After the Bride Swap, the Concubine's Daughter Ran Away While Pregnant

My next new novel: After Their Divorce, She and Her Ex-Husband's Nemesis Find Their Happy Ending

Gentle, tsundere crown prince x absent-minded, naturally adorable concubine-born daughter

The concubine-born daughter of a duke's family, raised on a country estate, is unexpectedly brought home by her father and made to marry Crown Prince Lu Xingyun in place of her missing legitimate-born elder sister.

After the wedding, she treads carefully, dealing with treacherous palace schemes while also having to shoulder the romantic debts her missing sister left behind.

A foreign prince, who has a long-running entanglement with her elder sister, mistakes her for the sister, ruining her reputation. But Lu Xingyun always believes her.

The empress and princess urge Lu Xingyun to divorce her.

Lu Xingyun: I only trust my own heart and eyes.

Even when he sees it with his own eyes, he still believes her.

The exchange marriage is over, and her belly is growing. Every time she sees Lu Xingyun, her heart trembles.

Later, Shen Yanqi learns she is actually the duke's legitimate-born daughter. She pretends to accept her father's arranged marriage, planning to reveal her identity on her wedding day. Unexpectedly, Lu Xingyun shows up on the day of the wedding and personally castrates her new husband.

"The Crown Princess is marrying again. Did you think to inform me?"

Shen Yanqi: "I... didn't!"

He closes in on her with force, revealing a ruthless side she has never seen. In front of everyone, he produces a letter of annulment written in blood and announces that he will marry her again.

"Legitimate-born or concubine-born, she is the only one I love. In truth, my marriage agreement with the Duke of Dingguo was already over. If it weren't for her, I would never have married."

When she produces evidence and restores her status as the duke's legitimate-born daughter, the scene becomes awkward.

Lu Xingyun: I urgently retract one letter of annulment!

Shen Yanqi smiles. Bye-bye!

#SheWasHisChildhoodFriendAndHisUnexpectedLove#

[Reader's Guide]

1. Both leads are virgins. Sweet romance.

2. Two couples' storylines. There wasn't room for the other couple's blurb.

3. Blurb revised on 2025.06.17 and saved in the author's notes.

Check out my currently updating novel:

Leaving the Palace to Live in Harmony with Prince Jing

Blurb:

A groveling-for-love arc / marriage before love

Zhou Jiayue transmigrates to another world. In barely six months, she goes from a singing girl in a marquis's household to the emperor's most favored consort. Everyone envies her good fortune.

But the truth is different. She only wanted to escape a den of wolves, and instead fell into an even deeper pit.

The emperor doesn't love her, the maternal relatives hold immense power, and Xiao Ce uses her and the other consorts' rivalries to keep the court in check.

After five years, her body is covered in injuries and illnesses. On the verge of death, she thinks at last she'll be free. When she wakes again, she is the wife of Prince Jing.

Ever since his beloved Consort Shu died, Xiao Ce has been depressed. A lowly person shouldn't be able to affect his mood, until he sees his third sister-in-law, whose features and bearing are remarkably similar.

The song she often hums is one no one else knows, but Xiao Yue recognizes it. She no longer has the meek, downcast manner she once did, and now she's always by Prince Jing's side, as happy as can be.

Scene One:

Zhou Jiayue hears that Xiao Heng has been drinking with officials at a pleasure house. Afraid history will repeat itself, she puts on a seductive air, but he remains unmoved. He clears away the gaudy objects, wraps her in a newly made loose nightshirt, and massages her with his long fingers.

"There was a foreign dancer whose clothes looked like they were made from nice fabric. I shamelessly asked her for a few new ones, then helped her gain her freedom. It took a while. Those clothes are too rough for your skin."

Zhou Jiayue feels her new clothes. They're soft, with a faint medicinal scent. It's the medicine she has to apply every day, and it takes a long time for the fabric to absorb it.

"I'm feeling better. You don't need to do all this."

"Even the healthy shouldn't ignore a cold or cough, let alone you."

As Xiao Ce speaks, he massages the tense spots on her body. From time to time, he touches somewhere he shouldn't, and things get heated. He's always gentle, but he has stamina too.

Scene Two:

Jiayue practices calligraphy, her brush pecking at the paper like a chicken.

Xiao Heng: I'll gladly come to you.

Jiayue likes to cheat at chess and is infamous among the noblewomen. She can only pester Xiao Heng.

"Brother Heng, they all look down on me and say I'm a cheat for taking back my moves. You're good at chess. Play with me."

"..."

She always thinks she can beat him, but loses every time, and then he has his way with her.

[Reader's Guide]

1. As the blurb says, this is a full-on groveling-for-love arc, and the pursuit does not succeed.

2. The female lead is not a virgin; the male lead, Xiao Heng, is devoted to her alone.

3. There will be no alternate timeline for Xiao Ce and Jiayue. My alternate timelines never change the protagonists; in every scenario, Yue and Heng are a couple.

4. The cover was made by Bichui Gugu at my request. The red-to-green gradient represents the heroine escaping the palace walls and their suffocating restraints, with new life at every step ahead.

5. Marriage before love and the groveling-for-love arc run side by side. The overall tone isn't too heavy. I hope you enjoy reading.

Theme: A heart full of true love shines as bright as the sun and moon.