The Camellias Return

[Intermittent one-on-one romance. The leads reconcile after a breakup, but the heroine has a son with the second male lead]

Ling Zhiyan, the daughter of an official family, is spotted by Consort Dowager Zhanyang by chance. Through the consort dowager's matchmaking, she meets Xiao Tan, a free-spirited, handsome prince with a straightforward heart.

Ling Zhiyan is clearheaded and aloof, and had no intention of marrying into a princely household. Xiao Tan, however, falls for her at first sight. After spending time together, he finally wins her heart.

Delighted, Xiao Tan makes arrangements for their engagement, but complications arise when their birth charts are matched.

Amid undercurrents in the officialdom and the consort dowager's interference, Ling Zhiyan is supposed to accompany her parents to take up a post on the frontier. Unexpectedly, Xiao Tan rushes over to bring her back and settles her in the residence of his most trusted friend, Sikong Min.

Before long, rumors spread throughout the city that Xiao Tan spends every night at Sikong Min's residence. Could the two of them be lovers?

In fact, Sikong Min rarely returns home, in order to avoid suspicion. When Ling Zhiyan does occasionally see him, she can tell that something weighs on his mind...

*

After enduring the harshness of a cold and cruel world, Ling Zhiyan has no choice but to give herself to Xiao Tan. Yet just when she needs him, he suddenly disappears without a word.

At the height of her despair, the ever-mysterious and refined Sikong Min seizes the opportunity to confess his feelings to her.

At the banquet, Sikong Min takes his seat alongside Ling Zhiyan and introduces her to the others with a delighted smile. "This is my concubine. She is with child."

Everyone laughs. So Sikong Min isn't gay after all! But then they realize something doesn't add up. If that's the case, why does Xiao Tan stay overnight at the Sikong residence?

From his seat of honor, Xiao Tan, recently recovered from a serious injury, glares at Ling Zhiyan in fury. Then he turns to Sikong Min and asks, each word deliberate: "Say that again. Who is she?"

*

Xiao Tan loses everything in a single night. Even at his most despairing, there is still someone he cannot let go of.

He wants to return to her, even though she now belongs to someone else...

[Author's note: Both the male lead and the second male lead are virgins, body and soul devoted only to the heroine. The reason the second male lead introduces the heroine as his concubine is explained in Chapters 25 and 33.]

The next book is Beyond the Palace Walls, about the ups and downs between the heroine, a male lead who is a military governor, and a second male lead who is the crown prince.

Blurb:

When Mu Lan Ning is seventeen, her uncle arranges for her to marry Gu Xun, the third son of the military governor of Jiangzhou.

Just after their engagement, the crown prince happens to visit the area and meets Mu Lan Ning at her family's home. Her uncle sees the prince's interest and secretly breaks off the engagement with the Gu family, offering Mu Lan Ning to the crown prince instead.

After entering the Eastern Palace, Mu Lan Ning is only a secondary consort, yet she is the only woman by the crown prince's side. She lives in luxury and enjoys his every favor.

When Mu Lan Ning is eighteen, the crown prince dies unexpectedly, and a vast palace conspiracy comes to light.

Carrying a truth known to no one, Mu Lan Ning is sent back to her native Jiangzhou.

Just as she reaches Jiangzhou, the authorities launch a campaign to suppress bandits. In her panic, Mu Lan Ning thinks her secret has been exposed and that she is being hunted. In the chaos, she is rescued by Gu Xun, her former fiancé.

By then, Gu Xun has become Jiangzhou's newly appointed military governor. Seeking his protection, Mu Lan Ning finds a way to stay by his side. To her surprise, Gu Xun brings up their old engagement again and marries her.

After Mu Lan Ning marries Gu Xun, their feelings gradually grow through a series of ups and downs until they are inseparable. Sadly, they are unable to have children.

Just as Mu Lan Ning grows troubled by this, an unexpected visitor arrives in the city, claiming to be the crown prince, who faked his death all those years ago.

After Mu Lan Ning confirms his identity, he uses every means at his disposal to make her return to his side.

Gu Xun once believed that after getting her back, he and Mu Lan Ning could be together forever. But she leaves him once again...

Theme: As long as the green hills remain, there will be no shortage of firewood.