Silk-Tied Begonia

Emperor Pei Chengjue was young and knew nothing of love.

One day, he met Qiao Tang outside the palace. Her beauty was like a hibiscus in bloom, and her smile was radiant. He lost himself for a moment and summoned her to the palace. "I only want to talk with you, Sister."

Qiao Tang: "..."

He'd forced her, yet somehow made it sound so innocent.

*

Qiao Tang has no feelings for the emperor, but he keeps her trapped in the palace.

When the Empress Dowager learns that she was once married, she takes a dislike to her and promises to let her leave once Pei Chengjue matures and grows tired of her.

To leave the palace as soon as possible, Qiao Tang deliberately draws close to him. Pei Chengjue experiences love for the first time, his heart burning with wholehearted sincerity. "I love you, Sister. Do you like me?"

Qiao Tang placates him. "I do."

As Pei Chengjue approaches his twentieth birthday, he still clings to her and demands her affection. She panics. Wasn't he supposed to get tired of her?

Then one day, Pei Chengjue hears Qiao Tang speaking outside the window. "Once His Majesty chooses a consort, I'll leave the palace. Perhaps I can go to Jizhou with you, my former husband."

Her former husband's voice is tender. "Looks like Tangtang truly doesn't love His Majesty."

"If His Majesty hadn't forced me into the palace..."

Pei Chengjue's eyes turn bloodshot. For the first time in his life, he feels the anguish of being deceived and having his sincere love betrayed, along with hatred.

In the candlelit abandoned hall, Pei Chengjue burns with jealousy. He grabs his former rival by the head and smashes it against the zither. "Cousin, was this the ugly body you used to hold Noble Consort Hui with all those years ago?"

For several days afterward, Qiao Tang is confined to her quarters.

The eyes that had once burned with passion are now cold and terrifying. "Wasn't Noble Consort Hui so deeply devoted to Cousin? If you can't even endure this, how are you going to save him?"

The fiercely possessive man is no longer the boy who could be easily soothed. Qiao Tang swallows the bitter fruit she planted herself, biting her lip and staying silent.

When the palace discusses selecting consorts again, Qiao Tang asks to leave.

Pei Chengjue's thin lips curl scornfully. "Do you think I would beg a woman I've grown tired of to stay?"

On the day the consorts are to be chosen, Pei Chengjue fails to appear all day.

Instead, he is in the carriage that has escaped the palace, pulling Qiao Tang into his arms and begging her for just a little love. "I was wrong before. From now on, I'll let you keep deceiving me, Sister. Will you?"

Reading guide: An initially sincere and passionate, later dark and deranged emperor x a gentle, clear-eyed beauty. The heroine is not a virgin, but the hero is. She is twenty when the story begins, and he is eighteen. He calls her Sister, and at first, she still has feelings for her former husband.

Next upcoming novel: After Mistaking My Savior

Guanyin-like big sister x god-of-death little brother

Ling Shuo has spent ten years concealing his identity, traveling far and wide to slaughter the wicked.

On his first night in the capital, he sets out with a sword to take revenge on the fallen Marquis's household.

But he sees a woman standing at the Marquis's gate. When she catches sight of him, her eyes light up. She isn't afraid of his sword and approaches gracefully.

The woman wears plain clothes, her features as lovely as jade, her manner gentle and refined. She takes a brand-new cloak from her maid, and faint dimples appear at her cheeks as she smiles, her beauty calm and serene.

"The night is cold and damp, and you're so lightly dressed, my benefactor. Why not put on a cloak before going inside?"

The sword hums, as if impatient to spill the woman's blood.

But Ling Shuo seems to see the Guanyin statue in the old temple where he once sheltered, the jade figure that kept him company through countless long nights.

His sword swiftly slides back into its sheath. Ling Shuo accepts the cloak calmly, lowering his head to hide the light in his eyes.

Never mind. A kind Guanyin-like sister such as her can't be his enemy. As for when he became her benefactor, he can't remember.

*

Jiang Ling finds her savior rather interesting.

Her benefactor is only sixteen, seemingly a beautiful mountain spirit who has wandered into the mortal world. He doesn't understand worldly rules and likes to hold his sword and call out in a bright voice, "Sister."

However many times he calls, Jiang Ling answers every time. She thinks with helpless indulgence that she ought to treat her savior well.

She instructs everyone in the Marquis's household to treat the boy with respect, and indulges him in everything herself. She even sets aside the rules of the capital, letting him follow her everywhere and remain by her side without ever parting.

Before long, even when she's copying scriptures at night, the boy can walk right into her bedroom after bathing and sit beside her.

His damp presence presses unmistakably close. The boy kneels obediently by her legs, yet they are so close they can feel each other's breath. His low voice is wrapped in strange affection. "Sister."

When the boy's strong arms wrap around her, Jiang Ling finally realizes something is wrong. She deeply regrets how improperly close they've become.

*

Jiang Ling finds it increasingly difficult to handle Ling Shuo.

During the day, the boy still shows some restraint, but at night he clings to her, his manner suggesting he might force his way into her bedchamber before long.

Jiang Ling stops giving in. On the day she decides to send Ling Shuo away, she receives a letter from her father. After reading it, she's shocked to learn that she mistook him for her savior.

Ling Shuo never saved her life, and it seems he has an old grudge against the Marquis's family. Now she has even less reason to keep him around.

But before she can say so, Ling Shuo disappears.

She finds him in an old alley and sees with her own eyes how skillfully he swings his sword, swiftly cutting the throat of the Duke of Zhenguo's heir.

Blood gushes forth. A powerful minister of the court has died just like that.

Ling Shuo seems to have casually crushed an ant. He nonchalantly slides his sword back into its sheath, while a streak of blood on his brow writhes like a venomous snake as it slips down his cheek.

He's still beautiful, but he's no longer the mountain spirit in Jiang Ling's heart.

Theme: Stand on your own two feet and be strong.