The Mad Crown Prince Won't Let Her Go

"My other novel, The Immortal Brother Schemes for Her at Every Turn, is complete. Its companion story, Living Under Someone Else's Roof, Yet Falling for Them, has begun updating. Please add it to your favorites!"

"This story has been revised many times, so I can't guarantee the reading experience of pirated versions. Thank you for understanding. May you make a fortune, become rich, and have everything go your way! ≡ω≡~"

Story blurb:

[A gentle, possessive, dangerously obsessive crown prince × a country woman whose way of thinking is a little unusual]

One morning, after vanishing for ten years, her fiancé suddenly knocked on Er Niang's door to ask for food for his gravely ill younger brother.

For the sake of the silver, Er Niang looked after him and provided three meals a day, until Zhou Dalang disappeared without a word once more...

Er Niang struggled to haul a young man back on a handcart. Seeing how guarded he was, she said, "You can call me sister-in-law."

Later, as someone pressed close to her, whispering sweet nothings and making love to her, he teased, "Sister-in-law, is this really appropriate?"

Er Niang covered his face with her sleeve and kissed him.

*

After being missing for more than a year, the crown prince returned to the capital. The emperor arranged his marriage to the legitimate daughter of Chancellor Chen.

Ten miles of wedding finery, congratulations from the court officials, and wine cups clinking at the gathering of the rich and powerful: everyone was celebrating him.

Yet this refined and noble heir to the Great Yu throne abandoned his guests and crown princess, leading his troops to surround a home in the western quarter and seize a young woman carrying a bundle.

Only then did everyone learn that, while the crown prince was missing, a village woman surnamed Xu had saved him. She was supposedly using her kindness as leverage, demanding to enter the Eastern Palace as his secondary consort.

The crown prince was a man who valued loyalty and affection, so he truly let this village woman into the Eastern Palace.

Only the guards who had accompanied His Highness knew the truth: the village woman had banged her head until it bled, begging to sever their ties and divorce him. It was the crown prince who refused to let her go!

Later, a great fire broke out in the Eastern Palace, and Secondary Consort Xu perished in the flames. When he heard the news, the crown prince coughed up blood and went white-haired overnight. He built a hut by her grave and kept vigil for years.

Only then did the world learn that Er Niang, the village woman, was the love of his life.

*

Proud and aloof, Crown Prince Zhao Huaishi always believed the woman he loved would be a gentle, demure noblewoman from the capital, elegant in both manner and appearance.

Until Er Niang set a fire in his heart that burned on and on, shattering his peace of mind, turning his pride to ashes, and making him lower his head to beg for the mercy of the woman he loved.

One-on-one romance, single-couple, happy ending, a groveling-for-forgiveness romance, an obsessive hero, and a forceful pursuit.

The heroine is softhearted but long-legged, so she will run away and be caught again. Please keep that in mind.

The leads will have a daughter who becomes emperor. Please keep that in mind.

[This story is part of the Growth and Comeback writing contest. Why it qualifies: The heroine, Xu Erniang, first sells tofu and then builds up her assets by copying books. Eventually, compiling educational books allows her to take the first step in her career. She starts from nothing and builds a business empire of her own.]

**----- Upcoming story: Living Under Someone Else's Roof, Yet Falling for Them -----**

Su Naiqi's father died taking a blade for Marquis Changyong Ren, and her mother killed herself out of grief, leaving her utterly alone.

The marquis adopted her and arranged for her to be betrothed to his eldest legitimate son, Ren Yingcheng. But after he died in battle, no one in the Ren family ever mentioned the engagement again.

Su Naiqi was always cautious and never entertained any fanciful hopes. She planned only to wait until she came of age, then leave the Ren household with her dowry and stop getting in Madam Ren's way.

But the heir, Ren Yingcheng, began looking at her in an increasingly unsettling way...

In a hurry, she chose a husband: Wen Xun, a successful candidate in this year's palace examination. His family was uncomplicated, his character upright, and he was about to leave the capital to take up the post of county magistrate in Shangxin County.

After the three formal betrothal gifts and six wedding rites, she became Wen Xun's wife.

On their wedding night, beneath the red dragon-and-phoenix candles, a jade scepter lifted her red veil...

And there stood Ren Yingcheng, tall and elegant in red, his eyes and brows brimming with certainty that she would be his.

Everyone said the Ren family treated their adopted daughter, Su, with great care. They found her husband a post in the capital and bought the couple a house near the Ren estate so they could look after her.

Who could have known that Ren Yingcheng, the good older brother everyone praised, visited the Wen residence every night and kept Su Naiqi as his mistress?

*

Wen Xun divorced Su Naiqi, and she returned to the Ren estate as Miss Su, once more living under someone else's roof.

Only now Ren Yingcheng no longer needed to pretend. He kept her imprisoned at his side and held her in his arms every night.

Su Naiqi seized an opportunity to escape, but a landslide struck along the way. She hit her head on a rock and went blind, then met a reclusive physician named Lu Shenshi.

He said he often treated injured people, which was why he always smelled of blood.

He said her eyes would be difficult to heal, and searched everywhere for rare medicines for her...

He was also gentle and refined, with a way of speaking that was anything but ordinary. Su Naiqi's heart stirred, and the two were married.

But in bed, he was rough and ill-mannered, much to her displeasure.

By day, though, he was warm and considerate, caring for her in every way.

*

Lu Shenshi, commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, slaughtered countless people, yet kept a peerlessly beautiful woman hidden in his mansion.

When Marquis Changyong Ren Yingcheng raided the Lu residence, boxes of gold, silver, jewels, silk, and satin filled the beautiful woman's courtyard.

And when Prince Wen Lanxi of Fuling, who had been quietly biding his time in the palace, learned that Lady Lu was pregnant, he personally left the palace to demand that Ren Yingcheng hand her over...

In the Lu residence, the sheltered lady with silk wrapped over her eyes heard the clash of blades, turned around, and smiled brightly. "You're home, husband?"

The long sword fell from Ren Yingcheng's hand. The woman he had searched the whole world for was right before his eyes.

Marquis Changyong Ren Yingcheng, who seizes what he wants by force; Commander Lu Shenshi, a sanctimonious hypocrite; and Prince Wen Lanxi of Fuling, cold and faithless.

So Su Naiqi will make them all pay. She starts out fragile, but she has a growth arc.

Note: The heroine is not a virgin, but the male leads are. There will be a period of the men suffering for love. The heroine will hold a powerful position later on. None of the three men is guaranteed to survive, so choose your favorite with caution.

The heroine has a miserable time early on, but she'll stand on her own later!

Theme: The protagonist must grow strong.