Shoujo Ai
Crabapple Red
I was sent into the palace because I wasn’t clever.
Before I left, Mother warned me never to fall for the emperor.
I asked her what falling for someone meant.
“It means seeing him makes you happy.”
Puzzled, I tilted my head and asked: “Happier than eating braised pork?”
“A hundred times happier.”
I immediately thumped my chest and promised I would never fall for anyone as long as I lived.
After all, nothing in the world tasted better than braised pork.
Then one day, the noble consort everyone called arrogant and overbearing smiled and pressed a sweet cake into my hand.
A Fox Has to Be Bold
Hu Xiaowu is a fox spirit raised to believe that landing a wealthy patron is the surest way to prove her charm.
Yet her enchantment fails spectacularly on the cool and brilliant Jiang Rao, who seems immune to everything.
When a dance video sends the pair viral, Xiaowu blunders from campus mishaps into the entertainment industry while trying to win Jiang Rao over.
She never realizes that the woman she is chasing has already been quietly clearing every obstacle from her path—and has fallen first.
Falling for My Rival Roommate
I fell in love with my rival—and my roommate.
The good news: she was a woman.
The bad news: she was straight.
On the surface, Pei Ruoqing and I couldn’t stand each other.
In secret, I was practically begging, “Big Sister, slap me.”
We stayed tangled up like that until our five-year college reunion.
After the reunion, I used my drunkenness as an excuse to climb into her car.
When I saw that our old class president was still hopelessly in love with her, I deliberately picked a fight.
She shot back coldly, “He likes me.
Does that really make you so jealous?”
Before I could answer, an out-of-control truck came hurtling toward us.
I threw myself over her without thinking—and died protecting her.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back on freshman move-in day, staring straight at Pei Ruoqing as she pushed open our dorm-room door.
Your Eyes Were Peach Blossoms, and Spring Breeze Was the Tavern’s Name
My sister was a goldsmith who entered the palace to deliver jewelry, only to be knocked unconscious by Consort Yi.
Consort Yi had quarreled with the emperor, so she stole my sister’s clothes and exit token and slipped out of the palace for fun.
Furious and frantic, the emperor cut my innocent sister down with a single stroke, then rode out to find the woman he loved.
In the end, my sister’s body was thrown into a mass grave.
The emperor and Consort Yi returned sweetly together on the same horse, and their reunion became a celebrated romance.
Half a year later, I became one of the emperor’s beauties.
After all, I am not human—I am a marten.
If a fox spirit can bewitch a ruler, so can a marten.
