[Alternate history / multiple unrequited loves / tangled relationships / conflict between siblings / the heroine’s growth] The heroine is a hypocrite with a petty streak, fiercely protective and full of contradictions. She can’t bear to see anyone she cares about get hurt, but she is not a good person in the traditional sense. If you’re looking for political intrigue, this isn’t for you. The author isn’t clever enough to write a good political scheming novel.
Meng Lin once believed she would always be bound to her twin brother, Meng Ji. They had depended on each other in the sheltered hothouse of their family estate and had never been apart, until a scheme tore her brother from her life for good.
Seven years later, Meng Lin finally understands her brother’s struggles and pain through a book written in strange characters, but can only seek comfort in the lingering warmth of someone she once knew.
Meng Lin never wants to see the lifeless faces of the people she cares about again.
Meng Lin spoke first, her voice soft. “Go back, Master Jiguang. Go back to your mountain.”
There, you have morning bells and evening drums, the Buddha before a lamp, and the precepts and compassion you are meant to uphold.
Here, there are schemes and plots, blood feuds, and a road she must walk to the end.
Everything in the capital is steeped in decadent, indulgent stagnation. Stay too long, and it will consume you.
Meng Lin looked at Xiao Cheng’s taut profile, her tone firm and unquestionable.
“Caution is good, but too much of it is cowardice. We can’t retreat from this situation, and we won’t. We either win or die.”
“Did you miss me?” Her voice dropped, her breath brushing his nose. “Then you’d better take a good look.”
The intimate atmosphere made Yang Jing’s cheeks burn and his heart race.
He tilted his head slightly, unable to hide the urgency and longing in his eyes.
“How pitiful, Yang Pei.”
