Latest Substitution Novel

She has a moon-shaped mark behind her ear, a sign of misfortune, and was abandoned in the countryside. That year, heavy snow sealed the mountains. A少年, battered and bruised, lay in the snow, barely clinging to life. He clutched her skirt, gasping, "Madam, save me..."

Meng Xuanli brought him old blankets and boiled medicine for him, only to be roughly pulled away by someone. Later, when she returned to the capital, her father sighed, "Your elder sister is in love with someone else and cannot marry into the Duke's Residence." Her elder sister wept, "If I were to marry that sickly man, I'd rather die."

So, Meng Xuanli became the substitute bride for the frail noble son, Lu Guanque. He was like an immortal in the clouds, an existence she could never aspire to. After their marriage, she was surprised to find that the boy she saved in the snow was her husband.

Lu Guanque treated her with utmost tenderness and consideration. He indulged her, even allowing her to offer incense for old acquaintances and bestowed upon her endless affection. However, there were his meticulous inquiries about everything she did. Yet, their warm nights in the red-curtained bed surpassed all human joys.

As days turned into months, his heart condition gradually healed, and she became immersed in his tenderness. They promised to grow old together. Until one day, she accidentally stumbled into a secluded room deep within the courtyard.

The walls were covered in paintings of her, but most horrifying was the ink-stained ledger on the desk. It meticulously recorded her daily activities: when she smiled at whom, with whom she whispered... Every word was exquisite, yet it felt like golden chains and ice fetters meant only to bind her in a cage.

Meng Xuanli finally realized that her gentle, jade-like husband, who lay beside her, was the mastermind behind her substitution and the gentle demon who had woven this cage. Meng Xuanli couldn't bear this suffocating love. Terrified, heartbroken, and filled with hatred, she made a desperate escape.

When she was caught and brought back, Lu Guanque's smile remained, but his eyes churned with a terrifying storm. He tore off a tassel from the bed curtain and gently bound her wrists with it, his dark hair intertwining like an overwhelming ink tide.

He lightly bit thelobe of her ear, his breath scorching, and murmured huskily, "Ah Li, since you saved me..." He continued, "...you should know that for this entire lifetime, you are my medicine."

When Lu Guanque was on the verge of death, he was saved by a maiden. That maiden had an ethereal beauty and a bodhisattva's heart; she was the only light in his broken and shattered world. Later, he learned that she was his fiancée's younger sister from the countryside.

He traced the self-inflicted blood marks on his wrist, his eyes growing profound. His savior deserved to be trapped in the golden cage he personally crafted.