The Gauze Cap Veils a Beauty

My next story will be "Seizing the Moonlight." The blurb is at the end. Interested readers, feel free to take a look.

Some chapters of this story can't be revised anymore. If you want to read them, you can find pirated copies.

Story introduction: A timid yet stubborn female official who just wants to stay alive x a scheming new emperor who just wants someone to scold him

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The heroine's side:

To avoid being left with nothing after her family dies, Zhou Siyi has no choice but to don a green official's robe and become an official in the Eastern Palace.

Less than a month into her new post, the crown prince is murdered, the emperor abdicates, and a new emperor ascends the throne.

For ten years under the new emperor, Zhou Siyi is steadfastly loyal to the Li Liang dynasty. She serves the emperor with all her heart, dares to remonstrate bluntly, and repeatedly risks offending him.

She thinks she might be granted a peaceful retirement, but all she receives is a cup of poisoned wine from the emperor.

When Zhou Siyi wakes up, she has returned to the age of twenty. All she wants is to cling to her life under the emperor's rule.

The new emperor wants to hunt with hawks and hounds, and spend his days laughing and playing.

Zhou Siyi: “I'll walk the birds and feed the dogs!”

The new emperor wants to build canals and wage war across the land.

Zhou Siyi: “I'll repay the country's grace, even if it costs me my life!”

The new emperor wants to choose an empress and fill the inner palace.

Zhou Siyi: “I really can't find any woman the emperor would like...”

Li Xianyi: “I think you, Minister Zhou, are quite alluring yourself.”

Thanks to her tireless efforts, the emperor, who has always despised men who love men, now charges headlong down the road to same-sex romance.

After faking her death and escaping, Zhou Siyi is admiring the beautiful scenery of Huaiyang. On the very day she pretends to marry her maid so they can pass as a couple, the silver-armored troops of the Tiger-Slaying Army surround the main hall.

The man steps out from the crowd, still as handsome as the wind and moon. “I'm here to steal away the bridegroom, not the bride.”

The hero's side:

Li Xianyi murdered his brother and forced his father from the throne. He is a new emperor, branded by all as a vicious tyrant and a monster.

Everyone knows that a dragon's scales are untouchable, and that whoever touches them will die. Only Zhou Siyi dares to remonstrate with him. In the end, she trains him into the most loyal hound beneath her official boots.

Together they safeguard the realm and plan for its future, until the people live prosperous lives and peace reigns throughout the land.

But his beloved Minister Zhou suddenly dies, leaving him alone to watch wild vines, brambles, will-o'-the-wisps, and fireflies on the ninefold mountain.

After falling off his horse while hunting, he wakes up to find he has returned to the start of his reign. His first question is, “Where is the empire I conquered?” His second is, “Where is my Minister Zhou?”

Reborn, he faces a trembling Zhou Siyi and says, “Minister Zhou, you've done an excellent job with this assignment. I want to reward you.”

Zhou Siyi bows and says, “I wish to retire.”

Li Xianyi pats the imperial couch beside him. “I'll reward you by letting you scold me a couple of times.”

Zhou Siyi: ?

Reading Guide:

1. One-on-one pairing in both lifetimes, with a sweet romance. Includes a groveling arc, but the hero never actually harms the heroine. Most of the past-life problems between them are misunderstandings.

2. The heroine is Zhou Siyi, courtesy name Wenzhi. The hero is Li Xianyi, childhood name Sinu. An alternate history modeled on the Tang dynasty, with original details, so please don't nitpick.

3. The heroine disguises herself as a man. From her perspective, she is referred to as “she”; from the perspective of people who don't know the truth, she is referred to as “he.” The hero goes through a phase of wondering if he's become gay, only to discover in the end that fortunately he's still straight.

4. This is not a strong-female-lead story, but the heroine has her own career and won't leave court to return to the harem.

1.

Li Zanyue suffers a head injury and loses all her memories.

When she wakes, she discovers that she not only has a husband, but also... a lover.

The lover is Yuan Zhou, the new dynasty's crown prince: stunningly handsome and immensely powerful.

Li Zanyue resolves to end this ill-fated affair and return to her husband's side.

Yuan Zhou calmly admires the naked, seductive woman in his arms. His words cut deep: “When Lord Xie is serving Great Wei with all his heart, does he know that his wife is also doing her utmost to serve her superior?”

In the first month of her affair with Yuan Zhou, he measures every inch of her body at a tailor's shop.

Yuan Zhou is refreshed and satisfied, while Li Zanyue's legs tremble. She begs in a quavering voice, “My husband is just a scholar with no weapon to his name. How could he possibly stand against Your Highness?”

In the second month of her affair with Yuan Zhou, he sets a trap to deceive her, leaving her no choice but to attend him in the palace every day.

Yuan Zhou can't get enough, while Li Zanyue, her cheeks streaked with tears, writes to him imploringly: “My husband and I have been married for ten years, and we love each other deeply. Your Highness, please don't separate us.”

In the third month of her affair with Yuan Zhou, while her husband is away on an assignment, Yuan Zhou forces his way into her bedchamber under cover of night.

Li Zanyue points at him and shouts furiously, “You're the crown prince! How can you debase yourself by becoming the secret lover of a married woman? You're trampling the dignity of the imperial family into the dirt!”

Then, one day, her memories return. She realizes with a start that:

Yuan Zhou and she are sworn enemies. He has merely been pretending to be Xie Xiuqi, enjoying a game of one woman with two husbands!

2.

They meet again on a night when the full moon hangs high in the sky.

Guangling has fallen. At the foot of the city wall, he catches her as she flees in a panic.

Candlelight flickers in the military camp, and the storm has passed.

He contemptuously waves the surrender letter written by the real Xie Xiuqi in her face:

“Chang Le, the most beautiful princess, is peerless. I am willing to offer my wife for Your Highness's pleasure.”

He lets his fingers linger over her delicate collarbone. “Li Zanyue, your husband seems to know an awful lot about what you're like in my bed.”

[No matter how many times she runs away, she is the moon in his palm.]

#A sinister crown prince pretends to be her husband while acting submissive as her secret lover, taking her by force through any means necessary, loving her without getting what he wants, and gradually going mad#

Theme: Speak for the people and renew the world