My Secret Crush Has Turned Dark

[Naturally oblivious, handsome girl x spirited girl's devoted dog]

After her family was destroyed, Princess Gu Zeng of Jing'an fell from grace. Raised on the frontier, she had known since childhood how little her life mattered, and she kept her heart guarded at every turn.

After enduring a trial that nearly cost her life, she had no choice but to step into the spotlight, ending thirteen years of obscurity.

Worse still, she seemed to have fallen for someone: Cheng Rongyu, a man utterly unlike her unsettled life, known to his contemporaries as "the greatest playboy under heaven."

In her dull days, Gu Zeng only had to look up to find Cheng Rongyu, whether sitting on her courtyard wall or smiling brightly at her beneath a sky full of fireworks. "A Zeng."

Even knowing he was the most sought-after young gentleman in the capital and that they were on different paths, Gu Zeng still let his beauty cloud her judgment and shared one reckless dream with him.

Only that one dream.

Their stations were worlds apart, and Gu Zeng became entangled in a struggle for power. She fell gravely ill and nearly met her end because of Cheng Rongyu's favoritism.

Cheng Rongyu, meanwhile, went far south to Lingnan and vanished without a trace.

When they met again by chance, the young man of her memory was still high above everyone, adored by all. But he was no longer the spirited youth she remembered. There was no light in his eyes, and no trace of her in them. He had probably long forgotten the reckless past they had shared.

They had parted ways with no regrets and nothing left to lose. Gu Zeng rode out to the battlefield with a knife in hand.

She often wondered: if peace came to the world, would the boy who always smiled return?

But when she led her troops to crush the enemy and personally climbed the tower to cut off the rebel general's head, she saw that familiar face again amid the raging flames, still peerlessly handsome and breathtakingly beautiful.

The man behind the rebellion, the new king they had chosen, was her former friend and the person she had held in her heart.

Cheng Rongyu's gaze was icy, his smile grim and cutting. "I won't think of you, so don't think of me."

Only then did Gu Zeng understand that she had been mistaken about him from the very beginning.

Reading Guide:

1. Strong female lead! The heroine is powerful in every way.

2. BG romance, both leads are each other's only partner, mutual pining, happy ending.

3. The male lead is an incurable romantic. He loves her more, and he really, truly loves her. Don't let the blurb scare you off.

4. No suffering for the female lead, no rivalry between women. Family, romantic, and friendship dynamics are mostly healthy.

5. A large ensemble cast, with complete storylines for the supporting characters.

6. Important note: The author will kill off important supporting characters. No one but the female lead has plot armor.

Everyone has their own tastes, so please be kind in the comments. Don't take it out on the author herself~

Upcoming novel

Next up: Historical romance, "I Forced the Cold, Powerful Minister to Take Me as His Disciple"

[Slow-witted, radiant little sun x world-weary, aloof beauty]

Liu Ying was born into a noble family and had everything she could want. Beautiful, clever, and exceptionally talented, she was pursued by countless young men from prominent families.

But in the second year after coming of age, her father, Marquis Xuanping, "sold" her off to a pig-headed man.

She ran away, wandering through mountain wilderness, fields, and villages, until she had spent all her money and was left homeless.

Then she met a down-and-out scholar, sick to the point of nearly dying, who wrote so beautifully that his calligraphy could make him famous throughout the land.

Liu Ying's eyes lit up. "Master, please accept your disciple's bow!"

Xie Jin: ?

He hurriedly fled. "Farewell."

Liu Ying had never met anyone so ungrateful. Without a second thought, she moved in next door to him.

"Are you taking me or not? If you don't, I'll punch a hole through your wall."

Liu Ying finally got her wish, but one day she happened to hear Xie Jin open his heart to an old friend. "The title of master and disciple will always be constrained by worldly convention."

So his feelings for her had never been those of a master for his disciple.

But Liu Ying was a bookworm, and she admired only one person: Xie Chiyun, the greatest literary talent under heaven, who died young.

After thinking it over, she packed up her bedding, took what little money Xie Jin had, and ran away again.

On a snowy day, Liu Ying stood at the entrance to the Imperial College, pretending to be her older brother. After paying respects to Heaven, Earth, and the sages, she saw a familiar-looking consumptive emerge from the crowd gathered around him. He was all skin and bones, and probably didn't have long to live.

From her classmates' conversation, Liu Ying learned that his name was Xie Jin, his courtesy name was Chiyun, and he had survived his great ordeal and returned to the capital!

"Miss Liu says she has feelings for me?" Xie Jin smiled, his expression strange and inscrutable. "I'm curious. Are you in love with the Xie Chiyun in your heart, or with the Xie Jin you've spent every day with?"

Reading Guide: Both leads are each other's only partner, one-on-one romance. The male lead is the only one who gets hurt; the girl is guaranteed happiness.

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Thank you for reading

Theme: Through hardship, we break through and begin anew.