A Wild Ginger Plant

Here is the blurb. The novel is complete:

Zhao Manjiang was once just a clod of dirt struggling in the fields. She cheated, swindled, stole chickens, and developed a thoroughly crooked nature.

By a twist of fate, she met a handsome young man named Yi Changjue. After a series of turns, he took her in at Qiuyetang.

Yi Changjue was cold and aloof by nature. He taught and disciplined her, yet showed her a special indulgence and concern.

She, too, sheathed her claws and donned a veneer of obedience, as if she had truly grown into a noble and upright gentleman.

She grew addicted to the peaceful days spent at his side.

Three years passed in a flash. Then disaster struck, leaving Zhao Manjiang trapped in a predicament, with Yi Changjue as her only lifeline.

Desperate to escape, she conspired with someone and entered the trap herself. She planned to get Yi Changjue drunk, then stage a scene in which they slept together and trick him into marrying her.

Beneath the warm curtains, the man who had been drunk awoke. He caught her roving hand, his breath hot and his voice low and husky. "...Do you want me that badly?"

With the arrow already on the string, Zhao Manjiang closed her eyes and nodded.

And so he turned her act into reality.

Only later did she realize that the indulgence and favor she had relied on when she put herself in the trap had all been bait, used by him to bind her to his side.

He was the true culprit who had imprisoned her.

So she ran...

Three years later, Zhao Manjiang had become a princess of Cheng, ruling over half the realm. When the two met again, she found that he seemed like a different person.

Aside from some deranged behavior, there were times when he seemed to enjoy having her hurt him...

In Yi Changjue's eyes, Zhao Manjiang was ill-tempered and devious, a bona fide little fox.

A life-and-death bond tied their fates together: if she lived, he lived; if she died, he died.

He detested this troublesome woman, whose eyes were always full of schemes, but had no choice but to keep her by his side, watching over her day and night and protecting her at every turn.

But he never expected that one day, the very life-and-death bond he had once despised would become the only connection he desperately clung to between them. He would shed every trace of his gentlemanly virtue and cling to her like a mad dog...

"Zhao Manjiang, I shouldn't have let you go so easily."

"What does my life matter? If you want it, then take it."

"But as long as I'm alive, don't even think about getting rid of me."

[The despicable schemer gives his heart amid plots and schemes]

[The clear-eyed one chooses to sink into self-deception]

Reader Advisory:

Single-couple romance, happy ending.

A slow-burn story about raising the heroine, with a heroine who grows stronger over time.

The second volume contains some political intrigue.

The leads are four to five years apart in age.

The male lead suffers a little.

[A sharp-witted, crooked little-fox heroine x a cold fatherly male lead at first, who later becomes a deeply possessive madman]

The blurb has been screenshotted and saved.

Theme: Hatred can give rise to sin, but kindness is a choice.