Synopsis
Up next: The Tycoon's Guide to Winning Back His Wife. Blurb below.
This story: [Clever, warm bedmaid x domineering regent]
Jiang Li has a secret. She has been in love for years with the Eighth Prince, Shen Xiuyuan, a man as gentle as jade and bright as the moon and stars.
But fate is against her. Shen Xiuyuan personally sends her to the Regent's estate to serve as a bedmaid. "You're beautiful. Xiao Chengze is sure to like you when he sees you." Shen Xiuyuan has tried to assassinate Xiao Chengze for years without success, and now he wants to use a beauty trap. Jiang Li doesn't want to go, but agrees through tears, unable to bear disappointing him.
On their wedding night, Xiao Chengze lays down three rules: first, she must not cause trouble; second, she must not meet privately with other men; third, she must not... It turns out he only wants her to dress more plainly. "The women around me are already too alluring. I don't want outsiders gossiping that I value beauty over governing the realm."
Jiang Li never wanted to get close to him in the first place, so she nods eagerly. Xiao Chengze finds her lack of resistance dull and stops summoning her.
The Regent's concubines resent Jiang Li's beauty and bully her. Before long, Jiang Li can no longer be bothered to heed Xiao Chengze's instructions. She fights back, bringing all the women firmly under control.
Xiao Chengze raises his brows in pleased surprise. "Since you have this talent, I'll make you my princess consort."
"Aren't you afraid people will criticize you for valuing beauty?"
"They're just jealous!"
One-on-one, sweet and devoted
*Fictional setting, no need to overthink it.
Up next: The Tycoon's Guide to Winning Back His Wife
After a Taoist priest at the Xuantian Temple says their birth charts are a perfect match and she will bring good fortune to her husband, Lin Yuchu transforms from the daughter of a minor ninth-rank official into the third son of Yangzhou's richest man, Master Qiao: Qiao Jingchu's formally wedded young wife.
Everyone says she's married above her station and doesn't deserve him. She thinks so too.
Fortunately, after the wedding, Qiao Jingchu treats her with courteous respect, and life isn't too difficult.
One day, she accidentally wanders into Qiao Jingchu's study. The room is filled with portraits of a woman. She has graceful features and a face that can look either delighted or annoyed. The woman is Xu Qingyi, the only daughter of Master Xu of the western district.
Now she understands why Qiao Jingchu has always found excuses not to touch her. He has already given his heart to someone else.
From then on, she accepts her place. In public, she and Qiao Jingchu play the loving couple, harmonious and devoted. Back in their room, they each sleep on one side of the three-meter-wide bed, leaving each other alone.
*
Qiao Jingchu hates this arranged marriage, but he's a man of great decorum and can't bring himself to defy his parents or do anything so disgraceful.
He consoles himself by thinking of Lin Yuchu as a benefactor who married him to bring good fortune to his grandmother. He treats her with respect and distance, never once crossing the line.
When Lin Yuchu happens upon the secret in his study, he assumes his neglected young wife will make a scene and tell everyone. Instead, she mentions it casually and advises him to hide the portraits somewhere more discreet, so no one discovers them.
Qiao Jingchu is speechless. Only then does he realize that Lin Yuchu doesn't care about him as a husband either.
The third son of the Qiao family, usually adored by women throughout the city, feels a pang of discomfort for the first time.
As the end of the year approaches, an imperial decree arrives from nowhere, ordering the Qiao family to move to the capital. Their dozens of shops reopen there as well.
His grandmother dotes on Lin Yuchu and entrusts her with managing a silver shop. By chance, Lin Yuchu meets the Ninth Prince, Zhou Huai.
The young man is witty and funny, always making Lin Yuchu laugh. They move from sharing mild tea to strong liquor, and from stiff business talk to their ideals in life. They feel as if they have known each other forever.
After that, she comes home later and later, and Qiao Jingchu's expression grows more and more gloomy.
Late at night, he hears his young wife drunkenly murmuring Zhou Huai's name. The aloof young gentleman, as cool and ethereal as an immortal, finds the jar of jealousy in his heart overturned without realizing it. He tosses and turns, unable to sleep.
**Sweet and devoted
**Fictional setting, no need to overthink it.
Theme: May every year bring days like these
