Guan Lan: Don’t Talk to Me About Fate, I Draw My Own

When she was born, she clutched a scroll painted on pure white jade.

Unrolling it revealed a world within: distant mountains and nearby waters, shrouded in vast, misty waves. On the back were eight words: “Do not linger in the mortal world. Return once the painting is complete.”

Everyone said the child wouldn’t live long.

Yet somehow, she lived a life full of excitement.

She studied paintings at three, learned the ways of the world at five, took a master at eight, and made a name for herself throughout Jiangzhou at nine.

During a severe drought when she was eleven, she set up a porridge kitchen outside the city and saved more than a thousand lives.

At twelve, an imperial edict made her a township lady.

At thirteen, that old lecher Prince Qin said he could wait until she grew up.

Looking to prey on a young girl? But she didn’t have time to wait around!

Her uncle’s family stirred up trouble, her cousin tried to poison her, and shadowy agents in the capital lurked in the background. The blank spaces in that painting still hadn’t been filled in…

She tucked the little scroll close to her and got on with her life.

How long she lived was up to fate; how she lived was up to her.

As for what came after thirty…

She’d think about it once she finished the painting.