Marrying the Moon

[The story is complete. It underwent major revisions before VIP publication, genuinely major revisions! I practically rewrote the whole thing. The Jinjiang version is the definitive one.] Prepublication title: "The Green Jade Case," please add it to your library.

On the third day after news of her husband's death arrives, Lingyi is driven out by her mother-in-law. With nowhere else to go, she returns to her family home to seek her stepbrother's protection.

Three months later, however, her once-flat belly has grown, and word gets out that she is carrying her late husband's posthumous child.

Her in-laws are overjoyed and want to take her back, but they are stopped in the courtyard. Inside the room, a handsome young lord with mountain-like brows and sea-bright eyes, elegant as jade, holds her hand and carefully writes down possible names for the unborn child.

Only Lingyi is filled with fear.

No one knows how this child was conceived. When she was desperate, she once tremblingly drugged her esteemed stepbrother, then knelt before him like a victim, tears streaming down her face, looking heartbreakingly pitiful. "Your Highness, please help me."

*

Ying Che has known since his youth that his stepsister is not as innocent and compliant as she seems.

She's unruly, insincere, constantly abuses his influence to throw her weight around, and full of schemes... To outsiders, aside from her beauty, she has nothing going for her. To him, she is nothing but interesting.

Until the day she wears a bright red wedding gown and smiles as she bids him farewell. "Thank you, Your Highness, for helping Song and me be together. I'm deeply grateful for all these years of shelter and care!"

With her beautiful eyes, wedding veil, and phoenix coronet, she suddenly seems blinding to Ying Che.

He thinks she really should thank him.

It's just that he will have to teach her personally how.

A seemingly delicate, innocent heroine who is actually cold and heartless VS a cold, self-righteous hero who is actually head over heels for her. Some coercive romance; two schemers plotting against each other.

#She returns home after being widowed, only for her brother to arrange her remarriage#

#The groom turns out to be her brother himself#

[Important content warning]: Both leads are sexually inexperienced. The heroine is newly married, but the second male lead was sent abroad before they could consummate the marriage. When he returns, the hero has stolen his wife.

The author only requires the male lead to be inexperienced; there are no requirements for the heroine. The author has completed a story with an experienced heroine and inexperienced hero, "Bowing to My Lady" (the heroine, a female supporting character, and the hero's mother are all sexually experienced), and has a prepublication title, "Late Spring Daylight."

But given this story's setup, both leads are inexperienced. Some readers may dislike the heroine remaining inexperienced despite having been married, so this warning is provided in advance!

※ The inspiration for the siblings and the heroine returning home to remarry comes from the Northern Wei epitaph for Yuan Chunduo: "Her elder brother, the Grand Tutor and Prince Wenxuan, defied propriety and refused to let her remarry."

※ The leads are not related by blood and have no familial relationship. The heroine is staying at the hero's residence, and her family ties are through her father.

※ To head off objections: there are other reasons the heroine is driven home by her mother-in-law, which are explained in the story.

※ Idea conceived: February 2023. Prepublication listing date: April 2, 2023.

Prepublication title: "The Green Jade Case," please add it to your library.

On the day the imperial city is drenched in blood, the Prince of Yan points his sword at the throne.

To save his life, the deposed emperor pushes forward his clan cousin, the County Lady of Jingling, who has already been widowed three times before her weddings, and offers her to the Prince of Yan as a concubine.

The Prince of Yan is ambitious and has no interest in women. Everyone says Jingling is doomed.

But their eyes meet. The beauty's hair is loose, and her eyes are wet with sorrow. The Prince of Yan calmly lowers his sword. "Very well."

Beneath his cool expression, his heart races uncontrollably. No one knows how long he has waited for this moment: ever since he caught a fleeting glimpse of her beneath Dingding Gate, through the years of war and his march south, until he entered the capital.

*

Later, the Prince of Yan deposes the emperor and takes the throne, making Jingling his empress. He governs with care for the people and treats the former imperial clan kindly. The world praises the emperor and empress as a perfect match.

Yet no one knows that from the beginning, this marriage was all Jingling's doing.

A daughter of a disgraced imperial clan, she sees no hope for her life. To find a way out, she chooses him from among the many talented young men: a man about to be sent to guard the border. Then, beneath Dingding Gate, she gives him a silk handkerchief with a tender gaze:

"Though this journey will be hard, Youzhou is the land where dragons rise. General, you may yet establish a great dominion and ascend the throne. I will wait for you night and day in my chambers, praying for your safe return."

She uses longing as thread and love as yarn, weaving an inescapable web around him.

All it takes is the slightest tug, and he willingly submits.

[Little bonus scene]

After ascending the throne, the Prince of Yan remains utterly devoted to his wife. The imperial harem is empty, without a single consort, making women throughout the realm envious.

One of the empress's old friends visits the palace during the Qixi Festival and asks her for tips on how to keep a husband in line.

The emperor happens to be drunk and heads to the palace to have the empress help him sober up. Before he arrives, a familiar, clear voice reaches him: "You want to know about that?"

The empress says with a smile, "Actually, back then I had my maids embroider lots of handkerchiefs. I picked over a dozen young men and gave them one each, encouraging them to make something of themselves and come marry me. But only this one managed to ascend the throne..."

The emperor, eavesdropping outside the window: ...

#Ride the wind to rise to the clouds#

#I envy not the golden wine cup, nor the white jade goblet. I envy the waters of the Western River most, for they once flowed beneath Jingling City#

※ The heroine invests in a whole batch of men; the loyal, ambitious hero thinks she's recognized his talent. Both leads are inexperienced, one-on-one romance. The heroine caused all three of her previous betrothals to end in widowhood.

※ The heroine is a great beauty and a daughter of a disgraced imperial clan. Her status limits her, so she has to invest in multiple men and use them to seek revenge. This is not a story about an all-powerful heroine.

※ Original blurb: August 2023. Full version of the blurb: March 15, 2025.

Theme: Though heavy snow presses down on the green pines, they stand tall and straight