After the Foolish Beauty Was Taken by Force

Timid, life-preserving, airheaded beauty * control-obsessed, unhinged tyrant (The Canary's Escape)

King Ji He of Chu was cruel and wanton, waging war throughout his life and achieving supremacy in little more than a decade. But after returning to the past, he learned that in his previous life, a seductive enchantress had beguiled one minister after another after his death, plunged his kingdom into chaos, and destroyed his life's work.

She became the one thorn in his heart.

After conquering Chen, he did indeed meet her.

He He blinked up at him... and burst into tears at first sight.

Seduce men and wreak havoc? Ji He looked at the young, timid, incredibly foolish mute before him and scoffed inwardly. An enchantress? She could never become one!

He took her straight back and locked her away in the imperial palace!

He He's cage was set inside Ji He's bedchamber. Guards surrounded her on every side, and the master of tigers and wolves was right beside her. From a slave of a conquered kingdom, He He had become a caged bird, with no one to answer her cries for help.

He He was only a timid little mute with a hard lot in life. She never caused trouble, but fate simply refused to leave her alone! At last, she snapped!

But she looked up at Ji He and was so frightened that she immediately gave up on the idea.

He He was still her useless self. She wiped her tears and went on serving Ji He. She was obedient and tireless, even though he bullied her without mercy. No matter how much he mistreated her, all she wanted was to protect her life. She had no other ambitions.

If Ji He held a chain in his hand, she was the one firmly locked to its other end. He freely tormented someone who had no power to fight back, keeping her firmly in the palm of his hand.

She was docile and obedient, with not the slightest sign of becoming a temptress. Yet at some point, his gaze began to change.

Even so... He He held her breath and glanced at the man who now demanded she report every step she took. At last, she couldn't take it anymore.

The King of Chu was an absolute madman! Obsessive, gloomy, and terrifyingly controlling.

One day, He He took one look at the resplendent palace and fled in panic.

Ji He scoffed again. This was what she called a madman?

Having truly gone mad, he dragged her back. This time, he locked her away for good.

In the dark, sunless cage, Ji He restrained the urge to crush every bone in her body, devour the splintered fragments of her bones, and swallow even the last drop of her blood. He watched coldly as she cried and crawled toward the corner of the bed. Would she become a wicked consort or not?

No? Come, let me teach you!

A little scene: He He may be terrible at escaping, but she's very good at pretending she doesn't exist when Ji He is nearby. She's always been afraid of him, and after he dragged her back, she was even more frightened. With no other option, she resorted to burying her head in the sand.

Ji He didn't care at first. Later, he watched her slowly draw her trembling little foot back behind the curtain, and couldn't bring himself to call her out.

Content warnings: 1. Both leads are sexually inexperienced and faithful. She is mute only at the beginning. He He is as adorable and important as a seedling. She's not quite as stupid as she seems, but she's not especially clever either. The male lead is genuinely a little abnormal! The kind who goes mad.

2. A tearful, sly, timid heroine who pretends to be dimwitted and avoids trouble * a hero who nearly loses his chance to secure his empire. Their positions will reverse, and she'll resist him even while afraid.

--- Upcoming novel ---

"Elopement": The story of two moons falling.

Bai Fanyue is the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Wuxin's household, peerlessly beautiful and a pristine flower that all the sons of noble families can only admire from afar.

She is dignified, virtuous, clever, and capable. Before marriage, she was the eldest daughter who held up her family; after marriage, she became the most outstanding eldest daughter-in-law of the Marquis of Xuande's household.

Even after five years as a nobleman's wife, she remains an untouchable beauty in everyone's eyes.

But lately, her personal maid, Qingshui, has been hatching a secret plan. In wine shops, she tremulously points out one handsome young male companion after another, only for each to be rejected in turn.

"Miss, why isn't this one suitable?"

"Too much rouge and powder."

"What about that one?"

"Too thin."

"Miss, this one won't do and that one won't do. When are you going to find someone?" Qingshui hesitantly urged. "Maybe you should just forget it..."

"No."

In the room next door, Li Linghe chuckled and turned his gaze away.

After fretting for days, Qingshui finally came back one day, overjoyed!

"Miss, this one is sure to work! He's graceful, refined, and more handsome than your husband! It's a shame he's not a young male companion, just a minor official. But that's fine too. For the sake of his career, he won't tell anyone. It's not like he can stand up to our Marquis household!"

After seeing the portrait, Bai Fanyue nodded this time.

In the pitch-black room, Bai Fanyue finally realized that it wasn't only Luo Fu who had a husband. Her own gentleman was about to have a wife, too.

She was annoyed that Qingshui had handled things so carelessly and was about to call the whole thing off when he took her hand.

"What are you worried about, madam? No one will find out."

He drew her trembling body into his arms and said softly, "You don't know how? Let me teach you."

As if possessed, she took the hand reaching out from the abyss. With each indulgence, she stepped further into the abyss, fully aware of what she was doing.

At last, a ripple disturbed the stagnant waters of her life. Though she now lived in constant fear, she also experienced sensations she had never known before.

At the time, she didn't yet know Qingshui had made more than one mistake.

Only later, when this minor official came right into her home and sat at the same table as her husband, did she finally lose control of the situation...

His Highness the Crown Prince, Li Linghe, was a man of impeccable virtue, steady and self-possessed, the most admired person in Great Jin. He lacked nothing in character or ability, and the emperor had high hopes for him. With a powerful family of his future wife backing him, the throne was practically his for the taking.

He had long planned to withdraw from this game with Bai Fanyue. But later, little by little, he emerged from the darkness.

Neither of them plays it safe. Both have a mad side.

The heroine is not sexually inexperienced; the hero is.

Theme: No matter what circumstances you find yourself in, never give up.

2: A Mei is the most awkward secondary consort in the Eastern Palace.

An orphan by birth, she was rescued by a marquis when she encountered bandits while searching for her family. From the marquis's household, she then climbed her way to the Crown Prince, Jiang Chi, and became his secondary consort. A chicken had flown up to a phoenix's perch. It was a tremendous blessing.

But she happened to look exactly like the late wife the Crown Prince hated most.

Everyone in the capital knew that the Crown Prince detested the ill-fated wife who died on their wedding day. He forbade anyone from mentioning her, so it was easy to imagine how a secondary consort who looked just like her would be treated in the Eastern Palace.

On the second day after their wedding, A Mei, her body still weak and sore, saw the Crown Prince sitting in the room, wiping down a long sword. His voice was cool and indifferent.

"From now on, stay quietly in the residence. Don't go anywhere."

A Mei trembled as she agreed.

*

To avoid irritating the Crown Prince with her face, she stayed out of his way whenever she could.

When the Crown Prince gave her beautiful clothes, she never dared wear them casually. When he summoned her to his bed, she made excuses about a stomachache and refused. Later, she even moved of her own accord to the room farthest from his.

Yet the Crown Prince always appeared like a ghost, emerging from some corner and staring at her. "You really didn't go out today?"

A Mei answered nervously, "I really didn't."

"Then what did you do today?"

A Mei racked her brains. "Today, I hoped the Crown Prince would be in good health."

The next day, the Crown Prince caught her again, his icy voice asking, "What did you do today?"

A Mei hurriedly replied, "Today, I hoped everything would go the Crown Prince's way."

Eventually, A Mei started volunteering, "Today, I hoped the Crown Prince would always be smiling."

"I hope the Crown Prince has plenty to eat and warm clothes to wear, and is loved and admired by all..."

Rumors gradually spread through the capital that she was a "wicked consort," a scheming woman skilled in seduction who had the Crown Prince all to herself every night.

A Mei was close to tears. I'm not! I didn't do anything!

She was just waiting for the Crown Prince to kick her out. She'd already packed her bags.

Then she heard that the Crown Prince was going to promote her to primary consort.

A Mei was stunned. Wait, how could making things up on the spot get her promoted? Wasn't she just a joke everyone disliked?

*

His wife fell from a cliff and died on their wedding day.

For many days and nights after her death, Jiang Chi's longing for her became an obsession.

But in the winter three years later, he saw her again.

Everyone said she was merely a lookalike, a substitute, and waited to see her thrown out of the residence. Even she thought so herself.

But Jiang Chi knew that was her.

She had changed her identity and name, and even lost her memory, so she no longer recognized him.

But none of that mattered.

As long as she was by his side, all he had to do was take her home, then... teach her to love him.

The blurb is told from an outsider's perspective. The male lead had his reasons for disliking his late wife. No angst.

One-on-one romance.

Final version of the blurb, archived on December 23, 2025.

Upcoming novel: "After Marrying My Gentle Husband"

Coercive love | The powerful one bows his head | The long road to winning her back

Delicate princess younger sister * cold, unhinged crown prince elder brother (pretending to be gentle) 💛

Everyone said Xie Wantang was blessed. The orphaned daughter of a prince with a different surname, she had been adopted as the royal family's goddaughter. She was deeply favored by the emperor, and her fiance was young and promising.

Yet behind Xie Wantang's glamorous life lurked a shameful secret.

At her engagement banquet with her fiance, she got drunk and slept with her sworn elder brother, Xie Yunchun, the crown prince.

After that night, under the pretext that the princess needed to recover, she was confined in the Eastern Palace, her hairpins scattered, made into his caged bird.

Xie Yun was naturally cold, but he especially enjoyed tormenting people in bed. After enduring his abuse, she finally took advantage of his trip south and hastily begged her imperial father to arrange her marriage to her fiance, escaping from the madman.

*

During her first month in her husband's household, he was as gentle and kind as the rumors claimed. He went out every day to bring her pastries, and when she had nightmares, he held her and soothed her. His gentle hand brushed her damp hair like a spring breeze.

"Don't be afraid, Wantang. I'll always be here with you."

Their affection for each other grew day by day. The only thing lacking was that her husband always wore a cold mask, day and night. Even when they shared a bed, he never took it off.

"I have a scar on my face. I don't want to frighten you."

His voice was gentle and apologetic, and Xie Wantang was deeply moved.

"Your looks don't matter. I love you no matter what you look like."

She searched everywhere for famous doctors to treat him, hoping to live a loving life with her husband. She had almost forgotten that nightmare from her past.

But good times didn't last. In the second month after she married into the Xu family, she realized her husband seemed like a different person.

He smiled and said he had a scar on his face, but when he wore the mask, his presence was cold and murderous.

The neighbors said he was kindhearted and owned nothing. Yet Xie Wantang saw him holding a long sword and cruelly wiping out an entire household.

Before marriage, he was disciplined and restrained. After marriage, he demanded her all night long. Under the red bed curtains, his icy gaze fell obsessively on the side of her neck, biting mark after mark of blue and purple into her skin.

"It's only two insignificant insects who died. Why did that scare you, darling?"

"Didn't you say you'd love me no matter what?"

Xie Wantang panicked. She was afraid. After catching him killing an entire household for the second time, she decided to run away.

*

After burning down the home she'd once lived in, Xie Wantang packed her clothes and left the capital in the middle of the night. She hadn't even made it to the south by boat when she was surrounded.

She raised her eyes in panic and saw a familiar figure standing in the firelight. Her once considerate and gentle husband was dressed in a python robe, his voice completely changed.

"Where do you think you're going, wife?"

Hearing that familiar voice, Xie Wantang staggered backward. This was clearly...

The face beneath the mask was revealed, and she felt as if she had fallen into an icy abyss.

After two months of absurd intimacy, the man in her bed had been the sworn elder brother she'd gone to such lengths to escape all along!

Later, in a pitch-black room, Xie Wantang's hair was damp and disheveled. A scorching, uncontrolled kiss bit into her neck, while a gold chain wrapped around her wrist day and night.

"Is marrying someone else better than being my crown princess?"

"You like him? How about I chop off his head to celebrate?"

"Little sister, if you try to run away again, I'll do it one more time tonight."

Delicate younger sister * cold, mad elder brother

A little coercive love and a little groveling to win her back. Overall, it may be a sweet romance.

The male lead killed the man who became her husband before the marriage.

Also, the heroine isn't on the household register, so they aren't blood-related.

First version of the blurb, screenshotted on May 5, 2026.

Theme: Ten years, the living and the dead are worlds apart. I don't dwell on it, yet I cannot forget.