The Mistake of Quiet Joy

As one of the lowest-ranking servants in the food chain, a lowly palace maid has very little say in her own fate.

So Rouyun agreed to the princess's request. At night, she would take the princess's place in bed with the husband she disliked, keeping the Empress Dowager from discovering the truth about the marriage.

On every pitch-black night, as the bed curtains swayed, Rouyun endured everything she could to avoid giving herself away.

Her only hope was that the princess would soon divorce, freeing her from this torment of body and heart.

The day of the divorce did indeed come soon.

But what Rouyun never expected was that the prince consort, famed for his noble, aloof bearing and for keeping others at a distance, would make "keeping Rouyun" a condition of the divorce.

[Little Scene]

Not long after Princess Pei Yu's wedding, a friend came to visit the newlywed prince consort.

Seeing that the couple seemed rather distant, the friend brought something potent to help his friend get in the mood. But the friend was used by someone else, and the drug's strength was increased several times over.

That night, Pei Yu was barely conscious. He still remembered being rough and thought he might have hurt the princess.

The next morning, he went to the princess's quarters to apologize. She looked bright and lively, with no sign of fatigue. But the palace maid who attended her every day had suddenly fallen ill and was nowhere to be seen.

*

The next day, Pei Yu happened upon the recovered palace maid in the garden.

Though it was summer, she had fastened her collar high. As her eyes darted away, a few unusual red marks seemed to show on her neck.

They appeared to overlap with the places where he had been rough the night before.

[Reading Notes]

1. The "prince consort" is the male lead. Both leads are inexperienced, and each is the other's one and only.

2. The male lead has no feelings for the princess. It is an arranged marriage in an ancient setting, with the couple wed without knowing each other and never consummating the marriage.

3. The dynasty is fictional, with a mishmash of invented details.

4. Later in the main story, the heroine fakes her death and runs away while pregnant. Please avoid this story if you dislike that plot. Thank you, dear readers. The extras do not include a pregnancy plot.

5. This is not a particularly long story. The extras tell a different version of the same premise with a different setup: the main story has a youthful, bittersweet romance, while the extras are more flirtatious and intense. Two takes for the price of one! You can also skip straight to the extras for a complete story. Feel free to choose whichever you prefer~

The upcoming historical romance After Seeking Help from an Obsessive Young Man is here~

Ruan Qiuyan is a young lady from a fallen noble family. When someone she should never have fallen for takes an interest in her, she incurs the jealousy of someone she cannot afford to offend. They cover her mouth and nose, sell her to a trafficker, and send her to another unfamiliar country.

Far from the emperor's reach, a noblewoman raised in luxury becomes a helpless, isolated girl.

Autumn comes early and suddenly in the north. The girls being sold are drugged and crammed under the dry hay in a donkey cart. As the road jolts and the cold sets in, some faint and others die; many are lost along the way.

Ruan Qiuyan is afraid to die. She is afraid she will never see her mother again.

So, as they enter the borderlands, she reaches out with a trembling hand and catches the collar of a black-clad young man who looks utterly heartless.

The young man says he will take her away if she agrees to stay by his side forever.

To be saved, Ruan Qiuyan agrees.

--When Ruan Qiuyan promises to stay with him forever, Ying Weici is overjoyed. At last, he can have a wife who belongs to him alone, his one and only.

Who would have thought that despite agreeing to stay, she would keep trying to escape?

He gave her many chances. The last time, he thought that if she would only stop thinking of leaving, he would always treat her very, very well, and be good to her alone.

But she still ran away.

While he was on the brink of death saving her.

After recovering, Ying Weici gazes toward the distant foreign land and smiles faintly.

This time, he thinks, she has finally given him a reason to keep her prisoner for good.

But when he travels far abroad, ruthlessly kicks away the man in bed with Ruan Qiuyan, and prepares to demand an explanation...

She throws herself into his arms, her big eyes brimming with hurt, and tearfully asks why he took so long to come.

He ought to have been furious and threatened her. Yet as he opens his arms to catch her, he still carefully avoids her slightly rounded belly and holds her close.

[Obsessive, ruthless young regent x gentle, delicate noblewoman from a fallen family]

Reading Notes:

1. Possible triggers include: coercive romance, brief memory loss, and running away while pregnant, along with other melodramatic tropes.

2. Firmly monogamous, one-on-one romance; both leads are inexperienced; happy ending; fictional setting.

If you're interested, please add it to your collection~ Kisses!

Theme: Trust begins with mutual honesty.