Love Breeds a Wretched Soul

Next up: "May the Commandery Princess Be Blessed," a sweet-natured princess x a jealous eunuch

[Story One] "Mandarin Ducks Brocade," complete

· Sweet but dark-hearted prostitute x gentle, sickly eunuch. The female lead is not a virgin.

He was passing through the pleasure quarter on official business when he saw a pitiful young woman. He spent one liang of silver to buy her freedom. She said she had nowhere to go, and being kindhearted, he took her in.

He often fell ill, and she said she was attentive, so she cared for him.

He was always away from home, and she said she was afraid of thunder and rain.

"He was so good, good to everyone. So I gave him a bedspread embroidered with mandarin ducks and married him, so from then on he'd only be good to me," she said.

"You're a lowborn wretch, missing a piece below. I'm a lowborn wretch too, with a dirty body. We're a perfect match, aren't we?" she said.

"You're not," he said.

[Story Two] "The Phoenix Terrace Opera," complete

· Determined, brave opera performer x purehearted, loyal Governor of the Eastern Depot

At first, she was an opera performer with a beautiful singing voice, and there was always a pale, beardless gentleman watching from below.

Later, she learned that the gentleman was the notorious Governor of the Eastern Depot.

The Governor paid to spend a night with her.

She smiled. "Governor, I'm just an opera singer."

He smiled too. "I'm just paying you to sing opera for one night."

The opera stage was smashed, and the theater was trampled.

With nowhere else to turn, she heard those words again: "Yuexian's performances are wonderful. I will pay for you."

[Story Three] "Bright Moon," complete

She was neither the daughter of a powerful official nor a pampered member of the imperial family, just the ordinary daughter of a low-ranking ninth-grade official. Yet she caught the eye of the current emperor's most revered elder.

She told him that kind, warm love did exist in this world.

So, for the sake of her words, he put on an act, pretending to be innocent and pitiful.

Eunuchs grovelled, officials fawned, and the world spat on him.

Only she said to him, "You're so pitiful. Can I give you a little touch?"

[Story Four] "How Deep," complete

· Wicked, petty little palace maid x ruthless chief eunuch

When the master rises to power, the master's dog barks merrily.

That's her.

She's mean and petty. People call her a snob and accuse her of being a lackey.

Being at the side of a favored consort seems to have made her fierce, too. Unfortunately, she picked the wrong person. When her mistress fell from power, she was bound to fall along with her.

But when the arrests came, one person alone let her go.

She was lucky, and she felt guilty.

It was only because she had once given that eunuch a piece of steamed bun.

That bun had only been a way to drive away a dog.

But she didn't know that all he wanted from her was that piece of bun. After all, she looked down on him.

[Story Five] "Karma's End," complete

· Black-lotus schemer disguised as a man x bad dog

By morning, she was a commander tasked with keeping watch over the people, feared neither gods nor Buddha and burdened with countless sins. By night, she took up her knife and became a hired killer, robbing and murdering without distinguishing right from wrong, and caring nothing for the consequences.

No one had ever dared to stop her, until one day, on her way home after counting her money, she ran into the newly appointed eunuch in charge of punishments.

So what if he was the eunuch in charge of punishments? She still slapped him across the face.

She thought that was the end of it. But one day, after interrogating someone, he dared to block her way in the Imperial Prison. He wasn't there for anything else. He just wanted to grab her wrist and slap himself across the face with her hand.

She glared at him coldly. "Mad dog, you'll be the next one arrested in the Imperial Prison!"

But he stayed calm, even savoring the scars on her palm. "The Commander's hand and the female assassin's hand feel exactly the same when they slap someone. It feels wonderful."

[Story Six] "Clear Light Condensed," complete

· Free-spirited swordswoman x proud, timid, adorable head of the Western Depot. [Tragic ending, switch roles in bed, not a strong female lead]

She was a woman wandering the jianghu. On her first day out, she took a lucrative job: cut off a man's head. Money could make ghosts turn the millstone, and even though everyone said the job would be difficult, she went anyway.

On a bleak, rainy night, her sword came down and severed the dragon-and-python embroidery on his sleeve. Only then did she realize that she had struck the head of the Western Depot.

[Reading guide]

1. As the description says, all the eunuchs are real eunuchs.

2. The stories are all about romance, daily life, and getting along. There isn't much plot about careers, and even when there is, it's all in service of the romance. Some logical inconsistencies are present.

3. Some stories have relationship dynamics that aren't traditional boy-girl romances. If that's not your thing, please don't force yourself to read them.

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Upcoming story: "May the Commandery Princess Be Blessed"

Mischievous sweet girl x insecure, jealous man who cries in secret

Peng Yuan is the precious jewel of the commandery prince's household, its only young commandery princess. From birth, she was doted on and cherished like a treasure.

The princess was picky, and none of the prospective husbands her father found for her met her standards.

Scholars, military men, powerful officials and nobles: not one of them caught her eye.

Marriage was a major event in a woman's life, and the commandery prince was afraid of delaying her. So he ordered Yan Guang, the head eunuch at Peng Yuan's side, to find someone for her. Eunuch Yan was reliable and kind, so the commandery prince trusted him with the task.

Yan Guang accompanied the princess as she met one candidate after another, and endured one matchmaking event after another.

At the ball-throwing match, the embroidered ball went missing. At the martial arts match, the two contestants got more and more into their fight, then became sworn brothers on the spot and gave up on marrying into the family. At the poetry match, a torrential downpour soaked the calligraphy and paintings, leaving the scholars drenched as well.

After one failed matchmaking event after another, Peng Yuan locked herself in her room. The servants said she was crying so hard she had passed out, and refused to see anyone.

Yan Guang was worried that the princess was too heartbroken, and comforted her. "I'll accompany you to try a few more days of matchmaking. If it still doesn't work, we'll think of another way."

But it turned out all of that was a lie. Peng Yuan hadn't cried or thrown a tantrum. She pulled him into the room and pressed him down onto the bed. "I already have someone in mind."

Looking at the princess so close to him, Yan Guang was stunned.

Peng Yuan: "It's you. Marry me, the princess."

.

There was a young eunuch in the commandery prince's household. When Peng Yuan first saw him, she thought he was handsome. Later, she came to think he was wonderful. So when it came time to find a husband, she tried every possible means to make sure she married no one but Yan Guang.

Theme: Everyone has the right to love and be loved.