[New story Polygon, light sci-fi, a multi-sided relationship, all-female cast. The leads include a law firm partner, legal affairs manager, investor, and others. Add it to your favorites!]
In the thirty-first year of Hezheng, the imperial capital hosted the great merchants of the realm. But on her way home, Fang, one of Liangzhou's four leading merchant houses, drowned. Fang Zhi, the Fang family's only child, became its young head overnight, wearing mourning clothes as she struggled through the turbulent business world.
“Give it half a year, and we'll divide up the Fang family.” All of Liangzhou waited for the house to fall so its hangers-on could scatter. Everyone said Fang Zhi shouldn't be a merchant, but she forged ahead regardless, weathering the officials' and merchants' open and covert attacks to hold on to the family business, even with the knives at her throat.
“Keep standing, keep standing until you can truly find your footing.” She did it all to inherit her mother's legacy and uncover the truth behind her mother's death: revenge. “If I weren't avenging her, I would have followed her long ago.”
But was her mother really as innocent as she believed? Did the imperial capital stand for justice? Was the world truly so black and white?
Ten years passed. Fang Zhi had established herself in Liangzhou, yet the events of the past had only grown more mysterious. She had gradually become a true merchant. In the government offices, people traded barbs and schemes; on pleasure boats, wine flowed freely amid decadent gold. In the Fang residence were confidantes, beloved companions, loyal hounds, and faithful servants; at the Cloud-Gazing Terrace, guests filled the seats, while red clay stoves glowed in the Mountain-Viewing Hall... Torn between obsession and reality, she could no longer tell what she wanted. What had she wasted her life on?
A wall of tightly packed skulls, a pair of terrifying white eyes: what kind of past lay buried beneath the misty splendor of Liangzhou? At last she let go, at last she found peace. All she wanted was to keep the people by her side and find a sincere love
But the truth had already come rushing toward her, one revelation after another.
The curtain has risen. All are welcome to this tale of past lives amid the mist and rain of Liangzhou.
This story features:
The head of a household, a musician, retainers, actors, and others drinking and carousing together; the colorful street life of Liangzhou's many festivals; the glittering extravagance of pleasure boats, the eastern market, and theaters; the ruthless scheming among salt merchants; and thrilling martial arts contests...
[Before you read]
1. This is a fictional historical setting. The clothing draws on different periods of ancient China, and official titles are also mixed and adapted.
2. The cast is 80% women and 20% men. Gender relations in this society are equal: “Nothing is treated differently because of gender.”
Theme: If Shen and Shang never meet, who can say which stars make up the twenty-eight lunar mansions?
Finished spreading flowers! I finished reading it a few days ago, and the ending was a bit too sad, so it took me several days to read it slowly again. In fact, I thought Su Chai was Fang Zhi's CP at first. When Heng Shen came out, I didn't realize it. After reading the story from ten years ago, I felt that Fang Heng should be like this. There is a beautifully written paragraph in the middle. Liangzhou is so flashy. Maybe I subconsciously know that good flowers don't bloom often, but I have a premonition that rain is about to come. This premonition became stronger when he saw Wen Heting's death and Feng Yi's alienation from the left prime minister. After seeing Su Chai's death, he did not dare to continue reading. Su Chai is my favorite character in this book, and compared to the others, this character's death definitely seemed very long. Just like what was written at the end of a certain chapter, everything was like a dream. Before Su Chai died, she knew it was a sweet dream but wanted to indulge in it. After Su Chai died, she had to face the cruelty of reality. Finally, I would like to praise the author. This book is really well written. In retrospect, every character is very vivid. There are a lot of foreshadowings and details hidden in the writing. As I read it, I always admire the author's knowledge reserve and sophisticated writing. The most important thing is that I didn't expect that this quality is still free of charge. I really hope that more people can see it.
I know why I haven't read the last ten chapters. It turns out that a vague premonition is saving me. The reader is in pain now. I can't say congratulations on the ending. Let me cry first.
No wonder the salt merchants in Liangzhou failed so quickly, no wonder the officials were able to produce so many things, no wonder they were afraid of being hacked to death by Fang Zhi [Lie down]
I think I started chasing it around chapter 80, and then slowly started to accumulate it when it reached more than 100 chapters. Reading this all at once felt like a shot in the heart. The aftermath of reading a BE novel is completely different from reading it and finding out that it is a BE novel. Ah, what else can I say. I just want to mark it next time so that I can be mentally prepared and not be too emotionally invested in the two of them. This way I won't be too sad. I am really sad when I see this, really.
There is a serious cuteness
Bingfeng has thought about this 🐶
She is actually a heroine, different from what I imagined, hahaha.
I want to read a separate book about He Ting and Li Zhuolian
The author is really a soft-hearted person. There are always sad and heartbreaking plots in the last chapters. The author puts everyone's behind-the-scenes stories after the filming is completed in the words. Just like the characters comforting each other, the author is also comforting the readers: You see, it's all acting. Wen Cheng's fingers are fine. After the show, he and Wen Qiwu went to have barbecue together, so don't be sad.
It feels like former colleagues come to reminisce after they have resigned, hahaha