(Major revisions complete, minor edits in progress...)
The reeds are lush and green, the dew turns to frost.
The one I long for is on the far side of the river.
I follow the stream upstream, but the way is long and hard.
I follow it downstream, and there she is, in the middle of the water.
An ordinary commoner, who by a twist of fate steps into the royal family.
The first half of my life was spent inside a tragic love story.
The remorseful husband tries to win back his wife.
I was not that wife, nor have I ever seen that fiery place.
I heard it burned for three days and three nights. Beneath the scorched earth lay countless dry bones, and all around were cries of grief.
I don't want to become that wife, either.
I took her name, but she is herself, and I am myself. I have to run around and exhaust myself just to piece together a tiny fraction of what there is to know about her.
This is how I survive.
I survive in the glow of her fading light, and in his shadow.
Chu Yu lived a life of love and hate intertwined. It had nothing to do with me, yet I had to bear all the consequences.
How innocent was I?
Surely I deserve something in return.
And so I became part of this story, too.
I am the most cunning person in it.
I try to part the fog before my eyes, cross mountains and seas of clouds, summon the soul, and return to my hometown.
[Reader Advisory]
Told in the female lead's first person. Tragedy with a bad ending.
The male and female leads are a fake couple.
Historical details may not be rigorous. Please don't scrutinize them.
Theme: Listen to someone else's story long enough, and it becomes your own life.
I took a look at the introduction and the first and last chapters. The problem with the introduction is that there are too many settings and no emotional points. In the first and last chapters, there are too few character interactions, too many settings, and there are too many background narrations, without strong emotions, and the readers cannot get involved.
Today, I received two bonuses on station B. It's a fate. Come on, thank you.