Cold Pillow by the River (GB)

★ A wuxia and palace-intrigue gender-bender novel, an old-school dog-blood melodrama extravaganza

When they first met, Li Shuyi was being hunted by martial artists as she sought revenge for her sister. Shen Jianghan rescued her from danger, and from then on, this refined young man, as gentle as jade, became the one she adored from afar.

With nowhere to go, Li Shuyi begged Shen Jianghan to take her in.

She followed him south of the Yangtze, joined the Shen family's sword manor, and found herself falling for the prodigy.

She thought their budding affection might find a happy ending, but the emperor's triennial selection came around. A Shen family girl refused to enter the palace and forced Li Shuyi to take her place in the marriage.

Li Shuyi begged Shen Jianghan to help, but he personally severed their past and extinguished her hopes.

Heartbroken, Li Shuyi entered the palace, consumed by resentment.

When they met again, Li Shuyi recovered the memories of her youth, mastered peerless martial arts, and became the Empress Dowager who ruled the world.

After uncovering the truth behind her sister's death, she ordered the entire Shen family imprisoned, leaving Shen Jianghan by her side to serve as her favored bedchamber companion.

The young man who had once been so noble and untainted had lost his martial arts, seen his family destroyed, and been left with nothing. All he had left was his cool, untouched body, now kneeling beside her in service.

Empress Dowager Li fastened a silver chain around his neck and gripped his jaw, delivering each word like a blade: "If you don't love me, go to hell."

◎ One female lead and four male leads. No role reversal in the gender-bender romance. The emperor is also one of the four male leads, with a bit of a submissive streak. He's willing to be the female lead's dog and hands over the kingdom and throne to her.

◎ The story includes a GL subplot involving the previous generation and the generation of her grandmaster. It is briefly mentioned as background, with very little page time. Please skip if that's not your thing.

(Latest blurb written on 2026/04/05)

★ Coming soon: Finding My Master's Message Mirror, a gender-bender romance ★

Male master and female disciple. A gloomy, sinister temptress x a cool, aloof sword sovereign.

A gloomy female ghost as the aggressor, crawling through the shadows and hissing, completely, utterly, utterly unhinged...

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Sword Sovereign Luo Changli once swept away the world's demons with a single strike and cut off a strand of hair from the demon lord temptress.

He is a flower atop a lofty peak, a bright moon over a covered bridge, a clear spring in the forest.

But as a master who teaches the Dao, he is so indifferent that he seems inhuman.

Since joining his sect, Ji Ying has never once been summoned or given his guidance. She can only gaze up at him from afar as the sect's least-favored disciple.

Until one day, Ji Ying finds her master's message mirror, containing intimate images no one was meant to see: her usually noble and untainted master is facing his own Dao reflection... and repeatedly calling her name.

"A Ying..."

After watching the whole thing, Ji Ying puts the mirror away with a dark smile.

This seems to be something very important to Master. Should I give it back to him or not?

-

Later, Ji Ying seizes Luo Changli's leverage and plucks the flower from its lofty peak. Night after night, she coils her serpent tail around him, her colorful scales shimmering with cold, watery light.

With her forked tongue flicking and her slit pupils glinting darkly, she trembles with excitement as she says, "M-Master, you can only be mine, forever and ever..."

Premise: Turn toward the sun and grow.