This Humble Official Pities the Princess

To secure the Jiang family’s place at the top of the aristocracy, Jiang Ruotang enjoys a smooth rise through the official ranks and marries Princess Duanhui, who was once a hostage in an enemy kingdom and has only recently returned home, with a scandalous reputation for romantic escapades trailing behind her. The princess is breathtakingly beautiful, with skin like ice and bones like jade, a true celestial beauty. But she is naturally withdrawn and dislikes talking to people. After learning about the princess’s temperament from others, Jiang Ruotang remains taciturn after marrying her and treats her with polite respect. Later, the princess often loses her temper for no apparent reason, seeming to detest her. Afraid of making her even more unhappy, Jiang Ruotang gradually stops visiting the rear courtyard and keeps her wife there in the utmost comfort. As the days pass, Jiang Ruotang’s reputation at court grows and her position rises. She becomes so busy that she barely has time to catch her breath. One day, she even forgets the princess’s birthday, only remembering when she returns home in the middle of the night. The night is bitterly cold. Afraid of disturbing the princess’s sleep, she thinks she can bring her birthday gift the next day. But all she finds is a sky full of flames. The princess’s courtyard is on fire... Only after her wife’s death does Jiang Ruotang learn from the palace maid who served her that the princess, who supposedly “disliked and detested” her, had longed for her visits every day. Even a casual message sent through a servant, such as “It’s been cold lately. Be sure to dress warmly,” would make the princess happy for a long time. Jiang Ruotang feels as if she has missed something. Until the moment she dies, she keeps wondering: If the princess liked me, why didn’t she say so? Jiang Ruotang dies in a daze, only to open her eyes again. She is reborn a few months earlier, on the day before her wife’s death, after having gone months without setting foot in the rear courtyard. This time, she puts aside all her official duties. Her crimson official robes billow as she strides from the front courtyard to the rear. From a distance, she spots a slender woman weighed down by gloom, yet constantly stretching her neck to look outside, as though waiting for someone to return. Both leads are each other’s first. A story of healing, with the top helping the bottom heal. Weibo: Jinjiang-He Wei Fengyue A recommendation for my upcoming story, Don’t Abandon the Princess: Jiang Yuehe is a farmer’s daughter in the capital, with no parents. She makes a living growing vegetables and hunting. One day, she accidentally wanders into a red-light district and encounters a courtesan of breathtaking charm and innate sensuality. Jiang Yuehe is so stunned she can hardly breathe. The courtesan is beautiful and aloof; the moment she sees Jiang Yuehe, she coldly tells her to leave, wanting nothing to do with her. But Jiang Yuehe can’t bear to see the woman trapped in a quagmire and stained by the world around her. She works desperately to earn money, hoping to buy the woman’s freedom and take her home. After months of hard work, she never expects to discover that she’s been deceived! What do you mean, a pitiful woman who accidentally ended up in a brothel? What do you mean, she’s lowborn and powerless to resist? It was all a lie! You liar! Give me back my hard-earned money QAQ Xiao Wanyun is a princess. One day, she visits the brothel she owns and is mistaken for someone selling herself. What an ignorant fool. Doesn’t she know that the Jade Pavilion has never sold sex, only performances? At first, she feels deeply insulted and furious, and resolves to give this ignorant country woman a hard time. But as the days pass, she finds herself sinking into the other woman’s wholehearted care and doting affection. She even saves money with her, hoping to buy her own freedom. But every lie is eventually exposed. Now the woman knows her identity. She says Xiao Wanyun toyed with her and that she’ll never like her again. Not only that, she demands repayment, saying she won’t spend a single cent of her money on a liar like Xiao Wanyun! Xiao Wanyun: looking all wronged/ A resilient, practical, hardworking farmer’s daughter × a cold, domineering beauty in public and a soft, seductive princess in private Theme: Don’t keep what you have to say locked up inside.