Accomplices in Half

Complete / Began drafting on March 15, 2026 / Started posting on March 18, 2026 / Finished on June 28, 2026

My new novel, Rouge Fragrance, is complete and ready to read. Its blurb is at the bottom~

Scheming, resourceful, and brave × ruthless and undefeated in battle

[Male courtesan × female general | Older sister and younger puppy | Both powerful | Both virgins | 1v1]

Princess Kang Cheng was born into nobility but secretly sent away from the palace as a child. The palace held a funeral for her, while she grew up strong beyond its walls.

While training in a temple, she beat a fellow disciple bloody for trying to hurt a kitten, leaving him unable to speak properly for half a month.

At seven, she entered the army for the first time. She stood fearlessly in front of a bullying victim and took a cleaver blow, terrifying the older children so badly that they ran off and never dared approach her again.

…

By seventeen, she had won a great victory suppressing a regional army rebellion. Everyone in the city knew there was a young general in the Liaozhou Camp.

But a single decree stripped her of her military power. Overnight, she went from a celebrated general to a minor tutor with a nominal post in Rongcheng.

With her maternal relatives interfering in government, her mother consort framed and killed, the people suffering, and a hostile nation poised to invade,

she could no longer sit back and do nothing.

She sought out a man whose ambition matched her own.

“Let’s make an official alliance.” She smiled and slowly raised her cup. “Once I ascend the throne, I’ll make you a king.”

“We’ll stand together through thick and thin, and never abandon each other.” He gently clinked his cup against hers.

-

Xiao survived a disaster by sheer luck, then traveled from distant Liaozhou to Rongcheng with his young adopted sister.

His shoes wore through, and his feet were raw,

but his restless ambition had been tempered until it was hard as iron.

Using silver his father had left him, he opened a brothel in Rongcheng and used it as a hub for gathering intelligence.

He changed his name, put on makeup, and became the courtesan of the Peerless Pavilion in Rongcheng, known as “Madam Hua Rong.”

He played the pipa beautifully in public, but in secret he did enough to get his head chopped off.

He had made all his preparations and was only waiting for the right moment.

As the government descended into chaos and an enemy nation seized the chance to invade, the woman led her troops into battle. He took out his secret guards’ token and helped her break through the enemy formation.

Two blazing, passionate hearts embarked on the road to power together.

Two villains, made for each other.

-

There was a rumor in the Liaozhou Camp:

General Liang avoided women because he already had someone he loved. They said she was some kind of “madam.”

And what sort of madam could be worthy of him? Surely she had to be a heavenly beauty.

Later, the general returned to Liaozhou with that “woman” at his side.

The deputy general looked at her, then at him.

“General Liang, the ‘madam’ you love… how is she actually a ‘Madam’?”

-

1. An alternate-history setting. Many official titles are fictional.

2. Career comes before romance. This isn’t a wish-fulfillment story. The protagonists are still growing, but it’s not a puzzle-heavy read.

3. I’m a female-lead enthusiast, and the stronger she is, the happier I am ·3·

A connection across the internet is a precious bond. Treasure it.

Wishing you happiness every day and an enjoyable read.

Blurb for the new novel, Rouge Fragrance, below

Xiang Liang always thought that as long as you had enough silver and enough power, you could live well in this world.

She was a merchant’s daughter, and loving money was second nature to her.

That was until her parents were murdered in a plot against them and she was forced to marry into a prince’s household, where she met Jin Wu Jiang,

a young heir raised among piles of gold who neither loved money nor sought power.

He was a little foolish, but that suited her just fine.

Xiang Liang quickly adjusted her strategy and set her sights on her stepson.

She left the prince’s estate for the west side of the city and deliberately got close to him. She treated the obedient young heir as a source of income and planned to use his power to investigate her family’s murder.

Once the truth came out and she’d made enough money, she would leave and find a live-in son-in-law to settle down with.

But her happy plans didn’t last long. They fell apart one stormy night.

That night, Xiang Liang was harassed by bandits in an alley. After escaping, she returned to her shop through the thunderstorm.

The man who used to dutifully run errands in the shop came back from outside at the same time. His clothes were soaked with blood, yet he was still smiling.

Xiang Liang looked at the blood on him. “…Did something happen while you were out?”

Jin Wu Jiang smiled. “Have you ever heard of the Second Watch Three Wolves gang, Madam Xiang?”

“…”

“If you haven’t, it doesn’t matter. They’re just a gang of thugs, nothing to worry about. Besides, I’ve already reformed them today and set them on the straight and narrow.”

The rain poured outside, and lightning flashed again and again. Xiang Liang suddenly found his smile a little unnerving.

Was this man really as easy to fool as she’d imagined?

-

The first time Jin Wu Jiang saw Xiang Liang, he thought she should be his wife.

The night she was carried into the prince’s estate in a red sedan through a side gate, there was no welcoming celebration. The estate was quiet.

The night wind lifted the curtain at an inopportune moment, and he happened to see a tear fall from her eye.

That very night, his powerful father died suddenly from an overdose of medicine.

The concubine he’d always longed for then pretended to be ill for a long time. The next time she left the side estate, the princess had driven her out to a little shop on the west side of the city.

The shop was one of Xiang Liang’s dowry gifts. The Xiang family had made rouge for generations.

At first, Jin Wu Jiang thought Xiang Liang was a meek woman with little temper.

Only later did he realize that, like him, she had been hiding her sharp edges for her own protection.

He was born to a concubine with nothing to his name, yet he had clawed his way to this position. How could he be a harmless, easily fooled little rabbit?

She was a merchant who had been targeted and attacked, yet she could lie low among ordinary people and scheme in secret. How could she be a delicate flower in need of a man’s protection?

The bowl of medicinal soup that killed Prince Duan was the work of both Jin Wu Jiang and Xiang Liang.

-

We killed someone together long ago.

Perhaps our lives were bound together from that moment. We’ve faced life and death side by side, and we’ve always been cut from the same cloth.

From now on, I want to be the blade in your hand, and yours alone.

Theme: People can triumph over fate.