Rank
Alternative
Genre(s)
Tag(s)
When the sister originally designated for the political marriage ran away, Lianzhi, who resided in the abandoned palace, was forced to take her place.
Lianzhi was unwilling. He did not want to marry into the grasslands thousands of miles away, nor did he want to marry a sixty-year-old Chanyu. He already had someone in his heart. That man was the son of Princess Huayang, a noble and brilliant Heir Apparent with the grace of a dragon and phoenix. Just recently, the two had confessed their mutual feelings.
Upon hearing the news of the marriage, his beloved held his hand, his handsome face pale. “Lianzhi, do not fear. Your cousin will definitely bring you back.”
Lianzhi stayed in his embrace, the tears falling and wetting his small face.
He wept silently as his heart bled. But what choice did he have? He was the son of a discarded concubine, and because of his “strange body,” he was disliked by the Emperor.
Thus, like a reluctant puppet, Lianzhi was placed onto the bridal sedan heading for the frontier.
The procession arrived at the border with a magnificent dowry spanning ten miles.
However, the day before the wedding, the old Chanyu died. This was not a good thing. The grasslands followed a custom where a son inherits his father’s titles and a younger brother inherits the elder’s.
The new Chanyu inherited not only his father’s throne but also his father’s intended wife. This new Chanyu was young and strikingly handsome with deep-set features, but his words were terrifying.
“This strange body of yours, are you truly a man or a woman?”
On their wedding night, he heartlessly poked at Lianzhi’s scar. In a fit of rage, Lianzhi slapped him and turned away, refusing to look at him. Despite the slap, the young brat did not get angry. Though his mouth spoke words of disgust, his body was honest.
Lianzhi’s first time was given away so haphazardly to this young barbarian. Although his husband claimed to find him repulsive, he loved being intimate with Lianzhi. The young barbarian was crude and rough, leaving Lianzhi’s skin covered in bruises.
Lianzhi did not love him. Lianzhi loved refined, jade-like gentlemen like his sweetheart, his cousin. He spent his nights staring at the moon, praying for the day his beloved would bring him home.
He waited and hoped until finally, his cousin arrived on horseback to reclaim him.
A raging fire burned across the grasslands. Everywhere he looked was blood and severed limbs. Lianzhi hid in his cousin’s arms, terrified by the carnage and by the young barbarian standing amidst the flames.
The barbarian stared at him with hatred, and while tears seemed to shimmer in his eyes, he cursed Lianzhi and his lover with the most vicious words.
Hysterical, the young barbarian roared at Lianzhi as he huddled in another man’s arms:
“Shen Lianzhi, run!
No matter where you run, I will find you!
I hate you! When I find you, I will lock you up and make you stay with me day and night until you give me a whole litter of cubs!
I married you! You are my Khatun, my Khatun for a lifetime!”
Lianzhi looked back crying, the biting wind stinging his face. His cousin’s sleeve brushed away his tears.
Lianzhi screamed back, “I will never be your wife!”
But the horse had already galloped far away. His voice was swallowed by the howling wind, unheard by the young barbarian.
One-sentence Summary: “Step-mother, you smell so sweet.”
Theme: One must express their love for another in a timely manner.
