A seemingly delicate heroine who kills with her own hands vs. a dangerously obsessive male lead
At the Lantern Festival banquet, the new emperor, Yue Xun, encounters a palace maid by a little artificial mountain in the palace.
She is beautiful, with luminous skin and a delicate frame.
After the banquet, the new emperor orders people to search everywhere for her, seemingly smitten.
But their search yields nothing.
It is only at the engagement banquet of his younger brother, the Prince of Qi, that the emperor catches sight of the woman in her red skirt and floral hairpins. Then he understands why she was impossible to find.
The palace maid was no palace maid at all, but his future sister-in-law, the reclusive third daughter of the Vice Minister of Rites.
The Prince of Qi is frail and falls unconscious when his illness flares up, so the engagement cannot go ahead.
Naturally, no one else knows that the so-called attack is only an excuse. The real reason for everything is the new emperor's words: "I want her."
*
Xie Qingyuan always gets even.
When the eldest son of the Chancellor's household violates her maid, she decides he must die.
At the palace banquet, she plays to his tastes, disguises herself as a little palace maid, and lures him to a secluded spot.
Then she draws her knife.
She keeps waiting for word from the palace that the criminal is dead.
But no death notice ever comes. Instead, she hears that the new emperor wants her to enter the palace as an imperial attendant.
Qingyuan refuses.
The man dismisses everyone else and gives a chilling laugh. "Since you don't want to, my dear, it seems I should summon Minister Xie and ask him why his beloved daughter committed murder in the palace during a night banquet."
Qingyuan panics. "I don't understand, Your Majesty. What exactly do you want?"
The man suddenly draws close. "Don't be impatient. You'll find out soon enough, as we spend our days and nights together."
Content warning:
The leads are each other's only partners, but there will be palace intrigue.
Blurb written and archived in June 2024.
Theme: Strive tirelessly to improve yourself.
