The Scent of Greed and Zen

A pampered, spoiled princess of noble birth X a serene, immaculate Buddhist monk (a wolf in sheep's clothing)

The female lead is not a virgin; the male lead is. The female lead will grow over the course of the story.

Blurb:

Man Shu first met Mu Fusheng at Changsheng Temple.

The last echoes of the temple bell had yet to fade, and the Buddha statue stood solemn and majestic.

A monk in a blue robe sat cross-legged, his frame straight as bamboo, his bones and spirit as flawless as jade. Bathed in sunlight, he seemed a deity descended to the mortal world.

Man Shu stood before him, her golden-threaded shoes carelessly planted on his cushion. She raised a hand and pointed at his forehead.

"Eunuch Su, let his hair grow out."

Man Shu knew Mu Fusheng probably hated her.

Mu Fusheng had once lived at the temple, dressed in a blue robe, free of desire, thought, fear, and worry.

But then he met her, and she used her supreme power to force him to grow his hair out and return to secular life.

He was supposed to be a Buddhist monk, but now his robes were sullied by worldly attachments, and he served her in her bedchamber. How could he not hate her?

But she didn't care. She simply liked his looks.

She was content to spend every day carousing with him and sinking into a sea of desire.

Whether he hated her or not was irrelevant.

But later, her imperial mother lost power, and her elder sister vanished. Her elder brother married her off to a barbarian prince.

That night, she failed to fight back. A barbarian's hand closed around her throat, and her vision began to blur...

In her fading consciousness, she thought of Mu Fusheng, the lover she had long since cast aside.

He must have left the capital by now.

A piercing scream abruptly jolted her awake.

The hall was thick with the stench of blood. A man with the moon-bright air of a deity stood there, his handsome face flecked with crimson, a sword in his hand and blood spattered all over him. He smiled like snow melting in the spring breeze. "Princess, did you abandon me for him?"

Theme: Never become addicted to anything.