The Beloved Luan in My Palm

Yun Sheng is the Lu family's child bride, living with her husband as guests in the household of their distant relative, the Marquis of Dingbei.

From the first time she saw her husband's cousin, Marquis Xie, Yun Sheng was afraid of him.

The man's sharp, phoenix-shaped eyes seemed capable of taking her apart and swallowing her whole.

The man she desperately avoided came down with another headache, and her husband personally sent her to tend to him.

By chance, she overheard her mother-in-law and husband discussing giving her away.

When Marquis Xie's hand brushed across her skirt again, she didn't stop him. She climbed into his bed of her own accord.

The man rubbed a finger across the corner of her lips, smiling faintly. "Why aren't you avoiding me anymore?"

Suppressing her trembling, Yun Sheng replied meekly, "I was foolish before. I hope you'll be gentle with me, Cousin."

Only when she learned that everything had been part of his scheme did she realize she'd escaped the tiger's jaws only to fall into the wolf's den.

.

The emperor issued an imperial decree, intending to marry a princess into the marquis's household.

That night, Xie Zhan entered Yun Sheng's courtyard. Yun Sheng was gentle and attentive, and knew her place.

Xie Zhan liked her meekness, yet somehow found it unsatisfying.

On the eve of the wedding, Yun Sheng's little courtyard was consumed by flames.

When they carried out the charred bones, he vomited up a mouthful of blood.

Everyone said Xie Zhan had gone mad, but they didn't know Yun Sheng had coaxed him into eloping with another man.

On a rainy night in a small town in Yizhou, the door creaked open.

The homeowner had heard that someone wanted lodging. Just as Yun Sheng opened the door, a flash of lightning illuminated the gloomy face of the man standing in the rain.

"My A-Sheng, you were so hard to find."

She stared at him as if she had seen a ghost, her spine seized with terror.

The scholar in the courtyard was still holding their daughter and calling to her.

"Sheng Niang, why haven't you invited our guest inside?"

Reader's Guide:

1. The male lead never marries. The female lead only pretends to marry later on. There are elements of coercive possession throughout, but at heart it's a bittersweet story with a sweet edge.

2. The male lead is 12 years older. Both leads are virgins and have been faithful to each other.

3. The female lead is weak at first but gradually grows stronger. She is already 16 at the beginning.

4. The leads are not related by blood. The female lead is the second male lead's child bride, but they never marry. At first they are betrothed, and later they call each other brother and sister.

My next novel will be either Spring in a Chaotic Courtyard or The Treacherous Elder Sister-in-Law in an Imperial Examination Novel. Check my author column, and please add them to your favorites.

Blurb for Spring in a Chaotic Courtyard:

A heartless, scheming, airheaded beauty X a lovesick emperor who falls for his own schemes

Ye Zhiyun is peerlessly beautiful, with a voluptuous figure, and is one of the rarest beauties in the capital.

To climb into a powerful family, her uncle plans to give her as a concubine to the empress dowager's notorious nephew.

Unwilling to accept this fate, she learns that the stammering Prince Xian has a dearly departed first love.

At the Spring Flower Banquet, Ye Zhiyun imitates the woman as best she can and uses a few tricks to easily ensnare the gentle, jade-like prince.

She purses her lips, thinking, He's nothing special.

After a night of passion, she leans against the man's chest, her face flushed, and coquettishly reaches for his sash.

But inwardly she thinks: That nearly killed me. Surely I'll at least get the title of secondary consort out of this.

It isn't until the real Prince Xian respectfully calls the man beside her "Imperial Uncle" that Ye Zhiyun realizes she slept with the wrong person.

Prince Xian's imperial uncle is none other than the reigning emperor, Zhao Jin.

Ye Zhiyun's knees go weak. Is it too late to run?

The next day, an imperial decree naming her a consort traps her in the Forbidden Palace for good.

The heartless Ye Zhiyun: Being the emperor's consort is much more impressive than being a prince's consort, and there's more money than I could ever spend. I can do this!

Later, she rises from consort to noble consort and then empress. Ye Zhiyun lives a triumphant life.

.

Zhao Jin ascended the throne at a young age. The beauties in his harem each had their own charms.

Yet, looking at their many calculating faces, he saw only the empress dowager's schemes to keep him in check.

While wandering the garden in a foul mood, he was bumped into by a woman, and Zhao Jin caught her slender waist.

He could break it with the slightest pressure.

Zhao Jin came to his senses. So he did love beautiful women after all.

She thought she was clever, but Zhao Jin saw through her seductive intentions at a glance.

That night, as he drifted off to sleep, Zhao Jin thought: It doesn't matter. I only love her pretty face, too.

Their bodies entwined, he grew more and more addicted to her, and began to covet her.

The old him: Let her pretend to be in love.

The later him: She loves my face, my body, my money, and the title of empress. Doesn't that mean she loves me?

Reader's Guide:

Although the male lead is an emperor with consorts, both leads are virgins and faithful to each other. If that doesn't seem reasonable to you, please don't read. My male leads must be virgins, graduates of the School of Virtue. The emperor will eventually dissolve his harem.

[After I finish Cousin Marquis, this will be my next novel. I'll start it this year, around National Day.]

Theme: Love yourself before loving others