Quietly

[Main story complete] [Pre-release: "Looking for a Romance?" Scroll down for the blurb]

This story's CP: A slow-witted, poker-faced cutie forced to run away x five husbands.

Ru Qiao is fair and lovely, refined and graceful. She is the study companion of the legitimate daughter of the Minister of Rites. After years of cautious propriety, the greatest transgression she has ever committed is falling in love with her teacher.

An accident forces her to leave the capital.

The coachman who steals her reins is a young general concealing his true intentions.

The wealthy merchant she should be able to trust is harboring a great secret she doesn't dare think too hard about.

They all want to become Ru Qiao's husband.

And they take action to make it happen.

Half-reluctantly, Ru Qiao hides in a corner of Jiangnan, thinking she can avoid trouble for one more day. But more and more men cling to her: the pretty, simple-minded younger brother she picked up, and the teacher whose identity has changed, whom she doesn't dare acknowledge, now coming to confront her...

Ru Qiao is forced into a battlefield of love.

To save herself, she can only reach out to Yan Qing, who has always been by her side like an older brother, and beg him to pretend to be her husband and help her escape.

So, on the night of their wedding, Ru Qiao quietly runs away.

/

Meng Shengping grabs the back of the wedding-dressed girl's neck with a sinister smile. His face is exactly like her teacher's as he forces the stunned Ru Qiao to meet his eyes.

"Why... won't you listen to me and Lord Pei?"

The lovesick younger brother she once carefully taught brandishes a hidden weapon. As an assassin, Su Yang openly licks her pale, delicate cheek with his clinging gaze.

"Sister, don't you want me anymore?"

"You can't. I'll keep climbing through your window at night."

And General Cui, whose dark eyes have lost their former arrogance, still refuses to let go. His deep voice crushes the poor girl's last shred of hope.

"Qiao Qiao, Yan Qing is dead."

"Don't leave me. Let's go home, all right?"

The girl shakes her head, eyes red, and disappears into the night.

/

Two years later.

Ru Qiao sits in the dust outside the capital, gnawing on a flatbread. On her way back from the northwest, she has heard rumors all along the road: the new emperor, handsome as an immortal, is searching everywhere for a woman. Supposedly, she is the legitimate empress who once married him.

Beautiful, aloof, almond eyes, willow-leaf brows, about six chi tall, with a small mole on the tip of her nose?

That sounds... a little like her.

Ru Qiao abruptly looks up.

At the city gate stands a young man with the bearing of a dragon and phoenix, smiling with gray eyes. It is Yan Qing, and beside him are the men she once believed had killed him.

Some are waiting for her to take pity on them.

Some helplessly think she's foolish to have walked right into their trap.

Breath brushes the side of her neck, and a kiss lands on her moist lips.

"Qiao Qiao, your husband has had quite a time finding you."

--

A few reading tips

1. The main story has multiple, open-ended plotlines.

2. All five men are sexually inexperienced. There will be coercive romance.

3. The setting is fictional, so please don't scrutinize the historical details.

4. No need to let me know if you drop the story.

"She never expected that the fake husband who died soon after their wedding would become the future emperor.

The path she took to escape was as precarious as duckweed on the water."

Former title: "Poor Thing, Her Husband Died Young"

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Completed ensemble mystery novel: "Sneaking Off to Read Minds"

Go to my author page to read it. 🐾

✅ My next book will be "Looking for a Romance?"

CP: Top-ranked, snarky big-sister type x poker-faced, cute male game designer

[Female lead's POV]

The Qu family is the richest in Hengjing.

As the youngest of the grandchildren, Qu Qing should have had a dazzling life, but a certain trash game took over everything.

While studying at an American high school, her friend dragged her into the most popular MMO mobile game at the time. While studying abroad, she spent lavishly on the game, reached the top of the rankings, joined all kinds of competitions, and won championships. Since returning home, she's done nothing but work and keep playing.

One day, while walking her dog, Qu Qing heard an influencer's voice coming from a neighbor's phone:

"Ranking the MMOs currently available in China, from great to garbage."

"Last place. Even dogs won't play it."

Qu Qing was hit right where it hurt. Keeping a cool expression, she tightened her grip on the big dog trying to rush ahead, pressed down the brim of her hat with her left hand, and kept her exceptionally beautiful, pale face concealed.

Dark thoughts surged inside her.

That damn game designer.

If I ever catch you in real life, you'll pay me back.

--

[Male lead's POV]

"Dream Year After Year" is a long-running game from Sanshui Company. Ten years have passed, and the team has changed several times. Fortunately, revenue is still decent, so the game has never shut down.

Wen Yizhuo is the newly appointed lead game designer. He's never played an MMO before.

He can only learn the job as he takes over, so he creates a character on a new server and, while he's at it, finds himself a mentor.

His mentor marvels that the game still has new players.

He has no answer.

His mentor teaches him dungeon mechanics and combos, and says the game designer is an idiot who makes the tank deal damage and the healer take hits.

He nods.

His mentor says she has a high-level account that would blow his mind.

He doesn't know who she is.

His mentor sends him an ugly cat meme.

He replies with an even uglier one.

Wen Yizhuo puts down his phone, getting ready to head back to the company.

Then he sees a dog dragging a girl about five feet tall as she rushes out of the apartment opposite. He forgets to turn down the volume on the video playing on his phone.

His lips press into a thin line.

He silences the notification that follows.

His mentor has shared a video.

[Mentor]: [How can you call our game garbage and say even dogs won't play it? Maybe the game designer is playing with us too ^ ^]

It's the video he just opened.

Wen Yizhuo pushes up his glasses, and suddenly his ears turn bright red.

[Mentor]: [By the way, apprentice, the weather's lovely today. Looking for a romance?]

Reading guide ①: Some elements are inspired by real games, while others are fictional. MMO stands for Massively Multiplayer Online.

② All characters are adults when they spend money in the game. Don't imitate them.

③ A lighthearted story written to get back into the swing of things.

Theme: Always protect your personal safety, no matter what.