The Concubine Bride

(Ongoing novel: Spring Locked in the Mad Mountain. Please add it to your collection!)

[Blurb]

Rong'er, a beautiful concubine with fair skin, charming features, and a graceful figure, was bought by the Duchess to bring good luck to her son, Lu Jichong.

On the surface, she was told to take good care of the heir. In truth, she was nothing more than a tool to help wear Lu Ji down.

Poor Rong'er struggled to survive between the sickly young master and his stepmother. Faced with the sickly stepson’s desire for her, she realized that clinging to the young master's protection was her only chance to stay alive and get what she wanted.

But all her efforts to win his favor came to nothing.

She acted weak and coquettish, but he ignored her. She cooked for him, but he refused to appreciate it. She took a knife for the woman he loved, and he still looked the other way! She even went through life-and-death ordeals with him in Jiangnan, yet his heart still belonged to someone else! In the end, even the child she had carried for ten months was taken from her...

Tired of him taking everything he wanted from her, Lin Rongyu had reached her limit. This time, she wouldn't hesitate again.

*

Later, Lin Rongyu opened many shops in Yangzhou, amassed a fortune, and surrounded herself with fine clothes, beautiful homes, and lovely people. She sipped osmanthus wine and enjoyed the tender attentions of her charming companions, feeling completely at ease.

Unexpectedly, she caught sight of a pale, exhausted man dressed in black in the corner... and the half-grown child holding his hand. She nearly spat out all the wine she'd just swallowed.

The man led the child toward her, then asked in a low, choked voice, "A-Rong, don't you want me and our son anymore?" After that, he sent the young male companion away and personally massaged her legs and shoulders.

Her beautiful moment had been interrupted, and Lin Rongyu couldn't help but grow angry. She slapped his hand away and said coldly, "You were the one who said it back then. Just because you were good to me, did I have to accept you?"

1. One couple, both sexually inexperienced, happy ending.

2. The male lead has to win his wife back.

3. The male lead is a real jerk early on, then becomes very humble as he begs for love.

4. There is more to the woman the male lead loves. He has loved only the female lead from beginning to end.

5. The setting is very loosely inspired by the Ming Dynasty, QAQ.

-----Preorder-----

[The blurb is dark. Read with caution.]

Before she was brought to the Duke of Wei's residence, A-Yu thought her husband was taking her home to live in comfort.

She was an orphan, raised by the shore of Lake Tai.

Her husband was someone she'd rescued while fishing. He was a little slow-witted, but he treated her very well. He protected her, washed her clothes in the bitter winter cold, and stayed by her side all night when she was sick...

On her first day in the household, her husband moved into a separate room.

On the second day, a wealthy, elegant young woman stood beside him. She called him "Second Brother," but didn't call A-Yu her second sister-in-law.

"You're nothing but a plaything. The household gives you a meal, which is already more than you deserve."

A-Yu didn't believe it. Just last night, her husband had held her tightly and asked for water three times. She didn't understand the twists and turns of a great household. All she knew was that when he was at Lake Tai, her husband had sworn he would never betray her.

Before long, A-Yu's faith was shattered when she saw Lu Yu dressed in wedding clothes. For the first time, she understood the saying, "A woman taken as a wife through a formal betrothal is a wife; one who elopes is a concubine."

The absurd thing was, she wasn't even Lu Yu's concubine...

Before leaving, A-Yu rested a hand on her slightly rounded belly, smiled gently, and drank a bitter medicine that had gone cold.

She would never have a beast's child!

Lu Yu, heir to the Duke of Wei, was born to nobility and possessed a striking, dignified appearance. For years, he had devoted himself to the battlefield and paid no attention to romance.

But one reckless fisherwoman took advantage of him when he was injured and had lost his memory. She tricked him into believing he was her husband and made him do all sorts of humiliating things.

After recovering his memories, Lu Yu wanted to kill the fisherwoman.

But every time he met her hopeful gaze, a cruel impulse stirred in his heart.

He would keep the fisherwoman by his side, in his room, and make her indulge in all manner of carnal pleasures.

The ridiculous thing was, the fisherwoman truly believed him. Every night, she lay in front of him and counted how many children they would have in the future...

Lu Yu thought they could go on like this forever. After all, he had pampered her until she was soft and delicate. How could she ever return to her old life of hardship?

Until the day of his wedding, when the woman ran away.

That night, as wind and rain lashed the land, A-Yu sat on the ground in her soaked wedding dress, trembling as she watched the man approach.

"Go on, keep running."

"I made you this soft and radiant. It wasn't so someone else could enjoy you."

-----Warnings-----

1. One couple, both sexually inexperienced, happy ending.

2. Amnesia, a dramatic forced-marriage romance, and the male lead has to win his wife back.

3. Obsessive, hypocritical scoundrel vs. gentle, kind fisherwoman.

4. The male lead's wedding falls through. That involves spoilers, so no explanation for now.

Theme: The road may be long and arduous, but keep walking and you will reach your destination.