A Play in the Willow Smoke

(The story is undergoing major revisions. I'm very sorry. I want to trim it down more and build up a larger stock of chapters. (╥_╥))

Female-led story

[Playing the fool while hiding her true strength, the Prince Regent x Cold and restrained Chancellor's son]

(Inner thought: A highly intelligent beauty who holds power over the court)

One day, after transmigrating, Song Yulai became Feng Jin, the vicious antagonist in Misty Willows.

"A golden hairpin can determine the course of the court; jade fingers can decide right from wrong." This is said of Feng Jin, daughter of the Grand General who protects the nation.

Her radiant glance captivates all around her; beside her, every other beauty pales like dust.

Yet a remarkable woman like her falls in love with the male lead at first sight, setting out on a path of no return. In the end, she brings about her own destruction and dies miserably.

Song Yulai shrugs. Whatever monsters and demons might come her way, as long as she doesn't do things that trap her in her own schemes, she naturally won't dig her own grave.

Her goal is clear: to save Gu Jue.

Who is Gu Jue? The political enemy of the male lead, Jun Yi.

As another major antagonist in the original novel, Gu Jue opposes the male lead and meets a horrific end: decapitated, with his intestines pulled out and dragged for two li.

When reading the original novel, Feng Jin had paid close attention to Gu Jue.

Gu Jue had a tragic past. As a child, he was sold to a theater, and by the time someone took him away, he had been tortured so badly that one of his hands was crippled.

His childhood experiences made Gu Jue sinister and unfathomable. When he grew up, he became like a hellish king of the underworld, taking countless lives, committing every kind of evil, and meeting a terrible end.

On her first day after transmigrating into the book, Feng Jin brought her life and fortune with her and chose Gu Jue's side without hesitation.

As Prince Regent, Feng Jin spent many sleepless nights talking by candlelight with Gu Jue, offering counsel and devising plans.

Up to this point, their story could have been a beautiful tale of rescuing someone from danger and finding mutual understanding.

But Gu Jue's sword pierced every illusion Feng Jin had held.

It turned out that all his tender words in the past had been nothing more than an expedient means of winning her support.

Saved from death by the heroine, Shen Youning, Feng Jin was dazed. All those scenes she had thought were acts of salvation had turned out to be nothing but wishful thinking.

It was fine. Feng Jin could love wholeheartedly, and naturally she could let go, too.

//

For some reason, Jun Yi had recently begun hearing strange voices.

The voice did not seem to come from anyone's throat, and it appeared that he alone could hear it.

Following the sound, he saw the young woman sitting calmly in the main hall, looking at him with a lazy, lifted gaze.

It seemed to be her inner voice.

This woman, who used to cling to him relentlessly, suddenly began keeping her distance one day. From then on, she avoided him as if he were a snake or scorpion.

That inner voice also called him something like the male lead.

Jun Yi didn't understand, but Jun Yi was secretly pleased.

That was, until the young woman dressed in black climbed onto the roof beam of his home to listen to him plot with his trusted aide.

Her inner voice said: The source of trouble hasn't been eliminated. We must root it out for good.

So Jun Yi exposed her without mercy, and came face-to-face with Feng Jin.

That single meeting entangled the two of them in countless connections from then on.

////

On the day of his enthronement, Feng Jin looked at Gu Jue's severed arm, her expression thoughtful, as if she could not bear to see it.

Gu Jue's gaze turned ruthless, and he struck back.

Without a word, Jun Yi drove his sword through Gu Jue's throat.

Facing Jun Yi, Feng Jin felt conflicted. "Thank you."

Jun Yi turned away, his words carrying a hidden meaning. "Your Highness has great foresight. Now that Gu Jue, that crooked tree, has fallen, perhaps you should take a look at the lush forest behind you."

Theme: Beneath the court, the play in Misty Willows is over