A Childhood Sweetheart's Mistake

In her previous life, Yun Luo had a marriage that everyone envied. She and the Crown Prince, Jiang Tingyan, had grown up together and married young.

Through every storm, she stood by the boy she had loved since childhood, watching him grow from a handsome, elegant crown prince into an emperor whose presence commanded awe.

Yun Luo became empress and took charge of the phoenix seal, managing the countless affairs of his harem. Yet the couple grew more distant with every passing day, no longer as close as they had once been.

Yun Luo could no longer remember what she and Jiang Tingyan had argued about that day. Seated high upon the dragon throne, the emperor pressed his long fingers against a memorial, his voice icy.

"I truly regret giving you the position of empress."

Those eyes, now filled with impatience and loathing, had once gazed at her tenderly.

Yun Luo suddenly found it laughable. She carried his child, and the white hairs in her hair had come from worrying for him, yet he said he regretted it.

In the winter of the nineteenth year of Jiankang, the empress passed away. Yun Luo had always been frail, and years of overwork had long since damaged her health beyond repair.

When she opened her eyes, Yun Luo had returned to the year she was sixteen.

At the time, she was still the cherished eldest daughter of the Yun family, unmarried. Her mother took her hand and carefully sounded her out, saying that she and the Crown Prince had been close since childhood, and that the empress wished for her to marry into the Eastern Palace.

The Crown Prince?

Remembering the unhappy, exhausting years she had spent in the palace in her previous life, Yun Luo curled her lips into a faint smile.

Crown Princess, empress: she wanted none of it.

In this life, she only wanted to live comfortably and freely!

*

When news of Yun Luo's refusal reached the Eastern Palace, the young Crown Prince, who had always kept his emotions hidden, froze. The chess piece in his hand fell.

She... didn't want to marry him?

He had thought she cared for him...

Jiang Tingyan frowned.

Two days later, a palace attendant reported that Miss Yun was holding a flower-viewing banquet at her residence, inviting the sons of prominent families throughout the capital with the intention of choosing a husband.

Jiang Tingyan panicked completely.

[Important content notes]

1. Exclusive pairing, not a traditional "chasing one's wife to the crematorium" story. Take note.

2. Entirely fictional setting. No need to check historical accuracy.

2025.2.20

Theme: Finding beautiful love through being there for each other