Bright Clouds Over Qingyun (Mystery)

The main story and bonus chapters are complete. My other novel, The Exiled Couple's Daily Hustle, is currently updating. Childhood sweethearts who marry first and fall in love later, sweet and uplifting!

Clever, wily career-minded heroine x proud, scheming, love-struck hero

To prevent the massacre of her family that haunts her dreams, young Xue Lingyue returns to the capital alone and becomes one of the emperor's personal guards.

For seven years, she endures her colleagues' mockery for lacking ambition, focused only on secretly finding the truth and saving her family. Everyone thinks she's a useless idler.

Then, while making discreet inquiries during an investigation, she runs into Qin Jiao, a disciple of the cold and ruthless Commander. The two are forced to pose as husband and wife. Afterward, Qin Jiao is struck by a strange poison and left at death's door.

Xue Lingyue pulls out a handful of pills whose names she doesn't even know and forces every last one down his throat.

"Weren't you afraid you'd poison me to death?" Qin Jiao asks, waking in a cold sweat.

She stares at him with wide, round eyes. "If I hadn't given you the medicine, you would've died anyway!"

How hard is that to figure out?

With the audacity to treat a dying man with whatever she can find, Xue Lingyue accidentally cracks a strange case and catches the attention of the Grand Princess.

But just as the clues begin to emerge, news arrives that her entire family has disappeared. Everything points to a conspiracy from eighteen years ago...

At first, Qin Jiao thinks Xue Lingyue is a nuisance. Later, he discovers that she's clever, perceptive, and daring, with a sincerity that puts him to shame.

Everyone says women should be obedient and docile. Even if they become officials, they only do it to earn a little prestige before returning home to marry into a powerful family.

But Xue Lingyue refuses to believe that. She wants to speak out against injustice for all women and open a path to advancement. More than that, she wants to see what the world would look like if a woman ascended the throne.

Qin Jiao thinks, if that's what she wants, then as her husband, it's only right that he lend her a hand.

A young scholar adrift on the Yongding River, a frontier general who burns himself to death, a woman found dismembered in a roadside inn at midnight, a border office rife with spies, and a loyal soul buried beneath the sands of the desolate desert... From a mysterious ironworks in a deserted village to a noblewoman who steals without a trace, from the bustling city of Chang'an to the lonely wastelands of the northern frontier.

Strange cases emerge, and undercurrents stir...

Little Scene:

The others, back then: "Hey, did you hear? Qin Jiao gave up a brilliant future and resigned for some low-ranking female official, just to follow her north and eat sand. He must be bewitched!"

Who could have known that the next time they saw her, the young emperor would smile and say, "Let it be done as Minister Xue wishes."

The officials who had once declared she had no future: "...Is it too late to get on her good side now?"

When the real deal passes by, they hurry to smile and ask, "We hear you've had some free time lately, Lord Xue. Would you honor us with your presence at a banquet?"

Xue Lingyue, dressed in red official robes, waves them off. "Some other time. I have to hurry home and brew medicine."

#The male lead is truly lovestruck and eventually becomes the heroine's personal cameraman

[Reading Guide]

1. One-on-one romance, both leads' first relationship, happy ending, fictional equal-rights world, neither lead is a chosen one.

2. Plot-focused with plenty of romance, slightly slow burn and light political intrigue. (The deaths don't start until a few chapters in.)

3. Qin Jiao (pronounced Jiao).

4. I'm terrible at writing blurbs...

Coming soon: The Exiled Couple's Daily Hustle. Bickering couple x young married pair x marry first, fall in love later

Xie Yingyu, the only daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo's household, eats from gold bowls and bathes in milk. Her life is comfortable and easy.

Except for her betrothal to Wei Qin, a spoiled rich kid who spends his days cockfighting, chasing dogs, and galloping off on hunting trips.

The two have never gotten along. Then, on the day of their wedding, disaster strikes: a rebel prince launches a coup, and their entire families are sentenced to exile in the far north.

On the journey west, a relative tries to bully her. Xie Yingyu grabs him by the hair and slams him to the ground.

In the north, a guard tries to take advantage of her in the dark. She grabs a brick and cracks his head open.

Faced with a ramshackle hut without even a cup of hot water, Xie Yingyu refuses to accept her fate.

She grits her teeth, picks up a needle, and earns her first pot of gold sewing handkerchiefs and making felt hats.

Then she sets up a little stall and has Wei Qin hawk their wares with her in the bitter cold.

Together, they hunt wild beasts, gather raw stones, and build a reputation before opening a shop. Before long, they've managed to make a good life out of their difficult circumstances.

From prosperous Chang'an to the barren north, from having nothing to becoming renowned merchants...

One day, she gazes at the boundless trade routes and smiles brightly.

"This is where I'll make my fortune."

Wei Qin was once a proud and spoiled young master of the Wei family in Chang'an, until his family fell and he was exiled thousands of miles away.

Consumed by guilt and despair, he wants to die. In a moment of anger, he tells Xie Yingyu, "If you think my family has wronged you, then once we reach the north, we'll get a divorce!"

Their marriage is nothing but an unavoidable family arrangement. Wei Qin thinks they can part ways amicably once she finds a new home.

But later...

From hunting for pelts to opening a shop, learning martial arts and doing business, tanning hides and gathering mountain goods, Wei Qin protects Xie Yingyu from dangers both overt and hidden, and helps her forge an endless path to prosperity.

Then one day, an old acquaintance from Chang'an comes to visit. A young nobleman dressed in fine clothes stands outside their courtyard.

"Yuniang, come back to Chang'an with me. The new emperor favors my family, and the Gu family is now the most honored of the noble houses. I'll make sure your life is even better than it was before."

Wei Qin, a gold hairpin for Xie Yingyu tucked in his arms, corners her inside the house, his eyes red. "Are you really going to marry him?"

[Reading Guide]

1. One-on-one romance, both leads' first relationship, happy ending.

2. A sweet story about making money.

3. An exiled couple starts from scratch and works their way out of poverty toward prosperity.

Theme: Respect and cherish yourself, stand on your own feet, and grow stronger.