(Next book, currently being written)
Zhu Jinzhao is merely the daughter of an ordinary, minor family. After saving a commandery princess, she is brought to an academy full of imperial nobility to serve as her companion. The people here hold their heads high; though they seem perfectly courteous, she knows none of them think much of her. She's like a gloomy little mouse that has wandered into a celestial paradise, and even her hatred for them must be carefully hidden so no one notices.
Then one day, while praying for misfortune to befall these nobles as she burns incense, she unexpectedly receives a special enchanted incense stick from a wandering Daoist. Light an incense stick imbued with someone's essence in front of them, and she can do whatever she wants to them.
Zhu Jinzhao plans to make them relive the suffering she once endured. But no one tells her that the enchanted incense must not be used on too many people. Use too much, and they will... wake up.
In her excitement, she picks her first target for revenge: the seemingly gentle yet actually arrogant, cold and lofty son of the Marquis of Mingyu.
At first, everything goes as expected. But as time goes on, she realizes that beneath his aloof exterior, he is far from normal. More than once, she's the one who gets bullied.
Once again, the bullying only ends when the incense burns down. Her legs shaking, she staggers away from the scene, leaning against the wall for support.
She absolutely cannot keep taking revenge on this man. Zhu Jinzhao switches targets to the handsome, extraordinary son of a general, who sneers at her and is known throughout the capital as the dream lover of every woman.
Just like before, her revenge gradually goes off the rails. When the incense finally burns out, her face is flushed as she returns to her room, gasping for breath. She holds up a finger, red from being bitten, and angrily scratches out his name.
She refuses to believe she'll get bullied in her dreams too. For her next target, she sets her sights on the most exalted heir to the throne...
The enchanted incense runs out, and Zhu Jinzhao gets nowhere when she goes looking for the old Daoist. The things she's done are also about to be discovered, so she plans to pack up and run away.
Unexpectedly, one day, an incense stick burns in her room...
(Reader's guide:
Character setup: an ordinary gloomy little mouse versus all kinds of imperial nobility
The heroine is a timid, gloomy, writhing ball of black sludge, with the character of someone who hates everything and everyone. Her morals are hard to pin down, and she's somewhat selfish and self-serving. She's a gloomy, honest person who is colorless and odorless, but poisonous, so things go wrong for her.
Male rivals competing for her; the ending will probably be open-ended.
First blurb draft: 2025.9.25, already posted on Weibo
)
Theme: When to yield or advance depends on the times; whether to act or lie low is up to me.
Spring Returns