I Mistook Your Heart

Ji Anlan was born to be a brilliant general. At thirteen, she went to war in her father's place; at fifteen, she was named General Who Guards the South. From then on, her fame spread across the land.

At twenty, Ji Anlan reclaimed her seventh city, and the emperor summoned her back to the capital to receive her honors.

On the day of her triumphant return, the people lined the streets to welcome her, while countless young men secretly fell for her. She was the most celebrated person in the realm.

The next day, the emperor summoned her to his side in private and spread out a pile of portraits, bringing up the old subject with earnest persuasion:

“These are the husbands I've chosen for you. Is there anyone you like?”

Ji Anlan had always kept her late father's wishes in mind and had no interest in romance.

But this time, the emperor issued a strict order: she had to meet three men and consider them as potential husbands.

One was the Imperial Tutor's legitimate grandson, four years younger than her, who wanted nothing more than to learn martial arts from her.

One was the son of the Minister of Revenue, tall and imposing, but passionate about performing opera.

And the last was the youngest son of the prime minister, who had only been found three years ago.

The first two weren't to Ji Anlan's taste, but the third was refined and handsome, with an air of distinction. She couldn't help taking a second look.

For some reason, though, he looked at her very strangely.

One moment, he would hold her hand and gaze at her with tender affection, telling her how much he admired her.

The next, his eyes would turn bloodshot as he glared at her and said he hated her.

Ji Anlan couldn't figure out what he was thinking, and had no memory of the past he spoke of.

All she knew was this:

The sight of him kissing her with tears in his eyes was simply too pitiful to resist.

*

When Gu Changyan was sixteen, he met the woman he loved. At his most desperate moment, her blade carved a path to survival for him.

Her bright, captivating eyes were etched into his mind and stayed there for years.

She was the most formidable female general in Great Qi, decisive in battle, expanding the borders, repelling foreign enemies, and saving countless people from ruin.

Her blade had been stained with endless blood, yet it had also lit up the darkest night.

So when Gu Changyan later found her fallen into the mud, he never once thought of taking advantage of her.

He never could have imagined that one day he would hate her to the depths of his soul.

He hated her because her blade had tasted his family's blood.

He hated her because she had once saved him.

He hated her because she had saved thousands upon thousands of people, while Gu Changyan was just one nameless nobody among them...

When Gu Changyan saw her again, she was being promoted and honored, full of confidence and ambition.

He appeared before her, hoping to see surprise, regret, or guilt in her eyes.

Instead, all he got was her calm reply: “We've never met.”

He was suddenly consumed by furious resentment.

He wanted to get close to her and take revenge, make her lose her power and the person she loved most, and let her taste what it was like to fall from the clouds.

But in the end, as tears salty with sorrow mixed with his kiss on her icy lips, all he tasted was a sweetness steeped in bitterness.

[Reading Guide]

1. A cool-headed, spirited heroine versus a conflicted, obsessive hero. One-on-one romance, both leads are each other's first and only.

2. The dynasty is fictional, ruled by an empress, and women's status is relatively elevated.

3. The heroine did not kill the hero's family. This is explained in the story. The main text is primarily told from the heroine's point of view.

4. The heroine is stronger than the hero from beginning to end. There's a slight everyone-loves-the-heroine element. This is not a gender-bender story, so fans of the hero should not read.

[Next Upcoming Story] If Only in Brocade

When Xiang Ye was seventeen, he went hunting and found an injured young girl unconscious on the mountain.

The mountain path was difficult to navigate, and wild beasts often came out at night.

He took her home, intending to send her back once her injuries had healed.

But when the girl awoke, she had lost all her memories.

Feeling sorry for her loneliness and helplessness, he named her Ruo Jin and let her stay.

Xiang Ye thought his family was poor and their house shabby. He secretly took on all kinds of dirty, exhausting jobs so he could spoil the girl as she grew up.

He raised her that way for eight years.

Eight years later, sixteen-year-old Ruo Jin went to study at an academy in the city, where she met a wealthy young gentleman.

She came home drunk and, as usual, buried herself against Xiang Ye's chest, complaining about why that young gentleman didn't like her.

Feeling a faint ache in his chest, Xiang Ye wondered: Ruo Jin is so wonderful. How could anyone not like her?

As it turned out, he was right. No one could help liking Ruo Jin.

Including him.

*

Xiang Ruo Jin grew up in a village with Xiang Ye. They weren't well-off, but Xiang Ye never made her do chores. He only taught her to read and write.

At sixteen, she was admitted to an academy in the city, and it was a world she had never seen before.

There, she read the classics, wrote essays on statecraft, and learned all kinds of things.

When her classmates discussed poetry and literature, she could talk at length, and quotations from the classics came effortlessly to her.

Only once did she pick up a collection of poems that a classmate had accidentally dropped. The page opened by the wind left her stunned for a long while.

When she got home after class, she did what the poem described to satisfy her curiosity.

The next day, Xiang Ye disappeared without a trace.

For the first time in her life, Xiang Ruo Jin felt so helpless and flustered. So when she saw him again, she chose to fasten an iron chain she'd prepared in advance around his ankle.

As they relived their passion beneath the embroidered covers, her lips rested against Xiang Ye's rising and falling chest. She lightly tapped her toes and smiled triumphantly:

“See? Turns out you can't live without me either.”

Theme: Love is good medicine.