Wild Ducks Descend on the Frosty Isles

[Graceful, astute Central Plains secret envoy]× [Silent, sharp-edged Rakshasa, a sect renegade] A Jiu is a renegade assassin who clawed her way out of the Rakshasa grounds. Her body is covered in scars, and she believes in neither gods nor fate. On the Dunhuang Gobi, the Youyun Cavalry pursues a foreign girl. She steals a horse and draws a bow, rescuing a complete stranger from a hail of arrows: a man from the Central Plains. Days later, during Dunhuang’s Nuo festival, she is thrown into the hunting grounds. As tens of thousands cheer, she fights wolves in a pool of blood. At the brink of death, only that man from the Central Plains is willing to wager his future to save her life. Han Zhaowen is a celebrated scholar of Chang’an, sent west on a secret mission from the princess to investigate a case. He is elegant and refined, with a deep, calculating mind, and excels at making his moves among people and shifting political tides. He holds out a hand to her. “A Jiu, will you come with me?” At the time, Han Zhaowen needs her help to break a deadlock, while A Jiu needs his help to stay alive. Each has their own agenda. They test one another, but amid the desert storms and repeated brushes with death, they gradually move beyond their original bargain. A Jiu has taken blades and arrows for him, and carried him step by step to safety across a snowy wilderness. Han Zhaowen has plotted out a new identity for her and searched for a place she can call home, rescuing her time and again from her sect and her former master. A Jiu once believed she could give up her name and abandon her memories. As long as she stayed alive, she could be a weapon for killing. Han Zhaowen once believed that everything in the world was within human control. If he planned every move perfectly, he could arrange the safest path for her. Beneath Dunhuang’s bright moon, snow falls in the Western Regions, frost deepens in Jinling, and winds rise in Chang’an. They travel from the martial world to the halls of power, moving from using one another to finding a place in each other’s hearts. Han Zhaowen prides himself on his schemes. He can read people and break deadlocks, yet he cannot calculate whether one person will choose to stay by his side. A Jiu crosses thousands of miles of snow and wind so that one day, clear-minded and free, she can answer the question he asked when they first met. “A Jiu, will you come with me?” [Literary version] She was born in Tianshui and raised in the Western Regions. Her childhood name was lost in an old case. For the next ten years, the world knew her only as A Jiu, a Rakshasa. Some taught her to kill. Some demanded she forget her past. Some forced her to honor an old betrothal. And one person did everything he could to keep her within his grasp. But there was one man who stood amid Chang’an’s wind and snow, waiting for her to decide where she would go. From then on, the name she had picked up on a whim took on meaning. For the first time, she learned what it meant to be reluctant to let go, and after years of wandering, she finally wanted to go somewhere. But Chang’an was not the end of her journey. A gathering in Luoyang was about to begin, the old Gu family case was being reopened, regional governors were stirring, and war was on the horizon. People from her past were returning from the dust of bygone days. Her family’s destruction, her missing elder brother, and the old dynasty’s secrets buried beneath the imperial palace all emerged from the past, one after another. On one side was the past she had fled for ten years; on the other was the future she had finally begun to want. This time, no one would choose for her. A lone wild goose crosses a thousand snowy mountains, until at last it finds an island where it can rest. [Reading Guide] 1. A fictional historical romance set in an imaginary world, divided into four volumes: Dunhuang, the Western Regions, Jinling, and Chang’an. Martial arts, political intrigue, and mystery. 2. The heroine is a formidable martial artist; the hero is a master strategist. They use and test one another at first, and the romance develops slowly. 3. The heroine has experienced memory loss, conditioning by her sect, and trauma. The hero oversteps boundaries in the name of protecting her. This is not a lighthearted, sugary romance. ----------------------------------A preview of an upcoming novel----------------------------------- [Ruthless, charismatic, ambitious schemer] × [Mute woman from a prominent Jiangzuo family] He Yan was born with his sights set on all under heaven. His father commands the empire’s armies, and He Yan is the ideal heir. The young emperor refuses to remain a puppet, so He Yan teaches him to recognize who truly rules the realm. At twenty-two, he controls the military and government, and holds the court in his grip. A royal title, the chancellorship, the Nine Bestowments, an edict of abdication: he presses forward with every step. At the Battle of Shouyang, after besieging the city for days, He Yan happens upon a woman. Gu Lingyi, daughter of the prominent Jiangzuo Gu family, is stunningly beautiful and gifted in music and literature. He Yan has heard of her beauty before ever meeting her. When Shouyang falls, her father and brothers are all killed. The Gu family’s daughter, once renowned throughout Jiangzuo, never speaks again. He Yan thinks nothing of it. If she cannot speak, there are other ways to write. If she is disobedient, she can be taught. If she wants to die, he can stop her; if she tries to escape, he can catch her. Now that she is in his hands, she belongs to him. He Yan has always wanted too much. Cities, armies, celebrated ministers, power, and the throne that sits above all under heaven. Gu Lingyi is merely a woman he acquired by chance amid his long pursuit of ambition. He can dote on her and indulge her, laying the world’s treasures at her feet. He can also kill her father and brothers, destroy her homeland, and keep her trapped at his side forever. He Yan believes power can solve anything, until years later, when he is but one step away from the throne. His old enemies have been executed, the young emperor has bowed his head, and the court is in his grasp. Even the blade offered by his own brother has long been part of his calculations. He has misjudged nothing about the people of the realm, except Gu Lingyi. [Literary version] North of the Huai River lies Wei; south of the Yangtze lies Liang. When Shouyang falls, one person’s reign over the realm begins, while another’s world comes to an end. From Shouyang to Ye, from military headquarters to the imperial court, former rulers, powerful ministers, renowned generals, brothers, and emperors all enter this chaotic game of power and succession. The fires of war still burn in Henan when fighting erupts again in Jiangnan. Cities captured yesterday change hands by tomorrow; companions who stand together today become enemies the next. He Yan climbs higher, step by step, over the lives and deaths of countless people. Forced to remain at his side, Gu Lingyi watches him capture cities, seize control of the court, and depose and enthrone emperors. She also watches her former homeland recede into the smoke of war. North and south, aristocratic clans and military strongholds, benevolent rule and domination, desire and the human heart. It turns out there is always someone whom even overwhelming power cannot keep. A bygone dream of a troubled age, an unfinished ascent to the throne. [Reading Guide] 1. Set in an imaginary version of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. The characters and some historical events draw on the period around Eastern Wei and Northern Qi, with historical figures such as Gao Cheng as major inspirations. The relationships, wars, and ending are extensively fictionalized. 2. The early chapters include wartime captivity, taking someone by force, and coercive relationships, among other intense themes. The male lead is no good person and has a low moral threshold. He will not be redeemed; read with caution if these themes bother you. 3. The male lead’s career arc takes up a large portion of the story, with extensive material on war, court rivalries, military and government affairs, family, and shifts in power. Romance is an important part of his life, but not the whole of it. 4. This is not the traditional “captor and captive fall in love” story. The heroine will not readily set aside her hatred over her father and brothers just because the male lead favors and indulges her. The characters’ feelings follow their own positions and experiences. Written on August 17, 2026 Theme: Through thousands of miles of wind and frost, the only question is who gets to choose where home lies.