The Princess's Sword

★ Next up: Today's a Good Day to Play Dead, now updating

Blurb

[Princess with a Bodhisattva's face and a serpent's heart × loyal general with a rakshasa's face]

Yang Zhenxue was born of the empress, showered with favor, and gifted with precocious insight and a talent for governance.

She once met a man bold enough to draw a blade and cut her skin.

She merely smiled, then let her hairpin slide across his throat in turn.

"You set this trap. Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"

*

Later, she plunged into the currents of power and ambition, scheming at every step to claim the throne.

Yang Zhenxue realized that the man who kept catching her in the act of wickedness would make the perfect sword for a princess.

So one day, she went to him, raised his chin with her slender hand, and tenderly traced the beauty mark beneath his eye.

"From this day on, your life belongs to me."

*

Zhou Jingshan was a lone wolf who had clawed his way out of a sea of blood and mountains of corpses.

The General of Suiyuan, a rakshasa with a jade-like face.

To find his enemy, he deliberately drew close to the jewel of Great Yan, Princess Yong'an, Yang Zhenxue.

Gentle and virtuous? Compassionate?

No. She was a flower born of evil.

A beautiful face, a venomous heart.

Yang Zhenxue used him to guard the frontier, eliminate political rivals, and bring order to the court. Every ounce of tenderness was carefully calculated.

Yet when the world condemned him, she spoke in his defense. She was the only one who did.

But he kept his distance, treating her coldly.

"Please, Princess, do not stop for me again."

*

An imperial decree once again brought Zhou Jingshan to Yang Zhenxue's side.

He still remembered her saying, "I, this princess, am not easy to serve."

Zhou Jingshan knew that well, but he didn't find it troublesome.

That day, she broke into a private home at night, knife in hand, to hunt down a criminal.

"Why dirty your hands?"

He sighed softly, standing beneath the moonlight, leaning against the door.

Then he knelt on one knee, took her hand in his warm palm, and gently wiped away every trace of blood.

"I touched him here. It's filthy," she said, impossibly particular.

"I know," he replied, indulging her in silence.

So what if she was hard to serve? All he knew was that he was willing to be the princess's sword in her hand.

He would indulge her, play along with her act, and let her climb to the throne on his back.

-

[Reader's Guide]

1. This is a fictional setting, with plenty of original worldbuilding.

2. One-on-one romance, two strong leads. The heroine becomes emperor. Both leads are each other's only partners, happy ending.

3. A serious historical romance with court intrigue and a love story. Both leads are skilled actors, using each other; early on, their feelings are mostly feigned.

4. A heroine who grows into her ambitions. There is a lot of setup in the early chapters, which may feel a little slow, but things get more exciting later.

5. The heroine isn't evil in the traditional sense; there are reasons behind her actions.

6. The writing is somewhat elaborate in the opening chapters, but I've been gradually revising it later on.

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[More historical romance dramas, please add to your collection]

How Can We Envy the Mandarin Ducks?

[Beautiful, tragic young man × resilient orphaned girl]

The first time Fu Jianfei saw Shen Zhuoshui was at the execution grounds.

She carried a bamboo basket to bring her father his last meal before his execution, but saw a man in purple robes and a jade belt lounging on a raised platform, deciding who would live and who would die.

Spat upon and pelted with rotten vegetables, he merely smiled, as if he hadn't heard or felt a thing.

At the time, she thought a man like him deserved to go to hell.

Her entire family was sentenced to death, yet she alone survived. Why?

"This girl is clumsy. There's no point in killing her."

With that one offhand remark, Fu Jianfei's life was spared.

She gritted her teeth and said, "I'll keep my eyes on you until your crimes catch up with you and you die a miserable death."

He only smiled. "Miss Fu, you'd better stay alive, so you can come and take your revenge."

*

Later, as Fu Jianfei had wished, Shen Zhuoshui became notorious, a corrupt official who framed loyal ministers and a traitor despised by all.

Fu Jianfei took a lamp to visit him in the deepest part of the Ministry of Justice's prison.

She saw the moon who had once captivated the capital, the man countless young women had dreamed of but never dared hope for. Now every bone in his fingers was shattered, and not a patch of unbroken skin remained on his back.

Shen Zhuoshui raised his bloodstained lashes and still managed to smile. "Have you come to take your share of my flesh and blood?"

Fu Jianfei crouched down and used a handkerchief to slowly wipe the dirty blood from his forehead.

"I know that in all your time in this world, you've never lived a moment for yourself," she said. "Shen Zhuoshui, don't look down. I'll fight to win you a way to live."

But he only found it amusing.

This foolish girl. Once, her father wanted the Shen family dead. Now she wanted him to live.

-

"You are a trumpet vine, meant to hang high among the branches. Why fall into the mud for me?"

"Because you're in the mud."

[All Upcoming Books]

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Theme: Women growing strong and breaking free from the shackles of feudal society.