Return with Jade in Hand

[Proud, haughty, arrogant princess x frail, refined nobleman who stops at nothing]

Lou Huashu grew up in an imperial palace overflowing with gold and jade.

She was as lovely as a flower beaded with dew, and held the status of a princess.

Men were always eager to win her favor.

Yet, of all people, she fell for the one man she had no chance of being with.

At the first banquet of the apricot blossom season, amid the fluttering petals, Lou Huashu spotted a man with blossoms on his shoulders, smiling faintly with his eyes lowered, and fell for him at first sight.

Only later did she learn that the man, named Dong Jin, came from a prominent noble family.

Dong Jin was elegant and peerlessly handsome, a flawless gem admired by everyone.

Countless women wanted to claim that gem for themselves.

Lou Huashu was no exception.

For his sake, she put aside her dignity as a princess and repeatedly tried to win him over, but he never accepted her advances.

Since he refused to appreciate what he had, she could hardly be blamed for what came next.

*

Dong Jin had followed the rules since childhood and had never made a misstep.

The most outrageous thing he had ever done was accidentally catch the eye of a princess, who forcibly brought him into the palace and made him stay by her side day after day.

With the political strife at court and the noble families at odds, he was the one who knew best that they should have nothing to do with each other.

But he was also the one who kissed her day and night beneath warm red curtains, watching helplessly as he sank deeper and deeper.

In countless moments no one else knew about, Dong Jin would hold her as she lazily nestled against him and think in despair:

If they truly loved each other, he would be willing to keep it from his family and stay with her like this forever.

But then he caught her with a conspicuous, glaring red mark on her lips.

Dong Jin: "..."

Lou Huashu: "...!"

Lou Huashu: "Let me explain!"

The stormy look on Dong Jin's face suddenly gave way to a quiet laugh.

Then, as she watched in alarm, he firmly hooked a finger into the tie of her robe.

"Your Highness is soiled. I shall help you bathe at once."

One-on-one, happy ending, both leads' first time.

--- Upcoming story ---

Song Guili knew she had always been the one nobody wanted.

So unwanted that as soon as her parents abandoned her, her clan rushed to send her off to live under the roof of the Pei family, distant relatives with whom she had almost no connection.

A lone girl with no one to rely on, living under someone else's roof, she naturally became a target for the Pei family to mock and bully.

Everyone disliked and mistreated her, except one person: Pei Zhu, the eldest son of the Pei family.

*

Pei Zhu was strict and cold toward others. He had followed his father into battle since childhood and had shed countless drops of blood, earning himself the fearsome reputation of "the Cold-Faced God of Death."

Everyone in the Pei household went out of their way to avoid him. Yet that timid-seeming cousin who had come from a distant branch of the family was always eager to approach him.

She was often in Pei Zhu's line of sight. Whenever he turned around, he would see her clutching the hem of her clothes and softly calling, "Cousin."

Her faint voice sounded in his ears like a tiny hook gently scratching at his heart, making his Adam's apple bob as his gaze grew darker and darker.

Those who knew him saw how inseparable the two had become and teased him, saying he must have stolen some young lady's heart without realizing it, and that she would cling to him from then on.

Pei Zhu only smiled without confirming or denying it. He, too, thought her feelings for him were obvious.

But it all came to an end when he saw her blush as she accepted an ambiguously romantic flower from another man.

Later, he crushed every one of those flowers beneath his feet, and cornered her against a wall, leaving her nowhere to run.

Pei Zhu's eyes were dark and deep. He made her lift her head and asked slowly, enunciating every word: "Wasn't I supposed to be the one you liked?"

*

Song Guili, of course, didn't like him.

Even though her hands trembled with fear every time she approached him, she had never passed up a chance to get close to him.

That way, no one else dared bully her. She had no idea how he had managed to misunderstand things so badly.

She steadied herself and answered boldly, "I've always... only thought of you as an older brother, Cousin."

But his quiet scoff was not what she expected. "I've never thought of you as a younger sister."

[Fragile, timid, wounded little rabbit x domineering, controlling wolf with a possessive streak]

Theme: Treat others with kindness and sincerity