Marriage first, love later | Reconciliation after a breakup | Groveling for love | Fake first love
Jiang Zhongxi is the daughter of the Minister of Revenue, blessed with exquisite beauty and delicate features. During the selection, the emperor pointed to her and chose her as Princess Consort Jing.
On their wedding night, Prince Jing lifted her veil, his voice devoid of warmth.
"Since you coveted the position of princess consort, don't go dreaming of love as well."
That brief sentence sent Jiang Zhongxi's heart plummeting.
Though Jiang Zhongxi didn't understand why, she still dutifully played the role of Princess Consort Jing, and she and Prince Jing became a couple in name only.
Then one day, she happened to find a pearl hairpin in Prince Jing's study that didn't belong to her. That's when she learned he was hiding someone in his heart.
When his secret was exposed, Prince Jing flew into a rage out of embarrassment.
Just then, unrest broke out at the border. He volunteered to lead troops into battle, not to earn merit, but to get away from her.
Jiang Zhongxi gazed at the empty prince's residence, then turned and entered the palace to ask the emperor for an edict.
She was done being his princess consort.
Prince Jing had lately been having dreams. The woman in them was no longer the young girl he'd fallen for at first sight in his youth, but his wife, Jiang Zhongxi.
For every day he spent at the border, he dreamed of his wife.
When the royal army returned in triumph, only the servants from his residence were there to welcome him. Only then did Prince Jing learn that his wife had already petitioned the emperor and gone to live as a nun at a Taoist temple outside the capital, claiming she wished to pray for peace at the border and prosperity for the empire.
Rain fell without end for days at Yuzhen Temple outside the capital.
Jiang Zhongxi opened the door to find a tall, slender figure before her. Prince Jing was stubbornly standing in the rain, refusing to leave after a day and a night.
She turned to close the door, only to hear Prince Jing speak plaintively behind her.
"After all we've been through as husband and wife, are you really going to abandon me, Princess Consort?"
Reader's guide
· Prince Jing's secret love is the heroine when she was young
· A slow-burn romance that develops over time
· Sweet everyday moments, with a touch of bittersweetness
Theme: You have to love yourself first
