under the deep night sky, no one can see Shen Xiujin's knuckles turning blue as he clenches them behind the shadowed moon gate.

·

Mu Wanning and Shen Rong'an were childhood sweethearts, betrothed to each other. When they came of age, they naturally became husband and wife. After marriage, they treated each other with mutual respect and affection.

Sadly, not long after their wedding, a bout of chills took Shen Rong'an's life. From then on, Chang'an was without one of its graceful young gentlemen, as refined as bamboo.

Unlike Shen Rong'an, another of the Shen family's sons was born cold and detached, with no talent for romance. He holds a high office as the Prefect of the Capital, yet in all these years, not a single woman has been by his side to care for him.

Mu Wanning is a little afraid of him, but she remembers her late husband's words: she must treat his younger brother well.

"Xiujin, it's been raining these past few days. You should wear your cloak."

"Xiujin, I made the peach blossom pastries you like."

"Xiujin, if you keep frowning, you'll scare the young ladies away. When will you ever win a woman's heart?"

At that, the usually stern younger uncle looks up and actually smiles at her. "I understand, sister-in-law."

·

Shen Xiujin has no desire to win the heart of some woman. He only wants his sister-in-law's heart.

From the moment Mu Wanning lost her husband, Shen Xiujin began to harbor other intentions.

He knows his sister-in-law has no intention of marrying again, so he uses every means at his disposal, all in pursuit of becoming her husband.

[Saved to Weibo on 2024.04.07. I'm a simple country bumpkin, rolling around and begging you to add this to your reading list!]

Theme: When husband and wife stand united, they can overcome anything.