I'm Done Being This Princess Sent Away to Marry!

Saving up chapters and preparing for exams. Expected to start posting at the end of the month.

[Bright and bold bandit princess x noble, moon-bright fallen gentleman]

Xiao Qi grew up in the wilderness. When she was still a baby in swaddling clothes, the bandit chief of a mountain stronghold adopted her. From then on, the three stronghold leaders became her three fathers.

When the girl turned sixteen, a large crowd suddenly arrived at the foot of the mountain.

They thought it was an army coming to put down the bandits. Her three fathers sharpened their blades again and again, ready to fight their way out, only to hear the newcomers call for them to hand over the princess!

The princess? Who?

All three fathers turned to look at Xiao Qi.

Dressed in a snug outfit and holding a pair of gleaming blades, the girl asked them, full of anticipation, “Fathers! When do we charge out?”

Xiao Qi was taken back to the palace. The emperor gave her the name Xiao Qi and the title Princess Qiyu.

Xiao Qi didn't like the name. Pearls, jade, and fine silks were not where she belonged.

Princess Qiyu caused chaos throughout the palace, giving her adoptive father a terrible headache.

Just then, peace talks were underway over the fighting at the border. The emperor waved his hand and ordered Princess Qiyu to marry into another country!

Only then did she understand. He had acknowledged the princess who had been lost to the world only to protect his beloved darling.

He wasn't her adoptive father. She was the adopted daughter.

Xiao Qi sat in the carriage taking her to be married off.

The road was desolate, with only the wind and the horses' cries for company.

The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt. She wasn't going to be some ridiculous princess sent off to marry for political reasons!

“Only cowards agree to political marriages. Real women fight with real weapons!”

From then on, Princess Qiyu ceased to exist. All that remained was Xiao Qi, a bandit chief in the borderlands.

It was said that Xiao Qi took everything and left nothing behind, and commanded countless elite soldiers and fierce generals. The neighboring kingdoms once tried to join forces against her, only to be soundly defeated. They now paid tribute every year.

Once she had secured her position, she hurriedly brought her bandit fathers over to inspect the fruits of her labor.

Her fathers nodded in unison. “Not bad. But as the leader of a stronghold, you still need a husband to keep house with you.”

Xiao Qi sat on a sandy slope, staring into the distant sky.

The soft chime of a camel bell sounded as a caravan passed. The young man at its head lifted his veil. At one glimpse of him, the foxtail grass Xiao Qi had been chewing fell from her mouth.

With yellow sand filling the sky, she sat astride her horse, looking down at him. “Are you coming with me? If not, I'll just take you by force!”

*

Pei Lu had once been lucky enough to see Princess Qiyu.

She was full of life, radiant and bright. She didn't belong trapped in the lonely palace.

When he heard that the princess had returned to her old job as a bandit, the emperor sent people to persuade her to surrender.

It wasn't a pleasant assignment. Injuring the princess was punishable by death, and being injured by the princess was... basically punishable by death too.

No one else was willing to do it, but he was.

Even though they all said he was risking his life for the sake of his future.

They were all wrong. The princess wasn't like that. She wouldn't do anything to him.

Well... she wouldn't do anything to him, except perhaps forcibly take him as her husband.

Pei Lu thought he might be the easiest imperial son-in-law in history.

Even later, after the princess opened trade routes and united the Western Regions, bringing about a lasting era of peace and prosperity, he still thought he might be the easiest imperial consort in history.

Reader's Guide:

1. One-on-one romance, both leads' first time, happy ending, not gender-bender.

2. The heroine robs people to support the family. The hero is responsible for looking pretty (crossed out) and collecting protection money.

Theme: Strive tirelessly and take control of your own destiny.