After I Ran Away, the Untouchable Beauty Turned Dark

[Old-School Angst | Coercive Possession | The Pursuit After Losing Her]

Zhou Ruzhi was the lowliest maid in the Chenliu Xie household.

Yet she had a beauty capable of captivating a kingdom, attracting the attention of many in the manor. On top of that, she was timid by nature, and every day she lived as if treading on thin ice.

After an accident, she became the Xie family's eldest young master's bedchamber maid.

Everyone in the manor said she was lucky, but she knew in her heart that they were worlds apart.

She carefully hid the feelings she couldn't reveal, and devoted herself to looking after his daily needs.

Although he was somewhat cold toward her, he was otherwise considerate.

He would teach her to read and write, and give her beautiful clothes and jewelry. Even when her gambling-addicted father came to ask for money, he would give him quite a sum.

Back then, she had always thought she meant something different to him.

It wasn't until the eve of his wedding, when she accidentally overheard him chatting with a friend and apparently planning to give her away, that she suddenly awoke from her dream.

It turned out she meant nothing to him at all.

Xie Yan, the eldest young master of the Chenliu Xie family, was a gentleman of impeccable character who restrained himself and followed the rules.

That night, the wind howled and the rain poured.

A maid from the manor accidentally wandered into his study. Seeing that she was obedient and knew how to "serve" a man, he casually kept her by his side.

With his wedding fast approaching, he decided to send her to stay at his friend's home for a few days, and fetch her once his proper wife had joined the household.

But after he had taken care of everything and hurried to his friend's home, he discovered that she had already left.

When they met again, she was the emperor's long-lost youngest daughter.

At a palace banquet, she wore a many-layered dress in the colors of rosy clouds. She laughed and chatted intimately with the Duke's heir, her smile brighter than he had ever seen. Beneath her pale yellow skirts, her belly was already just beginning to swell.

Xie Yan had a vague sense that something had slipped beyond his control.

That night, the Duke's manor was strewn with corpses.

A man held the young woman in his arms as they sat in the courtyard. His broad, powerful hand gently stroked the slight swell beneath her bright red wedding robes, while his gaze rested on the man on the ground, clinging to life. His expression was calm.

"A Zhi, have you made up your mind? Which will you choose, your lover or the bastard in your belly?"

The young woman clenched her palms tightly. Red lantern light fell across her pale, delicate face, which was utterly drained of color. After a long moment, she squeezed her eyes shut. When she spoke again, her voice trembled.

"I choose... I choose him."

The man let out a low laugh, a laugh like a demon in the dead of night, mad and cruel.

"So you really are deeply devoted to your lover."

He gripped the back of her neck and savagely bit her lips. The thick scent of blood filled their mouths, while the eyes that had always been cool and impassive now seethed with a bloodthirsty madness.

"In that case, he can only die."

-

Coming Soon: The White Moonlight of the Crown Prince After Faking Her Death

[Old-School Angst | The Pursuit After Losing Her | Coercive Possession]

Wen Jiao was the daughter of the Grand General Who Guards the Nation.

When she was eight, her father died fighting a neighboring kingdom. Her mother was so devastated that she soon followed him, leaving Wen Jiao an orphan with no one to depend on.

The emperor took pity on her, brought her into the palace, and entrusted her to the empress dowager to raise personally.

Shen Qinghong was the emperor's eldest legitimate son and the crown prince.

He was as refined as a jade tree, and peerlessly handsome.

Wen Jiao had secretly loved him since childhood. Unfortunately, though she loved him, he did not return her feelings. His heart belonged to Tang Jingxue, the daughter of the Minister of Rites.

At a palace banquet one day, she watched them act intimately as if no one else were there, and in her sadness drank a couple of extra cups of wine.

Who could have known she would mistakenly climb into his bed?

After a night of passionate lovemaking, she looked at the stern-faced man beside her, lowered her head, clutched the corner of the quilt, and said softly,

"Your Highness, don't worry. We can pretend last night never happened."

Before long, word of what had happened spread after all.

When the emperor heard, he flew into a rage. That very day, he summoned Shen Qinghong to the imperial study and gave him a thorough scolding. The following day, he issued an edict arranging their marriage.

The imperial command could not be disobeyed.

A month later, she was carried into the Eastern Palace in a grand bridal sedan chair borne by eight men.

After they married, he treated her with great coldness.

The palace servants mocked her openly and behind her back, saying she was unloved and wouldn't hold on to her position as crown princess for long.

She never took their words to heart.

Because she believed that sooner or later, he would understand how she felt.

Until one day, she accidentally heard him discussing with the empress his plan to take Tang Jingxue as a secondary consort.

In that moment, every last one of her hopes was shattered.

As crown prince, Shen Qinghong treated the worthy with respect and was humble and courteous. Only that night with Wen Jiao became a stain he could never wash away.

He despised and neglected her, even allowing others to humiliate her. Yet no matter how he treated her, whenever she saw him, she would greet him with a beaming smile, fuss over him, and care for him attentively, never showing the slightest hint of grievance.

As time passed,

he thought that since he had married her anyway, they might as well carry on like this.

But now she was only a poor orphan, unable to offer him any help at court, and his mother wanted him to take Tang Jingxue as a secondary consort.

When Wen Jiao found out, she neither cried nor made a scene. She merely smiled and said,

"Congratulations, Your Highness."

Seeing how sensible she was, he considered that he should try to treat her better from then on.

Who could have known that on the night of the wedding, a fire would suddenly break out in the Eastern Palace?

By the time he received the news and rushed there, her chambers had already burned down to a pile of ruins.

He saw her again a year later.

He was inspecting Jiangnan, and while passing through a busy street, he unexpectedly saw her holding the arm of his younger brother. She looked up at him and smiled just as she used to smile at him.

Only then did he realize that everything back then had been a carefully plotted scheme, all designed to help her leave him.

But how could he possibly let her have her way?

On the day of the wedding.

In a room decorated with bright red double-happiness characters, Shen Qinghong pinned her against the door. His presence was wild and impossible to resist, and even his otherwise level tone carried an unmistakable arrogance.

"Jiaojiao, if Fifth Brother came in right now and saw you like this, do you think he would still marry you?"

Wen Jiao gripped the door in front of her with all her strength. Her hair was disheveled and her face flushed, but she stubbornly refused to make a sound.

"Your Highness, what will it take for you to let me go?"

Shen Qinghong gave a low laugh. His cold laughter echoed through the silent room, full of madness and cruelty.

"The only way I'll let you go is if I'm dead!"

Theme: If you love someone, you must give them your whole heart.