A subject steals the ruler's wife / coercive romance
Brooding, unhinged powerful minister x proud, clever crown princess
Liu Shimin lost her memory while fleeing an arranged marriage and was saved by Guan Liushen. Beautiful and dazzling, she had been raised in luxury. Even after losing her memory, she retained the airs of a pampered young lady, often making things difficult for Guan Liushen and teasing him, ordering him to do this and that.
"Guan Liushen, I want that rabbit. Go catch it for me."
"Guan Liushen, I'm hungry... Is there any meat?"
"Guan Liushen..."
Guan Liushen was a scholar, reserved and slow to warm up, but kind and honest. Whatever Liu Shimin asked of him, he did without complaint. When he was about to head to the capital for the imperial exams, Liu Shimin gave him all her money.
She smiled brightly. "Guan Liushen, hurry up and pass the exams. I'll be waiting for you at home."
Overcome by his feelings, Guan Liushen broke propriety for the first time and embraced her. "All right. When I come back, let's get married."
Liu Shimin nodded in agreement.
After coming first in the exams, Guan Liushen received a letter from his mother saying that Liu Shimin had gone missing.
But when the procession of the top scholar parading through the streets on horseback came across the royal entourage bringing the newly appointed crown princess to the palace to give thanks, wasn't Liu Shimin sitting in that carriage?
Guan Liushen dismounted and broke through layer after layer of guards to stop the royal procession, but heavily armed soldiers seized him and pressed him to the ground.
He asked just one thing: "Didn't you promise to wait for me at home...?"
Liu Shimin suppressed the urge rising in her heart, her nails digging into her palm.
She replied, "The top scholar must have mistaken me for someone else."
Years later, they met again. She was a crown princess whose family had fallen into ruin, constrained at every turn. He was the accomplished Chief Minister, honored at the Cloud Terrace and Qilin Pavilion, as well as the crown prince's tutor.
Everyone said that Chancellor Guan served diligently in teaching the crown prince. But they had no idea that within the Eastern Palace, in a place hidden from view, the upright Chancellor Guan held the crown princess captive in his arms and kissed her shoulder. His gaze was dark and sinister. "Your Highness the Crown Princess has a poor memory. Let me help you recall how, whenever you were dreaming, you would weep in my arms and lose yourself in our passionate embraces."
[Reader's guide] Blurb screenshotted on 2025.10.17
1. Dreaming: sleepwalking
2. Both leads are each other's only partners
Theme: Prosperity, democracy, civilization, and harmony
