Too Many Rivals for the Peerless City Lord’s Unruffled Wife

This is a one-on-one romance, and both leads are pure in body and heart. The male lead is scheming, while the female lead is somewhat indifferent, kind, optimistic, and willful. She is decisive and knows her own mind. The female lead doesn’t suffer through the story, though the male lead gets a little jealous now and then.

Jun Liran was the lord of Ningcheng, a city independent of the three kingdoms. His power even surpassed that of their emperors. When they first met, Jun Liran had already been in love with her for a long time, though she only learned that later. He had many breathtakingly beautiful women in his household, but he had never touched a single one. She found that out later too. That day, she pushed one of his ladies into a lake, and he was furious. “What, do you feel sorry for your wife? I just wanted her to pay back the slap she gave Yi'er. How was I supposed to know she’d fall into the lake?” As soon as she said this, Mu Ran regretted it and cursed herself for being so thoughtless today.

Jun Liran finally turned around and walked to the bedside. “Xia Muran, do you really have to be like this? You’re such a clever woman. How could you not see how I feel about you? Even if you don’t feel the same way, you shouldn’t say things like that and hurt me. Fine, I can put up with you hurting me, but why did you have to hurt yourself too? With your abilities, couldn’t you have freed yourself from Nangong Yue?” So that was what he was angry about: she and Nangong Yue had both fallen into the water.

Jun Liran buried his face in Mu Ran’s shoulder and spoke almost in a whisper, but she still heard every word. He said, “Can’t you love me?”

He was terribly jealous, even of women. Jun Liran leaned close to Mu Ran, whose eyes were shining, and said, “Keep staring at her and I’ll get jealous. Why don’t you ever look at me like that? Is her face prettier than mine?”

He was always ruthless to other women. “Qi Yunfei, you really have some nerve, coming up with a scheme like this. Did you think I would touch you? Let me tell you, even if your plan had worked, I’d only hate you more. Do you really expect me to keep you? Even if you were carrying my child, I’d consider it a bastard and kill it without hesitation. Only one woman can bear my child. You know who she is, don’t you? Don’t test my limits again, or I’ll kill you.”

He could also pick silly fights with her. “Of course. I’ve kept myself pure for you all these years. You should be grateful.” Jun Liran said it with such smug self-assurance.

Mu Ran thought to herself, I never asked you to stay pure for me. Why should I be held responsible?

But Jun Liran wasn’t the only one who had loved her for a long time.

Luo Tanchen, the young emperor of the Kingdom of Luo. “Ranran, you’re always so polite to me. If Jun Liran had been the one to save you today, would you have apologized to him too?”

“I...” Mu Ran was at a loss for words.

“You’re always polite to people you aren’t close to. You’re friendly, but distant. With the people close to you, you’re much more unreasonable. You like to act spoiled and throw tantrums, just like the difference between how you treat me and Jun Liran.”

Mu Ran saw the bitter smile on Luo Tanchen’s lips and felt an indescribable sadness. He understood her so well, just as Jun Liran had before he lost his memory. “Luo Tanchen, don’t be so good to me. I can never repay you.”

His position meant Xia Muran could never love him. He was the emperor of Luo, with a harem of three thousand beauties and a son. Later, when something happened to him, she left Jun Liran to protect his kingdom for him. That was how she would repay him, even knowing she could never repay him fully in this lifetime.

Qian Mingyu, the smiling prince of Qian, later ascended the throne. Raised in the filth of the palace, he was drawn to Mu Ran’s purity. Unfortunately, he had a ruthless empress dowager.

Qi Chengan, a controversial prince of Qi. His mother had been the wife of his father’s younger brother. Not long after his uncle died, his mother entered the palace. More absurdly, he had been conceived while his uncle was still alive. His parentage was his greatest humiliation, and the Crown Prince was constantly trying to kill him. It was the Crown Prince’s pursuit that led him to meet Xia Muran. She was in a sorry state then too, her face scratched by branches and her clothes in tatters, yet she was still so beautiful and pure. They had seen each other at their most miserable.