A heartless little firecracker X a refined scoundrel with a hidden dark side
Falling into the tiger's den | Sex before love | Running away while pregnant | 1v1 HE
When Xue Yuan first met He Huainian, she was an apprentice musician at Fanglou.
She performed at three venues a day, wore coarse cloth clothes that cost a string of coins, and tied her guqin to her waist with a cloth cord. A kitten she'd just rescued followed behind her.
He Huainian wore fine silks and rode in a carriage. He was the young master of the prominent He family and the new top scholar, as lofty and precious as the moon hanging high in the sky.
Xue Yuan unexpectedly got a ride home in He Huainian's carriage. The smell of his fox-fur cloak made her dizzy and nauseated, as if reminding her that she and He Huainian belonged to two different worlds.
Xue Yuan had never intended to cross that line.
All she wanted from life was to earn enough money to buy her freedom, then throw the silver in her parents' faces and escape that cramped home.
That was all.
She didn't care where she went.
*
He Huainian didn't consider himself a gentleman. He was simply good at hiding it.
That was, until he met Xue Yuan.
Xue Yuan wasn't an appropriate person to look after. She made a living performing in public, got drunk and cried and made a scene, and even argued with him.
He Huainian was clear-headed and measured. He knew that if he wanted a concubine, he should choose someone who knew how to please him. If he wanted a wife, she should be his social equal.
Xue Yuan was neither.
Yet he still indulged her, gave her free rein, and even led her into tricking him.
After a wild night together, He Huainian wanted to tell Xue Yuan to stop performing. He would take care of her.
*
Xue Yuan couldn't understand why He Huainian was so good to her.
She was mud on the ground. Mud could never reach the moon in the sky.
She still wanted to make a quick profit and live quietly on her own.
After that night of passion, Xue Yuan considered things between her and He Huainian settled.
With silver notes in hand, her guqin on her back, and her cat in tow, she ran to the Qinhuai River in Jinling. There she reinvented herself as the head of Langyuan.
And He Huainian?
She thought of him as a former patron, and only brought up his name when unruly customers caused trouble and she needed some backing.
They laughed at her, saying she had some nerve, throwing around the name of the governor.
Xue Yuan smiled and took out a folding fan she'd kept hidden away. On it was a red seal bearing He Huainian's inscription.
Then one day, another musician came to Xue Yuan, crying and begging for help. Xue Yuan took out the fan again, but the man didn't even look at it. He splashed a cup of tea over it, ruining the fan's surface.
Furious, Xue Yuan was about to drag him to the authorities.
But the man turned around, his face dark.
"Are you sure you want to bring a lawsuit against me?"
Reader's guide:
Both leads are virgins, 1v1, HE, sweet romance
Theme: Love makes flesh and blood grow wildly
