Indulging the Songbird

Next up: Secretly Raising a Precious Darling. Coming soon! Add it to your collection if you're interested.

1.

Chen Zaixi's mother died, leaving her alone and helpless. She temporarily stayed at the Duke's mansion, where the Old Madam considered her a burden and casually asked someone to find her a husband.

On the night her betrothal was arranged, Chen Zaixi had a dream.

She died on her wedding night.

Everyone knew the Duke's mansion had an heir who served as a minister at the Court of Judicial Review. He was scrupulously fair, never rushed to close a case, and was praised by the common people.

Desperate to break off the engagement, Chen Zaixi had no choice but to seek out the heir, her cousin, reputed to be fair, incorruptible, and highly respected.

Whatever it took, she only wanted to call off this disgraceful engagement.

But her cousin saw through her little scheme at once. His tone was cold and utterly unforgiving: “The Song family has taken you in, so you should know your place and have some self-respect.”

2.

Chen Zaixi did not want to believe her dream, but it had felt so real, as if she had truly experienced it.

Old Madam Song always got her way, and Chen Zaixi had no choice but to turn to her cousin.

Yet only a few months later, she had that same dream again.

“...”

After a night of passionate entanglement, she held her chest and cautiously looked up. Turning her head, she saw her cousin's dazed, yearning eyes.

He smiled at her. “Still sulking at your cousin?”

But he was clearly just like the man in her dream.

She died on her wedding night, and the man in the dream had the same eyes as her cousin.

She might as well end this cursed engagement.

Chen Zaixi ran without hesitation.

3.

In the small town of Jiangyang, her uncle found her another good match. With the wedding approaching, Chen Zaixi went to collect her bridal gown.

She looked up and saw her cousin, whom she had not seen in a long time, standing behind her with a blank expression.

“...”

She turned to run, only to discover that everyone had disappeared from the Tianxiang Pavilion at some point.

Then a large hand gently closed around her neck, tender as a caress yet firm as a restraint, as if her fragile neck could be snapped with ease.

Her bright red bridal gown lay scattered on the ground. Chen Zaixi froze, and the next moment she heard her cousin's cool, indifferent voice:

“Little liar, didn't you say you were going to marry your cousin? Why run?”

[Living under someone else's roof, delicate and frail x aloof and composed, rigidly self-controlled]

Scheming little liar x Driven to madness

//Reader's Guide//

1. Not a strong female lead. The heroine likes to cry. Both leads are sexually inexperienced. The hero is not what he seems and is actually possessive. Dreams play a role in the story.

2. This is my first historical romance, so I'm not very familiar with the genre. I've used a few modern expressions here and there, which may feel out of place. Read at your own risk. The writing is very basic, very basic, very basic!

Theme: Change the present and keep moving forward.