A Performance for the Occasion

The next book will be "Raising A-Man" or "My Darling Wife Loves Money More Than Life." Come check out the upcoming novels, everyone! The blurbs are at the end.

A noble daughter of the Liao family, born into a prestigious clan and blessed with exceptional beauty, she tended to her ailing stepmother and treated the servants with kindness. Everyone in the capital knew her as gentle, dignified, quiet, and refined.

Then an imperial marriage decree matched Liao Wenyin with the unpopular Third Imperial Prince.

While everyone sighed over her misfortune, only the young woman remained clear-eyed and cold. Calmly, she used the most underhanded trick of all against her stepmother.

Even with her weakness in someone else's hands, she showed no fear. As the banquet wound down, she leaned close to Shen Ronghe beneath the dim palace lanterns and whispered persuasively,

"Third Prince, I know what you want. How about we work together?"

The man always wore a cold expression, exuding a dark, menacing air. Yet no one noticed that his ears had turned bright red in the shadows.

He used her mother's family's influence to clear wrongful cases, and he became the blade at her side as she avenged her bloody grudge.

From then on, theirs was only an act.

For profit, she could feign deep affection and smile like a flower.

When their interests diverged, she could withdraw in time, cool and composed.

Shen Ronghe often thought about tearing that ever-present smile off Liao Wenyin's face. He was determined to see her lose control of herself for love of him,

only to realize in the end that he was the one who had long since sunk into the mire, letting her slight, smiling glances stir his heart with ease.

A hundred years of putting on an act, and tonight we lie together beneath the red wedding curtains.

(Blurb saved.)

Little Scene 1:

To get back at her for teasing him, Shen Ronghe deliberately left her alone with the Fifth Prince, who had designs on her.

Liao Wenyin kept smiling sweetly on the surface, let the rumors about her and Prince Yong spread, and even acted wounded and pitiful, as though she could no longer bear the humiliation.

After their wedding, the couple went to the palace to pay their respects. Liao Wenyin accidentally let slip that they had not consummated their marriage, and Shen Ronghe was punished with a reprimand and ordered to reflect on his actions.

Liao Wenyin turned an innocent look on her new husband. "I didn't mean to, my lord."

Then she turned around and pleaded for him with an air of tender distress:

"My return visit to my family is coming up soon. Could you please be lenient for a few days and let His Highness accompany me before you punish him?"

Shen Ronghe gritted his teeth. "You really are virtuous and considerate, always thinking of your husband."

[Proper young lady on the surface, scheming black lotus with a flair for drama underneath x Her biggest victim, a doting, tsundere man who pretends to be harmless]

[Updates follow the rankings before signing, daily updates afterward. Save the book so you don't lose your way!]

Reader's Guide:

1. Dramatic black lotus heroine x tsundere hero who plays the fool to catch his prey

2. Both are each other's first and only, happy ending+

3. They distrust, trick, and betray each other early on, and their tactics are pretty outrageous

4. This story is set in a fictional world. Please don't scrutinize the historical details.

5. I'm a new writer, so please bear with me. Everyone is welcome to save the book!

Here's an upcoming novel:

In her previous life, Ji Yunshu went to the capital to find her relatives and married with a fortune worth ten thousand strings of cash and her new husband's memorial tablet as her only wedding gifts.

She never saw her husband once. Her money was gone to the last coin, and the entire fortune of her wealthy Jiangnan family went to support her husband's family. Every day she had to work like an ox and a horse, serving the whole household, and she eventually died poor and destitute.

Now her husband's family has come knocking because she has kept putting off the wedding.

Reborn Ji Yunshu: Thanks, but I've been reborn. I'm free to fly.

Making a fortune and finding a live-in son-in-law is now the greatest wish of Ji Yunshu, the landlady.

Ji Yunshu rubbed her chin as she looked over the man she'd rescued by chance. Tall, long-legged, obedient, and sensible.

Whether he was handsome could be considered later. Most importantly, he was strong enough to do the work, saving the household a great deal of money!

He was an ideal candidate for a live-in son-in-law.

Gu Xiyue looked at the beautiful woman who was so certain he should marry into her family. He thought it over briefly, then nodded.

Ji Yunshu couldn't bear to hire a bookkeeper, so she personally took care of everything, even going to her shops to balance the accounts.

One day, she happened to spot her new husband tangled up with the family of her husband from her previous life. They insisted that he hurry home and marry.

The man looked at Ji Yunshu, quickly extricated himself from the others, and replied calmly, "I'm married and have joined her family. I'm no longer one of the Gu family. My wife makes all the decisions."

His family: ?

Theme: Treat others with sincerity