Beauty Blossoms from Bones

Xun Jiu never dreamed that years of scheming to climb into a powerful family would be so easily crushed by her lover’s elder brother.

It took only one sentence from him to turn her from a respectable young lady living with her relatives into a homeless stray driven from the house:

“This woman is unfit to be a principal wife. She is calculating and has no prospects.”

His offhand judgment was treated as gospel.

Years of her careful plans went up in smoke.

Meanwhile, Shen Ting remained the legitimate son of the most prominent aristocratic family, the youngest top graduate in the palace examination, and the emperor’s most trusted aide.

Everyone treated him like the moon in the heavens.

She hated him with all her heart.

At last, one day, she found her chance.

…

That night, Shen Ting could no longer see after falling from a cliff. All around him, he heard only dripping water and smelled the musty scent of rotting wood.

He had no idea where he was.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching.

Shen Ting asked in a low voice, “Who’s there?”

A hand that smelled of fish gently brushed across his face, accompanied by a soft laugh. “It’s me, Shen Lang.”

Her filthy hand began to toy with the lips of the man who had always been so pure and untouchable.

Even though he clearly recoiled, he still clung to the etiquette of the noble families.

How amusing.

She sighed and leaned closer. “From this day on, you’re my slave, and I’m your only master.”

“This is what you owe me, Shen Lang…”

-

At first, Shen Ting wanted to kill Xun Jiu. No one had ever dared to insult him like that.

Later, he found he couldn’t live without her. If he looked at her one time less or kissed her one time less, it felt as if ten thousand ants were gnawing at his bones.

Just as Jiu’er had said, he had been born to belong to her.

[Reader’s Guide]

The heroine treats the hero terribly, and she is not a good person.

The hero has Stockholm syndrome and is hopelessly love-struck, unable to accept anyone but the heroine. He goes from a virtuous gentleman to someone with questionable values…

Includes a brother-steals-brother’s-wife plotline.

One man and one woman, both sexually inexperienced.

Preview of the upcoming novel

"Can an Honest Maid Bewitch a Noble Young Master?"

Honest heroine x Arrogant young hero, older woman-younger man romance.

During an assassination attempt, Zhu Mingyu and Xie Xun both fell off a cliff and became stranded in a remote mountain wilderness.

Their statuses were worlds apart, separated by an insurmountable chasm.

Xie Xun was the heir of the Duke of Rong. His father came from a distinguished family of generations of officials, and his mother was the only legitimate eldest princess. He had been born to privilege.

She, on the other hand, was merely the least important, lowest-ranking maid in Xie Xun’s household, from a family as lowly as dust.

He barely remembered Zhu Mingyu. He only knew she was his good friend Zhonghuai’s sweetheart.

She was plain-looking, and he couldn’t understand his friend’s taste at all.

On the first day they were stranded, Zhu Mingyu accidentally fell into his arms. She panicked.

He frowned in displeasure. “Stay away from me. I don’t want to get involved with Zhonghuai’s sweetheart.”

She didn’t dare talk back and could only nod in a panic, thinking she should keep as far from him as possible.

On the third day, she shivered from the cold. Seeing her lips tremble, he softened and took off her clothes to keep her warm. “I’m only saving you for Zhonghuai’s sake.”

She was barely conscious and could only nod mindlessly, swearing that once they got out, she wouldn’t say a word about it or ruin the young master’s reputation.

On the twentieth day, during a thunderstorm, Zhu Mingyu was falling asleep when she felt something burrowing into her arms.

She half opened her eyes and saw that the face of the usually freewheeling, willful young man had taken on a faint flush. “I’ve been afraid of thunder since I was little.”

Zhu Mingyu’s cheeks flushed too. “…Mm.”

Seeing her obediently respond, so honest and too timid to fight back,

Xie Xun thought he was awful.

But…

She was far too easy to bully.

He wanted to kiss her senseless.

As rescuers came to save them, the two agreed to forget everything that had happened during those thirty days once they got out.

Then they would go their separate ways.

At first, they did exactly that.

Until one day, at the Duke’s birthday banquet, Xie Xun sat in the place of honor and watched his good friend gently brush a stray lock of hair from her face.

He felt a fire stir in his chest, and downed cup after cup of strong liquor.

He thought, I’ve gone mad.

That night, Zhu Mingyu prepared the papers to buy her freedom and planned to leave the household the next day. Then a shadow flickered across the paper window beneath the corridor, and she recognized him at once.

She was about to run when a pair of cool, slender hands pushed the door open and pulled her into his arms.

His scent was familiar. His voice carried both resentment and displeasure. “Zhu Mingyu, you’d rather stay with a man who’s inferior to me in looks and family background, and you won’t even look at me?”

Her eyes held nothing but fear and helplessness.

The hero is instinctively attracted to the heroine.

I’m terrible at writing blurbs.

The first part is wilderness survival. In the middle and later parts, the hero becomes the other woman for love, steals someone else’s wife by force, and suffers a regretful pursuit.

Theme: Pursue an exciting life.