Jasmine Fragrance

Coming next: "Jiang Fu, Wife of the Eunuch". Synopsis at the end.

This novel's synopsis: As the legitimate daughter of a prince's household, Qiao Ximo grew up surrounded by luxury, with her parents running the estate above her and her powerful childhood friend backing her up below. Whatever she wanted would be delivered to her desk the next day.

Later, she said she wanted Meng Sui, the new top scorer in the imperial examinations.

The young man rode through the streets with flowers in his cap and red silk across his chest, his beauty bright as rosy clouds and the moon. Qiao Ximo fell for him at first sight. But only after marrying into his household did she learn that Meng Sui already had a childhood sweetheart and fiancee.

Later, Meng Sui brought that woman into the household. Seeing him smile with the same carefree joy as on the day they first met three years ago, Qiao Ximo finally understood why he had always been so distant toward her. She could only accept this bitter consequence. With the last of her pride as a princess, she left quietly, leaving behind a divorce agreement.

She did not know that after she left, Meng Sui suddenly became distraught and searched for her everywhere like a madman.

By then, she was in the regent's residence, having lost all her memories.

Someone deceived her, saying she was merely a maid serving Ning Huan. But no one told her that the current Regent, Ning Huan, had been a young man from a noble family who was utterly in love with her years ago.

The Ning family had served the country loyally for generations. After Ning Huan's father and brothers died in battle, he returned to the capital in mourning, only to see the woman he loved dearly dressed in red and marrying someone else.

The childhood friend who once protected and cherished her became a monster consumed by power, then disappeared without a word. When he returned, he had become the most powerful regent in the court.

Ning Huan had grown sick of Qiao Ximo, and out of hatred and jealousy he had not spoken to her once. But one day, when he saw Qiao Ximo collapsed by the roadside, he still could not resist taking her back to his residence and keeping her locked away...

On her first night serving as the regent's night watch, someone suddenly dragged Qiao Ximo into his tent.

In the cramped space, their breaths mingled. Ning Huan lifted her chin, his ears turning red. "You chose your own path back then. Are you enjoying the bitter consequences?"

[Little Scene]

It was the winter solstice once again. Qiao Ximo stood beneath the covered walkway, blowing on her hands. Meng Sui pressed the hand warmer he carried into her hands. "You have always been afraid of the cold. How could he bear to leave you standing outside?"

Qiao Ximo, who did not recognize the man before her: ???

Just then, Ning Huan strode over with a dark expression and took her other hand, speaking sarcastically. "Throw that filthy thing away. Don't accept things from strangers."

Qiao Ximo: ...

Watching the sparks fly between the two men, she thought she had better leave while she still could.

"Jiang Fu, Wife of the Eunuch" synopsis

After both her parents died, Jiang Fu was raised in her aunt's home, where she was neglected and had to live at the mercy of others.

When she was sent off to bring good fortune to the hostage prince of the Northern Frontier, who had barely half a life left, everyone said a girl from a prominent clan had been dealt a lowly fate, and that her life was ruined for good.

But no one noticed that she was perfectly willing, and no one knew that she had secretly loved Cui Zhen'an for many years.

After they married, Jiang Fu devoted herself to caring for the injured and ill Cui Zhen'an. She put the decrepit, cold palace in order until it was spotless, and helped Cui Zhen'an, who had been worn down to a shadow, regain his vigor.

Jiang Fu was unexpectedly content with her life. At last she could be with the man she loved, and she no longer had to constantly watch everyone else's moods as she had before.

But Cui Zhen'an did not see it that way.

In his eyes, Jiang Fu was nothing but a hound sent by the court, a source of endless trouble.

So while acting as if he intended to spend the rest of his life with her, he secretly plotted his return to the Northern Frontier.

He remembered every humiliation he had suffered there, and swore to repay them one by one!

When Cui Zhen'an finally found an opportunity to return to the Northern Frontier, he naturally abandoned Jiang Fu without a second thought and vanished without a trace.

After he left, the emperor took out his anger on Jiang Fu. Alone and helpless, she finally understood just before she died that she had been despised by everyone all her life...

*

The once-down-and-out heir returned to the Northern Frontier and rose like a hidden dragon soaring from the depths, unstoppable. In the end, the court could not defeat him.

When Cui Zhen'an returned again, he had become the crown prince. Only then did he learn that the wife he had once regarded as a spy had died not long after he left.

Before the desolate grave where Jiang Fu lay buried, Cui Zhen'an felt his heart ache uncontrollably for the first time.

*

People said the Crown Prince had developed a heart ailment that no medicine could cure, and that an eunuch with medical knowledge had earned his trust.

One day, Cui Zhen'an happened to discover that the wife of this eunuch bore the same face as Jiang Fu.

"Your Highness, you've mistaken me for someone else." Jiang Fu knelt at his feet, trembling and trying to bluff her way out of it.

Cui Zhen'an smiled coldly and pressed his foot down even harder on her husband's body. "Oh? Is that so?"

Theme: Make the most of the present.