*A slow-witted girl x a vengeful attack dog
Ruan Qiao had a childhood friend, a boy who was a little hellion, sharp-tongued, and always making her cry, but they were close all the same.
But the royal family was suspicious by nature, and one fire burned the entire Pei family to the ground. Not a single person survived.
Ruan Qiao saw the blaze and fell seriously ill with a fever, leaving her muddleheaded. After coming of age, she was overlooked, and even her marriage match was one nobody else wanted.
On the night before she was due to meet her stern, rigid fiance, there was a commotion outside as people hunted for an assassin. Ruan Qiao peered out and watched a bloodied figure vault straight over the wall, bringing the menace of that fire right to her door.
The young man's features were sharp. Looking thoroughly impatient, he pressed his sword to her neck and threatened her viciously, ordering her to hide him or he'd stab her.
As the pursuers' footsteps drew closer, slow-moving Ruan Qiao took off her outer robe. "Then pretend to be my maid and hide in my bed."
The young man's sword hand twitched. He sneered like a vicious dog.
Ever since the assassin showed up, the house had grown eerie.
An object belonging to her childhood friend, who had been dead for eight hundred years, would appear beneath Ruan Qiao's window. The voice of the dead would call to her from beside her bed. Even on the way to meet her fiance, she'd run into passersby who glared at her for two-timing.
The man who should have turned to dust long ago was like a restless ghost, following her wherever she went.
Ruan Qiao was confused, so she went home and asked her new maid.
She had no idea he'd stirred up chaos in the capital. Nor did she know how the assassin could lick blood from his blade by day, then hurry back at night, squeeze his tall frame into her dress, and wash it for her with a sour look on his face.
She only saw the man who had once been cold and vicious toss aside the washboard and say sarcastically:
"Miss Ruan is a busy woman. You forget this and don't care about that, so why even ask?"
"You've got to meet your fiance and chat with the young marquis. What's a dead man to you? Let people bring him up if they want. I bet you don't care about his keepsakes anymore."
He's so mean, Ruan Qiao thought. She meekly said, "Oh," then asked when he was leaving.
Before she could finish, the assassin slammed the door in a rage. Ruan Qiao fell silent. A moment later, he came back out, still scowling, gave a cold snort, and hung her dress up to dry.
In the middle of the night, Ruan Qiao was fast asleep, immersed in a dream, when someone suddenly pinched her cheek. Warm breath brushed her nape, making it burn.
A man who hadn't even wiped the lipstick from his mouth bit at her resentfully. "Ruan Qiao, what exactly did you mean by that?"
"Did you forget everything you said about who you'd marry? Have you fallen for that old man of a fiance now?"
*Pei Zhixing had decided that the rest of his life would be devoted to revenge that very night, though later his plans changed and gained a few extra steps.
But do you think I lick blood from the tip of my blade by day, cold and ruthless, then come scurrying back at night to be Ruan Qiao's maid and dog just to see her more, because I'm lovesick for her?
Ridiculous. Don't mind me. This is just one part of my plan. I have my own pace.
- Blurb screenshot dated April 8, 2025
Theme: Treat others with sincerity
The Bride's Maid
The Evil God Haunts My Dreams
After I Took Her Place as the Bride, My Elder Sister Returned
After I Went Blind, They All Said He Was My Boyfriend
After My Fiancé Brought Home His Savior
After He Stole His Wife, Her Husband Came Back to Life
My Fake Brother Seduced Me
They All Hope His Wife Is Two-Timing Him