After I Took the Emperor’s Heart and Cast It Aside, GB

(Completed. Any future updates will just fix bugs and plot inconsistencies. My next book, Why Is My Ex-Husband Seducing Me? (GB), is up for preorders, so please add it to your collection!) [A shrewd young emperor who falls hard and loses his heart × a seemingly gentle and considerate senior palace maid who is actually ruthless and unfeeling] Blurb: Mu Ying was the last card the Empress Dowager left in the hands of the young emperor, Ji Yue. The two relied on each other to survive in the sinister depths of the palace. At first, Mu Ying was a low-ranking palace maid who could only meekly obey, while Ji Yue was an emperor without real power, forced to feign madness and foolishness. From weathering hardship and struggling to take every step, to joining forces to purge the court and secure their place in the world, Mu Ying had fought her way through it all, blade in hand and life on the line. The emperor depended on her and trusted her. Everyone in the know assumed it was only a matter of time before Mu Ying was made empress. But who could have guessed that the senior palace maid would vanish overnight, leaving the emperor to go mad in the middle of the night? Barefoot and disheveled, he chased after her beyond the imperial city. His body was covered in marks too shameful to speak of; if he ran out like that, people would gossip behind his back for the rest of his life. With no way to restrain him, the chief eunuch could only send a carrier pigeon that very night, begging Mu Ying to return to the palace. Mu Ying, who had already regained her freedom, had no choice but to come back. By day, he was the stern and ruthless emperor who had the final say in court, and she was the gentle, considerate senior palace maid who took care of everything. By night, he was her lover, panting beneath her and using his body to beg her to stay. Mu Ying never believed Ji Yue truly loved her. When she was on the brink of death, the Empress Dowager had once saved her life. So Mu Ying stayed in the palace to protect the emperor, solely to repay that debt. She had planned to quietly leave once he was strong enough to stand on his own. So even when he schemed against her, used her, and even offered up his body as emperor in exchange for her service, Mu Ying simply smiled and let it pass. They were only using each other for their own ends. But when everything was finally settled, the emperor refused to let her go. Mu Ying hated him for taking away her freedom, yet loved the way he gave himself to her at night. Knowing this was probably another scheme, she arranged an engagement for herself and organized a selection of consorts for the emperor, to keep herself alert and ready to escape. Their wedding banquets were held on the same day. As Mu Ying performed the wedding rites, the chief eunuch burst in, frantic, grabbed her, and said, "His Majesty has taken his own life." Mu Ying left her new husband behind and rushed out. At last, she understood: just as a shadow never leaves its lamp, he truly had fallen in love with her. And without realizing it, she had fallen for him too. The two of them were bound to be entangled for the rest of their lives. GB, femdom, written for my own enjoyment; no role reversal. The male lead is a feudal patriarch who goes mad for love. The female lead is level-headed and self-aware; she enters a sham marriage to escape him. The male lead suffers most, with a small groveling arc and sweetness mixed in with the angst. Neither lead is perfect. The male lead is often sweet-tongued but secretly calculating, and when the female lead is heartless, she means it. One-on-one from beginning to end, but with male rivals competing for her. A happy ending where they choose each other. Note: The female lead controls the whole situation, but has no golden finger and can get hurt like anyone else. [The next book is a preorder in the same series. Please add it to your collection: My High-and-Mighty Ex-Husband] Ruthless, brooding powerful official × scheming, proud, flirtatious merchant woman Lin Yan took over the family business and moved to the capital, where every inch of land was worth a fortune. A tycoon wealthy enough to rival a nation, she simply waved her hand and bought a house in the best part of the city, then hosted a three-day feast at the capital's finest restaurant. On a snowy day, Lin Yan cheerfully went out with her handsome young attendants. On her way back, a splendid carriage blocked the road. Half its wheels had come off, but the person inside didn't emerge, apparently waiting brazenly for a passerby to help. The wind was bitterly cold. Lin Yan went over and said a few words. Only then did the person inside finally lean out, speaking in a clear, pure voice: "I'm sorry. My carriage has broken down. Might I ride with you for a while?" It was none other than her beautiful, fair-skinned ex-husband, whom she'd coveted time and again but never managed to truly claim. The warmth vanished from Lin Yan's face, and she turned to leave. The man watched her and her attendants, his gaze unreadable. * Back when he was down on his luck, Ji Runshu had courted the daughter of the wealthiest merchant in all of Qingzhou. To borrow money for the imperial examinations, he'd even written a promise to repay her handsomely and marry her. According to the rumors, Lin Yan had a fiery temper, spent her days with rakish wastrels, and had poor morals. Ji Runshu didn't care. She was just a ladder to success, and he could leave her behind once he'd climbed it. Lin Yan praised his looks and did everything he said. Married life wasn't merely bearable for Ji Runshu; it was actually rather pleasant and easy. Having tasted the benefits, Ji Runshu became increasingly conceited. He looked down on Lin Yan and thought she wasn't worthy of him, so he not only talked his way out of consummating the marriage but also started ordering her around. After passing the palace examination and earning the title of top scholar, Ji Runshu, who had long been set on divorcing her, began to hesitate. Thinking that a man shouldn't abandon the wife who had stood by him in his poverty, he decided to change his mind and bring her to live with him. But on the day Ji Runshu was summoned to the capital to take up an official post, the wife who had always indulged and protected him sent him a divorce agreement, along with the promise he'd written all those years ago, demanding that he pay what he owed her. It turned out that from beginning to end, he had only been an investment to her as a merchant. She had never loved him. Ji Runshu went mad. ** One night, Lord Ji, a powerful official favored by the emperor, came storming into the merchant woman's inner courtyard, covered in frost. He pushed past a crowd of handsome young attendants, knelt before her, and begged for her mercy. Lin Yan watched coldly as he undressed, then held down his trembling hand and gently traced his Adam's apple with a finger. Longing for the touch he'd gone without for so long, like a parched man finally tasting rain, Ji Runshu clasped her in return. Laughing and crying, he burrowed into her arms. "Send them away, please? I'll serve you for the rest of my life." Lin Yan chuckled. "You're rather bold, Lord Ji. Do you know what I want?" Ji Runshu nodded through his confusion, sobbing incoherently. "If it's you, anything is fine." One-on-one romance, happy ending, GB with no role reversal. A story about a terrible man who needs to be taught a lesson. The female lead isn't a naive sweetheart. The male lead suffers and pursues her after the breakup; only after a period of unrequited love do they reconcile. Blurb screenshotted on 2024.12.12. Set in a fictional world; no need to scrutinize the historical details. Theme: Why settle for pale green or light red? I am the finest flower of all.