Blurb One:
Years ago, while making an imperial tour of the south, the old emperor had a brief affair and unknowingly left behind a royal child. More astonishingly, more than a decade later, by a bizarre twist of fate, he actually found the child.
At long last, the old emperor had a daughter, and he was overjoyed. He announced the news to the realm and held a banquet for his court officials to recognize Xue Shu's status.
At the banquet, Xue Shu was as fair as ice and jade, peerlessly beautiful, well-read, sensible, and possessed of an extraordinary air. Everyone marveled at her.
As cups were raised and exchanged, Xue Shu smiled and chatted with ease, poised and proper. She was so practiced that no one could find the slightest fault in her manners, until that person arrived.
Everyone ushered the tardy Crown Prince to a seat beside the emperor.
Crown Prince Yan Chaozhou was bright as the moon and handsome beyond compare, the finest man in the world. Yet the sight of him instantly drained the color from Xue Shu's face, leaving her deathly pale.
Xue Shu paid no heed to the people at the banquet. Claiming to feel unwell, she left. But as she passed behind a rockery, someone grabbed her tightly around the waist and pulled her into the darkness.
The sudden darkness left her suspended in midair. She cried out in fear, but in the next instant, a cold palm covered her mouth. In the thin, icy moonlight, Xue Shu saw a man wearing a silver-gray four-clawed python robe.
She trembled in fear.
But the man showed no restraint. His hand traced her soft earlobe, then traveled down to clasp the girl's smooth, delicate neck.
Feeling the warmth pulsing beneath his cold palm, he bent toward her. His usual calm composure was nowhere to be seen. In his eyes was an obsession and madness that even the darkness could not conceal.
"Long time no see, my... Niaoniao."
Blurb Two:
Yan Chaozhou was once hunted down and imprisoned. To mislead his enemies, he had no choice but to submit to Liyi, a remote, impoverished place with a rugged populace.
At the time, his only source of amusement was a maid his men had found at short notice.
The new maid didn't even have a name, so Yan Chaozhou gave her one. Now and then, to pass the time, he taught her to read and observe proper etiquette.
With a little effort, he made the girl's heart lean toward him.
Yan Chaozhou clear-headedly indulged in the increasingly devoted way the girl gazed at him.
Later, her devotion took root in Yan Chaozhou's heart like a raging wildfire, beyond hope of being stopped. But by then, the girl had seen his true nature and fled.
It doesn't matter, Yan Chaozhou thought. He could just capture her again.
Reading guide: 1. One-on-one romance, both leads' first time, fake siblings.
2. A seemingly gentle but inwardly strong fake princess x a sinister, wolf-in-sheep's-clothing crown prince.
3. Fictional dynasty.
Theme: Though surrounded by darkness, keep your heart in the light
