Locking Away Day, Hiding Spring

Rebellious Hero x Brilliant Noblewoman with Almost Demonic Wisdom

A royal couple who fall in love after marrying first. The heroine is ethereal, beautiful, and adored by everyone. She is never put through suffering.

1) In the thirty-sixth year of Zhaoshun, the emperor was old and incompetent. Four princes fought for the throne within the palace, while powerful forces rose across the land. Ji Yujing of Lingdong was one of them. At just twenty-three, he commanded a hundred thousand troops and held sway over his own domain despite his humble origins.

That same year, his family ordered him to honor a marriage contract.

His wife was Lin Qingdai, the youngest daughter of a leading aristocratic family. It was said that the engagement had originally been arranged with the Lin family's eldest legitimate daughter, but she had been replaced for some reason.

Ji Yujing did not care about any of that.

Who he married made no difference to him.

2) Lin Qingdai was breathtakingly beautiful and accomplished in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. She was sent to marry into desolate Lingdong in her older sister's place. The whole imperial capital pitied her, and her sister felt deeply guilty.

Lin Qingdai comforted her sister instead. "Don't worry, Sister. I am going willingly."

There was something she did not say. She had met Ji Yujing many years ago, and from that moment on, she had never forgotten him.

3) Almost no one approved of this marriage, Ji Yujing included. He could never have imagined that one day he would personally bend bamboo to make an intricately crafted phoenix kite, all just to win his wife's smile.

At first, Ji Yujing cared only about becoming a prince among princes and building his own great legacy.

Later, his gaze was always searching for Lin Qingdai.

Reader's Note

An ensemble cast, with plenty of original worldbuilding.

Read or leave as you like. Please refrain from giving writing advice or nitpicking. Warnings have already been made clear, and relevant comments will be deleted.

Blurb first posted on January 5, 2024.

My next book will be Silent Night Frost. Please add it to your to-read list!

Sharp-tongued but soft-hearted beauty x cool and noble Crown Prince

Also known as My Archenemy Returned to the World of Fame and Fortune Under My Supervision

1) In the twentieth year of Jingjia, Crown Prince Mu Zheng was deposed and exiled to Ningzhou. Opinions differed on why this favored son of heaven had fallen from his pedestal. But there was one thing most people agreed on: Mu Zheng would never return to the Eastern Palace.

In no time, Mu Zheng had become a hot potato everyone avoided. No one could have imagined that two months later, the emperor would issue an edict: the legitimate daughter of the Prince of Nan'an, Sang Yue, was to marry Mu Zheng as his principal consort.

The Prince of Nan'an was a powerful figure who commanded a mighty army. No one would dare question his legitimate daughter's becoming Crown Princess, so why would she wade into such troubled waters at a time like this?

2) Who would dare mistreat the Prince of Nan'an's daughter? After the wedding, even Mu Zheng's life became much more comfortable.

Of course, Mu Zheng himself did not see it that way. Miss Sang was just as talkative as he remembered.

After marrying him and moving to Ningzhou, she spent nearly all her time, apart from eating, drinking, dressing up, and having fun, urging him to "better himself."

"You're my archenemy. If people look down on you, they look down on me. Do you think I can put up with that?"

"The noble ladies of the capital have all started wearing cicada-wing gauze, while I, the down-and-out Fourth Prince's consort, have to make do with whatever I can find."

Mu Zheng: "..." Being a deposed crown prince was no easy job.

3) In the twenty-fourth year of Jingjia, the deposed Crown Prince Mu Zheng rose again and returned to the Eastern Palace. On the night before they were to leave Ningzhou, Sang Yue handed him a divorce agreement without so much as a word of warning.

The cool and noble Crown Prince shattered his composure. He clung to Sang Yue all night, and before her thoughts could completely fall apart, he pressed his lips to her ear and rasped, "Little Moon, I won the position of Crown Princess for you. How can you not want it?"

The moon had always hung high among the clouds, noble and untouched by even a speck of dust.

Yet she had walked through the mud for him.

That was all right. He would send her back to the clouds.

Theme: When emperor and empress are of one mind, the realm will prosper.

2":"[Complete, including extra chapters]

1.

Xiao Wanfeng was recalled from the frontier. He laid down his armor and became a wealthy, carefree prince in the capital.

During a palace banquet filled with song and dance, a beautiful woman in plain clothes slowly walked past below.

She was none other than the daughter of the disgraced Xie family, recently caught up in a major case.

The Xie family's legitimate daughter, Xie Mingshang, was radiant and beautiful, with a spoiled and haughty disposition.

Even as a condemned woman, she still held her chin high, slanting her clear black-and-white eyes at him and shooting him a frosty glare.

The emperor smiled and gestured toward the beauty. "I hear the Xie family had old grievances with Fifth Brother when they were at the frontier. How about I make the decision and give you Miss Xie?"

Xiao Wanfeng held a golden cup and replied calmly, "Thank you, Imperial Brother."

2.

Prince of Hejian Xiao Wanfeng was taciturn, decisive, and ruthless.

Xie Mingshang first met the Prince of Hejian at her own home. The prince needed a residence, and apparently he had his eye on the Xie family estate.

Xie Mingshang: ?

The second time they formally met was at the palace banquet.

As the beauty who had been bestowed upon him, Xie Mingshang gave him a frosty glare.

The moment she carried her bundle into the Prince of Hejian's residence, she thought she would never live to see the Xie family cleared of its charges and reunited with her relatives.

In her first month at the prince's residence, she wanted to die.

In her second month, she was still alive and well.

In her third month, she began to wonder if the Prince of Hejian might actually like her.

Later, spring and summer in the capital gave way to autumn and winter.

On a lazy winter day, she rested her pale toes on the Prince of Hejian's knee and languidly told him to help her put on her shoes.

He simply covered her cold winter feet with his warm hands and asked, "Which pair?"

3.

In those days, winds and sand swept across the mountain passes and desert, and a lone horseman raced through the moonlight.

In countless dreams, Xiao Wanfeng always saw a pretty young girl of about ten, slinging a curved saber over her shoulder as she watered her horse by the river. She would bite into a sweet apricot and kick up her little boots as she waited for him.

Years after they parted, they met again. That little girl had grown up... and did not remember him.

Reader's Guide

1. The main story is told from the heroine's perspective.

2. The hero has been secretly in love with her for years. Expect a bittersweet push and pull, mutual healing, and a touch of court intrigue.

3. The setting is fictional, loosely modeled on the Tang and Song dynasties. Please don't nitpick the history.

4. This is self-indulgent writing, so please don't give writing advice. Enjoy the story!

5. More to come if I think of anything.

Next Book Coming Soon: Is Nobody Going to Marry Their Nemesis?

Zhang Hanyu, an orphan from a prestigious family, takes a powerful eunuch as her adoptive father. Beneath her refined appearance lies a calculating mind. With honeyed words and a silver tongue, she manipulates government policies by controlling the young emperor... This treacherous minister is actually a woman!

When her identity is exposed, the whole realm is in an uproar.

Zhang Hanyu is stripped of her status and sent to the palace for penal labor. Everyone assumes that will be the end of her, but the young emperor can't bear to let her go! He hides her by his side, leaving open the possibility that she might rise again. The ministers are aghast!

At a spring banquet, in full view of everyone, a beautiful palace maid and a court official attending the feast tumble into a pond. They climb back out soaked through, embracing each other.

The palace beauty is Zhang Hanyu, who happened to be passing by the pond. The refined court official who pulled her ashore is none other than her longtime political rival, Ling Fengchi.

Unable to withstand the ministers' pressure, the young emperor tearfully orders the two of them to marry.

"I schemed against you. I ruined your future and your reputation. If you hate me..."

Ling Fengchi did not finish. He lowered his eyes to the dragon-and-phoenix wedding candles, then reached out and pinched out the flames.

"The past is too painful to speak of, Hanyu. Tonight is our wedding night."

Zhang Hanyu lay on the soft quilt, tears still lingering in the corners of her eyes.

The famed flower on the high ridge of the capital at last had her driven mad. She cast aside her cool reserve, and her frenzied side, hidden from the world, was ten times more beautiful than she had imagined.

Mmm... unforgettable.

[Hero's Perspective]

Ling Fengchi valued talent. Sadly, the woman who amazed him most in this life was also the one who pained him most. He watched coldly as she strayed farther and farther down the wrong path, until she finally brought about her own downfall.

He schemed against her, forced her to marry him, and watched her weep beneath him, tears streaming down her face. She must hate him to the depths of her soul.

His shadowy desire for her became a thorn lodged in the heart of a noble gentleman whose character was as bright and clear as the sun and moon. He restrained himself from seeking her out, and let her escape.

After she was gone and the rooms stood empty, he calmly opened the door to sort through the old things in their bridal chamber, only to find a diary she had left behind.

"Only twice this month."

"Once this month."

"Not even once."

"Who could stand living like a widow? I'm leaving!"

Ling Fengchi's eyes slowly narrowed. "..."

In the hero's eyes: a forced marriage and possessive pursuit.

The heroine: Having fun and leaving is great.

[Reader's Guide]

1. The heroine's thought process is not normal. Not normal. That's important enough to say twice.

2. The hero is a refined gentleman, a flower atop a high ridge. After meeting the heroine, his entire worldview is shattered.

3. A lighthearted change of pace, with a happy ending.

Theme: Break free of the cocoon and become a butterfly.