The Regretful Young Master

The coercive historical romance His Runaway Maid is currently serializing. See the blurb at the end. Please add it to your collection!

Blurb for this novel:

Song Zhiyi was pampered from childhood, free-spirited and carefree, and bold in everything she did. Her love for Lu Yanqing was just as passionate: wherever he went, she followed. Unfortunately, he had no interest in her and even found her annoying.

She didn't mind, often hovering around him and constantly calling him "Second Brother Lu."

She believed that persistence would eventually wear him down. As long as she didn't give up, he would one day be moved by her feelings.

At Lu Yanqing's birthday banquet, she happily went to offer her congratulations, only to unexpectedly find his cousin nestled in his arms, sweetly calling him by his courtesy name.

The ridiculous thing was that in all the years she'd known him, he'd never allowed her to use his courtesy name. Even calling him "Second Brother Lu" was something she'd kept doing shamelessly despite his explicit prohibition.

What was this supposed to mean?

Indignant, she rushed over, pulled his cousin away, and looked up at him with a question. "What... are you two doing?"

But all she got was his cold profile. "What business is that of yours?"

He walked right past her to tend to his cousin, making Song Zhiyi look like a joke.

He was truly awful. She would never like him again.

Song Zhiyi dropped her birthday gift and turned to leave.

*

Lu Yanqing disliked Song Zhiyi mostly because of her father, a cunning opportunist who was as slippery as a snake. The Lu family was a distinguished clan of scholars. How could they associate with such a treacherous man? Besides, she acted without thinking ahead and was always causing trouble, while he hated trouble more than anything.

No matter how he looked at it, she could never be his future wife.

Song Zhiyi's one-sided affection was a nuisance to Lu Yanqing. Then, at his birthday banquet, his cousin suddenly leaned into his arms. He was about to push her away when he spotted Song Zhiyi standing in the distance.

He might as well seize the opportunity to make her face reality and leave him in peace. So he restrained himself from pushing his cousin away and waited for Song Zhiyi to come over and make a scene.

Sure enough, she left in despair, and for more than half a year afterward, she never showed up again.

He had accomplished what he set out to do.

His family began arranging marriage prospects for him. They were all daughters of eminent families, well-read, courteous, and refined, everything he could want in a wife.

Yet as he looked at those well-bred young ladies, the face that kept appearing in his mind was that of the impulsive, reckless girl. And in his ears, he kept hearing her call, "Second Brother Lu..." He turned down his family's kind intentions and couldn't help asking after her.

They met again at a spring banquet.

She was chatting merrily with her childhood friend. As if in a daze, he walked over, caught her by the wrist, and asked about her life, even though he already knew the answer. She shook him off and asked coldly, "What business is that of the Second Young Master Lu?"

While he stood there stunned, she left with her childhood friend, vanishing from sight without sparing him another glance.

After that, to win even a single look from her, he schemed and resorted to any means necessary. In the end, he became the very sort of person he had always despised and scorned.

First love; happy ending

*

His Runaway Maid

Liu Wei's father had a weakness for drink, women, and gambling. When she was sixteen, her deadbeat father couldn't repay his debts, so he came up with the idea of selling her and her mother to a wealthy household as concubines.

Liu Wei refused at all costs. With no other choice, her scoundrel of a father settled for sending her to serve as a maid in the powerful minister Xiao Jue's residence, while her mother was still sold as a concubine to a wealthy family.

One day, Liu Wei stumbled into Xiao Jue's courtyard by accident. Xiao Jue was under the influence of an aphrodisiac, and he pinned her down and took her innocence with a hand around her throat. Afterward, Xiao Jue made her his concubine.

But all she wanted was to save enough money to buy her and her mother out of their servitude and be free. She didn't want to be a plaything, summoned and dismissed at will.

Liu Wei bided her time and served Xiao Jue carefully. He was generous, giving her plenty of reward money, and within a few months she had saved enough.

So, after more than a decade of timidity, she finally found the courage to act. On New Year's Eve, while Xiao Jue was at a palace banquet, she took all her savings and ran away.

*

Xiao Jue rose to power at a young age, thanks to his exceptional talent and ruthless methods.

One day, he accidentally drank a cup of wine laced with an aphrodisiac. His body grew unbearably hot, and he lost all reason. In a daze, he grabbed a young maid and relieved himself.

Afterward, seeing her frightened, uneasy expression, he understood that she was just an honest, simple servant.

Since he had taken her, what harm was there in giving her a title?

Liu Wei served him humbly, and Xiao Jue was reasonably pleased. He found her more agreeable with every passing day.

But the woman had no sense of her place. She took advantage of his carelessness and slipped away in the night.

Heh... No one had ever dared to play him for a fool like this.

*

Late at night, beside a long street.

Xiao Jue came toward her slowly, walking beneath the moonlight.

Liu Wei retreated step by step until she had nowhere to go. Terrified, she collapsed onto the ground.

His powerful fingers gripped her chin. Liu Wei's eyes filled with tears from the pain. "Run. Why did you stop?"

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