Chapter 108 Finale: Dedicating Everything to Her
Ever since discovering that Yue Guanyi started to like sweets, every time after court, she would bring back some candies from the market. Sometimes it was ordinary sweet fruits, sometimes just the most common osmanthus cakes.
Yue Guanyi always loved these simple sweet treats from the common people, finishing them all every time. Yet he wouldn’t touch the exquisite pastries made by the pastry chefs specially assigned from the palace, which only made her laugh and cry.
On the first snow of winter, a thin layer of white covered the world. After court, Qiu Shuzhi walked through the light snow underfoot. Passing by the market, she heard the calls of the tanghulu vendor. Round and red hawthorn fruits were strung together, wrapped in transparent syrup, glistening in the winter sunlight.
She casually bought a stick of tanghulu from the market vendor to bring back.
Yue Guanyi was sitting at the table, his needle and thread moving back and forth.
The main door was half open, fine winter snow drifting past the doorway, beautiful like a silhouette painting.
During this time, Yue Guanyi’s body had mostly recovered, his lower abdomen no longer frequently aching. In his leisure time, he had even started to play with needlework.
His thick, soft long hair was tied up with a white jade hairpin, a few strands of dark hair falling in front of his forehead. The hem of his deep blue robe was near a charcoal brazier at his feet, occasionally emitting crackling burning sounds. Beside his hand was an incense burner, the daily incense permeating his body with a lingering agarwood scent.
Qiu Shuzhi held the tanghulu in front of Yue Guanyi. His eyes suddenly lit up as he looked up at her: “Wife-master, you’re back!”
He happily brushed off the thin snow on her collar. At that moment, it seemed even the winter wind had been warmed.
Qiu Shuzhi took off her heavy cloak and put the tanghulu in his hand: “Try it. Haven’t you been loving sour-sweet fruits lately?”
Yue Guanyi put down his needlework and slightly opened his mouth to bite one, holding it in his mouth. His lips and teeth lightly touched, the sweet and slightly sour taste making him squint his eyes in satisfaction.
“Is it good?” she asked with a smile, watching him.
Yue Guanyi nodded, his eyes bright and shining. He held the candied hawthorn to her lips: “Wife-master, you try some too.”
Qiu Shuzhi took a bite and her face contorted from the sourness. She swallowed with difficulty and said: “This vendor actually used such sour hawthorn to cut corners. Even that much syrup can’t cover the sour taste. Next time we won’t buy from her.”
Yue Guanyi took another bite: “How can that be? It’s not sour at all.”
“Then perhaps the only tooth-achingly sour fruit was the one I ate,” Qiu Shuzhi didn’t pay it much mind.
Yue Guanyi stuck the tanghulu into a white porcelain vase with a slender neck nearby. He got up mysteriously and took out a piece of clothing he had already embroidered from the wardrobe.
“Wife-master, this is the winter clothing I made for you. Try it on and see if it fits,” Yue Guanyi said, as if seeking praise.
Qiu Shuzhi looked at the clothes in his hands. The stitching was dense and the embroidery patterns were exquisite: “No wonder you’ve been so secretive lately, and your hands always had needle marks. When I asked, you wouldn’t say. So you were secretly making clothes.”
She took Yue Guanyi’s hand and spread it open. That perfect porcelain-like hand was covered with tiny needle marks. She felt grateful yet pained: “There are embroiderers in the household to make clothes. You’re the eldest prince, why do these tiring things? Look at your hands… Don’t do this next time.”
Yue Guanyi bit his lip lightly, full of grievance and jealousy: “Does wife-master not like the clothes I made? That day I saw cousin sewing clothes for wife-master, and wife-master was so happy. I thought wife-master liked it. But of course, my needlework can’t compare to cousin’s.”
Qiu Shuzhi helplessly squeezed his palm: “Not at all. I think your craftsmanship is much better than cousin’s. These stitches and embroidery patterns are all to my liking.”
“Really?” Yue Guanyi’s eyes were hopeful.
Qiu Shuzhi nodded and took the initiative to put on the clothes he had made. With the charcoal fire burning in the room, the thick winter clothes wrapped around her body made her face show a slight flush. She praised: “Not bad, it fits well.”
Yue Guanyi smiled, pressing his lips together.
Qiu Shuzhi stroked his smooth long hair and teased: “…Look at you just now, the whole room filled with jealousy. How can you even be jealous of cousin?”
“……” Yue Guanyi lowered his head. He was indeed jealous.
He and Qiu Qiushuang were in the same manor, seeing each other all the time. Yet they both had their hearts set on this one woman.
Because of the blood relationship between Qiu Qiushuang and his wife-master, he couldn’t do anything to Qiu Qiushuang.
Qiu Qiushuang also relied on this relationship, occasionally calling Qiu Shuzhi to his room to deliberately irritate Yue Guanyi. He was like a fly that couldn’t be killed, just annoying.
Men are just jealous, love to compete for favor, love to be envious.
Even if he had everything, as long as his wife-master’s gaze lingered on another man for a second, he felt like he had lost the whole world, surrounded by enemies, without any sense of security.
Which woman’s back courtyard in the Great Qi wasn’t a mess of infighting, openly and secretly?
On the surface, brothers were friendly, but it was all a facade. Everyone in their hearts just wanted to finish off the others. The primary husband wanted to ruin the looks of those young cheap hooves to gain the wife-master’s pity alone, while the small attendants racked their brains trying to drag the haughty primary husband down into the mud.
If it were before, when Yue Guanyi still held the position of Commander of the Jinyiwei, he might have found some underhanded methods to make that eyesore Qiu Qiushuang pass away without anyone knowing.
But since pacifying the Dian King’s rebellion, he had retracted his claws, shed his armor, and offered up everything he had to Qiu Shuzhi, becoming her stepping stone to climb to the peak of power. He himself contentedly entered the back courtyard, to be an ordinary man.
After all, women should handle external affairs while men internal ones. Men should stay away from the court and focus on bearing and raising children for their wife-masters. It wasn’t proper for a man from a good family to show his face outside.
But thinking of bearing and raising children, Yue Guanyi lowered his head dejectedly, his expression becoming dazed and lost. He had taken so much medicinal soup, yet his belly still showed no signs of movement.
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If you’re like me…
Too tired of reading stories where the female lead is often foolish, weak, feeble both physically and mentally, usually in a subservient and oppressed role in society such as a maid, secretary, concubine… or to put it bluntly, typically the one who has to serve and please the male lead, always needing protection and rescue from male leads, while the male lead is often described as talented, strikingly handsome, powerful,…
Then please continue reading.
Hi there, girls!
I’m Yuushi L.
Every day, movies and comics continuously reinforce the notion that women are weak, that they can only handle trivial matters in the background, that women are petty-minded and constantly jealous, mocking, and laughing at other women, while men are strong, wealthy, and solely focused on conquering the world, with countless mindless women ready to fall into their arms.
Believe me, once you read Female-dominant (FEDO) novels, your mindset will change significantly.
I am deeply inspired by strong, independent, and rational women who have the power to take control of their lives, and I am fascinated by the way society’s gender roles are reversed in this genre compared to real life.
So I have created this web with the noble purpose of promoting the “Female-dominant (FEDO)” genre of novels.
In my country, there was a rare renowned female poet in ancient times who wrote the following about the fate of women in that era:
“Damn this life of sharing a husband,
One wrapped in warmth, the other left cold.
I’d rather have stayed single from the start,
Than to endure a life so torn apart.”
Perhaps my penchant for reading female-dominant stories is partly a way of rebelling against the realities of life.
On my site, there will be stories that are not only female-dominant novels, as long as they align with my taste, featuring strong female protagonists and fresh, captivating storylines. Usually, they will be modern or fantasy novels.
I rarely read ancient novels that aren’t female-dominant because they often contain details that easily trigger me. These include the portrayal of men having multiple wives and concubines, which was considered utterly normal in ancient society, and the frequent disdain towards women.
I cannot change the world, as the societal structure that discriminates against women and elevates men has existed for thousands of years. Changing it to truly give women an equal role in society is not something that can happen overnight. If you want gender equality now, it’s laughable. It will never happen when over 90% of national and business leaders are men.
But I can start by changing the mindset of women, sisters, and young girls. Don’t just read dull slogans urging women to be strong and independent; it’s hard to imagine. Read Female-dominant (FEDO) novels to see clearly what true female empowerment looks like.
I believe there will be more and more independent and strong women who prioritize their careers and personal stability over seeking a man to rely on.
In the future, there will be more successful female entrepreneurs, politicians, and thought leaders.
As for me, I will start by making this website grow stronger day by day.
I especially like the concept of “the male lead falls in love first, the female lead is the cold-hearted and rational one, and the male lead suffers because the female lead doesn’t reciprocate his feelings.”
Therefore, you’ll see that most of the novels on my website will belong to this trope. Of course, there will be exceptions.
In the future, I also plan to write my own novels following this concept, where the female lead in my stories will never be the weaker party. I hope I can do it soon.
The novels I highly recommend will be listed under the category:
There will be exceptionally brilliant stories, but there will also be mediocre ones. As the Female-dominant (FEDO) genre has fewer authors and readers, the number of high-quality novels is limited.
Therefore, I want to promote this genre to reach a wider audience, which will encourage more talented authors to choose to write in this style, leading to the birth of more outstanding Female-dominant (FEDO) novels.
The Chinese versions of the novels I use for translation are all sourced from various websites on the internet. You know, I don’t have much budget to purchase so many novels.
Therefore, if your financial situation allows, please support the authors by purchasing the original works. You can find the original works using the Chinese titles of the novels.
*
WARNING:
In some novels, there are certain unhealthy ideologies and illegal actions held by the main characters (for example, treating human lives as worthless, or casually deciding to kill someone, forcing others to do things they don’t want to do, arbitrarily imprisoning others, plotting to harm others, using violence to retaliate against violence,…).
This may be because the authors are still young and inexperienced, unaware that what they’re writing goes beyond moral standards and can negatively influence young readers.
It’s important that readers under 18 years old need to recognize these are illegal actions, not permitted to be carried out in real life, always keep a clear head while reading, treat these works only as entertainment, and don’t let yourself be influenced by those plot points.
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If you want to join me, support me, recommend novels, or simply want to connect with me privately, please contact me via email: yuushi.l.me@gmail.com
Or join my Discord to connect with others who share the same taste for novels:
With love and appreciation,
YUUSHI L
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*Spotlight on Finished Novel Translations*
The Male Lead’s Obsessive (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: She is his lifelong obsession, to the point where he was willing to be a third wheel, scorned by society, just to wedge his way into her relationship with her fiancé.
Synopsis:
Cold-hearted and indifferent female lead + Scheming and subservient CEO male lead
Summary:
Rong Xiu’s biggest regret in life was missing out on Fan Xia.
He secretly loved Fan Xia for 7 years.
Watched her go public with her boyfriend.
Watched her kiss her boyfriend at their wedding.
Until that man blissfully nestled in Fan Xia’s arms, obtaining everything he could only dream of.
The crazy jealousy stripped away his hidden secret love, layer by layer, burning like wildfire.
Fan Xia, how can I have you!
【Reading and Trigger Warning Guide】
1. Female dominant, male submissive, male pregnancy
2. Male lead schemes his way to the top, male competition
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Please help me, I want to bring you the best possible things.
If you find any chapter or novel with poor translation and editing quality, let me know by commenting directly under that novel or chapter. I will retranslate it as soon as possible.
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