The Queen Bee Leans on the Green Bamboo

My Jealous Childhood Friend Wants to Move Up: Ongoing If you hate him, write him into a story and torment him mercilessly! A childhood-friends-to-lovers story about two bickering sweethearts. If that sounds like your thing, check out the blurb below and add it to your collection! She only wanted an heir, but ended up giving away her heart too. Thankfully, he did the same. Naya, Queen of Rogge, had done many outrageous things in her life, but the most out of line was stealing a glance at a bodyguard in a tavern, then having him seized and brought to her bedchamber that very night. Shackles fastened him to the bed, and a wedding character hung high overhead. “We've drunk the nuptial wine, so you're mine now. Give me a beautiful child like you!” The queen was full of confidence and delivered her words in one breath, only to get stuck. The romance books stopped at “the hibiscus curtains grow warm,” and the erotic paintings weren't explicit enough. With everything ready to go, she had no idea what to do next. “Ahem... I just remembered that there's urgent business to take care of tonight. Let's, let's leave it at that for now!” The man she'd abducted: ? The second time, she crammed on romance novels, determined to redeem herself. But the man bowed deeply and said, “Your Majesty, I'm not capable.” For the first time in her life, the Queen of Rogge had been rejected for that reason. Only later did she discover that the man she'd abducted wasn't some bodyguard at all. He was Qin Yuan, former commander of the Yanbei Army and the Great Chu Empress's cousin. She didn't panic. She changed tactics: two chests of gold, in exchange for a year of service as her personal guard. Then she awkwardly tried to woo him like the characters in her books. She offered him gold, but he refused. She put an arm around his waist, but he dodged. She stole a kiss on his cheek and made him call her “Naya.” He'd lived to the age of thirty, and everyone treated him like a handy weapon. No one remembered his birthday. But she did. He didn't like scallions or chili in his noodles, so from then on, neither ever appeared in his bowl again. On his birthday, she knocked on his door, a little drunk. She said it was just a day she'd made up for herself and didn't count as a birthday, but as she left, she softly added, “Happy birthday, Qin Yuan.” He froze, and his eyes reddened first. The first person in the world to treat him like a person was the queen who had tied him up and brought him home. She was the one who took him by force, and she was the first to fall for him. But later, he was the one who treasured her above all else. “I am the ruler of everyone, but I only want to be your Naya.” Note: Some plot points follow on from the previous story, Princess Ruiyang, and connect to parts of the main storyline in the new story, My Jealous Childhood Friend Wants to Move Up. Both can be read on their own! Blurb for My Jealous Childhood Friend Wants to Move Up: The whole story is written and ready to launch. You can count on me to finish it! Childhood friends reveal their secret identities / Is the female adviser still hiding her secret identity? / Unrequited love / Bickering sweethearts Newly appointed censor Cen Dingmo has a problem. The famous storyteller Mr. Liutang has just written three erotic novels, portraying the handsome censor as a hapless playboy bullied by his widowed sister-in-law, imprisoned by a fox spirit, and toyed with by a prince. Worse, the doomed man's cinnabar mark between his brows is identical to Cen's. Anyone could guess who the character is based on! Now his colleagues give him knowing looks at court, young ladies cover their mouths and giggle when he leaves the office, and even the stray dogs in the street bark at him three times more than usual. On the very day he receives orders to take up a post in the provinces, Lord Cen climbs over his childhood friend's courtyard wall in the dead of night. “Lu County needs an adviser!” Wu Heqing quickly does the math. “How much is the monthly salary?” “What's mine is yours!” “Deal!” Who would have thought that once she tied up her hair and dressed as a man, she'd become every young woman's dream within three days? She went to buy tea at a teahouse and got a scented sachet; she settled cases at the county office and received rouge and embroidered handkerchiefs; even when she patrolled the riverbank, young ladies would “accidentally” fall into the water. County Magistrate Cen was so furious he slammed his gavel. From then on, he dragged his adviser around wherever he went. “I think you're a fox who's spent a thousand years cultivating in the pages of a romance novel!” It wasn't until he returned from investigating a case on a rainy night and found a manuscript for an extra installment of The Black-Hearted Prince and the Clever Censor under her pillow that he discovered who Mr. Liutang really was. The candle crackled. Wu Heqing backed away step by step. “How about I give you... half the royalties from these books? Hey, don't burn them! I've spent half a month writing them!” The next day, two jin of ash appeared in the county office's brazier. A month later, a drunk constable let the truth slip: “The magistrate makes the adviser write a new installment called The Magistrate's Furious Interrogation of Mr. Liutang every day. He says he'll print eight thousand copies and sell them back in the capital!” Bonus scene one: Exclusive scoop from the Lu County Gazette: Beware of Handsome Young Men at Home! County Magistrate Cen is dashing and charming, but he may be a closeted homosexual. The Wu adviser by his side might become his “prey.” They work on cases during the day and “work overtime” at night, yet only receive one salary. This writer feels sorry for them. Breaking! The Magistrate Isn't Gay, He's Just Preying on His Own Staff! The Wu adviser appeared in women's clothes in court and revealed her identity, putting an end to the rumors that the magistrate was gay. Turns out, he's simply a “homewrecker,” with no preference for gender, just a preference for good looks. Bonus scene two: Lip-Friendship The gossip-loving people of Lu County were going wild over the pairing: “The magistrate and the adviser are together!” Wu Adviser vehemently denied it. “Impossible! I'm not interested in him at all!” The crowd egged her on. “How do you know unless you try?” So Wu Adviser spent a fortune to book the most expensive restaurant in the city and invited County Magistrate Cen to dinner. Taking him by surprise, she kissed his cheek and checked his pulse. Steady. Then she kissed the corner of his mouth and checked his pulse. A tiny bit faster? No big deal! Wu Adviser confidently declared, “Just as I thought, I have no romantic feelings for you!” However, on a dark and windy night, County Magistrate Cen sneaked into the adviser's room and kissed her again and again. Wu Adviser bristled. “Are you sick or something?” County Magistrate Cen calmly shot back, “If you can try it, why can't I? I have no romantic feelings for you either. This is just ‘lip’-friendship!” Theme: End conflict