The Princess's Runaway Slave

[A beautiful princess who flirts without realizing it x an obsessive prince who is utterly thrown off by her advances]

As the eldest legitimate princess, Song Lingzhao is breathtakingly beautiful but domineering by nature. People in the capital secretly mock her as a pretty face with no talent.

Ignoring the rumors, she takes a handsome, refined foreign slave into the palace when a foreign delegation visits.

The young slave, Ji Qingci, is skilled in both letters and arms and excels in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. He's presentable enough to show off.

But everyone knows he's nothing more than a plaything. When the general returns and marries the princess, there will be no place left for him.

Not long afterward, word comes that her fiancé has won a battle and is preparing to return to the capital to report to the emperor.

Song Lingzhao reclines lazily on a couch, her pale, slender toes resting lightly against her slave's chin. She teases, “Don't be afraid, Qingci. When the future prince consort joins my household, I'll give you a fortune and make sure you live in luxury for the rest of your life.”

Kneeling before her, Ji Qingci smiles his thanks, his gaze growing dark.

His fingers suddenly tighten around the delicate foot before him.

A month before Song Lingzhao's wedding, her slave disappears.

Though annoyed, she knows this is no time for a tantrum, and waits calmly for her wedding.

But on the eve of the ceremony, the fighting at the front intensifies, and the general has no choice but to go reinforce the troops.

Three months after the wedding is postponed, Song Lingzhao learns that her fiancé has been captured by the enemy.

Worse still, after hearing how beautiful the princess is, the enemy general demands her in exchange for the prisoner.

Song Lingzhao refuses, but she cannot disobey the emperor's orders, so she must go to the front.

On the city wall, the enemy general watching her with an inscrutable gaze is none other than the slave who ran away.

With a dark expression, Ji Qingci descends the steps and approaches Song Lingzhao one step at a time. He grips her chin between two fingers and looks down at her pitiful face, her eyes red at the corners.

“Who did the princess come here for?”

Song Lingzhao opens her mouth to answer, but his cold fingertips suddenly press against her trembling lips.

Ji Qingci narrows his eyes. “Think carefully before you answer.”

[Reading Guide]

Happy ending, both are each other's one and only. The heroine has no romantic feelings at first, and the hero's love is possessive and coercive.

Theme: Pure gold fears no fire.