A Lantern Encounter in the Deep of Night

Great Wei and Beiliang have fought bitterly for many years. After Beiliang suffered a crushing defeat, it sent its prince, Helan Xuan, to Great Wei as a hostage. Helan Xuan was peerlessly beautiful, delicate and refined, even more beautiful than a woman. In an enemy state, he was like a lamb entering a tiger's den. People from every quarter bullied him and coveted him, treating him like a plaything for their amusement. He resisted with all his might, desperately guarding the last shred of his dignity. Yet those dark, hopeless days seemed to have no end. At last, with nowhere left to turn, Helan Xuan prepared to take his own life with a blade. Princess Xiao Sui, however, appeared like a deity descending from heaven, seized his hand, and resolutely shielded him behind her. Once, he wanted to live as a person and preserve his dignity. Now, he would do anything, as long as he could stay by Xiao Sui's side. But Xiao Sui always treated him with courtesy and distance. He could not understand why, until someone "enlightened" him. In an instant, his pent-up grievance nearly turned to pus and blood. Late at night, Helan Xuan mustered his courage and clutched Xiao Sui's sleeve. His voice was soft and trembling. "Your Highness, believe me. I'm not dirty. I've always kept myself pure." On the battlefield, Xiao Sui is the awe-inspiring General Who Guards the North. In the imperial palace, she is the exalted Princess Jing'an. Everyone says her life is perfect, but no one knows she once lost a beautiful dream that she still cannot forget. When people warned her that the enemy state's hostage was off-limits, she refused to listen. When they reminded her that those outside her own people could never be trusted, she refused to believe them. So when Helan Xuan escaped back to Beiliang and was enthroned as its new emperor, Xiao Sui's face burned as if she had been slapped a dozen times by an invisible hand. At last, she realized that Helan Xuan's weakness and innocence had all been a facade. In truth, he was more calculating, treacherous, and cunning than anyone. She had to see Helan Xuan anew and treat him as a true enemy. Yet months later, this "enemy" personally arrived in Great Wei on a diplomatic mission and presented a letter from his state, declaring that he wished to form a marriage alliance with Great Wei and never again take up arms against it. Facing him again, Xiao Sui felt a jumble of emotions. Instinctively, she wanted to run, but Helan Xuan caught hold of her and took the initiative to loosen his oversized outer robe, revealing his round belly. Tears glimmered in Helan Xuan's eyes, making him look painfully moving. "Your Highness, I didn't lie to you. I really am expecting." Xiao Sui stared at this forbidden and alluring sight, so shocked she was speechless. #In the midnight lamplight, we share a solitary shadow; my heart holds a thousand words, and only the moon understands# [Majestic, formidable general princess x peerlessly beautiful, delicate husband, hostage from an enemy state] [Reader's Guide] 1. An alternate Sui-Tang setting with gender equality. Men and women can both inherit the throne, and their social roles are the same. Women still bear most of the children. Men can give birth too, but need medication, and the process is quite painful. 2. The male lead is a peerlessly beautiful man: resilient and clever, with his beauty and talent devoted solely to the female lead. He is hopelessly lovesick. The female lead is independent and clear-headed. She loves him, but is also very rational. 3. This is an empress story. Don't see that the male lead becomes emperor in the blurb and assume the female lead must be inferior. That's impossible. My female lead must always be the one in the superior position. 4. The leads are mutually devoted to each other, with no other partners, one-on-one romance (emphatically). There are scenes of men competing for the female lead and pulling each other's hair. 5. Use my preferred forms of address. 6. This is a group-cast gender-bender story. If you don't know what that means, please look it up before reading. 7. The story doesn't follow any genre conventions. It's purely self-indulgent, written to satisfy my own preferences, and can't suit everyone's taste. If it doesn't feel right to you, please leave right away. See you around. 8. If you can't accept the female lead suffering even the slightest harm, please take note before reading. [Special thanks to "Chuxin" for providing the male lead's character design] -------Coming soon: The Protector [gender-bender]------- Lu Xun was finished. The Alpha who had once stood atop the financial world and wielded power at will had plunged into the abyss overnight, with prison bars for company. If you spend enough time by the river, how can you avoid getting your shoes wet? He accepted that. But he had never imagined that the knife driven into his heart would not be in the hands of an enemy, but would come from the girl he had raised himself. When he first met Ling Cen, she was small and quiet. Lu Xun thought she was destined to become an Omega. In a world where the strong preyed on the weak, an Omega alone was too easily devoured. His heart softened for a moment, and he took her in. Who would have guessed that the child he brought home wasn't a lamb waiting for slaughter, but a wolf cub in sheep's clothing? Ling Cen didn't just surpass her teacher. After her secondary gender manifested, she became an Alpha even more formidable than he was. Then she went over to his enemy's side. Suddenly, everything made sense. His career had collapsed and his brothers had scattered, all because of her betrayal. But when he traced things back to the beginning, he had to admit that the reason he had adopted Ling Cen was that he had driven her biological father to his death. The wheel of cause and effect had turned, and retribution had finally come back to him. - Ling Cen's childhood was a constant process of losing those she loved. Her mother died young. She went alone to seek out her father, only to witness death once again just a few days later. She was alone and helpless, as if cast into the most desolate crossroads in the world. Just then, an Alpha named Lu Xun reached out and drew her into his arms. His voice was so gentle it was almost deadly. "Baby, come home with me." From then on, she became Lu Xun's adopted daughter. In the eyes of outsiders, she was a little girl under his protection. But in the unseen shadows, her gaze at Lu Xun concealed an unspeakable longing and greed. She had thought this dangerous balance would last forever. Lu Xun would always remain high above her, while she would be forever lost in his protection. Until Lu Xun went to prison. With his protection gone, she could only bare her Alpha fangs and take on the role. She would fight, seize what she wanted, and stake everything, even if he saw her as a traitor. She would drag him out of the mire. At last, Lu Xun was free again. Ling Cen gazed at the man before her, stripped of the glory he once possessed, and met his cold, hateful stare. A jumble of indescribable emotions surged within her: sorrow, satisfaction, or some more dangerous desire. The corner of her lips curled into a deep, ambiguous smile. She murmured in her heart, "From now on, I'll be the one to protect you, my... father." Theme: What you keep longing for will eventually answer your call.