A Debt to the Emperor's Grace

[My Next Book Is The Enemy Who Turned Out to Be My Beloved, Blurb Below. Please Add It to Your Favorites, Pretty Please~]

Blurb:

For the first seventeen years of Yu Tingxue's life, her father and brothers doted on her, and her mother spoiled her. She was the most unattainable beauty in Tai'an City.

Then, overnight, she was cast aside and became a princess sent north to the desert to marry for peace.

And at her side was a... madman watching her like a predator.

He could softly say the cruelest things: "Don't be afraid. We'll keep each other company on the road to the underworld."

He could also kneel for her and beg with all humility: "I only want to marry her. Father, please grant my wish."

Thankfully, she didn't care. All she wanted was to climb higher and keep her fate firmly in her own hands.

Years later, they met again in a foreign land. The man who had once been cruel and vicious was gone, replaced by Tuoba Han, considerate in every way and relentless in his pursuit.

Only then did she learn that Tuoba Han, who had made a name for himself at a young age and was famed for his cold-hearted ruthlessness, was just a pitiable man with distant parents and brothers at each other's throats.

She softened toward him a little.

After the realm was finally at peace, the young emperor ruled with an iron fist. Yet time and again, his eyes reddened before her. "Yu Tingxue, when are you going to marry me?"

*

Everyone knew that the second prince, Tuoba Han, was the fiercest wolf in the northern desert, and an eagle with broken wings.

At their first meeting, the woman wore blue as white as snow. She was like the bright moon above the mountains, and like a brisk breeze, stirring his heart for no reason at all.

Though he knew she was to marry someone else, he repeatedly held himself back, yet he could never resist being drawn to her.

Until she was granted in marriage to another, and there was no turning back.

When they met again, he laid out his plans one step at a time, silently weaving a tender web of love from which she could not escape.

The woman who had once avoided him at every turn willingly fell into his trap. Only then did he understand that he had long since fallen into a faith called her.

Fortunately, the bright moon eventually came into his arms, and among the countless lights, one finally belonged to him.

*

Desire lay hidden beneath the surface, while true feelings emerged into the light when life hung by a thread.

Reading Guide:

1. Both leads are each other's only partners; one-on-one romance; happy ending.

2. There are hidden reasons behind the heroine being granted in marriage, which will be explained in the story.

3. The heroine is career-minded, while the hero is a little love-struck (and a bit crazy early on).

Blurb for a Forthcoming Novel:

Yao Nanxing was an orphan raised by the late crown prince Jing Zhao. He cherished and spoiled her, treating her like a young lady from a noble family.

But one day, the crown prince rebelled and died in the wilderness.

She was then married to Shen Jianzhi, a son born to the Shen family's concubine.

Everyone in the capital said she had forgotten her benefactor and repaid the crown prince's kindness with betrayal. Yet she and Shen Jianzhi lived together in perfect harmony.

After the wedding, she kept the Shen household in perfect order:

When the old master Shen fell gravely ill, she cared for him day and night.

When Shen Jianzhi's wicked stepmother repeatedly tried to harm him, she stood by him through every crisis.

When Shen Jianzhi's beloved concubine suffered a difficult labor, she defied everyone's objections and delivered the baby herself.

Everyone in the capital came to believe that Yao Nanxing was so bewitched by Shen Jianzhi that she had long since forgotten the late crown prince.

Then, just as the old master Shen handed her the household manager's token, on a bright and sunny day, the Imperial Guards stormed the Shen residence and arrested the entire family.

Yao Nanxing, always gentle and obedient, always smiling, hurled a stack of letters at Shen Jianzhi's face. Her expression was icy, her gaze cold.

"Your time has come." She wiped her gleaming dagger. "Go to hell and beg my crown prince's forgiveness."

-

Crown Prince Jing Zhao had lived an upright and honorable life with an open heart, yet he had nearly died because of the schemes of his younger brother Jing Lan and the Shen family.

Fortunately, Heaven took pity on him. He escaped death, disguised himself as Shen Jianzhi, and entered the dragon's den himself, vowing to kill his enemies with his own hands.

But he never imagined that the little girl he had taken in from a ruined temple would obey Jing Lan's orders, marry into the Shen family, and spy on Shen Jianzhi day and night.

So Yao Nanxing was Jing Lan's pawn.

So Yao Nanxing had always loved Jing Lan.

So even Yao Nanxing, the person he trusted most, had betrayed him.

He watched with his own eyes as the little girl who had always thrown her weight around in the Crown Prince's residence fawned over the old master Shen; he watched the innocent, kind-hearted Yao Nanxing navigate the Shen household's constant dangers.

And all of it was for Jing Lan.

She really did love Jing Lan that much.

Until the day Yao Nanxing plunged her dagger into his chest. As his consciousness faded, he heard her say:

"Your Highness, I have finally avenged you."

Core Theme: When life is as precarious as duckweed, you must save yourself.