Han Lu Has a Bright Future

Please give my next upcoming novel, Spring's Return, a little click! Thank you!

When Crown Prince Xiao Han went on a northern campaign, he returned with an orphan girl. Her face was sallow, her body gaunt, and she looked utterly worn out, but her bright, crystalline eyes refused to yield.

From then on, the Yan royal family had a princess who bore another surname. Her name was Zhaolu, and she studied alongside the Crown Prince as they grew up together.

When Zhaolu was sixteen, the emperor summoned the newly appointed top scholar and asked what reward he wanted. Someone nearby joked, "Why not marry the princess?" Within half a year, the new scholar was sent off to a bitterly cold frontier, and his career suffered a major setback.

Zhaolu was seventeen. Once she had her coming-of-age ceremony, she could be betrothed. She and Pei Shao, the Crown Prince's study companion, had been childhood friends and shared each other's feelings. They were only waiting for her to come of age before Pei Shao asked the emperor for her hand.

On the day of her coming-of-age ceremony, Zhaolu waited eagerly for Pei Shao to propose. Instead, a strong hand seized her at the banquet and dragged her into the Eastern Palace.

The man before her looked at her with eyes as cold as ice. "You want to marry someone while I'm away? Have you considered the consequences?"

Zhaolu's expression did not change. She glared at him furiously. "Tianqi values propriety above all. You have always been known as a man of impeccable conduct, Brother. Can you bear the blame?"

As if guessing what she was about to say, he gave a low laugh and leaned close to her neck, his voice both intimate and arrogant. "We're not on the imperial register, so we're not siblings. And I think you've forgotten who pulled you out of the mud. Since you won't have it any other way, then we'll sink together."

Later, he truly did take her down with him, ignoring her cries.

A gentle breeze stirred and swept aside the curtains around the bed. The palace servants were kept outside the door. They saw the Crown Prince emerge from the room, carrying a woman in his arms. Her hands were slender, her waist graceful. The servants immediately lowered their heads, and none of them noticed that the woman had a face identical to the princess's.

Han, the Crown Prince's given name, means the first light of dawn.

At the first light of dawn, he saw Zhaolu.

[This blurb was written so long ago that even the author can't remember it well. I checked the document date. It must have been saved on 2023-09-24.]

A cool, controlling Crown Prince older brother VS a bright, growing younger sister.

The leads are not related by blood. The male lead has always been the only one in love with the female lead.

Important warnings!

[The author is constantly revising as she writes! Pirated versions are incomplete. The only official version is on Jinjiang. Please support the author!]

Unless something unexpected happens, updates will come every night at 21:00. I'll give you a heads-up in the author's notes if there's a break, so don't worry.

Reading suggestions:

1. The characters' values do not represent the author's. The plot serves the romance, so please don't attack the author personally.

2. The author is not a full-time writer. This novel began during the New Year period. Updates will follow the rankings before going premium and become daily afterward. If real-life matters pile up, I'll mention any breaks in the author's notes.

3. This is my first time trying this kind of story, and my abilities are limited. If you drop the novel, there's no need to tell me.

...Upcoming novel blurb...

Xia Linlang was the most proper person in the Xia family of the southern part of the city. She never fought or made a fuss, and lived quietly until she was sixteen. Her birth mother had died young, and her father ignored her, so she still hadn't been betrothed. The neighbors all felt a little sorry for her, lamenting that such a beautiful and dignified young woman had ended up with no one seeking her hand.

Everything changed at a spring banquet.

[1]

On the eve of the Flower Festival, the emperor and empress held a banquet, hoping to celebrate alongside the people. On the day of the feast, one careless remark from the emperor accidentally brought Xia Linlang and Gu Jun together.

Xia Linlang felt guilty, and after the banquet she took the initiative to explain. "If you don't want this, Lord Gu, you can ask the emperor to annul the engagement."

Gu Jun glanced at her. His indifferent tone suggested that he had accepted the situation. "What do you take me for, Miss Xia? I can't defy an imperial decree."

Well, then they'd just have to make do.

[2]

Gu Jun was the noble heir of the founding duke of the Northern Dynasty. He was strikingly handsome, but his temperament was so reserved that he struggled to speak with women. At twenty-three, he still had no betrothal arranged.

When the emperor's marriage edict arrived, his colleagues and friends all teased him. "We thought Lord Gu had seen through the world and was about to become a monk. Who knew he'd suddenly become a married man?"

Gu Jun barely reacted. Turning a cup of wine in his fingers, he answered absentmindedly, his brows faintly furrowed. "We'll be strangers to each other. There's no need to take it to heart."

At that, everyone understood. It was a pity: one was as handsome as Pan An, and the other as beautiful as a goddess, yet theirs was nothing more than a marriage without love.

They assumed that the pair, who treated each other with icy courtesy, would eventually go their separate ways.

But later, at a Gu family banquet, Xia Linlang, now the lady of the household, accidentally burned her hand. Gu Jun's face darkened, and he glared at the person who had served the tea. It was his distant cousin, whose eyes had been fixed on Gu Jun ever since the banquet began. Now they watched as he gently took Xia Linlang's injured wrist, his eyes full of concern. "Come back with me first. I'll put some medicine on it, then we can come out again."

Everyone: "..."

"Didn't you say there was no love between you?"

Theme: Even in adversity, have the courage to move forward