Those Years in the Cold Palace with the Deposed Crown Prince

[Healing Sweet Romance]

[An ancient version of shared-rent fiction: two people making ends meet together. At first he looked down on her, but later he chased his wife all over the palace.]

Blurb:

During those years in Wanchun Palace, they seemed almost cut off from the world.

The emperor's uncle ascended the throne. That year, Cheng Yu had just turned fifteen. The deposed former Crown Prince, he lived worse than a servant.

Shanshan was a lowly palace maid who swept the floors, as insignificant as a mayfly among thousands of leaves, and as ordinary as anyone could be in the palace.

When she was assigned to serve Cheng Yu, the chief eunuch gave her an order:

"Keep a close eye on the deposed Crown Prince. If he takes his own life, you can forget about keeping your head, too."

At first, Shanshan stopped him from killing himself to save her own head.

Poisoned wine, falling into the lake... Shanshan dragged him back from the brink of death every time. In the howling wind and thunder, she even used her frail body to shield him from the storm.

But after Cheng Yu became a prisoner, he was willing to die but would not endure humiliation. He loathed her actions and looked down on her for them.

Cheng Yu was proud and aloof. Through countless days, he repeatedly brushed Shanshan's hands away, not caring if he humiliated her.

With a stiff expression, he said, "You don't need to bother with me."

Shanshan thought, "If it weren't for keeping my head, who would want to bother with you..."

At first, Shanshan thought Cheng Yu was a block of ice that would never melt.

He was always gloomy, disdainful, and arrogant when he spoke to her. He often complained about her, calling her stupid.

Until one snowy night, Shanshan was bedridden and burning with a high fever.

She was a low-ranking palace maid, and no imperial physician would come to save her.

Just as Shanshan thought she was sure to die that night, a pair of large hands suddenly reached through the dim yellow light behind the curtains and lifted her up.

Shanshan mumbled, "Does the King of Hell usually collect people early these days?"

But the man carried her through the snowy night, striding swiftly, his voice urgent and vicious: "You are not allowed to die! You are not allowed to die! If you dare to die, I will... I will..."

Her head was groggy.

Her body bounced so much she felt like throwing up.

Shanshan thought, "I really must be terribly sick. I'm hearing things. Why does this little devil from the underworld sound so much like Cheng Yu?"

Notes:

Shared-rent fiction means people getting through hard times together and finding little joys along the way... haha, this is the ancient version.

They are both teenagers. Love grows over time, with face-slapping and a devoted 1v1 romance.

Both are sexually inexperienced, happy ending.

At first he looked down on her, but later he chased his wife all over the palace (manually adding a dog-head emoji).

[The ending is good! Trust me! It's sweet! The male lead is extremely, extremely doting. He will ascend the throne! He absolutely will! It's not angsty, really, it's not angsty.]

Blurb written on 2024.2.17 (version 2.0)

Theme: Even in the hardest times, keep striving to bloom