The Insider System - Chapter 22: Lake The Early Bird

The current Empress Dowager once gave birth to a daughter, Zhao Shu, before she was remarried to the Late Emperor.

A’Shu was renowned for her beauty in Hebei since childhood.

Before getting married, her elder brother and sister-in-law advised her that Liu Xun was a man of profound thoughts and schemes. Relying on her beauty, they fear that she wouldn’t last long.

A’Shu said, “Everyone says that this man is kind and cultured, winning the support and love of the people, but he is indifferent to women. He is still single at such an age. So even if I am to use my looks to gain his favor, I’m afraid I wouldn’t know where to start either.”

Only after the wedding did she discover that the rumor couldn’t be more wrong!

Kind and cultured he may be but indifferent to women??

Haha, she couldn’t see it at all!

Liu Xun’s elder brother recently died. Barely starting his mourning period, he married the daughter of his enemy.

In the beginning, they were as incompatible as fire and water. Who would have thought that before long, he would be brought down to his knees, worshipping the very hem of his wife’s skirt. From then on, the couple slowly overcame enmity and suspicion, gradually knew and cherished each other through the struggles of enduring humiliation and trying to turn the tides.

- Description from Novelupdates

“Spread your legs...” That haunting command was all she remembered from the grey-eyed stranger—the man she shared a night with.Now, Ariana is branded as cursed. The girl who killed her mother. A silent omen wrapped in whispers and fear. But the truth? It’s locked inside her, buried beneath silence… because Ariana is mute.And when fate cruelly reunites her with the very man who started it all, how can she defend herself—when she cannot even speak?In a world where rumors are louder than truth, will anyone ever hear her side of the story?

The year he was fifteen, Ling Ke realized he was gay, and that he fell in love with a hot guy the same gender he was! Ling Ke spied on the other’s online friend group, payed attention to that person’s every move, and privately, started his fanatical fanboying actions. Unfortunately, the hot guy he liked was someone who changed girlfriends like he changed clothes, a pretentious and straight male.

A few years later, Ling Ke and the hot guy he was secretly in love with got into the same university and became good friends. In order to prevent his beloved from hating him, Ling Ke repressed his true feelings and forced himself to pretend to be a 24k, pure gold straight guy.
……

Having high-spec looks, Qi Feng was a networking expert, but in order to preserve his all-around shining and popular hearthrob image, he always hid his true sexuality, that he was gay. He got himself (fake) girlfriends all throughout school, literally playing himself into being branded as a skirt-chaser.

Until one day, he met his true love. The other looked delicate and gentle, cold and out-of-reach, as if the ideal lover he’d dreamed of in his heart.

Except, there was just one thing. That guy also looked completely straight……

In short, this is the love story of two scared, in-the-closet gay guys pretending to be straight while mutually trying to feel the other out.

- Description from Novelupdates

On Terra, everyone has a 58% chance to “Awaken” as a Traveler—a chosen few who can access mystical portals called Flumes, allowing them to travel to Genovia, a world filled with unimaginable power, chaos, and danger. But not everyone gets to be a hero.Born into a struggling family with nothing but ragged clothes and a bleak future, Aoni Thurston, a total nobody with a humiliating One-Star Potential and G- stats across the board, knows his only chance at survival hinges on unlocking his hidden ability, something which all Traveler’s are gifted “Attributes.”But Aoni’s Attribute, “Progression,” holds a secret—a power to bend the rules of his ruthless reality. Each small victory, every step forward, earns him mysterious Progress Points, enabling him to transform his weaknesses into strength. Surviving the unforgiving snows of his desolate Territory, he faces isolation, despair, and near-death, all while unraveling the potential of his Attribute.In a world where power is everything, can Aoni claw his way from obscurity to greatness, or will the system grind him into dust? His future is uncertain, but one thing is clear—everything in his world can change through his Attribute: Progression.