Bending Zen (By Force)

【🔥🔥The groveling arc has begun, and the male lead is acting like a dog】 Please add my next book, Paying for a Wife, to your reading list. The blurb is below ↓ ★Coercive romance｜Powerful man brought low｜Both leads are virgins ★Honest, resilient young nun 🌿 x Brooding, rabid imperial grandson 🐶 As heir to the throne, Li Ji never imagined that one day, with nowhere left to turn, he would reach out for help from the nun he despised most. This young nun had lived in the mountains for years, innocent as could be. A few desperate pleas were enough to make her take pity on him and bring him back to her hideout. A little flirtation was enough to make her think of him as a kindred spirit, and from then on she tended to him with great care. When he casually mentioned that he had trouble sleeping at night, even Lai Niang went to the trouble of asking the temple for its finest incense chamber. The incense was cheap and coarse, but he still praised her as “thoughtful beyond measure.” Seeing the woman blush just as he had expected, Li Ji sneered inwardly. Lai Niang had no idea that this was only one insignificant trick among the many Li Ji had perfected over the years. He kept up the act flawlessly, all so he could recover as quickly as possible while hiding from his pursuers, then leave without looking back. But this foolish woman had begun to dream. She asked him to take her with him, so they could be together forever. Li Ji still answered her gently, but when the appointed day came, he left her alone to wait through the bitterly cold night. He thought he would soon forget this place, and the unremarkable nun who lived here. Yet after he truly returned to the palace, surrounded by splendid halls and the scent of dragon's-blood incense, he tossed and turned every night. Awake or dreaming, all he could think about was that coarse fragrance he had once loathed. - Xin Lai Niang had known since childhood that “Lai” meant wild grass, just as her own life was worth no more than a blade of grass. Yet even when her beloved abandoned her on that cold night, her friends and family turned against her, and she was inexplicably hunted, arrested, and tortured, not one of those things could crush her will to live. Life held too much suffering. She would leave the past behind and look ahead. To escape prison, Lai Niang had no choice but to beg a highly respected Zen master to take her as his disciple. The price was that she would spend the rest of her life by his side, sever all worldly ties, and never return to secular life. She agreed without hesitation and bowed in gratitude. But on the day she received the Dharma, as she swore an oath before the patriarch, a nobleman dressed in splendid imperial yellow pulled her into his arms from behind. His icy fingertips lifted her chin. She looked up in shock. They had not seen each other for months, yet he still wore the same smile. In his hand, however, was a bloody severed head: the head of the Zen master who had just initiated her on the platform. “We agreed to be together forever. How could you renounce the world without asking me?” - Years later, after using every means at his disposal to keep Lai Niang by his side, Li Ji still refused to admit, even when he had humbled himself to the dirt, that his fate was like that of an abandoned dog, cast aside by her again and again. It had been sealed on that cold night. 【Reading Guide ⚠️】 1. Old-school angst and melodrama, powerful man and weak woman. Includes coercive romance, she runs and he pursues, rescuing a man, tragic love, and a groveling arc. Please don't read if these tropes aren't for you. 2. The male lead starts out a brooding rabid dog and later becomes an aggressive simp. Either way, he's still a piece of trash. Please don't read if that's not for you. 3. The palace intrigue is basic. The setting and religion are fictional, and all the details about Zen nuns, Zen masters, and Zen teachings are made up by me. There are tons of personal inventions, so there's no need to fact-check. 4. The master who is executed in the blurb is not an innocent victim who died unjustly. The next book is still full of melodrama: Paying for a Wife ★Coercive romance｜Female lead is not a virgin, male lead is ★Honest, gentle wife 🌷 x Manipulative, master-level gaslighting ghost 👻 【Synopsis 📝】 Lan Wanzhen was born gentle and kindhearted, and all she ever wanted was a peaceful, happy life. But after an accident, she lost control and caused her husband's new bride to fall into the river, leaving her responsible for a life. Her husband's superior, Qin Yuan, took out his anger on her husband, and peace vanished from their home. She cried through the night. The next day, she still steeled herself and went to apologize to Qin Yuan, her husband's superior. The man radiated the somber air of a newly bereaved husband. Before she could finish, he clamped a hand around her throat. “Will an apology bring back my beloved?” Lan Wanzhen steeled herself. “I can do everything a wife can.” From that day on, she devoted herself to mastering the things Mrs. Qin had been good at in life. She learned to make tea, snacks, and soups, and copied her needlework and flower arrangements to perfection, delivering them by hand. To her surprise, Qin Yuan really did spare her husband, and his mood improved day by day. Even his gaze began to soften whenever he looked at her. Then, after drinking too much, he held her in his arms and kissed her passionately while she wore his late wife's old clothes. After that kiss, Lan Wanzhen fled in a panic. That very night, she begged her husband to invite Qin Yuan to a banquet so they could make peace as soon as possible and put an end to this absurd situation. But at the banquet, the upright gentleman with an impeccable reputation behaved completely out of character. His gaze was brazen, almost provocative. “There's no need to ask for forgiveness. If you truly feel guilty, Madam Lan, then make it up to me by becoming my wife.” - At some point, a mysterious Madam appeared in the Qin household, though no one ever saw her. Everyone was curious about how beautiful she must be, and what she had done to make a chaste gentleman beg for her night after night, utterly besotted, without resorting to any tricks. But Lan Wanzhen knew that Qin Yuan had always been a madman. There should have been nothing between them but the grievance of his wife's death, and yet Before hatred could leave their lips, there was panting. Before forgiveness could arrive, there was desire. After fulfilling her three-month agreement with Qin Yuan, Lan Wanzhen ran away. She could no longer endure the nightly humiliation and torment, and she refused to be treated as a replacement for the dead without a shred of dignity. Unfortunately, she was caught and brought back that very night. In the rainy night, Qin Yuan looked like a ghastly river ghost, determined to drag her down into the abyss. He locked her in a sealed chamber that had been closed for years. Inside hung portraits of Lan Wanzhen at every age from her childhood. As she trembled, Qin Yuan leaned close and spoke softly in her ear, calling her little-known childhood nickname: “He Nu, do you understand now how many years I've spent planning for this day?” Theme: Be independent and strong, and stay true to yourself.