Reborn as the Duke's Cousin

My other novel, Du Furong, is currently updating. It's about a female heir and a scheming Crown Prince, and the things between them that are hard to define. Feel free to add it to your reading list.

Delicate, sweet, black-lotus biological daughter VS scheming, obsessive, fake cousin who is actually a prince

Xie Wanning, the cousin of the Duke of Zhenguo's family, was discussing marriage with her cousin Shen Huaixu when she had a dream.

She dreamed that she was the heroine of a storybook, wholeheartedly in love with the hero, Shen Huaixu. But the supporting female character, Shen Ruge, stole her place as heroine, won the hero's heart, and took her marriage away.

Consumed by jealousy, Xie Wanning turned from the heroine into a vicious supporting character. In the end, she was abandoned by everyone and met a tragic end.

Only at the moment of her death did she learn that she was the duke's legitimate daughter, while her cousin Shen Huaixu was the current Fifth Prince. The two of them had been switched at birth.

When she woke up, she decided to stop throwing herself against the wall that was her cousin. She would take back the heroine's story and find a different male lead.

After refusing the match, she began openly seeking a husband. The graceful number-one gentleman of the capital, the free-spirited young general, and the ambitious third-place scholar were all excellent candidates.

Just as she was getting dizzy from all the choices, her cousin cornered her in the plum garden. Meeting his eyes, cold as hidden stars, she felt her heart sink, and her resolve to replace the male lead faltered.

"We slept in the same bed when we were little. How can you discuss marriage with someone else?"

"We were too young to know better. It doesn't count..."

"I say it counts, so it counts!"

Shen Huaixu was a prince, but he had lived in the Duke of Zhenguo's household under the identity of the duke's adopted son. The sickly young cousin was the duke's true legitimate daughter.

He learned the truth about his birth when he was ten, and felt guilty toward his frail cousin.

Even when the duke's family tried to use their past kindness to force him to marry her, he planned to agree. She was just a delicate flower; he could keep her in the inner courtyard.

But that delicate flower turned him down and began eagerly selecting a husband...

Seeing that she was about to be plucked by someone else, he lost his temper. He sent the young general to guard the frontier, dispatched the third-place scholar to the south to reclaim wasteland, and arranged a marriage for the capital's number-one gentleman!

The flower he had carefully nurtured since childhood could only grow in his courtyard!

This is the story of a gentle flower who refuses a proposal and her aloof childhood sweetheart who pursues her with desperate regret.

Blurb for the completed novel, The Emperor's Terrace in Splendid Colors

Delicate young empress uses herself to scheme for power VS obsessive regent who knows he's doing wrong but does it anyway

When the late emperor died, Princess Nangong Yue was only ten. On the day the little empress donned the imperial robes, everyone in the realm said that from then on, the Great Yong dynasty might as well take the regent's surname, Zhao.

Regent Zhao Yanli wielded immense power and was deeply calculating, cold, aloof, and merciless.

To him, Nangong Yue was like a little rabbit facing a wolf on the grasslands.

The first court session the little rabbit presided over after ascending the throne ended in embarrassment.

Her ill-fitting shoe rolled down the steps and landed at Zhao Yanli's feet. With everyone watching, the merciless Zhao Yanli bent his noble form and personally put the fallen shoe back on the new emperor's foot.

From then on, the Imperial Household Department no longer dared slight the frail and powerless new emperor, who had received such a humble act of service from the regent. The officials all treated Nangong Yue with respect out of deference to Zhao Yanli.

The court ministers wondered what Zhao Yanli's aim was. Nangong Yue was just as confused.

Could it be a move to advance by retreating?

Could he be trying to preserve his reputation?

But she never found the answer.

Toward others, Zhao Yanli was cold-hearted and unyielding. With her, he became as gentle as a silken ribbon.

When Nangong Yue was ten, innocent and naive, a single cough from him could make her tremble. Yet he often brought sweets from outside the palace to coax her into stopping her tears.

At twelve, she heard the regent was to marry the princess of Beiyue. The match seemed certain, but it was suddenly called off. Rumor had it that he canceled the advantageous marriage because she had ignored him for a single day.

At fourteen, her first period arrived. No one in the palace could calm the pampered and precious empress. In the end, the regent rushed into the palace after an entire night on the road, staying by her bedside until she felt better.

At seventeen, following someone's advice, she began choosing a husband for herself and also arranged a new marriage for the regent.

The regent, suspected for seven years, finally broke into the palace at night, but his purpose was to force her to take back her decree.

That night, the doors of her bedchamber suddenly swung open.

The usually composed regent held Nangong Yue's hand and crossed out another man's name on the edict naming the empress's consort, then carefully wrote the three characters Zhao Yanli.

The lips that once said, "There is a difference between ruler and subject," now asked Nangong Yue to punish him.

The empress Zhao Yanli had raised was now breathtakingly beautiful. Her innocent manner had been an act she put on just for him.

She had offered herself to a tiger without knowing that he had long seen through her intentions. He had understood every step she took, and was happy to indulge her all the same.

Zhao Yanli pinned Nangong Yue against the desk, leaned in suddenly, and kissed the lips stained red with cinnabar.

"Punish your subject..."

"For the crime of overstepping his station."

Only after being reborn did Zhao Yanli understand what he wanted.

Power was nothing more than flowers reflected in a mirror, the moon in water.

What he had always wanted was the beauty in imperial robes on the throne, deliberately tempting him.

The person he had painstakingly raised, even if she only pretended to love him, had to stay by his side and play along with him.

"Your Majesty wants power, wants soldiers. Whatever you want, your subject can give you. Even the empress's consort."

"Your Majesty's consort can only be me."

#Coming soon: Du Furong. The scorned Crown Prince comes knocking to demand their child. The title comes from the line, "Beneath the hibiscus curtains, we pass the spring night in warmth."

Yue Langting, the young lord of Qing'an City, was famous for being handsome, and equally famous for being a playboy.

She adored luxury and fine residences, and loved flirting and carousing, but there was a rumor that she was impotent.

As her eighteenth birthday approached, Yue Langting could only keep tightening her chest bindings, terrified someone would discover she was a woman.

She did everything she could to ruin her reputation, but still couldn't stop the young women from flocking to her.

Matchmakers came and went, while her father pressured her to marry and have children to carry on the family line.

She touched her aching chest and suddenly had an idea. Why not find someone and have a child?

One day, a group of merchants from out of town arrived in Qing'an City. Their leader was a striking young gentleman, as handsome as a jade-like man in the street, peerless among young masters.

At a single glance, Yue Langting decided he would be the father of her child.

In the House of Love and Beauty, Yue Langting wore a fiery red women's gown, her fragrant shoulder half exposed. She pinned the young man beneath her and said seductively, "Young master, I need a favor. One night of spring passion for a hundred taels of gold. What do you say?"

The Crown Prince, traveling incognito, looked at her with a darkened gaze. "One night for a hundred taels of gold?"

Yue Langting nodded, her eyes alluring.

Years later, she regretted nodding so quickly. The second, third, and subsequent nights nearly bankrupted her.

Reading Guide:

1. A wholly fictional setting, with all details invented. Please don't overthink it.

2. A sweet childhood-friends romance, one-on-one, both leads have only each other.

3. Updates around 11 p.m. every night.

Theme: When the flower is ready to be plucked, pluck it at once. Don't wait until there are no flowers left and pluck an empty branch.