The Concubine

“The blurbs for my upcoming novels, The Beauty and The Concubine, are below. Please add them to your reading lists!”

After transmigrating, Song Ciyue became an orphan in the capital. She was perfectly content with her quiet, ordinary life, until she accidentally offended a powerful nobleman. He wanted her as his concubine, but she refused.

To escape her predicament, she set her sights on a scholar named Cui Ning. He was mild-mannered and handsome, and she was quite pleased with him. As they wished, the two of them set a date for their wedding.

But on their wedding day, the man who came to the bridal chamber was Pei Huanzhi, the ruthless, all-powerful Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. As for her husband, Cui Ning, he knelt on the floor, tears streaming down his face. “Yue-niang, I’ve wronged you. But it’s so hard for someone from a humble family like mine to get ahead. Yue-niang, please help me...”

Pei Huanzhi sat in the seat of honor, watching the farce. He set down his teacup and gave a scornful laugh. “Song Ciyue, I told you long ago that you couldn’t escape. Unfortunately, there’s no place for you in the household now. You’d be better off as my mistress.”

Song Ciyue sank to her knees, dazed, her heart filled with resentment, yet helpless. How laughable that the good man she had painstakingly chosen turned out to be no better than this.

A month later, the new bride of the Cui family died suddenly of an illness. The following day, Vice Minister Pei Huanzhi of the Court of Judicial Review gained a breathtakingly beautiful mistress.

To Pei Huanzhi, Song Ciyue was a wild horse. At first, he wondered how to tame her, but later, he found himself falling for her despite himself.

It was a shame that neither his threats and temptations nor his sincere affection could win her over. She was truly cold and resolute.

A thousand mountains of shackles, all to bind her in a lofty tower.

A thousand chains, all to imprison her in the imperial palace.

The thing Song Ciyue regretted most in this life was saving someone on that day in the main street. If she could go back, she would stay as far away as possible.

But life has no “if.” Pei Huanzhi was a madman, and she would always be his captive.

“P.S. 1v1, both virgins, happy ending.”

① The blurb for my upcoming novel The Beauty is below. Please add it to your reading list!

On a spring day, with apricot blossoms and a light drizzle, Xie Qingyan happened to come across a maid on his way home. From that moment, his heart stirred, and there was no turning back.

With her slender waist and lovely face, she strolled through the residence beneath a pale yellow oil-paper umbrella, effortlessly drawing his gaze.

Perhaps she heard someone calling from behind her. The beauty turned with a charming smile and glanced back. Her eyes truly sparkled with life, and her beauty was almost impossible to describe. She seemed to overshadow even the spring splendor filling the courtyard.

Unseen, Xie Qingyan's gaze lingered on her. The longer he looked, the more intrigued and feverish he became. His desire spread like a wildfire, and he wanted to make her his.

The beauty he set his sights on was his. He wouldn't hesitate to use any means to take her.

After transmigrating, Gu Mingyu became a maid serving the young lady of the household. The young lady was gentle and generous toward the servants, and Gu Mingyu was content with her quiet, ordinary life. Her only wish was to save enough money to buy her freedom and leave the residence, so she could live freely, without restraint.

But when the heir returned to the capital after receiving a promotion, he took a liking to her and demanded that she become his concubine.

Gu Mingyu naturally refused. One rainy day, she hurried to him beneath an oil-paper umbrella and knelt on the ground, weeping. “My lord, please understand. I will never be anyone's concubine...”

But all she got in reply was the cool, uncompromising voice of the jade-like immortal. “It's your good fortune that I want you. If you refuse, you can always take your own life.”

In the end, Gu Mingyu cried for a long time, but could only accept her fate. She thought that one day, she would escape from his side.

In Xie Qingyan's eyes, Gu Mingyu was nothing but a canary. As long as he held on to her, she could never fly from his palm. But he never expected that this little bird would risk her life to flee from him.

After her escape was exposed, Xie Qingyan stood by the docks, his cool gaze fixed on her slender figure. His eyes held nothing but certainty that she would be his. “Gu Mingyu, if you're willing to come back, I can forgive everything that's happened before...”

He had always been certain that she could never leave him.

But before he could finish, Gu Mingyu let out a cold laugh. “Xie Qingyan, dream on. Every day and night I spent with you made me sick.”

With that, she leaped into the raging river without a moment's hesitation. Her frail figure was nevertheless utterly resolute.

For a long time afterward, Xie Qingyan dreamed of her resolute leap into the river. At last, he understood that she had never been a caged sparrow.

But it was too late.

② The blurb for my upcoming novel The Concubine is below. Please add it to your reading list!

When Song Heng returned to the capital after receiving a promotion, a minor official spent a fortune to send him a beauty as a gift, hoping to curry favor.

She had skin as smooth as ice and jade, and a face as lovely as a flower. Even Song Heng, a man with a heart as still as water who kept his distance from women, couldn't help but be moved. He kept her by his side.

But beneath her most submissive appearance, she had an iron will and a fiercely unyielding nature.

Song Heng resorted to every means at his disposal before he managed to tame her, and even then only barely.

In bed, as their passion reached its height, he gently stroked her raven-black hair and said with unmistakable tenderness, “As long as you stay by my side and behave, I won't let you suffer in the future.”

The beauty, usually so proud and unyielding, wrapped her arms around his neck and softly answered him.

Half a month later, Song Heng was ordered to inspect Jiangnan. When he returned to the capital, all he received was news of the beauty's death.

He was distraught and despondent for a long time. He even broke off the marriage that had already been arranged, and became so reckless that he intended to marry her memorial tablet.

Three years later, Song Heng made a tour of Jiangnan. By then, he was a powerful prince with a different surname. There, he unexpectedly encountered a beautiful married woman.

She had the same lovely face and sparkling eyes as his dead wife.

Song Heng's deep eyes blazed with rage. He had managed to tame her once, and he could do it again.

One day, he would make her submit to him completely.

To Fu Qingyu, Song Heng was a shackle she could never escape. No matter how hard she tried, she could never get away from him.

But she was no sparrow in his palm. Even if it meant they both went down in flames, she would leave him forever.

Song Heng was born to privilege, enjoyed a smooth rise in office, and possessed all the power in the world. Yet when it came to love, he suffered endlessly.

Even though Fu Qingyu hated him to the bone, he would never let her go.

Theme: Freedom and equality, living without restraint.