Delicate Tribute

[Soft, sweet, resilient, tenacious little darling X wicked prince who doubles down on a mistaken identity]

Because of the previous generation's feud, Su Nanqiao was raised to be useless for fifteen years.

She became a little "stool" who never spoke up or fought for anything. Her only obsession was waiting for her parents to find her and take her home.

During the Shangsi Festival, her cousin's wife forced her to drink cold wine, using her as a bargaining chip in a transaction involving power and sex.

Su Nanqiao fled into the bathhouse and ran into a man bathing in the pool.

Steam shrouded them. The man's large hand broke through the water and seized her. Her waist went slack, the world spun, and she fell into the pool.

The hot spring pressed in around her. An irresistible force pinned her against a firm chest, iron bones imprisoning soft jade, locking her in tight.

Prince Qin, Zhao Fuheng, was the eldest legitimate son of the Great Yue Empire. He had spent twelve years at war and won countless military honors.

Unfortunately, he suffered from migraines. When they struck, he lost control and became a living demon no one dared approach, leaving the position of heir to someone else.

He was sick and waiting to die, expecting to be laid to rest in six months. He never imagined he would meet Su Nanqiao in the bathhouse.

She was a "tribute" who had fallen from the sky, a criminal who had trespassed in the forbidden gardens, and also his medicine. His migraines never struck when she was beside him.

He took her by force as if it were only natural, like taking a bowl of medicine.

He pampered her, as if she were a human-shaped resurrection pill to be kept in his collection.

But later, he fought the Eastern Palace over her, turned against his mother, and defied his father, refusing an arranged marriage.

She called him "Imperial Father" and treated him like a eunuch.

His eyes darkened. "Yes."

Carrying the weight of her shocking birth secret, he told her, "You need to fall in love with me quickly."

She tilted her head. "What does falling in love mean?"

She ran away, escaped, stayed clueless, and was tricked into leaving with someone.

He treated her as medicine, a princess consort, and a wife. Like a gardener tending a flower, he raised her from a little stool into a vibrant young woman.

Reading guide:

Both leads are sexually inexperienced, 1v1, possessive love, romantic rivalry and a love triangle, groveling after the chase.

The hero is violent and possessive early on, but devoted and unwavering later.

The heroine is innocent and naive at first, but grows and awakens later.

A bittersweet story of redemption | The heroine changes from an "object" back into a "person" | Very slow character growth.

[Next planned novel]

The Emperor Is No Gentleman: The Emperor Steals His Minister's Wife

[Hypocritical tyrant X innocent minister's wife]

The widowed Grand Princess Gaoyang took a liking to Gu Yunzhou, the Grand Mentor's only son and an official of the Imperial Clan Court.

She went to her younger brother, Emperor Yuanfeng, for help.

Emperor Yuanfeng wasn't a fool. A princess could not marry an important official, or the realm would be thrown into turmoil and the state put at risk.

He found Gaoyang a hundred and eighty strapping lovers, guaranteeing a different one every day.

But Grand Princess Gaoyang used a powerful aphrodisiac and slept with Gu Yunzhou.

As she slept with him, she spread the details around, causing a scandal throughout the capital. When she and Gu Yunzhou woke up, he tore the bed curtains apart and nearly strangled her to death on the spot.

The whole thing had gotten terribly out of hand.

Emperor Yuanfeng was worried. His own sister had acted shamelessly, and he had to clean up the mess.

So he summoned Gu Yunzhou's wife. He meant to make amends and compensate her, cleaning up her husband and returning him to her.

On that day, in a light rain, Lin Wanzhi entered the palace alone, holding an umbrella.

She knelt in the hall, her shoes and socks soaked through. Her wet skirt clung to her ankles, outlining her slender figure, and a veil woven from rain mist shrouded her head.

Emperor Yuanfeng lowered his eyes to look at her. Her fingers were pale and delicate, pressed against her forehead.

They had never known a moment's hardship. Gu Yunzhou had taken good care of her. He had cared for her so well, and yet he had let her come to the palace in the rain, unable to hold up an umbrella or keep the rain off her.

"This humble wife pays her respects to Your Majesty."

She trembled, her wet shoulders showing a lustrous pink.

Emperor Yuanfeng frowned. The comforting words on the tip of his tongue, "Gaoyang was out of line, and Minister Gu was helpless. You are to be pitied as well. I grant you both a fief, so you may leave the capital," slowly, slowly sank back into his throat.

Instead, he asked in a low voice, "Madam, do you believe that aphrodisiacs can make a man lose his senses?"

Lin Wanzhi raised her eyes at the sound of his voice. The emperor's gaze bore down on her, heavy as a thousand jun.

"I don't believe it."

Emperor Yuanfeng descended the steps and walked toward her, one step at a time. He stood over her, the hem of his dragon robe brushing her slender wrist as he said coldly, "Madam has had the misfortune to marry the wrong man. Perhaps you failed to cultivate your virtue in a past life. I grant you leave to stay at the Heavenly Immortal Hall and pray for blessings."

Reading guide:

|The heroine is not sexually inexperienced, the hero is|The emperor steals his minister's wife|Possessive love|Powerful man humbled

|Unhinged siblings break up a couple, and the hero gradually loses his moral boundaries|

Theme: It begins with instinct and ends in love.