[If something unexpected happens, just pretend I never said it... But please add it to your library, bosses! If this is your kind of story, you'll love it!]
| Second chance at love, powerful minister x gentle beauty
He gave Shuying her name. She lived in his separate residence, neither wife nor concubine.
Pei Yanzhi was always busy with official duties, and apart from the times he came to seek her out for sex, she hardly ever saw him.
With no one to rely on, she thought her life would simply go on like this.
Until, at a private banquet, the Crown Prince named her outright. "Lord Pei will soon marry a daughter of the Yu family. He can't keep her around forever."
Everyone knew the Crown Prince was cruel. Shuying panicked, her delicate, gentle face paling as she looked up toward the banquet.
His dark eyes were calm as his fingers stroked the rim of his cup.
After a moment, he said, "I am honored by Your Highness's favor."
Her eyes reddened.
Rumor had it that the daughter of the Yu family was the woman he loved, and that Pei Yanzhi would gladly risk life and limb for her, without hesitation.
That night, in the cold rain, he sent Shuying away in a sedan chair bound for the Crown Prince's residence.
He had never cared for her, so he failed to notice that beneath her loose clothes, her belly had begun to swell.
*
A few days later, Pei Yanzhi married the daughter of the Yu family.
That night, the Crown Prince was defeated, and Pei Yanzhi helped Prince Ning seize the palace.
When he arrived at the Crown Prince's residence with his troops, all he saw was a raging fire.
It left nothing but charred ruins.
All that remained were a few unfinished garments.
*
Several years later, Pei Yanzhi was sent on official business to Jiangnan.
Resting temporarily at a local official's residence, with lotus fragrance in the air and the beaded curtain swaying faintly, he heard the familiar sound of a qin.
His hand stopped as he lifted his tea.
The official hastily apologized. "My wife is unpolished. Please forgive her, my lord."
His thin lips parted. "It's all right."
Pei Yanzhi lifted his eyes. His frosty gaze flickered several times before fixing on the figure behind the curtain.
The qin's melody seemed to bring an old friend back to him.
-
[Reading Guide]
1. A melodramatic story, with a little court intrigue.
2. The author has a backlog of chapters and does not accept writing advice.
3. No fandom-bashing or baseless rumors.
First edition: 2025.2.15 (new edition: 4.30)
Theme: Fate cannot be defied, and spilled water cannot be gathered back.
Zhengzheng
A Matter of Marriage (Guan Tingyu)
Five Years After Our Divorce (A Love-Hate Romance X3)
Gazing at the Spring Mountains (Two Tragic Romances)
A Rainy Autumn in Paris (Zhou Baishan)
The Weather You Exist In (Xintang, Liang Xiling)
He's Not Here Tonight
Arrogance
After Midnight (Zhao Jinglin)
When the Dream Ends (Zhou Shuyan)
When the Tides Sweep In (Yu Xi)
During the Rainy Season