Mistaken Promise

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1

After Zheng Yao and her mother went to seek shelter at the prince's manor, Zheng Yao found herself in an awkward position. With no one to confide in, she wrote down her troubles and tossed them into the clear stream.

[The food is cold and greasy.]

[My knees hurt, and my back aches too. Can I ask the doctor to come tomorrow, then sleep in?]

As the twelfth lunar month approached, she wrote: [I want to have some pretty winter clothes made.]

With her mother bedridden, she made a wish: [May families everywhere be reunited, and may everyone be free from sickness and disaster.]

She had only meant to set her worries aside for a while. Who could have guessed that within a few days, the manor would have a new cook, and the steward would bring her fabric?

A physician with the air of an immortal also came to visit, and her mother's cough improved!

Zheng Yao was amazed to discover that her wishes, carried away by the current, seemed to be coming true one by one.

Perhaps there was a benevolent spirit in the clear stream, helping people out of kindness.

Living under someone else's roof, Zheng Yao felt like a duckweed adrift. All her worries put together could not outweigh her concern about her future marriage.

So she tentatively made a wish to the spirit.

The next day, her cousin, the heir to the prince's title, who was as precious as a hidden jewel and radiant as the clouds and moon, but had been living in seclusion at another residence because of an injury, summoned her for the first time.

2

Xie You, heir to the Prince of Qin, had been gifted in both letters and arms, with a promising future. But a leg injury had forced him away from court.

The favored son of Heaven had shut his doors to visitors, and rumors said his temperament had changed, leaving him gloomy and withdrawn. Families who had been discussing marriage with him promptly distanced themselves, and even his younger siblings avoided him.

In the separate residence, the clear stream babbled as it carried a young girl's thoughts to him.

A few little favors were no trouble at all.

Xie You: "Very well."

Until one day...

[My sisters have all found their matches. I hope to meet a good man too, someone from a family like mine, so I can live without worries for the rest of my life.]

Xie You: "...Hah."

3

Zheng Yao looked at the young man who had cornered her, and nearly burst into tears.

"Why has the spirit stopped answering my wishes...?"

Xie You curved his lips into a smile. His thumb brushed away a tear from the corner of her reddened eye.

"Yao Yao, now it's your turn to make good on your wish."

Reading guide:

1) Sweet, gentle fostered cousin x refined and kind gentleman

2) A slice-of-life, pure-love sweet treat. The plot exists solely to serve the romance.

Coming soon: After Sharing Dreams with the Ascetic Young Noble. Blurb:

🐰 x 🐺 | A cautious little maid x an ascetic, proper, but extremely demanding noble

Jin was an inconspicuous maid. Lately, she seemed to have been possessed by something.

The girl who had always been timid was now frequently dreaming that she was "seducing an immortal."

The immortal had long fingers, broad shoulders, and a narrow waist.

The immortal's voice was deep and magnetic, full of restraint.

He had astonishing self-control, but Jin had started things off by teasing him, and she couldn't stop herself.

Before long, after their dream trysts, he became hooked and asked her to meet him in real life.

Late at night, she nervously hid in the flower beds, and sure enough, she heard footsteps.

She cautiously peeked out, and the startled cry caught in her throat.

What immortal? The person who had come was the eldest legitimate son of the household, the cold, ascetic young lord and top scorer in the imperial examinations!

After thinking it over, Jin ran away anyway.

He was cold and unfeeling, the pride of the Xiao family. She didn't even dare look up at him from afar, much less let him know she'd thoroughly defiled him in her dreams.

_

Xiao Ke was born proud and aloof, the most outstanding scion of his family. Years of self-discipline had taught him to conduct himself with propriety and restraint, never crossing the line.

But on the very night he returned to the capital, he had a strange dream.

A frail young woman. A dimly lit bedchamber.

The dreams grew more and more outrageous, and the vivid sensations left him in a wretched state. Unable to restrain himself, Xiao Ke suspected someone was using sorcery to control his dreams.

He pretended to give in, using their moments of passion to lay a trap so he could expose the culprit and punish them. But when he showed up as agreed, he found no one there.

? Why didn't she come?

The cold, ascetic young noble entered her dream and stroked the girl's tear-streaked cheek, demanding, "Qingqing, are you afraid of being exposed, or do you think I didn't do enough?"

"Do you like it this way? Or... this way?"

The girl bit her lip and refused to answer. He said coldly, "Then we'll do it all."

_

One day, flowers were delivered to the greenhouse. A maid nervously dropped a potted plant and hurriedly apologized.

The man seated above her didn't even glance up. He merely said, "It's all right."

Later, her colleagues praised the top scholar, saying he was truly magnanimous and a gentleman of gentle virtue.

That night, Jin stumbled to the floor, clutching her nightclothes.

The top scholar, so elegant and distant by day, lifted her chin with leisurely composure, as if sizing up prey that had walked right into his trap.

"Let's see what you're capable of."

"Can you make me forgive you for profaning your master, just like in the dream?"

Theme: When your mind is free of worldly cares, every season is beautiful.