Synopsis
Qing Yu, romance-focused
Blurb, first draft, June 3, 2026, marriage first, love later
To escape her parents' pressure to marry, Su Yingying, the daughter of a silver mine owner who had never traveled far from home, set off alone for the capital, a thousand li away, to find her childhood sweetheart, the one she'd always longed for.
On the way, bandits attacked in the middle of the night. Desperate to survive, she accidentally stumbled into a mass burial ground.
There, she found a man covered in blood and barely clinging to life.
"So what if you're handsome? Your life or death has nothing to do with me, miss."
She crouched beside him, muttering to herself, but kept sneaking glances at the jade pendant at his waist.
If she pawned it, she could get by in the capital for a while.
Su Yingying had meant to take the pendant and leave, but then realized he wasn't quite dead yet. Her heart softened, so she carried him to a nearby cave, tossed him a piece of flatbread, and hurried off.
She did find her childhood sweetheart, but also found that he'd just married.
He agreed to let her into his household, but only as a concubine.
Heartbroken, Su Yingying slapped him and left without looking back. When she passed the mass burial ground again, she intended to return the man's jade pendant and go home to obediently follow her parents' arrangements.
But the man was nowhere to be found.
Five days later, as Jiang Yingying leaned against the carved window of her bedroom, lost in thought, she saw a tall, handsome man in red riding a warhorse through the courtyard gate and slowly toward the residence.
Behind him was a long line of betrothal gifts, and onlookers surged into the residence to get a better look.
Her father grasped both her hands tightly, his eyes red. "Yingying, since things didn't work out with your childhood sweetheart, marry him and make a good life together. He may not measure up to your sweetheart, but he's practically emptied his coffers to marry you."
"At least he's handsome, and he won't take concubines!" her mother added hastily.
Su Yingying had originally planned to run away from the wedding, but when she saw the man, she hesitated.
"Miss, if you don't intend to marry me, please return my jade pendant..." The man stood before her, his gaze deep.
Su Yingying stared at him in astonishment. Why did this man look so familiar?
Extra scene
Jiang Yu, the regent, studied under the current chancellor. As a child, he'd been abandoned by his father in the condemned prisoners' camp in Mozhou on the frontier, forced to survive day and night in the midst of bloodshed, and secretly groomed as an executioner.
His master gave his life to help him rise step by step to high office and assist the young emperor in taking the throne. Later, he was cast aside and hunted down.
As long as that jade pendant remained, the truth would eventually come to light.
Su Yingying became more and more convinced that she'd married the wrong man. He might be exceptionally handsome, but his haughty, overbearing manner was infuriating.
Once she learned that the jade pendant meant a great deal to him, she took the initiative and swiftly gained the upper hand.
Recently, the couple went to the palace together to attend the regent's victory banquet.
As luck would have it, her childhood sweetheart and his wife were there too.
Already in a foul mood, she saw the man asking for the jade pendant again. In front of everyone, she held it above her head and pretended she was about to smash it on the ground. "Jiang Yu, if you won't play along with me, I'll smash it to pieces. Just you wait..."
Everyone present stared in shock, their faces deathly pale as they watched Lady Jiang courting disaster.
"I heard Lord Jiang married a fearless girl. He's in for it now."
"Lord Jiang has a string of military victories and just reclaimed Mozhou. Even the current chancellor fears him. Would he really be afraid of one woman?"
The man smiled helplessly. All this, just to satisfy her ridiculous urge to show off in front of her old sweetheart. Going to such lengths to make him jealous was laughable. "Su Yingying, if you're so capable, why don't we make it real?"
A haughty, fiery Persian cat x a fierce tiger who tenderly spoils his kitty
Theme: Stay true to yourself and believe in yourself
