Steal the Wild Goose

Angsty melodrama | Gradually falling into ruin as they test each other | Stealing a wife

Beautiful, clear-headed daughter of a marquis's household vs. elegant, ambitious minister

After a sudden upheaval at the marquis's estate, Gu Yan narrowly escapes. She assumes a new identity and heads north to find her relatives, but by a twist of fate, she becomes an attendant in the prince's manor, tasked with writing plays for Prince Ying.

Wei Bai, Prince Ying, holds power over the court. Some call him a divine and noble gentleman; others curse him as a traitor who would steal the nation. Yet one thing surprises everyone: he has a particular fondness for plays.

To gather clues, Gu Yan puts on an act at every turn, luring and deceiving him.

"Your Highness's poems are so full of loneliness that I can't help wanting to get close to you."

Wei Bai's voice was icy. "Who taught you to say that?"

"Every word I say is sincere." Her eyes brimmed with grievance as she leaned against his stiff shoulder, secretly gritting her teeth. This man always saw her as someone with ulterior motives. She was determined to make him a useful weapon and use him to her advantage.

Wei Bai was suspicious by nature. Whenever Gu Yan dealt with him, it felt like walking on the edge of a blade. Fortunately, she finally found her close relatives, who had been imprisoned, and they fled together.

*

Five years later, Gu Yan had settled in the south and married her childhood sweetheart. When an enemy army advanced on the city, the King of Nan Kui led the noble clans in opening the gates and surrendering the imperial seal.

As she followed the procession out of the city, she caught sight of the elegant and handsome Prince Ying, mounted before the army. His gaze passed over the crowd and fixed on her, dark and brooding. Suddenly, he spurred his horse forward, ignored the uproar around him, lifted her onto his horse, and galloped away.

That night, candlelight flickered in Prince Ying's tent, and a torn divorce agreement lay on the floor.

Gu Yan retreated step by step until he blocked her way back inside. "I am already a married woman. Please behave with propriety!"

She tried to break free, but his hand gripped her waist, and his fingers locked around hers. His refined, low voice sounded beside her ear. "Didn't you get the divorce agreement?"

His eyes, black as an abyss, were filled with an obsession that made her heart tremble.

"A Yan's play isn't finished yet."

"You said you'd write it for me alone in this life."

1. Forced possession.

2. For a detailed reader's guide, see the author's note in Chapter One.

Completed: Jade Desecration

As the Grand Princess's trusted aide, the female official Lin Wan manages the estate and also has an important duty: selecting handsome companions for the widowed Grand Princess, who rules as regent.

Many scholars volunteer to share her bed, and Lin Wan has to carefully assess their appearance and character.

One day, Lin Wan was to escort a scholar from out of town, whom she had already selected. Her subordinates brought him over from an inn. When he learned he was being taken to the princess's residence, he changed his mind and tried to leave.

They couldn't possibly go back on their word to the Grand Princess, so Lin Wan ordered someone to force a medicinal decoction down his throat and bind him into the carriage. Then a subordinate reported that they had gone to the wrong room and brought back the wrong person!

Lin Wan hurriedly went to bring him back, only to discover that he was Song Shi, a censor recently promoted from the provinces by the Crown Prince.

He was famous for his integrity, as pure and noble as the moon and as spotless as jade. Lin Wan was in a bind. She didn't want to offend the Crown Prince. At that moment, Song Shi was on the couch in her room, his eyes red at the corners, clutching the mat and trembling all over as he fought to hold on, glaring at her in anger.

Lin Wan ventured, "Young Master Song, should I... help you?"

The next morning, she returned him to the inn and begged him to keep the matter secret. Song Shi was so embarrassed and furious that he tried several times to speak, but in the end only managed to spit out, "Absurd!" before storming off.

Song Shi earned the Crown Prince's favor and rose rapidly through the ranks. The Censorate was also known as the Orchid Terrace, and Song of the Orchid Terrace became a name on everyone's lips. He was humble and courteous to others, but always at odds with her.

Lin Wan tried every means to win him over, including using her own beauty... but Song Shi remained unmoved. Lin Wan sighed. Since she had offended him first, she would keep her distance from now on.

Then, in a sudden upheaval, Song Shi was convicted and thrown into prison.

Lin Wan sensed something was wrong. Though that man was dull and annoying, he had never embezzled anything. Feeling guilty all the same, she sent him a sum of money anonymously, hoping to help clear his name.

But one day, when she returned home, she found Song Shi standing in the main hall with the silver beside him. His ears flushed red as he snapped, "You think this means we're even?"

*

Song Shi was born into a distinguished family of scholars and had been taught from childhood to keep away from opportunists who chased profit and changed their tune with the wind.

Lin Wan was plainly one of them.

Yet the more he avoided her by day, the more he dreamed of her at night.

Fictional setting, loosely modeled on the Han, Wei, and Jin dynasties.

Theme: Facing the desires of the heart.