A Snowy Branch in the Eastern Courtyard

Arranged marriage, then love | The regretful pursuit of a lost wife | Coercive possession

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When Shen Mi was fifteen, her father and brothers died in battle. Overnight, she was the only one left in the Shen family, alone and helpless. Her childhood sweetheart married someone else.

To console the family of a loyal servant, the emperor named her Lady Jianing and betrothed her to Gu Zhan, the current crown prince, as a secondary consort.

Gu Zhan was the eldest legitimate son of the current emperor and had been named crown prince when he was young. He was dignified, honorable, composed, and renowned for his virtue.

Shen Mi knew she had no one to rely on, so she put away her old nature and became gentle and attentive in Gu Zhan's presence, making sure everything was just right.

Though Gu Zhan had no love for her as a husband, they treated each other with respect, and she was content. Before long, she even developed feelings for him.

So no matter how late Gu Zhan finished his official duties, she would wait quietly by the light, never rushing him or throwing a fit.

Before long, she became pregnant. Everything was going so smoothly that she thought she still had something to look forward to. Then the imperial physician's words, "a false pregnancy," shattered every one of her hopes.

Gu Zhan said coldly, "The thing I hate most in this life is anyone who would deceive me."

She had never encountered such a thing before and didn't know someone had set her up. She grabbed Gu Zhan's sleeve to explain, but he shook her off.

From then on, all the effort she had put into cultivating their relationship went to waste.

*

She had thought Gu Zhan was simply born cold and unfeeling. But one day, when she brought soup to his study, she overheard him speaking with a subordinate:

"Miss Su and Your Highness grew up together and share deep feelings. Would Your Highness like to submit a memorial and welcome her as your principal consort? Or make her empress after ascending the throne? Once Secondary Consort Shen is pregnant, her child could be raised by Miss Su."

She waited anxiously for Gu Zhan's reply.

But all she heard him say was, "Let me think about it."

Shen Mi froze. Then she quietly left with the soup she had made herself.

That night, Gu Zhan did not return to their room, as usual, and Shen Mi lay awake all night.

She had once been cherished by her father and brothers, spoiled like the apple of their eye. She had not been born dull and meek.

She had once never lifted a finger around the house, but had honed her cooking skills to survive under Gu Zhan's roof.

She had thought that sincerity could move even stone and metal, but Gu Zhan didn't even want to leave her anything at all.

She should never have let herself hope for anything from Gu Zhan.

She began plotting how to escape the Crown Prince's Palace, that place that devoured people.

*

At first, Gu Zhan felt nothing about the arranged marriage. He thought that as long as the Shen woman knew her place, it would do no harm.

After they married, she was exactly as obedient and sensible as he had expected. He had always thought other people's complaints about henpecked husbands and chaotic marriages were ridiculous.

But one night, he came home a little late and heard that the bedchambers were on fire. He hurried over, only to find the palace buildings collapsed. His Secondary Consort Shen was buried inside, and not even her body could be pieced together.

A hollow opened inside him. After that, it became harder and harder for him to sleep at night. He could only find some comfort by holding the purse Shen Mi had embroidered for him.

Four years later, he received an imperial decree to put down a rebellion and stopped at a teahouse in Runzhou to rest.

The woman serving tea said, "Please enjoy your tea, sir."

He looked up and met the eyes he had longed for day and night.

He caught her by the sleeve and softly called her childhood nickname. "Zhiniang."

The woman hastily pulled away. "You've mistaken me for someone else..."

He curled his lips into a faint smile. "If I've mistaken you, why won't you look me in the eye?"

A resilient white flower x a scheming crown prince

[Content warnings]

1. One-on-one pairing, both are each other's first, happy ending.

2. The heroine is the only woman in the Crown Prince's Palace. The political reasoning behind her being a secondary consort is explained in the story, so please don't take things out of context.

3. The male lead is the very embodiment of feudal values. He has no feelings for the heroine at first and treats her terribly, but he'll face the consequences later. Proceed with caution if that bothers you.

4. If you feel uncomfortable, leave. Please don't tell me you've dropped the story.

Pre-release novel: Locking Up the Empress's Chambers

Arranged marriage, then love | The regretful pursuit of a lost wife

The year Chen Huaizhu's powerful minister father married her off to Yuan Chengjun, he was still the puppet emperor of the Great Wei.

On their wedding night, Yuan Chengjun promised her, "Now that we have drunk the nuptial wine, we shall be together until our hair turns white." For the next ten years, the emperor and empress lived as husband and wife. He treated her with warmth and consideration, and she thought she could spend her life in love with Yuan Chengjun, even in the depths of the palace.

But all that warmth vanished when her father died.

Barely seven days after the funeral, Yuan Chengjun was already moving against the Chen family, using ruthless and sweeping measures.

Chen Huaizhu knelt in the snow before Xuanshi Hall, begging him to spare the Chen family. He refused to open the doors and only sent an eunuch to deliver these words: "A ploy of self-sacrifice only works if I care about you. The fact that I haven't deposed you is already an exceptional act of mercy."

Only then did she understand that Yuan Chengjun's past tenderness had all been an act, meant to keep her father in check.

To protect her family, Chen Huaizhu had no choice but to put aside her former pride and carefully ingratiate herself with Yuan Chengjun.

*

Before marriage, Chen Huaizhu had been her father's darling. Even after Yuan Chengjun turned against the Chen family, he had once treated her like a treasure. All she could do was clumsily imitate the way Yuan Chengjun had once treated her well and treat him the same way.

Naively, she thought that if she bore him a child, Yuan Chengjun might show her some mercy. That was when she learned that the reason they had no children after all these years was that Yuan Chengjun had been giving her contraceptive medicine for a decade.

That night, the fortress she had held onto with all her strength finally collapsed.

*

Yuan Chengjun ascended the throne while still young. Chen Shao was the chancellor the former emperor had left him, but after Yuan Chengjun became emperor, Chen Shao seized control of the court and even forced him to make a Chen woman empress.

For this, Yuan Chengjun hated Chen Shao, and he hated Empress Chen Huaizhu too.

He only found Chen Huaizhu's later attempts to flatter him, like a clumsy imitation, laughable.

But on New Year's Eve that year, Chen Huaizhu's sworn brother returned to the capital from the frontier. When Yuan Chengjun saw them laughing together outside the Jiaofang Palace, an inexplicable fury flared in his heart.

It had been a long time since he had seen such a bright smile on Chen Huaizhu's face.

Chen Huaizhu was his wife, and she could only smile for him.

The emperor's hair turned white in the snow, just as his wife had once waited outside to see him.

It turned out he was jealous not of anyone else, but of his former self. And the person he hated was not Chen Huaizhu, but the person he had become.

But somehow, he seemed to have lost the Chen Huaizhu who had once had eyes only for him.

Theme: Love begins with respect.