The Beauty's Cold Heart [Dog-Training Fiction]

In the sixteenth year of Qingping, Xie Jingtang arrived at his cousin's residence, weary from the journey, and came upon a young woman in white holding an oil-paper umbrella. Through the hazy rain, she lowered her head beneath the umbrella and gave him a faint smile, gentle and lovely.

For once, he remembered her backward glance for a long, long time. A raindrop fell not only into his palm, but into his heart as well.

Half a month later, he saw his cousin leave the young woman's courtyard, reeking of wine. As the lanterns swayed, he saw her reddened eyes.

A month later, his cousin fell from his horse and was left paralyzed from the waist down. Xie Jingtang thought that at last he could be with her.

But three days later, a fire consumed the young woman's courtyard. The beauty perished, and Xie Jingtang was so devastated he could barely function. He set up a memorial tablet for his deceased wife.

A month later, compelled by an imperial decree to return to the capital, he caught sight of a familiar face at a banquet.

The banquet was filled with clinking cups and lively conversation. The beautiful woman sat beside his imperial elder brother, smiling brightly.

He heard she was his brother's newly acquired beauty, and the newest concubine of the Crown Prince.

She was also the wife he had believed burned to death, the woman he thought had perished.

As Xie Jingtang gazed at her lovely face, for the first time he wanted to fight for the throne.

Half a month later, the Crown Prince held his wedding. On the wedding night, his newly taken concubine vanished, and everyone rushed to search for her.

Xie Jingtang rose from his seat and returned to his residence without a hint of urgency. In his room, a beauty dressed in wedding robes was tied up. Smiling with gentle grace, he walked to the bedside and wiped the rouge from her red lips. "Jiaojiao, you really made me search high and low for you, didn't you?"

"How about I hide you somewhere only I know about from now on?"

Theme: Never give up, and stay resilient.