[Childhood Friends and Archenemies * Delicious Size Difference]
[Beautiful, Powerful, Tragic, and Brooding Regent x Bright, Gentle, and Headstrong Noblewoman]
To get her father released from prison, Ning Qingyuan has no choice but to sell herself to her archenemy, Xie Linxin, the powerful Duke of Pu.
The agreement is for three years, during which Xie Linxin can torment her as he pleases.
But who knows what got into Xie Linxin? He actually sends a grand bridal sedan and marries her in spectacular style.
On their wedding night, when Xie Linxin kisses Ning Qingyuan on her lips, she is so mortified she wants to die. She thought she had iron bones and could withstand any torment from her archenemy, but she never expected it to be this kind of torment beneath the red wedding curtains!
Ning Qingyuan is thoroughly ravished while still half-asleep, and can't even get out of bed the next day. She thinks mournfully that if he torments her like this every day, she probably won't last three years.
*
Xie Linxin has admired Ning Qingyuan, the most free-spirited and radiant of noblewomen, since he was young.
But Ning Qingyuan couldn't stand him and opposed him at every turn. After a while, he no longer wanted to be a nuisance and resolved to stop loving her.
But later, when the Xie family fell into hardship and he had nowhere to turn, Ning Qingyuan was the only one who offered him a hand.
For years afterward, his love stayed buried in his heart, burning into a mad obsession that made it impossible for him to let go or give an inch.
When Ning Qingyuan's father fell into trouble, his chance finally came.
Using his power to threaten and tempt her, Xie Linxin obtained a three-year marriage contract in which Ning Qingyuan sold herself to him (struck out).
*
In the third year of their marriage, the old emperor dies. Xie Linxin helps the young emperor ascend the throne and becomes the all-powerful regent.
The regent has avenged himself and granted a general amnesty, yet refuses to honor their agreement and divorce her.
Ning Qingyuan has no choice but to find new ways to make trouble.
She arranges a marriage for the daughter of the disgraced official who is Xie Linxin's first love, happily sending her off to become another man's legal wife.
She drives away Xie Linxin's distant relatives, mocking them for never offering help in hard times and only showing up to freeload.
Finally, she turns up at a banquet with Xie Linxin and his friends, throwing her weight around like a jealous wife. In tears, she demands that Xie Linxin stop drinking and come home before the hour of the Dog.
Ning Qingyuan is pleased with herself. She thinks Xie Linxin has been humiliated and will surely fly into a rage and angrily divorce her.
But that night, Xie Linxin leans over her, his handsome face tinged pink, and gently kisses her lips.
"Yuanyuan, you've finally fallen in love with me..."
Ning Qingyuan: ?
*
Reading guide: Both leads are virgins, 1v1, happy ending, lots of misunderstandings, mutual devotion, secret love becomes reality.
Blurb written on July 15, 2025, revised on June 21, 2026, and last revised on August 9, 2026. Screenshots of all versions have been saved.
Theme: When one path ends, another opens.
