A Joyful Reunion

Upcoming historical novel: Breaking the Formation. Blurb at the bottom

The first time Song Huaichuan went to the capital to receive an award, he saw the woman he'd loved and been separated from for years at a palace banquet. At the time, red plum blossoms filled the branches, and frost and snow settled in their hair.

She smiled at him amid the red plum blossoms and falling snow. "General Xiao Song, long time no see."

Song Huaichuan hadn't figured out what to say when a young maid stepped forward and respectfully addressed her: "My Lady."

The snow dazzled him where he stood.

If she was happy, he wouldn't disturb her. But the woman he'd treasured for over a decade was being treated so poorly.

He must have gone mad. He actually attacked that young lord in the streets of Yunjing.

"What right do you have to mistreat her? What right?"

Song Huaichuan couldn't remember how the farce ended.

The woman he treasured had tears in her eyes. "There were so many of them. Couldn't you have just avoided them?"

Song Huaichuan met her gaze.

"You really don't want to come with me?"

Xie Xiwan grew up in Qingzhou. She occasionally returned to Yunjing for the New Year, but her parents never let her enter the palace.

Her only trouble in Qingzhou was the little devil from General Song's family. He spent his days climbing over the wall to tease her or deliberately scare her. But when someone really made her cry, he'd chase them for miles and beat them up.

One day, the little devil who never applied himself suddenly declared, "I'm going to war! I'm going to make a name for myself!"

Her life became dull and boring.

Xie Xiwan grew up carefree, all the way to sixteen.

In the winter of her sixteenth year, she returned to Yunjing with her parents to the Marquis of Xuanping's residence.

On the morning they were to leave, a familiar, irritating voice called from atop the wall. "Little Bunny, you're leaving?"

Xie Xiwan looked at the boy, who had somehow grown much taller than her, and suddenly felt so wronged she could cry.

"Don't cry. Once I'm a great general, I'll come find you in Yunjing!"

The day they reunited really did come, but they could only gaze at each other in silence. Their carefree days of poetry and wine were gone.

[A Little Scene]

Long, long afterward, Xie Xiwan asked Song Huaichuan, "What would you have done if my parents hadn't agreed back then?"

Song Huaichuan answered without hesitation. "Kidnapped you."

"You bandit!"

"Axi." He wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"No one is allowed to bully you. No matter who it is, I'll make them pay."

[Important Notes!!!! Be sure to read!]

1. Childhood sweethearts reunited after a long separation. The heroine is not a virgin; the hero is.

2. The heroine really does get married!!! She really does have a child!!! (But when she divorces, the child stays with their biological father. The daughter herself decides she doesn't want to go with her mother!!!)

3. HE! HE!! HE!!! I'll say it three times because it's important!!! There'll be a little angst early on, but after the divorce it becomes a completely brainless sweet romance. Don't overthink it.

4. The setting is extremely fictional. Don't scrutinize it; this is just me making things up. There are countless great novels on Jinjiang. If this one isn't for you, pick another!

5. I have an outline and won't change the plot. Criticism and suggestions are welcome, but not writing advice. Thanks for understanding.

6. Enjoy reading!

Breaking the Formation blurb

The heir to the Prince of Zhennan's estate was called Wen Heng. Fang Sining had heard his name many times, but had never met him.

They first met in a torrential downpour.

A sword tip gently lifted one corner of the curtain hanging over the carriage door. The person inside asked her, "Why?"

Fang Sining replied, "Because the pursuers can't find you anywhere, yet I managed to intercept you here."

"Your name."

"Fang, "

"Think carefully," Wen Heng said. "You only get this one chance."

Fang Sining froze. She gripped the reins tighter, and the blisters on her palms stung as they rubbed against them. "Jiang Mian."

Her mother was surnamed Jiang. When Fang Sining was little, she was restless in her sleep, so they called her Mianmian.

From that moment on, Fang Sining no longer existed. There was only Jiang Mian.

In the years that followed, they dodged assassins together, got caught in downpours, and slept in the open. They rode horses and drank wine together; they killed and saved people together, and without realizing it, they fell in love.

As they stood side by side watching another downpour, their sleeves brushed and their umbrella tips touched.

It was a love neither of them ever put into words.

Beneath the covered walkway on a rainy night, Jiang Mian, a little drunk, said to him, "I have to reach the very top, where I can pluck stars to keep me company and look down on all living things."

Wen Heng didn't look at her. "There's no such place."

"There is," she said. "You've been standing there for so long that it no longer seems interesting to you. I've never been there. I can only look up at it. From the highest place, I could do so many things. Will you give it to me?"

Wen Heng didn't give her that place. She won it for herself in court, with words as sharp as blades.

The young emperor watched her from his seat for a long while. Then he suddenly felt that the character Mian, meaning "sleep," didn't suit her at all. She was dazzling as the morning sun, just as she had been when they first met.

[A Little Scene]

When peace had been restored, the ancestral hall at the Prince of Zhennan's estate, which had yet to be rebuilt, was in ruins. They knelt side by side to pay their respects.

He paid homage to his ancestors; she paid homage to those who came before her.

Wen Heng asked, "What should we do about that old bastard from the Li family?"

The former emperor had surrendered the city, and they ought to treat him with leniency. But his family's feud ran deep, and Wen Heng couldn't accept it.

Jiang Mian looked at the memorial tablets before them. "Are you asking Jiang Mian, or the chancellor?"

"What's the difference?"

"Do you want to kill him?"

"I do."

Jiang Mian smiled and said lightly, "Then kill him."

She bowed again. After a long while, she rose and gently brushed the dust from her clothes. "But tomorrow in court, the chancellor will stop you."

[Highlighted Notes!!!]

1. If getting together is what defines an HE, then this is a BE: they don't end up together, and each marries someone else. The author personally considers it leaning toward an HE. They absolutely understand and trust each other, even if they don't get together.

2. The heroine is the chancellor, and the hero is the new emperor.

3. Don't scrutinize the historical details. The author is a novice and is making things up. There are countless great novels on Jinjiang. If this one isn't for you, pick another!

4. I have an outline and won't change the plot. Criticism and suggestions are welcome, but not writing advice. Thanks for understanding.

5. Enjoy reading!

Theme: Hard times give way to better days