Bound Orchid

"Clear-headed fugitive who slipped through the net x devoted, impartial investigating censor"

After the murder of her husband came to light, Qiao Yilan fled to Yonglin County and changed her name to A Lan, earning her living by selling wine and writing.

Her neighbors saw only her frail, willow-like appearance. How could they know she had once made the son of a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Revenue bleed to death in his own room?

Just then, Investigating Censor Meng Wenzhi was inspecting Henan and arrived in the county.

Lord Meng wouldn't tolerate even a grain of sand in his eyes, and enforced the law with an iron hand. Anyone who had committed crimes feared him like a man-eating tiger and had no choice but to hide.

But A Lan, with a life on her conscience, kept hiding until she ended up in the tiger's arms.

Not long after their wedding, A Lan realized she was pregnant, only to be threatened by someone and forced to contemplate murder once more.

In the dead of night, Meng Wenzhi caught her raised weapon from behind.

And so, the painful past she had buried came to the surface again.

A failed murder left the person beside her in bed staring at her in shock and disappointment.

Feeling she had wronged him, A Lan set down their infant son and quietly left.

Five years later

Meng Wenzhi was promoted to Assistant Minister of the Court of Judicial Review and presided over a case in which the defendant had turned herself in.

The case was full of hardship. The woman had long since repented, and knelt in the courtroom, trembling as she spoke. Many of the bailiffs were moved to tears.

Meng Wenzhi felt deeply affected too, and couldn't help thinking of his deceased wife, who had also done something wrong.

As he was mourning, a child stumbled into the courtroom. He hurriedly stopped the child and sat them on his lap, soothing them quietly. "Be good. Wait until Father is finished."

The child poked a fuzzy little head out from his arms. After a moment of silence, they suddenly kicked and struggled. "It's Mother! It's Mother!"

Meng Wenzhi smiled bitterly. The child was old enough to call every woman they saw Mother.

If your mother in heaven knew, wouldn't she be so sad?

He scolded the child, but then looked ahead with a faint hope.

The woman in the center of the courtroom finally lifted her head, which had been bowed low for who knew how long.

Their eyes met. They both froze.

After years apart...

"Father, it's raining from your eyes!"

Reader's Guide:

1. The female lead has a past; the male lead is chaste. Happy ending.

2. Slow burn in the first half, with a lot of setup.

3. The heroine had reasons for killing someone, and is ultimately found innocent.

4. Set in a fictional world, not historically rigorous.

Blurb for my upcoming story, Chewing Flower Petals. Please add it to your favorites!

"Carefree, pampered heiress x sensitive, loyal, tough soldier"

1.

On the day of the matchmaking ball, the embroidered ball Liao Jinrui threw to the man she loved accidentally landed in the arms of a rough soldier.

Her father had no choice but to advise her, "Just put up with him for three months, then get a divorce."

A bridal sedan carried her from her grand home to a shabby little house.

The pampered heiress became the poor wife of Chen Duo, a low-ranking soldier.

Liao Jinrui resented his lack of status and connections, and his rough, clumsy ways.

Chen Duo, in turn, thought she was lazy and spoiled beyond measure.

They could barely stand the sight of each other, and kept their divorce papers under their pillow every day as if they were charms to ward off evil.

2.

At last, the three-month period was over.

Chen Duo hesitated, then lifted the pillow.

But Liao Jinrui staggered over, drunk. The dazed look in her eyes made his ears turn red.

She traced circles on his solid chest with her fingertip and murmured,

"I think... I might like you a little."

Chen Duo was stunned for a moment, almost on the verge of tears.

That night, his muscular arms spun her around more than a dozen times.

Liao Jinrui laughed out loud as he vowed,

"I'll treat you well for the rest of my life!"

Who could have guessed that after their night together,

the divorce papers bearing his signature would arrive right on schedule?

3.

It was the third year since Chen Duo had left.

He had earned military honors and been made General Anbei, choosing to remain in the cold north to guard the border.

He had only just heard that his former wife's whole family was being exiled,

when he turned and saw Liao Jinrui collapse before him, surrounded by the soldiers escorting her, who held her at swordpoint.

He couldn't help turning his horse around and stepping in to save her,

and... her child?

4.

"Chen Duo, I hate you!"

Chen Duo's face darkened. Ignoring the woman who punched and pounded him, he forcibly took her back to the military camp and dropped her on the bed.

Liao Jinrui wiped her tears and didn't forget to curse him. "You heartless man!"

Chen Duo didn't hold back either. "You cold-hearted woman."

The tall, broad-shouldered man scowled, shoved the child with no father out the door, locked it, and slowly approached her.

Now that they had met again, he was going to start from the beginning and settle the first score with her.

"That night..."

His big, veined hand braced against the bed.

He leaned down and murmured plaintively, "How could you touch me...

"while calling out someone else's name?"

Reader's Guide:

1. Both leads are each other's first. Happy ending, lighthearted tone.

2. The child in the blurb is not the leads' child.

3. (The male lead was originally written as a brooding, sinister type, but I've changed him into a more sunny, tough soldier, so the plot has changed a little. Sorry! I may still revise the blurb before the story starts, but the overall story won't change again.)

Theme: Resist injustice and stay true to yourself.