After Marrying My Political Rival

[Willful, spoiled little troublemaker x cool, scheming powerful minister]

Zhaoqi had been the darling of the marquis's household since childhood. She was beautiful and spoiled, and she often disguised herself as her twin brother to attend the Imperial College, until she finally ran into someone she couldn't handle.

Xie Zhang came from a distinguished family. He entered the cabinet and became chancellor at the age of twenty. He was as cold and pure as snow in the heavens.

One remark from him, "You are unruly and neglect your studies," earned Zhaoqi a beating as soon as she returned home.

An accident sent Zhaoqi and Xie Zhang tumbling into the water together. At the time, the Crown Prince's faction and Prince Qing's faction were locked in fierce rivalry. The marquis's household had no choice but to abandon its wavering stance, and Xie Zhang happened to be the most influential minister at the Crown Prince's side. A marriage alliance, made while circumstances were favorable, was the best choice.

*

With a heart full of reluctance, Zhaoqi married her sworn enemy, Xie Zhang.

On their wedding night, her new husband laid out the rules of the household. She had to pay her respects every morning and evening, and even the nights they shared a bed were scheduled:

Only on the first and fifteenth of each month.

She hadn't been able to beat him before. Was she still going to lose to him now that they were married?

Zhaoqi was determined to make the lofty minister taste the misery of longing for love. She used asking for help with poetry and books as an excuse to flirt with Xie Zhang, only to get a beating on the palm for poor schoolwork. She kissed him once in the carriage, and all he did was calmly scold her: "Don't be ridiculous."

Fine, then! She wasn't going to bother with him anymore!

*

After several days without seeing the spoiled little terror, Xie Zhang found the solitude of his study increasingly hard to bear.

Zhaoqi was still lounging in bed when she was summoned to the study to work on her lessons. At last she angrily threw down her brush. "You don't even like me, and you won't share a bed with me. All you ever do is make me study..."

"You're not my husband at all!" Zhaoqi said angrily.

The usually proper and decorous minister pressed her down onto the desk. Her gauzy robe hung open, and her pink clothes were thin. With an amused smile, he caught the soft lips of the woman in his arms.

"Then who do you want to be your husband?"

One-on-one, both leads are each other's one and only, light and sweet, older man, slow burn, everyday life

Check out my upcoming novel, Concealing Her Charm.

Chunhe was a little nun at Cheng'en Temple on Qingcheng Mountain. Her life was poor, and she had offended the old nun. She spent her days washing clothes, scrubbing floors, and carrying water, constantly being scolded and punished, and never getting enough to eat.

As she held a broken bowl and ate spoiled rice, Chunhe cried and thought bitterly:

Just you wait. Just wait. Once I rise above you all and become a phoenix, I'll make everyone who ever bullied me kneel at my feet and beg forgiveness!

The new emperor arrived at the temple to pray for blessings and burn incense.

This was the perfect opportunity sent by heaven. She would get into the imperial bed, become a consort, and take her revenge.

Chunhe meant to go to the emperor's quarters, but accidentally entered a guard's room and spent a night of passion with a handsome young guard who had been drugged.

A guard? A guard would do, too, as long as he had money.

The young guard said regretfully that he was lazy, had squandered his family fortune, and was broke.

Chunhe's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally died. With tears in her eyes, she could only say they should end it there. He was poor, and so was she. Neither of them was ambitious, and if they lived together, they would only starve.

*

Not long after ascending the throne, the new emperor went to Cheng'en Temple to pray for blessings.

That night, after paying his respects to Heaven and Earth, he slipped away from his attendants and wandered alone into the bamboo grove behind the mountain to enjoy the stillness of the moonlit night. A muffled sobbing sound came from deeper in the grove. Hesitating, he walked toward it.

A young nun in blue sat with her back to him, holding a broken bowl and eating spoiled rice. She looked so miserable, so clearly mistreated.

The emperor couldn't help feeling compassion and was about to approach her.

The little nun said, "I'm going to get into the imperial bed..."

"And make you all pay."

After sleeping with someone while drugged, the emperor thought he could simply give her a title. But then he opened his eyes and saw the very little nun who had boldly declared she would get into the imperial bed.

He suddenly changed his mind.

*

At first, he only thought of her as a cat or dog to keep, and wanted to watch how this greedy, lascivious little nun would attach herself to the powerful.

Later, she was cuddling a cat and had practically climbed onto his head. He thought, now that she's his empress, what harm would there be in spoiling her a little more?

Theme: Everyone can live a life of their own making.