Snow on the Hairpin

Some plot sections have been revised.

[Bookish, clear-headed, brilliant beauty x ridiculously powerful, raffish prince]

A sweet story about winning his wife back

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Shen Yuanci was gifted from childhood. When her father came to Chang'an to serve as the Grand Astrologer, she was fortunate enough to attend the Imperial Academy as a study companion.

Men studied to earn distinction and become officials, but women who studied were still confined to the inner quarters.

"What use is studying for a woman? Are you planning to become a female Doctor of the Five Classics?"

So what if it was a Doctor of the Five Classics? Shen Yuanci refused to believe a woman couldn't do it. From then on, she studied even harder, determined to become a female Doctor of the Five Classics.

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But at the Imperial Academy, a raffish prince had his eyes fixed on her. He showed up in front of her every few days to make his presence known, shamelessly giving Shen Yuanci a terrible headache.

Shen Yuanci tried to get him to leave. "Your Highness, I'm still reading. You're blocking the light."

But Zhou Jingshen sat right beside her and said with a half-smile, "What about now? Am I still in the way?"

Shen Yuanci: ...What a scoundrel.

Before long, Shen Yuanci blushed and pressed both hands against the scoundrel's chest. "I put on lip rouge today. If it's gone, people will notice."

Zhou Jingshen raised her chin and stroked her lips with his thumb, chuckling softly. "What if I don't get any on me? Would that be all right?"

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Later, a treacherous minister rebelled. Zhou Jingshen defeated his faction single-handedly and ascended the throne. But the Grand Astrologer died in the palace coup, and the whereabouts of Lady Shen were unknown.

When he saw Shen Yuanci again, he ruled the realm, while she was only a village schoolteacher. Their stations were worlds apart.

Even after Shen Yuanci achieved her wish and became a Doctor of the Five Classics, people still gossiped behind her back: "Doctor Shen used to have such high standards. She even turned down His Majesty when he was still a prince. I wonder how she feels about it now?"

Zhou Jingshen told her, "Thanks to you, people now say I was the man you rejected. Where does that leave the dignity of a mighty ruler like me?"

Shen Yuanci smiled. "And how does Your Majesty intend to quash the rumors?"

Zhou Jingshen replied carelessly, "If you would agree to marry me, the rumors would be disproved at once."

Reader's guide:

1. Set in a fictional Han dynasty. The main characters are partly inspired by historical figures, with original details added.

2. He pursues her openly and directly in everyday life.

3. Both leads are sexually inexperienced. One-on-one sweet romance.

Coming next: Sixteen Provinces Beneath the Bright Moon. Please add it to your favorites.

Marriage first, love later | Forced seduction | Political intrigue | Both leads are sexually inexperienced

A fallen princess vs. a ruthless warlord

In the winter of Yongning Year Three, the northern Yan tribe conquered Jian'an. The royal family was captured, and the Liang court moved south and enthroned a new emperor.

Afterward, war raged across the lands north of the Central Plains. Northern Yan and Northern Qi fought endlessly, and the people suffered.

A princess of Liang became a prisoner but managed to escape. To take her revenge, she became a Northern Qi spy named Jiang Yue, entered the Yan palace as a favored consort, and personally witnessed the fall of the Yan dynasty and the tyrant's death at her hands.

But once the mission was complete, she could only win her freedom by completing another: removing Wei Yanzhou, a powerful Northern Qi minister who stood in the court's way.

To escape the life of a spy, Jiang Yue used every means at her disposal to get close to Wei Yanzhou and become his favored concubine...

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Wei Yanzhou was descended from a Liang general. As a boy, he once caught a glimpse of the proudest moon in Jian'an.

Ten years ago, when the Liang dynasty fell, he was captured by Yan soldiers while fleeing after taking the place of a prince. Though he was then a lowly hostage, he saw Jiang Yue again, now a favored consort...

The night Jiang Yue was framed by the palace consorts and drugged with an aphrodisiac, she forced him to be her antidote. He was willing, but he never expected Jiang Yue to try to assassinate him afterward.

Fortunately, Wei Yanzhou survived and escaped. He later became a powerful Northern Qi minister, intent on taking revenge on everyone in the Yan palace who had harmed him.

But he never expected Jiang Yue not only to fail to recognize him when they met again, but to use every means at her disposal to flirt with him and get close.

Very well. This time, he would see who ended up in whose hands.

Theme: Heaven rewards hard work.