MTL - The Marquis Is Innocent - Chapter 14 cypress

On their wedding night, she gnashed her teeth, yelling, “Your Highness, that’s shameless!”

Set off by the flickering light of red candles, he curved the corner of his mouth into a wicked grin, “Actually, I can be more shameless…”

…

When they met for the first time, he was the young prince who lived in his day of brilliance, while she was the pampered princess of the adjacent state.

When they met again, he became the crippled underdog suffering from frustration, while she became the lackluster hostage stranded in an alien land.

In his mid-life, he was defeated in the fight and had his legs broken; his wife passed away and he didn’t have anything left except his father’s detestation… After constant blows took the edge off his spirit, all he wanted was nothing but serenity.

In her teen-age, her state perished and her home lost; she lapsed into an awkward situation after being abandoned and having her marriage annulled… As endless hardships isolated her from happiness, everything she wished for was no more than peace.

…

“Lu Zhishan, when I first met you, I didn’t think I’d marry you…too old,” after years passed by, one day, she lay on his laps mumbling, with a kind of hazy beauty on her boozy face, “and lame.”

“Mu Nanzhi, you have the wrong memory. At our first meeting, I’m neither old nor limp.”

“…When was that?”

“When people were celebrating your first birthday,” that man assumed all gentleness and joy crept on his eyes and brows, “On that day, you were ‘drawing lots’ in the rear hall. I also sneaked there to have a look. But, out of my expectation, you directly grabbed my true-love knot.”

…

How vivid the red love pea is embedded in the exquisitely carved dice,

Just as my feelings for you deep in my bones.

- Description from Novelupdates

Yuka, reborn as the daughter of the universe's richest man, tries to live a simple life. She gets a big shock when she has to join Union University of the Alliance because of government rules.In university, Yuka picks an easy major, hoping to keep a low profile. But her plan doesn't work. She keeps facing tough situations that show off her smart mind and strong skills. Yuka tries hard to live normally but keeps getting pulled into extraordinary accidents.This is the story about how Yuka grows. It's about her trying to hide her real identity while dealing with a world that always challenges her.

He chose her out of curiosity, and she chose him for a good sleep.In this one-year hidden marriage, they agreed to take what they needed and have only pleasure without love. But the reality was that he was very domineering. He could bully her, but if anyone else did the same, they would face severe consequences.Many people felt sorry for him and thought that she didn't deserve him. However, they discovered that her real identities were stunning and extraordinary.She was a genius hacker, a skilled miracle doctor, and even a deadly ghost...Now, people felt sorry for her. How could an astonishing woman like her marry a disabled man?Suddenly, a man who had been in a wheelchair for several years stood up and revealed the business empire he had built during those years.Later on, people started to envy the couple's talent and beauty.While the heavens favored them, she suddenly realized that in his heart, she was nothing more than a substitute...Love was just like poison hidden in sugar. If you believe in it, you lose...

The Peng Society for Gentlemen — a secret friend-making club for the homosexual men of the Great Xia Dynasty. Its services were designed to help its members along in their quest for their lifelong partners. Upon paying a monthly fee of fifty coins, members could get themselves listed in The Pengornisseur after providing a self-portrait, a mailing address, their age and hobbies, as well as a self-introduction. All members would receive a copy of the monthly publication, and they could communicate with one another in private using the information in The Pengornisseur.

Wu Xingzi, a bachelor about to turn forty, worked as the adviser to the magistrate in Qingcheng County.

Qingcheng County was a place with barely any resources. In other words, it was poor. In the list of counties of the Great Xia Dynasty, it had been ranked at the bottom for the past two hundred years.

Wu Xingzi felt that his life was hopeless: not only was he a homosexual, he was also a virgin. Even his retirement fund was lacking. Worse still, his looks were… forgettable.

He might as well die.

Hence, Wu Xingzi decided to commit suicide on his fortieth birthday. However, he was unwilling to remain a virgin to death! And so, gritting his teeth, he joined the Peng Society for Gentlemen and received The Pengornisseur. It was very painful; after all, fifty coins were the sum of his daily expenditure for ten days! He would only pay it once, and he was determined to succeed on his first try.