Xiyu had always known that she had no say in her own marriage.
As the Feather Clan's Holy Maiden, her marriage had long ago become a sharp blade in the hands of the man on the throne, meant to keep the clan in check. With that blade in his grasp, the emperor could keep the Holy Maiden's blood under his thumb.
Rumor had it that the Holy Maiden's blood could bring the dead back to life, restore flesh to bare bones, and grant eternal youth. The emperor was eager to claim it for himself, but the sacred blood had to be given willingly and could not be taken at will. So he decided to bind the Holy Maiden to the royal family through marriage.
If she served her own family, wouldn't that count as “willingly” giving it?
From then on, for hundreds of years, the Holy Maidens' fate was to marry into the royal family, be flayed and drained, give up their flesh and blood, and offer everything they had to the royals.
Everyone envied the Holy Maiden for her good fortune: marrying into nobility and even finding a love that lasted a lifetime. But who knew that this laughable “good fortune” had been bought with everything generations of Holy Maidens had to give?
Xiyu swore that in this life, she would change the Holy Maidens' fate and make the royal family wish for death and be unable to die!
The day the imperial decree arrived, Xiyu looked at the name on it and smiled.
Prince Zhounan, Zhou Qianzhe? The emperor's mad dog?
Perfect. Mad dogs were best at biting their masters...
--
Zhou Qianzhe had foreign blood and was the lowliest prince in the royal family.
At nine, he saved the late emperor with the strength of three arrows. From then on, he finally had a place in the royal family.
Everyone who had met him said Zhou Qianzhe was the emperor's mad dog, happy to crawl on the ground and bark whenever ordered.
But he knew this was simply the law of survival, and that the emperor's favor had set a revenge in motion.
Xiyu's appearance was an unexpected turn on Zhou Qianzhe's path to revenge. But when he learned of the Holy Maiden's power, he knew his chance had come.
His imperial brother had handed him a sharp, deadly weapon, one armed with the Holy Maiden's hatred.
Zhou Qianzhe smiled. There could be no better way to bring down the royal family than to use the Holy Maiden's power...
He regarded her as a pawn, and she regarded him as a blade.
With the world as their chessboard, it was no longer clear who was the pawn and who held the pieces. All that mattered was who could outwit the other.
She sneered. “Your performance, Prince, is far more convincing than your supposed sincerity toward me.”
He caught her hand. “Why don't we join forces? My Holy Maiden, you want the royal family toppled, and I want the throne... Our paths lead to the same destination.”
They both knew that in this play, the first to fall would lose.
A scheming Holy Maiden x a ruthless prince. Two formidable people use each other, then dote on each other.
The heroine is decisive and ruthless, and the hero was born rebellious. A happy ending for both.
Theme: If freedom is at stake, everything else can be cast aside.
As for the pink cover, that one looks great and has a sense of story, so why don't you use it?
Come on, keep at it, it looks great [pink heart]