Canglan Bathed in Snowlight

[Complete]

[Silver-tongued, scheming minister × self-restrained, principled statesman]

[Woman disguised as a man | Court intrigue | Sworn enemies | Ensemble cast elements | Her identity is exposed]

Nineteen is a royal shadow guard, assigned to protect the second son of the Prince of Zhenbei’s household as he leads an expedition against Jielan.

The first time she sees Shen Zhilan, the young general is taking an enemy commander’s head amid an army of thousands. His sword flashes against the snow, and he seems like an immortal descended to earth.

The borderlands’ winds are free. Shen Zhilan is a carefree young general, and she is an eagle soaring high in the sky.

Until the triumphant army returns, and the palace gates open one after another.

Only then does Nineteen learn that she is the last surviving descendant of the previous dynasty. Countless former ministers have sacrificed their lives to protect hers.

If she is to embark on this path of restoration, from which there is no return, Shen Zhilan will be the greatest obstacle in her way.

Nineteen intends to leave Shen Zhilan behind, but she watches him endure pain and humiliation, his pride ground to dust amid the treacherous court, while his sovereign father uses him as a pawn to keep others in check.

She is a vengeful ghost who crawled back from hell. He is a crane with broken wings, thrust by fate into a cage.

Had it not been for the emperor’s schemes, Shen Zhilan should have been the dazzling top scholar at the Qionglin Banquet, a gifted writer with a heart full of compassion.

But campaign after campaign leaves him plagued by nightmares, and he still cannot escape the fate of becoming too powerful for his sovereign to tolerate, then being cast aside once he is no longer useful.

As it happens, Nineteen is missing a sword of vengeance.

She stands before Shen Zhilan and reveals her identity, giving him two choices: “Help me, or stand against me.”

Shen Zhilan smiles, just as he did when they first met. “My road is already mired in filth. But yours must remain spotless, leading straight to the highest heavens.”

For half his life, Shen Zhilan has been trapped in bloodshed, all so he can build a bridge for her over the abyss.

At the end of that bridge lie the scholar’s dreams he can never return to, and the vast land that rightfully belongs to her.

Later, a new emperor ascends the throne.

Someone asks the sovereign what she wishes for.

Nineteen gazes at the snow sweeping across the sky beyond the palace walls and says softly:

“May no bright pearl ever again be buried in dust. May no one’s lofty ambitions ever have to shatter in the snow and wind. May loyal ministers and brilliant generals bask in the spring breeze, and may their stories end well.”

And may the man who once descended into hell for her forever remain the young scholar who writes poems on paper.

Reading Notes:

1. The heroine grows over the course of the story.

2. The dynasty is fictional, with some elements inspired by the Song and Ming dynasties.

3. The heroine becomes emperor later in the story, while the hero resigns from office. They do not rule together.

4. The hero is straight and only falls in love after her identity is revealed.

5. Some angst for the hero, none for the heroine. Happy ending.

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After the Princess Returns from Her Political Marriage

[Princess sent for a political marriage × disgraced official]

[Love and hatred | Over-the-top misunderstandings | Rescuing the moon from the mire]

Chu Randeng is the illegitimate daughter of the Chancellor’s household. Raised in a temple, she is forbidden to return home.

On a rainy night at a mountain temple, she finds a bloodied young man in the hills behind it, hides him in a meditation room, and tends to him with care.

On the day his wounds heal, the young man clasps her wrist. His gaze is heavy, and he seems to want to say something, but holds back.

Neither of them expects what happens when they meet again.

He is an imperial envoy, and she is the minister’s daughter sent in place of the princess for a political marriage.

On the day they part, Pei Zhaoye makes her a promise: “Your Highness, take care. I will bring you home.”

Chu Randeng clings to that promise. She counts three years as the geese fly south, and at last sees the familiar dark armor arrive.

Gathering her skirts, she runs toward him. “Pei Zhaoye, have you come to bring me home?”

But he turns his face away and pushes her back, resolute.

Half a year later, Great Song defeats Yan.

Princess Jinyang returns to court, while Pei Zhaoye is condemned for deceiving the emperor, bound in chains and reduced to a prisoner.

The emperor takes pity on her suffering and grants her one favor.

She says, “I want a person.”

“Who?”

“Pei Zhaoye.”

In prison, she finds Pei Zhaoye with nothing left but his pride.

She rescues him and confines him in the deepest courtyard of the Princess’s residence.

She makes him kneel beneath the corridor on a snowy night, orders him to warm her fingertips with his lips, and lays fresh marks over his old wounds. Then she smiles and asks:

“Where is the mighty General Pei of old now?”

Knowing how vigorous his youth is, she waits until he is doing his utmost to maintain the proper distance between subject and princess, then suddenly draws close and teases him softly:

“General Pei, why are you trembling?”

It is only that night, when she hears him muttering in a feverish dream, that Chu Randeng pieces together the truth.

In the Yan palace, the imperial decree in his hands had originally ordered him to “kill the princess and eliminate future trouble.”

Instead, Pei Zhaoye killed the supervising official with a single stroke and burned the decree. He paved the way for her return as a princess, while finding a path to his own death.

On a bitterly cold snowy night, she comes with a lamp.

Bending over, she grips his chin and forces him to meet her eyes.

“Pei Zhaoye, the emperor is unjust, and brothers fight among themselves. In this game, we are both pawns. Do you want to join forces with me and become the ones moving the pieces for once?”

He looks up, her radiant face reflected in his eyes.

After a long while, his pale lips curve into a faint smile. “What would Your Highness have me do?”

Her fingertip glides over the corner of his wounded lips. “I want you to take the highest seat. From then on, you will be the ruler, and I will be…”

Before she can finish, he seizes her wrist.

In the darkness, his gaze is like that of a beast long confined in a cage. “Your Highness, do you know that walking the same path as me leads to an even more perilous abyss?”

“Why should I fear an abyss?” Instead of retreating, she moves closer, until their breaths nearly mingle.

“I only want to know: do you still dare to entangle yourself with me for a while longer?”

2026.3.16

Theme: Do not let suspicion drive out the loyal and virtuous, nor build imperial power upon a mountain of bones