After Abandoning the Mad Emperor

[Upcoming story: The Captive General. Same genre, please add it to your collection] Possessive romance + childhood sweethearts | Delicate, fickle beauty x mad, obsessive emperor On the day of the coup, Yan Leying decisively abandons Ji Yan, the prince confined to the Cold Palace, to protect herself. She humiliates and belittles him, then throws herself without hesitation into the camp of Crown Prince Ji Huai. At the time, she never imagined that Ji Yan would survive against all odds, defeat Ji Huai, and become the new emperor. In the third year of the new dynasty, eight years after they last parted, they reunite in Jiangnan. The emperor has outgrown the awkwardness of youth, his figure imposing. His face, as finely sculpted as jade, is cold and grim. His dark eyes quietly study her. Yan Leying peeks out from a crowd of handsome men in Jiangnan, looking bashful and teary-eyed as she raises a hand to greet him. Instead, he ruthlessly has her dragged back to the palace... Even so, Yan Leying is convinced Ji Yan still loves her. Though he resents her for betraying him, hates her for abandoning him, and disapproves of her flirtatious ways, he still pulls her into his arms when she makes a certain feigned plea. But at that moment, Yan Leying thinks... What if he knew this reunion was just another scheme? * Deep within the palace walls, childhood friends grow up together, once innocent of suspicion. Ji Yan loved her deeply, so deeply that on the day she humiliated and abandoned him, he came to hate her just as fiercely. The day he brought her back, he knew Yan Leying thought she had the upper hand. In truth, to him, she had walked right into his trap and offered her neck to the blade. He lures her into lowering her guard, hands her the secret map she wants, and then wipes out her and the deposed Crown Prince's faction in one fell swoop. Afterward, he leads her into the cage he prepared long ago and personally fastens golden chains around her slender wrists... "A Ying, still don't understand?" Looking at the beauty's terrified, tear-filled eyes, the cold emperor merely winds the golden chain around his finger and kisses away the tears at the corners of her red eyes, his gaze dark. "Your schemes, your plans, your machinations..." "To me, they're nothing but a prey's futile struggles." To ensnare his childhood sweetheart, hold her captive, and make sure she never has the chance to escape... That is what he truly intends. #A prey that escaped once must never be allowed to escape again #She thinks she's the hunter, but he's the one in control Reading Guide: 1. An old-school, angsty romance with a bittersweet taste. Both leads planned this reunion. 2. Neither lead is perfect. They both have dark sides, and their values do not represent the author's. -- Upcoming story: The Captive General -- Lin Tang, the great general who protects the Southern Liang, is known as the "Jade-Faced Asura." She dominates the battlefield and has never lost a battle. For ten years she has commanded the winds of war, and no one knows that "he" is actually a woman. Until she falls into a trap and is captured by Yan Qingheng, a Northern Yan enemy general who has a blood feud with her. Lin Tang knows that, at this point, she is doomed. The victor takes all, and she accepts her fate. But even a hopeless situation can change. * Beneath the night lights, between the red bed curtains, A few hoarse, tender moans slip from the tent, then scatter into the yellow sands. The hands that once held cold, sharp blades steady and killed countless enemies can now only hang weakly in cold chains, suspended high above the bed. "Shh." The imposing man behind her presses close, following her like a shadow. He strokes the beauty's tousled, sweat-damp hair, his long fingers brazenly brushing her lips. "If you get any louder, everyone outside the tent will hear..." "Or would you like the world to find out you're a woman, General Lin?" #A dark, painful romance for trashy-novel lovers, basically an enemies-to-lovers story Theme: Never give up lightly. Always fight for your chance.