Be Her Minister (Reborn)

[Preorder: "Lure Her Into the Silk Curtains". Visit my author page to read more, and please add it to your favorites!]

Shen Ling died in the imperial city where she had grown up. As a sharp blade slashed across her throat, only one thought remained in her mind.

She regretted it.

With a heart full of seething hatred, she opened her eyes again and found herself back at fifteen.

This time, before her enemy could act, she rescued that young man and kept him by her side, winning him over day after day. With fame and status as bait, she honed him into the sharpest sword in her hand.

Five years later, he even risked his life to take the arrow meant to kill her.

Just as she was about to avenge herself, she pretended to choose a consort in order to throw her enemies off the scent.

She thought everything was under her control, but things began to fall apart in a way she had never expected.

The young man who used to come whenever she summoned him and leave whenever she dismissed him clutched her ankle tightly.

Though he was kneeling before her, she had never seen such an expression on his face: gaunt and lifeless.

Shen Ling could hardly connect him with the gentle, obedient boy he had once been.

She heard him say, "Your Highness, didn't you say you had no interest in marriage? You lied to me..."

His breath brushed her ear. "Whatever Your Highness wants, I'll do it for you."

"I'll be more useful than he is, Your Highness."

"Please don't choose him. Ah Xing begs you."

That day, she suddenly realized she might never have understood him at all.

Just as she had never expected him to betray her over this and join the faction of her enemy from both her lives.

Nor had she expected that, months later, he would personally send her enemy to the executioner's block.

And least of all had she expected that, once everything was over, he would return to the place where they had first met and calmly choose to die...

Black-hearted, tea-loving male lead VS clear-headed, rational female lead

[Male lead suffers; happy ending]

Below is the blurb for the preorder, "Lure Her Into the Silk Curtains"

Su Si met Lu Zongyuan when she was nearly starving to death.

He gave her the last three flaky pastries he had, giving her the strength to make it to the capital.

He was the eldest son of the most prominent aristocratic clan, while she was an orphan fleeing famine. They were worlds apart.

After arriving in the capital, she followed her late mother's final wishes and married her cousin. She dutifully served her mother-in-law and cared for her husband, believing she would have nothing more to do with Lu Zongyuan. But half a month later, her husband suddenly died. Branded a bringer of bad luck, she became someone anyone could trample on.

When she saw Lu Zongyuan again, she was once more living on the streets, now a newly widowed, abandoned wife, even worse off than when she had fled the famine. They were still worlds apart.

But this time, he blocked her path and murmured with lowered eyes, "I was wrong."

She didn't understand and ignored him, continuing on her way.

He reached out and caught the edge of her sleeve, then let go a moment later. "People shouldn't be trapped in the cages of the past."

She stopped, but still said nothing.

He was silent for a moment behind her, then said, "Let me help you, all right?"

She turned to look at him. "What does that have to do with Young Master Lu?"

Everyone said that the eldest son of the Lu clan, with his moonlit elegance and clear brilliance, was beyond anyone's reach. Yet that day, he said to her, newly widowed and cast out of her home, "I, Lu Zongyuan, have fallen for Su Si."

Looking into her eyes, he repeated it word by word: "I have fallen for you."

At the time, she thought it was just a passing fancy. After all, a man like him, who could turn the world upside down with a wave of his hand, could have any beautiful concubine he wanted. She paid his words no heed.

Only later, when she saw him ready to give up the twenty years he had painstakingly planned for her, did she understand that every word he'd said that day had come from the heart...

[Clear-eyed, self-possessed, scheming eldest son VS beautiful orphan, gentle on the outside and strong within]

Reader's Guide:

1. In her previous life, the female lead was not the male lead's first and only partner; in this life, they are each other's one and only. One-on-one romance, happy ending.

2. Fictional setting with many original details.

3. A female character becomes emperor later in the story.

4. The female lead and a male supporting character are reborn.

----------Preorder: *It's Hard Being a Stepsister*----------

At fourteen, Su Xueman moved with her mother to marry into a marquis's household. She became a young lady of the manor and gained a stepbrother.

Her mother was in poor health, so Su Xueman took it upon herself to act as the eldest sister, caring for Tan Yan as he grew up.

The days passed, and Tan Yan grew from a boy whose head barely reached her collarbone into a young man who could easily pull her into his arms.

He turned out wonderfully in every way, except that he was much too clingy and couldn't bear to be away from her for a moment.

Then her mother died of illness, and her stepfather refused to keep her in the household. He found her a marriage prospect, and she had no choice but to accept.

When Su Xueman told Tan Yan, he didn't throw a jealous fit for the first time. He had always been quick to sulk with jealousy.

He curved his lips and spoke with surprising gentleness. "All right. But before you marry, could you put on your wedding dress once for your little brother to see?"

On the eve of her wedding, Su Xueman put on her bright red bridal robes and knocked on his door.

But as soon as she entered, a gauzy veil covered her eyes, and then she was pulled into a burning embrace.

"Don't even think about leaving."

Tan Yan whispered by her ear, stubborn to the point of obsession.

-

After that night, Tan Yan left home and established his own residence, becoming a dashing young general.

He kept Su Xueman hidden in the rear courtyard, tormenting her day and night.

Until an imperial decree ordered Tan Yan to lead his troops north to the desert frontier.

Before leaving, he kissed Su Xueman on the forehead and gently told her to wait for his return, like any ordinary husband.

Then, in the next moment, he personally fastened a golden shackle around her ankle.

During a battle, Tan Yan was caught in an enemy ambush. Everyone thought he was dead.

A year later, after enduring untold hardship to return from the northern frontier, he searched every inch of the land but couldn't find his beloved.

At last, on a crowded street, he saw Su Xueman walking beside a handsome young man. Shyly, she called him, "Husband."

-

After Tan Yan vanished without a trace, Su Xueman thought she could live an ordinary life.

Until one day, while she was visiting a temple fair with her husband, a familiar voice came from behind her. "Sister, long time no see."

The young man's voice was bright and warm, yet he was the reason she had suffered years of nightmares and torment.

[Gentle, beautiful, earnest older sister VS dark, obsessive man pretending to be sunny]

Reader's Guide:

1. Their romantic relationship begins only after their familial relationship has been dissolved.

Theme: Rather than depending on the strong, become strong yourself.