After Picking Up a Fallen Prince

A Zhi lives in an isolated mountain village. She is stunningly beautiful, with a natural, bewitching charm that makes her look like a femme fatale. Yet she is sweet and innocent by nature, and her parents have raised her like a precious treasure. Her life is peaceful and warm, and what she loves most is listening to stories about the outside world.

Then one day, her father and elder brother are framed for a crime and taken to the imperial capital. From that moment on, there is no word from them.

Her mother and sisters soon fall ill from worry. Determined to find her family, A Zhi sets off alone for the capital. Just as she is wondering how to get there, she finds a handsome man gravely wounded on a country path.

The man is cold and noble, and his fine clothes and accessories are far beyond anything A Zhi has ever seen. Most importantly, he is headed to the imperial capital too.

Hoping he will take her along, A Zhi carefully tends to him and does everything she can to please him. She even blushes with embarrassment as she imitates a scene from a romance story, telling him she wants to stay by his side forever.

But the man has a terrible temper and often makes A Zhi cry. Still, she puts up with it for the sake of getting to the capital. She treats him like a sick little chick or duckling, smiling sweetly and caring for him tenderly every day.

The day his injuries heal, he finally agrees to take her into the city after she begs him through tears and sniffles. But on the way, she accidentally discovers his identity and flees as soon as they enter the capital.

Xiao Qin is the fourth son of the Great Zhou emperor. Because his mother was out of favor, he was sent to the State of Yan as a hostage at the age of ten, where he endured endless hardship and contempt. Even on his way home after receiving an imperial summons, he was ambushed and nearly killed.

The woman who saved him had peach-blossom eyes and cheeks, and was as beautiful as a demon from a strange tale. She flattered and seduced him at every turn. Watching her clumsy attempts to please him, Xiao Qin only sneered to himself, thinking she was just another lowborn woman skilled at currying favor with the powerful.

He had seen plenty of women like her.

Yet this country girl, who could not recognize a single character, abandoned him as soon as they reached the capital and ran away like a rabbit.

So be it. She was only a country girl with a pretty face.

Night fell. All was silent, yet he could not sleep. Only then did he remember that since being sent to Yan as a hostage at ten, the only times he had slept soundly had been in her home.

Ridiculous. He turned over, unconcerned.

But the next time he saw her, she was shamelessly begging a poor scholar to write a petition for her. She wept like a pear blossom in the rain, her cheeks flushed, while the man fondled her wrist and backside and took every advantage of her without her even realizing it.

A sudden rage rose in Xiao Qin's heart. He sliced off both of the scholar's hands with his sword, then forcibly dragged her home and pinned her against a screen. He greedily breathed in the familiar fragrance at her neck and whispered in a dangerous voice by her ear:

"Didn't you always want to stay by my side? I'll grant your wish..."

Notes:

1. Soft, foolish beauty x possessive, scheming prince. Both leads have no prior sexual experience.

2. Forced possession, then groveling to win her back. Because the male lead was held hostage in another country as a boy, he is deeply insecure. Early on, he will stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

3. Set in a fictional world modeled on the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.

4. The female lead's identity holds a secret.

Theme: Building a better future together