Cherished Exclusively by the Tyrant After Our Political Marriage

[Tyrant x Delicate Flower | Twelve-Year Age Gap | Both Leads Are Chaste]

After the state of Yue was defeated, Yaoyao, its least-favored princess, was sent to the state of Yan for a political marriage.

She was peerlessly beautiful, but her mother had died young, and her timid nature made her the perfect sacrifice.

As she left the palace, her maid cried, "Your Highness is so delicate. How will you survive in Yan...?"

Everyone knew that Emperor Yan, Yan Sui, was a violent and unpredictable man. He had murdered his brother to seize the throne, slaughtered the court, and once personally snapped a beauty's neck for offending him. He was a tyrant who had climbed to the dragon throne over a mountain of bones.

How could a man like that ever cherish a delicate flower sent from an enemy state?

At their first meeting, the Golden Throne Hall was cold and murderous. Yaoyao knelt on the ground, trembling.

"Look up."

The cold command fell. Her lashes quivered as she looked up at the man on the throne. He wore dark robes, his hair as black as ink, his figure tall and commanding. He idly toyed with a jade ring on his finger.

After a long moment, he sneered. "Her?"

His tone was contemptuous, as if she were a tribute of no consequence.

Yet afterward, an imperial edict made her a Noble Consort, to the astonishment of the entire court.

Alone and helpless in this man-eating imperial harem, Yaoyao could only awkwardly try to please him.

She brewed tea that he found bitter, embroidered a crooked handkerchief, and, when thunder rumbled in the middle of the night, mustered her courage and burrowed into his arms.

"Your Majesty..." Her voice was soft and trembling, like a little wildcat.

The man woke with a start, his brow dark with impatience. "It's only wind and rain. You scare that easily?"

She looked up timidly. "With Your Majesty here, Yaoyao isn't afraid..."

He sneered, but his palm clasped the back of her neck and pressed her into his arms. His voice was hoarse. "What is there to fear? I'm here."

Everyone was convinced that the princess sent from Yue for a political marriage wouldn't survive three months in the tyrant's hands, and that she'd meet the same tragic fate as so many others.

Who could have guessed that this delicate princess would not only save her own life, but also capture the tyrant's heart?

For her, the tyrant slaughtered Yue's royal family and executed everyone who had bullied her. He abolished the harem and left the women's quarters empty. Defying the court's opposition, he even insisted on raising her to the throne as Empress.

Please Read Before Starting:

1. The male lead is a tyrant by nature. He says one thing and does another, and doesn't fall in love at first sight.

2. The female lead is frail and cries easily. She is not a strong heroine.

3. This is a fantasy-driven romance. The entire plot serves the love story.

Coming Soon: Snow in the Palm

Blurb:

Xue Ying was breathtakingly beautiful, with skin like jade and bones like ice. She was a famous courtesan in Yangzhou, sold by the prefect for a thousand gold at the age of fifteen.

On the night she entered the residence, she dreamed that seven days later the mistress of the house would frame her and drown her in a pond.

She awoke in terror and fought her way out of the residence, only to stagger into someone's arms at the mouth of an alley.

When she looked up, she saw a man in a dark sable cloak, standing in the drizzle, his tall figure like a lone pine covered in snow. His phoenix eyes lowered, calm and unreadable, yet his presence alone made the pursuers behind her drop to their knees, trembling and speechless.

Only later did she learn that he was Chu Yunqi, the Duke of Mu, newly arrived from the capital.

A first-rank noble, he commanded the troops stationed around the capital and was a key minister who had helped the young emperor ascend the throne. He had come south to search for his sworn younger sister, an orphan who had been missing for many years.

Xue Ying bit her lip, calculating: A man with such a lofty position could give her a life of wealth and splendor if she managed to attach herself to him. Perhaps... it was worth a try?

Chu Yunqi had gone south to Yangzhou to find someone.

He hadn't found her, but a vain young woman had latched onto him instead.

She kept appearing before him by one apparent coincidence after another. Chu Yunqi saw the cautious ambition and longing in her eyes, but coldly avoided her.

Until that night, when he returned from a banquet, slightly drunk.

He pushed open the door and saw her standing beneath the candlelight in a sheer white dress, her eyes shimmering as she glowed in the light. "My lord, please take pity on me..."

Sober the next morning, he calmly fastened his sash beside the bed, his expression hard to make out in the dim light. After a long silence, he finally spoke, his voice steady. "Once I've found her, I'll take you back to the capital and make arrangements for you."

In the end, he did find her.

When his secret guards presented the testimony they'd extracted, his expression went rigid. For the first time, he lost his composure.

The sworn sister he'd spent years searching for had long ago been sold as a courtesan, becoming the most famous beauty in Yangzhou.

Her name was Xue Ying.

"...So should I call you Uncle?"

She stared at him for a long time before asking timidly.

Chu Yunqi's face was as dark as water. Without saying a word, he took her back to the capital under the identity of the Duke's daughter.

From then on, they called each other uncle and niece, and neither spoke of their past.

That lasted until six months later, when Chu Yunqi saw his nephew beneath the plum tree in the courtyard, taking Xue Ying's hand and placing a jade pendant in her palm with solemn care.

She lowered her head slightly, her ears turning red, and did not refuse him.

That night, Chu Yunqi burst into her boudoir, his shadow cold and fierce. He pinned her against the carved doors, his eyes roiling with dark emotion.

"You accepted him. What does that make me? Your uncle? Or your lover?"

Theme: Love yourself.