Qiu Huaiyi had traveled thousands of miles to marry the Crown Prince. She was the nominal sister-in-law of the Third Prince, Yu Yongting.
Yet by a twist of fate, they defied moral convention and secretly slept together, making her his hidden lover.
She always thought Yu Yongting had saved her from the flames, and that she could give him anything he wanted.
She indulged his unrestrained demands by being considerate and accommodating, and accepted his unpredictable moods with understanding.
Every time they shared a tender moment, she felt as if she were drowning in the waves, afraid to ask herself:
Was she acting this way to survive in a desperate situation, or because she couldn't let go of her distant family and their safety?
Or was what she dared least to examine the unnameable love and desire she had quietly hidden in her heart?
Day after day, Qiu Huaiyi thought Yu Yongting must feel some affection and pity for her.
Then she heard him talking with a rising star at court. "You mean the former Crown Prince's widow, my sister-in-law? She's deeply calculating, with nothing but a pretty face. Why would you care about her?"
She pretended not to hear, pretended not to be hurt.
She could keep deceiving herself, comforting herself again and again that he said those things to protect her, that he didn't want to hand her over to someone else.
But one rainy night, she accidentally overheard a private conversation.
Yu Yongting said of everything that had happened between them: "I hate everything about the former Crown Prince. I'll destroy everything he had. As for that woman, she was just a bit of fun, and I haven't had my fill yet..."
So she was nothing but a pawn in a struggle between brothers, a trophy he couldn't care less about.
All he enjoyed was the thrill of humiliating and playing with a mere toy.
She'd deluded herself and paid for it with foolish naivete.
Then it would end here. She chose to die...
--
Yu Yongting was cold-blooded by nature. He would stop at nothing to claim the position of Crown Prince, and saw the former Crown Prince as his greatest threat.
At first, he cast aside the princess who had come to marry the Crown Prince, even as she clung to him and begged him.
Later, when he reluctantly humored her, he treated her as nothing more than a possession left behind by the former Crown Prince, to toy with and humiliate.
He had always looked down on everything, and knew himself well. He was convinced that a cold, heartless man like him would never give anyone even a scrap of his true feelings.
Until one day, he heard a group of court officials gossiping: "That princess who came for the marriage alliance has been dead for many days. Her body was found in a terrible state..."
Utter nonsense!
How could Qiu Huaiyi, who treasured her life and feared pain, just choose to die?
How could she abandon him like this?!
Hah. Such a pathetic, laughable trick might fool those idiots at best.
As for him,
he would never believe it.
*Reading Guide:
1. An alternate universe, very much an alternate universe.
2. The Crown Prince died before the formal wedding, so the heroine is only his nominal widow. The blurb doesn't tell the whole story; there's more to it.
3. Blurb posted on 2023/11/15, revised on 2024/12/8, and formally recorded.
Theme: Stay clear-headed and independent.
