Tempting the Lord

After Yu Niang was widowed, her dead husband's family demanded that she remain chaste. They sent people to confine her in the courtyard and forced her to wear plain clothes and burn incense in repentance every day.

Yu Niang tried every means to escape, but failed. Then she happened to discover that a great general lived next door.

The general had a large, imposing retinue. Yu Niang's eyes gleamed as she decided to use his influence to escape her predicament.

After several rounds of lovemaking, half willing and half reluctant, Yu Niang thought that being with him was not bad at all. He was unmarried, powerful, rich, and had plenty of stamina.

If he took another lover, she could simply walk away.

But on the day she learned the true identity of the man next door, Yu Niang's legs went weak. She ran away that very night without even packing her belongings.

*

Li Chenghuan joined his father in raising an army when he was young. Once the foundations of the state were secure, he led his forces on campaigns across the south and north, bringing the lands in every direction to heel. At the age of twenty, he received the abdication and ascended the throne.

Seven years into his reign, everything had gone smoothly.

His only setback was being duped by a foolish woman in a small town.

The foolish woman had showered him with sweet words, praising him and claiming to love him, but abandoned him when he was seriously wounded.

He tore the privately drafted edict appointing her empress to pieces. Notices seeking her were sent throughout the provinces. He was determined to bring her back and kill her to vent his rage.

*

The man pursued Yu Niang relentlessly, like an evil spirit that would not let her go. After hiding in the south for several months, she was caught at last.

With nowhere left to run and backed into a corner, Yu Niang did not dare look up. Tears filled her eyes, and she pressed herself into the man's arms as pitifully as she had before.

"Back then... I was young and foolish. I was confused for a moment and offended Your Majesty. Please... please forget it..."

The man pushed her away, lifted her chin with a faintly mocking smile, and said coldly:

"Forget what? You are a widowed woman with no family to rely on, and I am a lonely man with no one to turn to. We were made for each other."

*

"She's just a frail woman. If I take her by force, I might hurt her."

"No, Your Majesty. Everyone outside says you're acting like her dog."

/She seems like a soft, boneless little rabbit, but she's really a beautiful-faced, black-hearted fox spirit.

Theme: Honest people like us wouldn't dare read this sort of thing.