Delicate Songbird

An imperial examination fraud case broke out in Jiangnan, and someone stole the ranking of Li Niang's twin brother.

Her brother beat a drum to plead his case and was beaten. Her father was framed and thrown in prison, and her fiance broke off their engagement. With nowhere else to turn, Li Niang received help from the imperial envoy who had been staying at the Chu residence.

Lu Qi looked at the kneeling young woman before him, with her almond-shaped eyes and peach-blossom cheeks streaked with tears, and smiled gently. "Miss Chu, rest assured. I am acting on imperial orders to investigate. I will not stand by and do nothing."

Only after returning to the capital did she learn that this man was no imperial envoy, but the regent who held all power in his hands.

Li Niang offered him her whole heart, dreaming they would spend their lives together as each other's one and only. Then, in the blink of an eye, she heard that the regent would marry a duke's daughter as his princess consort.

It turned out he had never intended to give her a title. He kept her like he kept that little oriole.

Lu Qi had been irritable lately. His pampered oriole was throwing a tantrum and wanted to cut ties with him completely. He had resorted to underhanded methods to keep her in his palm. How could he possibly let her go so easily?

But he watched her grow weaker by the day, until she was on the verge of dying.

Fine. They had wagered their lives, and she had won.

She was free.

On the day of the regent's wedding, he abandoned his bride and ran off. People gossiped, saying his former favorite concubine had gone into labor and, on her deathbed, wanted to see him one last time.

When he saw Li Niang again, she was the legitimate granddaughter of the Prince of Cheng. No matter how brazen Lu Qi was, he couldn't barge into the Prince of Cheng's residence and snatch her away.

At the spring appreciation banquet, the Princess of Cheng intended to find Li Niang a good husband. She didn't know that Li Niang was at that very moment trapped behind a rockery by Lu Qi, being kissed until her arms and legs went weak.

"A Li, tell the princess consort you want to marry me."

Li Niang, her eyes red at the corners, slapped Lu Qi. "Lu Qi, you bastard."

Lu Qi lifted the pearl dangling from Li Niang's earlobe. "Even the way you curse is so endearing."

Thesis: Love means respect