[Notorious female bandit chief VS cold-faced, ruthless young prince]
Wan Muchun is a bandit chief, eccentric in her ways and notorious far and wide.
She leads a band of river bandits and makes her living on the water. She's robbed official ships and wiped out bandit strongholds, but she's never stolen a groom.
Meng Chenzhou is a sickly young man, trapped in the palace and lying low for ten years.
On the way to his wedding, just as his great ambitions are about to be fulfilled, a woman in red drops out of the sky and takes him home in a daze.
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Wan Muchun, daughter of a boatman, sees her fate take a turn when she's twelve.
That day, the boat her family rowed out wasn't a fishing boat. It was a lifeboat carrying a father and son fleeing for their lives.
Young and naive, they part and go their separate ways.
Ten years later, the boy she'd cared for on the river has become the spoiled prince Meng Chenzhou.
And she has finally reached the highest point among the seventeen bandit strongholds, with the bandits bowing and shouting, "Chief Wan!"
He is dressed in red for his wedding; she crashes the wedding to steal the groom. But no one could have guessed that when she leapt from the teahouse, the one she was stealing wasn't the bride, but him.
The river flows east, and spring ends without the boat returning.
-Bonus Scene-
Wan Muchun pulls a young man out of the water.
The young man clings to her every day, asking her to feed him and give him medicine. He's delicate and frail, but really very handsome.
Wan Muchun patiently takes care of him, thinking he's like a cat or a dog and will eventually become a pet she can keep at home.
"What's your name?"
"I... am Chenzhou..."
"Oh, you can't have a name like that on a boat. From today on, you'll be called..."
"Little Boat."
Ten years later, he obediently lets her take him back to her stronghold, sleeps in her arms, and follows her everywhere, all with complete confidence.
"I was your pet from the very beginning!"
1. Both leads have their own growth arcs early on.
2. It must have a happy ending. There won't be any angst.
3. Set in a fictional world. The author's inventions are everywhere, so don't scrutinize the details.
Theme: Helping each other become better, heroic young lovers
