The Heir Hates Her to the Bone

When Xia Ran fell from the envy of everyone as the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Dingbei to the entertainment quarter, she thought her life couldn't get any worse. She was wrong. It was only the beginning...

A large hand clamped around her slender neck. The man before her was as cold and stern as a demon. "You caused the deaths of all three members of the Jiang family. You'll never escape me in this lifetime."

The evidence was overwhelming, and Xia Ran had no way to defend herself. All she could do was endure Zhou Yan's way of taking out his hatred: controlling her.

The old hands at the entertainment quarter ostracized her. On a bitter winter day, Xia Ran washed clothes with hands red from the cold, only for someone to kick over her wooden tub. A pile of silver, enough to make everyone jealous, fell before her. The man looked down at her from on high, his thin lips parting. "Beg me."

When someone plotted to make her fall into the water, Zhou Yan rescued her too, wrapping her fiercely in his cloak. "You think you deserve to go looking for death?"

Xia Ran understood that Zhou Yan hated her with all his heart and was determined to keep her firmly under his thumb. Even on the day she resolved to put herself up for sale, he beat everyone else to her and took her away.

That night, the red curtains billowed. For the first time, Xia Ran wept in front of Zhou Yan, unaware that her hot tears had fallen straight into his heart.

Something seemed to have quietly taken root long ago in the frozen earth, buried beneath years of hatred.

Zhou Yan had thought he would hate Xia Ran for the rest of his life. He never expected that one day he would willingly let her use him, kill the emperor for her, spend sleepless nights afraid she would leave, and place the empress's throne before her as he begged in a hoarse voice...

The frost of blazing embers melts into spring, and Ran Ran blooms in the bright sun.

Originally titled "When the Frost Burns Away"

1. A wildly angsty, soap-opera plot. At first, the heroine misunderstands the hero in every way. Later, she takes revenge and loses her memory, and the hero takes advantage of her vulnerability. When she regains her memories, she runs away while pregnant.

2. The hero doesn't realize he loves her. He's sharp-tongued on the surface, but in truth he has always favored her and has never deliberately hurt her.

3. 1v1, happy ending.

4. This story takes place in a fictional setting. Fictional setting. Fictional setting.

Theme: Keep hope in your heart even when you're in adversity.