Regrets of the Eastern Palace

A Gentle and Brave Female Doctor VS a “Blind” Crown Prince

Second Prince Rong Qi is gentle, refined, and exceptionally talented.

He was the ideal choice for crown prince in the eyes of both the court and the emperor, but fate had left him blind.

Chu Mingxi first met Rong Qi when she was fourteen. Beneath a crabapple tree, petals drifting softly around him, the young man stood with his hands behind his back, serene as a moonlit breeze and elegant as an orchid.

Her heart stirred in her youth. One distant glance was all it took for her to fall for him.

Chu Mingxi secretly resolved to cure the young man's eyes so that one day she could travel the lofty mountains and lovely rivers with him.

For his sake, she gathered herbs from sheer cliffs, nearly plunging into an abyss.

For his sake, she practiced acupuncture and refused to let anyone else prepare his medicine.

At last, that year, she married the young man she loved.

In the third year of their marriage, Rong Qi was named crown prince. Rumors spread through the capital that the crown prince would marry her cousin, Chu Mingyan, as his crown princess.

Chu Mingxi refused to believe it, until one day...

In the pouring rain, she watched Rong Qi laugh and chat with Chu Mingyan beneath a shared umbrella. They looked every bit the perfect couple, the envy of everyone around them.

Chu Mingxi's eyes stung. She turned to leave, tears streaming down her face.

The Eastern Palace was decked out for a grand wedding, with drums and gongs resounding and the whole city dressed in red.

A palace servant rushed in with news: Lady Chu, the crown prince's secondary consort, had been on a boat that struck a reef and sank. There were no survivors.

The crown prince seemed not to hear. He nonchalantly brushed the tea leaves floating in his cup.

No one saw that beneath his calm expression lay a pain that tore at his heart.

Night had fallen. A gentle breeze brushed his face as Rong Qi stared dazedly at the crabapple tree.

Only then did he realize that, without knowing it, he had fallen too deeply in love to escape.

He still remembered that year beneath the crabapple tree, when the scent of medicine lingered in the air for a long time.

He also remembered the little girl beside the medicine stove, coughing nonstop after choking on the smoke...

Reading Guide:

* One-on-one romance, both leads are sexually inexperienced, happy ending.

* Old-school, melodramatic, not an empowering revenge story.

* The female lead survives, and has a small career storyline.

* The male lead isn't perfect. He has enormous ambition, but he will grow as a person.

* No character has an all-knowing perspective.

* Set in an entirely fictional world with liberal customs and few restrictions between men and women. Please don't nitpick historical accuracy.

Coming Soon 1: Marrying My Cousin Again [Both Reborn]

Jiang Qinghe was born to a family of scholars, beautiful and graceful, with a clever, kind heart.

After her parents died, her uncle took advantage of the fact that there were no sons in her branch of the family. He colluded with the clan elders to seize her father's property and businesses.

Lost and helpless, Jiang Qinghe took her young sister to the capital to seek refuge with the Grand Madam of the Marquis of Jining's household.

The Grand Madam cherished the sisters and treated them like her own granddaughters. If not for what happened, when the time came for her to marry, the Grand Madam would have arranged for her to wed the third son of the Right Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial.

But then disaster struck.

On the Grand Madam's sixtieth birthday, Jiang Qinghe was set up and had an intimate encounter with Xu Huaishu, the heir to the marquisate.

When the others burst in, she was dazed and disheveled, clinging to Xu Huaishu and coyly calling him “Cousin.”

After such a disgraceful incident, the marriages the Grand Madam had arranged for the sisters were naturally called off.

Jiang Qinghe and Xu Huaishu had a simple wedding, with no formal betrothal gifts or rites. Their married life was a haze of confusion and misery.

The Grand Madam was so devastated that she could barely hold her head up. She languished in sorrow and died just a few years later.

Her younger sister, Jiang Shuangjiang, suffered because of her as well. Hounded by gossip, she eventually cut off her hair and devoted herself to the Buddha.

When Jiang Qinghe opened her eyes again, she had returned to the age of sixteen.

The Grand Madam was still in good health, and Shuangjiang was still innocent and carefree.

She had yet to become the shameless gold-digger and social climber people whispered about.

She still had a chance to choose a different path...

Coming Soon 2: My Sister A Yao

Female Lead's Perspective:

Three days after the wedding, she returned to her parents' home. As the carriage slowly entered the alley, Shen Yao gently lifted the curtain and looked outside.

Tall gray walls and tiled roofs lined both sides of the alley. Her older brother stood at the entrance, his expression solemn.

Shen Yao let the curtain fall and straightened her already immaculate collar.

When the carriage stopped, Cui Nian'an wrapped her in a cloak and helped her down.

Shen Yao blushed shyly, lowering her head as the corners of her mouth lifted.

Qin Lin's gaze darkened. “You're back,” he said quietly.

Male Lead's Perspective:

On the third day after the wedding, A Yao was dressed in bright red, her dark hair swept up in a falling-horse bun. The pomegranate-flower ornaments set with rubies made her skin look as smooth as jade.

His little sister was graceful and charming, while Cui Nian'an was as elegant as an orchid and as handsome as a jade tree. They made a perfect couple.

Qin Lin lifted his head. The spring sunlight glimmered with a cold light, dazzling his eyes.

He suddenly remembered that night. He had drunk himself senseless and lain unconscious in bed.

In a haze, someone had helped him out of the clothes soiled with vomit and wiped his face.

The person leaned over and lightly touched the corner of his lips.

The faint scent of gardenias lingered in the air around him for a long time.

The next day, pretending to be casual, he said to Shen Yao, “You're grown up now. It's time I found you a sister-in-law.”

All he remembered was the sound of A Yao's chopsticks clattering to the ground.

Coming Soon 3: My Cousin, Luo Ying

In the twenty-fourth year of Jinghe, war broke out in the northwest. The people were displaced and endured unspeakable hardship.

The war claimed the lives of both parents of the Liu family's only daughter, Liu Luoying.

When Madam Xu Wanxin of the Duke of Dingguo's household heard the news, she hurriedly arranged for someone to bring the poor child to the capital.

Looking at the little girl, frail and timid, Xu Wanxin began to cry before she could even speak.

That year, Luoying was ten.

In the twenty-ninth year of Jinghe, Liu Luoying met Zhou Yanqi, who had just returned to the capital, at the New Year's Eve family banquet.

Zhou Yanqi wore black robes. Handsome beyond compare and proud in bearing, he caught Liu Luoying's eye.

Noticing her gaze, Zhou Yanqi turned and flashed her a roguish smile.

Liu Luoying blushed at once and curtsied. “Greetings, Cousin Yanqi,” she said softly.

That year, Luoying was fifteen.

The emperor died, and a nine-year-old boy ascended the throne.

The young emperor was narrow-minded, sensitive, and suspicious. He eliminated his rivals, distrusted his ministers, and feared the powerful noble families. Even the loyal Duke of Dingguo's household, with its generations of distinguished service, could not escape suspicion.

To protect the family, the duke decided they should withdraw from public life.

His first step was to call off Zhou Yanqi's betrothal to the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Yong'an and force him to marry Liu Luoying, an orphan whose family offered the Zhou household no advantage.

That year, Luoying was seventeen.

Zhou Yanqi, heir to the Duke of Dingguo, had been sent into the army by his father to gain experience when he was young.

He had seen enough of the world to despise people who fawned and put on airs.

His distant cousin was exactly that sort of person, always flattering his mother and currying her favor.

So when his father forced him to marry his cousin Luoying, he was utterly unwilling.

He didn't know that Luoying didn't want this marriage either.

Theme: Cherish the one by your side