After Marrying a Treacherous Official

[Marriage first, love later, husband pursues wife to the crematorium, later coercive possession]

Ning Yingling is peerlessly beautiful, with an aunt who is the current empress and a prominent family background. She is a celebrated noblewoman in the capital.

After marrying Yan Lingxiao, she does only three things every day: despise Yan Lingxiao, make things difficult for Yan Lingxiao, and wait for the chance to divorce him.

One day, after completing all three tasks, Ning Yingling gets the divorce she wanted. But she can't bring herself to feel happy.

The Ning family has fallen from grace, and the once-noble young lady is forced to become a servant. The person she serves is none other than Yan Lingxiao, whom she tormented for so long, and who has now become a powerful court official with influence over the whole court.

Ning Yingling is so anxious she can barely eat or sleep, terrified he'll take revenge. But before Yan Lingxiao can retaliate, she dies.

When she opens her eyes again, she is back at seventeen, tormenting Yan Lingxiao.

Knowing that he will one day rise above everyone else, Ning Yingling is close to tears.

Yan Lingxiao is strikingly beautiful, aloof and self-possessed, with a pride as pure as frost and snow.

After marrying Ning Yingling, Yan Lingxiao has only one daily task: stay away from Ning Yingling!

One day, the second young lady appears before him and keeps following him around. Gone is her former arrogance and domineering attitude. Now she clings to him like a piece of sticky plaster, impossible to shake off.

He assumes it's just another new way for Second Miss Ning to torment him. He never expects her to be genuinely kind: she applies medicine to his wounds, treats his chills, and even uses herself as an antidote when he is drugged...

In his seventeen years, this is the first time Yan Lingxiao has felt someone treat him with genuine sincerity.

Until he sees a divorce letter placed before him. The teacup in the young man's hand is instantly crushed to pieces.

Ning Yingling never imagined that the composed and self-disciplined Chief Councillor would kidnap her and take her to his residence.

As dawn breaks, the handsome young man languidly holds the divorce letter she handed him between his fingers. With a smile that doesn't reach his eyes, he says,

"Miss, you have three choices:

First, marry Yan Lingxiao.

Second, have Yan Lingxiao take you as his wife.

Third, tear up the divorce letter."

The once-humble young man has become a powerful minister whom the world must look up to. Ning Yingling panics and stammers, "Can I choose none of them?"

At some point, his long fingers have crept onto the young woman's slender waist. The young man gazes at Ning Yingling with eyes cold as a winter night, then bites her lips until they redden. "In that case, why not let me be your secret lover, hidden away from the world?"

In the next instant, she sees flames burning in his eyes, as if he wants to devour her whole. He tears at the sash around her waist. "After all, you were the one who admitted that you'll owe me for the rest of your life!"

1. Both leads are each other's only partner

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Coming soon: After the Substitute Bride Became the Dark Moonlight

Sang Zhiwei is an unloved young princess. When her elder sister goes missing, she is forced to take her place and marry Jiang Hemian, who was supposed to be her brother-in-law.

Everyone knows that Sang Nanxi, the eldest daughter of Prince Ning, and Jiang Hemian, heir to the foremost family, were betrothed long ago. One is gentle and virtuous, the other aloof and self-possessed. Their match is the talk of the capital and the envy of all!

But no one knows that Jiang Hemian has also been the object of Sang Zhiwei's secret longing for four years.

On their wedding night, the red candles burn down, but Jiang Hemian never arrives. Sang Zhiwei thinks he must have been occupied with something important and simply forgotten about the wedding.

She sees Jiang Hemian three days later, while being punished to kneel in the ancestral hall. He knows she was punished by her mother-in-law for breaking the rules while waiting for him on their wedding night, but he only gives a cold laugh and ignores her.

He pours the nuptial wine coldly onto the ground in front of her, drawing a clear line between them. "This marriage will last no more than six months! For these six months, you are a Jiang family wife, not my wife, Jiang Hemian's!"

Sang Zhiwei's legs are numb, and she can barely hide her disappointment. But then she thinks that being able to stay by his side for half a year is enough to satisfy her.

She keeps Jiang Hemian's words in mind and does her best to fulfill her duties as a Jiang family wife. The elders who once despised her change their minds and accept her.

But Jiang Hemian remains unmoved, telling a friend, "She's scheming and despicable. It makes me sick."

When Sang Zhiwei hears this, her eyes redden. She blames herself, thinking she must not have done well enough!

Until one day, Jiang Hemian is set up and drugged. Fearing for his life, Sang Zhiwei offers herself as the antidote.

But all she gets in return is the sight of Jiang Hemian walking away with his robes gathered in his hands. When they meet again, murderous intent surges in his eyes as he holds a blade to her throat.

"You stole this betrothal and have no shame! Sang Zhiwei, you disgust me!"

Sang Zhiwei learns what it means to have her heart torn to shreds.

Six months pass, and her elder sister returns just in time. A smile appears on Jiang Hemian's face.

Sang Zhiwei quietly leaves, leaving behind only a divorce letter and a note: Zhuzhu is letting you go, my dear husband. I only hope you and my elder sister will grow old together.

Jiang Hemian gives a cold laugh and tears her note to pieces.

Jiang Hemian despises Sang Zhiwei!

Because she used the emperor's promise, earned by risking her life to save the empress dowager, to secure their marriage.

After the wedding, she uses all sorts of underhanded methods to cement her position, until the entire household finally accepts her.

Watching Sang Zhiwei work so diligently, Jiang Hemian changes his mind. He has no interest in love, but if Sang Zhiwei can fulfill her duties as a Jiang family wife, he can pretend the six-month agreement never existed.

But on the day he is drugged, he vaguely sees Sang Zhiwei rushing toward him and, for an instant, mistakes her for Sang Nanxi.

When he comes to, he realizes it's Sang Zhiwei. Jiang Hemian feels a little relieved, but when he calms down and sees her sleeping beside him,

he is overwhelmed with guilt. He wakes Sang Zhiwei and speaks cruelly to her. Looking at her tear-streaked face, he feels regret for the first time.

Six months later, Sang Zhiwei disappears!

At first, Jiang Hemian feels neither sorrow nor joy. If Sang Zhiwei no longer wants to be a Jiang family wife, plenty of noble young ladies would gladly take her place.

But when he sees that the familiar, full-figured figure is nowhere to be found in the Jiang residence, he feels as if a piece of his heart is missing for the first time.

He thinks Sang Zhiwei must be dissatisfied with the way things are and is playing hard to get, trying to make him change his mind.

But three months pass, and there is still no sign of Sang Zhiwei.

Then he finds the journal she left behind, recording all the things she quietly did for him, as well as the emperor's promise.

She had used that promise three years ago, to spare him imprisonment in the imperial jail.

Jiang Hemian finally understands Sang Zhiwei's true feelings. His hands tremble as he holds the journal, and he walks slowly into the darkness, sobbing uncontrollably.

He wishes he could kill the man he used to be!

Following the clues in her journal, Jiang Hemian soon finds Sang Zhiwei.

He stages a heroic rescue, hoping she'll willingly give herself to him in marriage.

But Sang Zhiwei shakes her head, looking delighted. "I can't! Zhuzhu is getting married again!"

When he learns she is marrying his elder brother, Jiang Hemian's face turns livid. "He's no good! I won't let you marry him!"

Sang Zhiwei pushes him away and argues, "We're divorced. We have nothing to do with each other anymore! Even at his worst, he's a thousand times better than you in Zhuzhu's eyes!"

Jiang Hemian's fingertips dig into his palm. Ignoring Sang Zhiwei's struggles, he hides her away.

He would rather have her hate him for the rest of her life than have her feel nothing for him.

On the day Sang Zhiwei is to marry his elder brother, Jiang Hemian dresses up like his brother and walks into the bridal chamber.

"Now I'm him. Zhuzhu, you can marry me now, right?"

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Coming soon: Don't Be the White Moonlight

The Liu family has fallen into decline. Hoping to curry favor with Prince Qi, they force Liu Wanning to take the marriage meant for their youngest daughter.

On her wedding night, Liu Wanning grips a pearl hairpin, trembling with fear. A bitter wind blows, carrying the scent of blood.

When someone lifts her red veil, the man before her is not Prince Qi, but his son, Pei Zhaoye.

The pearl hairpin cuts the man's clearly defined fingers. He licks the hot blood from his hand, his eyes bloodshot as he kneads Liu Wanning's shoulder blades.

"Prince Qi is dead! You have two choices: let the Liu family die with you, or become my secret lover, hidden from the world!"

In the thirteenth year of the Mingxuan era, the imperial palace runs red with blood. Pei Zhaoye sits on the dragon throne, holding the Imperial Sword of Shangfang, and issues his decree in an unhurried voice.

"The Liu clan is ill-omened. From this day forward, Liu Wanning is confined to the Cold Palace."

With tears in her eyes, Liu Wanning respectfully answers, "This concubine accepts the decree!"

Through years of cold nights in the Cold Palace, she hears that the cold-faced emperor has begun to smile more often. Looking through a half-open door, she finally understands that the only person who can make the emperor smile is her frail younger sister, who can't even take care of herself.

Liu Wanning looks at the scar on her pale wrist, left behind when she saved the emperor. Her heart aches. That scar was deliberately inflicted by her younger sister.

He knows the truth, yet after crushing his teacup, he stands by her younger sister.

Pei Zhaoye stands alone at the very peak of power, where the heights are cold.

He once thought Liu Wanning was the person he hated most, and that if she died, there would be no one left in the world to hate.

But for some reason, the day he watched her throw herself into the moat, he went mad with the desire to leap after her. In the end, all he caught was a torn scrap of her clothes.

The night in the Golden Throne Hall is colder than the Cold Palace. Looking at the wet scrap of cloth she left behind, he feels hot, crimson liquid burn the back of his hand. He looks up at the bronze mirror and sees a man with bloodied, narrow phoenix eyes and frost-white hair at his temples.

When they meet again, the emperor takes off his hard armor and holds her tightly, afraid she'll leave him again. He begs pathetically, wagging his tail: "Ningning, will you come back to me?"

Liu Wanning looks at the man's snow-white hair, her expression unmoved. "Only if you kneel and beg me, and become my secret lover, hidden from the world!"

Pei Zhaoye's eyes flicker. His dignity finally gives way to desire, and he replies, "All right!"

Theme: Believe in yourself and face the future.